Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1941-11-29

Of chrome and other metals. Hi
name must be closely associated witt
others of his kind who found the or
that is now important in national de
tense, and In the metallurgical field
We cannot go on without mentioning
the name Of Mr.. E. B. Hubbard, min.
ing engineer, who long ago visualizec
the Importance Of these deposits anc
whose faith born of knowledge of his
subject has been a factor in keeping
the directors of Montana Chrome in
1 terested in the face Of adverse pros
poets, even to the extent of investing
/ large sums of their own money in
keeping this property together. 1t is
these men who have made the present
development possible, and their faith
is now being rewarded by the feeling
that they have done something for
their community and their country.
THE present can be seen and ap-
preciated, but what of the future? We
have large deposits of high grade iron
ore within short distance Of Billings.
We have gas in abundance. Electricity
need only be carried through high
tension lines to selected points. Coal
and lime and other necessary material
is readily at hand. All that is needed
for the development Of great future
industry somewhere in the Midland
Empire is vision and organization. Is
it not possible that great ferro-chrome
and chrome steel plants can be built
here, and isn't it cheaper to ship the
finished and refined product than
thousands of tons of crude ores to
some eastern plant for refining? We
have everything here to work with but
money and experienced personnel.
Chrome pigments are a valuable
in peace times as well as In |
war. Our ore is quite suitable to the |
development Of these pigments, so why /
can we not visualize the development |
Of a great lacquer and paint Industry |
Chronic acid is necessary in the tan
ming of leather and In other COM
mercial processes. Our ores, too, are
very suitable to the formation Of these
acids Might it not be, that in the
west from which a good portion of
our hides come, a tanning industry
might be considered. With all these
we can look into the fu-
5ure and dream of an industrial de-
yelopment that will mean the building
Of important plants in our immediate
supplying not only ore
and concentrates-bu chrome, chrome
steel and tools-pigments and chronic
acid for national defense and peace
time needs.
"The worlds supply of chromite ore
S getting less and less. Within a few
years, high grade ore will be, hard to
ret Already, we are approaching the
ime when our Montana ores will be
major source Of supply. Between the
Iighline plateau south Of Red Lodge
nd the Boulder river exists an I'M
developed tonnage equal If not ex-
eeding the remaining total known de-
osits of all North and South America
S this not of great significance to
his community? Copper has meant
luch to Montana. Butte Is known as
be greatest mining camp In the world, /
ecause of its copper mines. Anaconda
nd Great Falls owe their development
D Butte mines Mining experts con-
lder S percent copper ore bonanza. !
bur chrome ores average about Is
ercent metallic chrome or five times
cher than copper ore. :
Chrome has never sold at lower ,
rice than copper, and in general has {
cen so percent higher. Copper now !
sold at IL cents per pound while !
nrome is worth from Is to 90 cents =
er pound on the market. .
Figure this out for yourself and I t
N sure you will agree that DR.. Fran 4
S Thomson Of the School Of Mines
as not too visionary when he stated
i a public address a few years back
nat Chrome would be the next big i
lining industry in Montana