Montana oil and mining journal., 1941-10-25

The United States may once agah
become a valuable source for 1913.
Important? Yes. because 1913" /
a vital defense material-chromium
steel. It is commonly referred to a
stainless steel and contains l8 percen
chromium, 8 percent nickel, hence tn
name.
With transportation and prOduc-
tion limitations placed on foreign
countries because Of the war, de-
velopment of Montana chrome
mines becomes an important as
pect Of the national defense pro-
gram.
Already the RFC has allotted
S1,74O,OOO to independent compa-
nies on a management-fee basis.
The cost Of operation is being
borne by the government, and the
ore produced viii be the property
of the government.
The properties being developed are
located in the Saltwater complex, q
30-mile strip running north Of the
Beartooth mountains. Ranging in
width from one to five miles, the sec
ton runs through Saltwater, Sweet
grass and Park counties.
Most promising is the claim Of the
late T. C. Benbow. The Benbow mine
can be reached by a rough wagon
road from Dean, nine miles away,
Dean, however, is 80 miles from Co
lumbus and the railroad.
It is expected that these projects
now under way will produce 200 tons
of chrome concentrate a day, starting
about the first of the year At the
same time private mines are opening
operation.
Defense needs for armor plate and
amor- piercing projectiles as well as
stainless steels for defense industries
have already threatened the private
market. These markets provide the
many household needs, automotive de-
mands and non-defense industries with
this precious alloy.
1t has been almost l80 years since
the United States played an import
ant part in the story Of chrome ore.
It may happen again.
Chromium with its lustrous shine
and modern streamlined appearance
may not look as romantic as tarnished
silver or as historic as an oak antique
but its glossy surface reflects a grand
story.
In 1898 Vauquelin, French chem
ist, addressed the lInstitute National
and placed before the eyes of his
"a small quantity of chrom-
ium and several of its most remarkable
combinations" Because of the variety
of remarkable distinctive colors, Vau-
quelin named the new element chrome
(chromium), derivative of the Greek
word chroma, meaning color.
With this romantic beginning in the
18th century the story Of chrome
on to Maryland and Pennsyl-
vania in 1923, and from then until
1860 the United States furnished al
most the entire chrome output.
When Vauquelin made the report of
his discovery, he was not at all en-
thusiastic about his find. True, it
was adaptable to the making of paint
but as metal, it was a
brittle, infuSable, needle-lke crystal
on which acids had very little action.
Therefore, chrome became a paint
and for the next 20 years it
was forgotten in the field Of metal
lurgical research.
In the years between 1919 and 1922
Faraday and Stodart conducted the
first systematic, extensive series Of
experiments on alloy steels It was
this work that brought chrome into
the field we recognize today. Their
work inspired Berthier, a French SCI
enlist, to prepare the first chromium
steels. OF his metals he made a knife
and razor and stated, Both blades
were found to be very fine"
After the work Of these three men
reached its peak in 1892, once again
the interest in the metal became dor
mant and remained so for the next
30 years.
From 1850 until 1869, work was con-
fined to the laboratories with little or
no. commercial interest other than as
paint pigment.
With the development of alumino-
thermic, propagating reaction of
H. Goldschmidt, metal Of low carbon
content was developed, and chromium
was set to enter the field as a COM
mercial product.
In an article by Sir Robert Hatfield,
metallurgical scientist, we find this
quotation: :" 1t is Mr.. julius Baur
Of New York to whom the credit must
be given of first introducing on a
practical scale the manufacture of
rhrorr,f,fYTa cfao1