Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1941-11-22

| caCeQ ana expensive processes for
their treatment. Moreover, no private
concern would be justified in invest
ing the large amount Of capital re-
quired for plant construction without
assurance of continued demand at
high prices after the war is over, and
inasmuch as such assurance Is def
initely lacking, the task of financing
such plants naturally falls upon the
government.
Unfortunately" he emphasized,
''high-grade ore deposits are virtually
nonresident in the United States, and
medium-grade ores which are amena-
BILE to concentration occur in relative
ly small deposits and are sometimes
contaminated with PHOSPHORUS which
remains with the concentrate. For
some years past the Bureau Of Mines
has made extensive surveys Of man
ganeSe occurrences in the United
States to determine their extent and
the methods which might be used for
their beneficiation during the present
emergency. The aim is to produce con-
centrateS by mechanical, smelling or
teaching processes. which viii be
suitable for the manufacture Of ferro- |
manganese In existing furnaces and |
thus replace imports from sources out
side of the western hemisphere. In |
addition, the bureau has developed a |
process for producing electrolytic man
ganese which is now being used IN q
small way at a plant in Knoxville,
Tenn.
1.-THE Montana area is the only real
y, al errv1vn1u Of |
in the United States to-
day." he said, land is comparable TO
the Cuban production which Is some
what larger in quantity but of lower
grade. In terms Of manganese metal,
the two operations are about on
parity, and production from these
sources can probably be increased.
Cuban manganese comes in free Of
duty, and since Cuba is separated from
the United States by only a narrow
stretch Of water, it may almost be
in the same category as
domestic manganese. It is likely that
about 40 percent of the manganese
of the country can be
from Cuba, Montana and
from other localities in the United
States from ores which can be con- I
centrated mechanically. Some of the
Milling projects might have to be fl {
lanced by the government and tech
lical assistance would have to be FUR
lished by the Bureau Of Mines. An L
,ther 20 percent can, no doubt, be I
obtained from South America leav- /
ng about 40 percent to be supplied [
rom other sources.
FOR this manganese it Is necessary
% resort to ores which cannot be
nilled, which are low-grade and which ]
ave never been treated or considered 4
IS a source of supply under normal
conditions. Such ores occur In very 4
arge tonnages in the vicinity Of Ar \
illery Peaks, Arizona, near Chamber Z
ain, S. D., and In the Guyana range, d
Minnesota. They average from 5 per- y
ent to is percent manganese and 2
1ust be treated by hydrometallurgical d
or possibly, in the case OF 2
chamberlain nodules, by smelling. The d
ost for plants and treatment VIII t
necessarily be high when judged by v
re-War standards and it is question: p
BILE whether any Of these operations e.
an survive the emergency, but if S
uccessful methods of treatment can b
e devised, as seems probable, the o
needed to make up the de- G
Iciency can be obtained from such
res, however long the emergency may
ist. a
THE Artillery Peak deposits occur in 81
mesa in the foothills of the Artillery -
nd Rawhide mountains in western III
rizona near the Bill Williams river
hey are about so miles from the
anita Fe railroad. The mesa is deeply
'oded, exposing the edges of the man
aniferous beds 1t is estimated that III