Show OUR ENORMOUS JUNK NEAP HEAP the value of the secondary metals exclusive of gold silver platinum iron and aluminum recovered in 1912 reached the enormous total of compared with in 1911 according to J P dunlop of the united states geological survey an increase of nearly secondary metals are those Te recovered covered from scrap metal sweepings crosses dr etc and are so called to distinguish them from the metals derived from ore which are termed primary metals the reports to the survey do not include the very large quantity of old iron and steel re melted neither do they include the precious metals the quantity of aluminum scrap returned to secondary smelters shelters sm elters is increasing rapidly Tap idly owing largely to the rise of the automobile to mobile and the survey reports next year will probably include secondary aluminum the values given for the secondary metals are arbitrary and are based on the ithe approximate average value of the primary metal for the year while M ile junk dealers and collectors frequently pay low prices for small quantities of scrap metals competition results in good prices obtained for carefully sorted scrap and other waste metal products sold in large quantities after re melting or refining the are sold at only slightly lower prices than new metal these secondary metals displace an equivalent quantity of primary metals and must be considered in any estimate of stocks available for consumption in any year for a few special purposes requiring e special especial purity of material it is necessary to employ primary or virgin pig metal but as a general tule rule secondary metals can be used in whole or in part in fact most foundries in order to compete for business successfully must use secondary material at least in part and hence scrap metal is purchased by them and smelted smelter with primary pig metal or with composition ingot the secondary smelters shelters sm elters by handling large quantities of all kinds of scrap are able to classify their material so as to produce continuously alloy metals ot of uniform composition suitable for use in work of different such composition ingols ingots are being purchased and used in increasing quantities by many foundries and other manufacturers in place of primary metals or mixtures of new and scrap metals the higher prices prevailing in 1912 for all metals other than lead had the effect of causing more than a normally increased demand for and recovery of metals from scraps crosses dr etc it has sa so far proved impossible to separate the statistics for secondary metal recovered from clean clea n scrap made in the ordinary course of manufacture from the statistics of metal recovered from crosses and ashes and from scrap or old metal that had entered the trade as manufactured articles and been discarded an estimate has been made of the clean copper and brass scrap but no distinction is made by many of the dealers or smelters shelters sm elters there was a notable increase in the use of magnetic separators to obtain scrap free from iron filings and at some plants concentrating tables were introduced by means of which cinders and molding sand from brass foundries containing as little as 2 per cent ot 0 metal were treated successfully the general tendency is to save all waste metal oi every kind and obtain more of it by better grading and classification copper wire and heavy copper and brass scrap are kept separate from light copper and brass and small scrap is to reduce the loss in re melting few metallic articles are wasted old clocks bases of electric lamps light wire and springs are all gathered and sold though such articles are not desirable scrap and have a limited market compared to bavy heavy copper brass babbit etc it is impracticable to segregate the refining re melting and reuse of secondary metals according to states but over 90 per cent of the refining and smelting smelling sm elting of crosses and scrap metals in the united states is confined to the territory east of st louis and north OL io the ohio river reports were made by approximately users of secondary material of which about were in pennsylvania and west virginia in new york new jersey connecticut maryland and massachusetts and about in ohio indiana illinois and michigan some of the largest plants that or refine secondary metals are at philadelphia chicago new york city pittsburgh detroit and st louis and at tottenville Tott enville N Y and rome N Y the total amount of secondary copper recovered on the assumption that the brass melted re had an average copper content of 70 per cent was tons of which tons was recovered by plants refining primary metals and the remainder by plants treating only secondary materials the copper produced by smelters shelters sm elters of the latter class includes tons of pig copper tons of copper in alloys other than brass and tons tong of copper in re melted brass at least tons was recovered from clean scrap made in the course or of manufacture of copper and brass ware se sc that only about tons was obtained from ashes cinders and scrap or from material that had actually been used and discarded the value of the copper both as metal and in alloys is com computed buted at the average yearly price quoted for casting copper by the american metal market 1 according to the bureau of foreign and domestic commerce the exports of scrap brass fit only for remanufacture for the calendar year 1912 were tons and the imports were tons while many railways sell or turn in their brass and copper scrap to dealers in part payment for new mated mate rial the reports received show that the railways utilized in their own shops and foundries over tons of brass in addition to 1557 tons of copper and 1813 tons 0 copper in alloys other than brass the production of copper from secondary sources in 1912 was equal to per cent ceni of the smelter output of primary copper in the united states from all sources or I 1 per cent of the primary copper smelted smelter from domestic ores the secondary lead recovered amounted to tons or about tons more than in 1910 the secondary lead recovered as pig lead increased about tons a normal increase in view of the fact that the average lead price was the same in 1911 and 1912 the recovery of lead in alloys was very large increasing over tons compared with 1911 this abnormal increase was mainly the result of the e b pra prevailing high prices for the other metals in the alloys and of the expansion in manufacturing fac turing and in transportation which occasioned a more extensive use of re remel melted teo babbitt and bearing metals other important sources of secondary lead were old pipe lead linings of acid tanks and crosses from white metal alloys regular smelt eries reported the recovery of tons of lead from lead and anti menial ledd lead scrap the total output of secondary lead was ras equal to per cent of the refined lead produced in the united states in 1912 compared with per cent in 1911 or to per cent of the refined lead produced from domestic ores in 1912 it was exceeded by the domestic output of only two states missouri and idaho the output of secondary zinc including that in brass amounted to tons and equaled per cent of the total production of primary spelter in the united states in 1912 compared with per cent in 1911 the zinc recovered in alloys other than brass amounted to tons of the tons of secondary zinc recovered as spelter tons was obtained by from crosses dr etc in addition to the large quantity of spelter recovered several thousand tons of zinc chloride was made from crosses dr etc and likewise several thousand tons ot of the zinc pigment the quantity of spelter recovered by re distilling crosses dr etc increased about tons two zinc smelters shelters sm elters in the eastern states which recover spelter entirely from crosses dr etc used large or 1000 pound retorts instead of the small ones used by smelters shelters sm elters treating ore or mixed ore and crosses dr A large portion of the sec secondary andary spelter recovered was reported to be of high grade ranging above 99 per cent pure and equal in practically every respect to the spelter made from ore domestic spelter prices were too high during most of 1912 to permit the profitable export of zinc dross so that the exports declined from tons in 1911 to tons in 1912 the production of secondary antimony of which all but 13 tons was recovered in alloys increased from 2369 short tons in 1911 to 2506 tons in 1912 no antimony ores of domestic origin were smelted smelter in 1912 but the total for the year includes tons of antimony contained in lead scrap recovered by regular smelt eries the principal materials refined or res melted which contained antimony as an alloy were hard lead crosses dr babbit solder pewter and type metal the 1912 imports of antimony as metal in ore or oxide amounted to tons and the recovery from secondary sources was equal to 29 per cent of such imports the secondary recoveries of antimony were double those of the antimony content of lead ores of domestic c origin smelted smelter in 1912 there were no domestic tin or ores es smelt ed in the united states in 1912 though some tin concentrates were shipped from alaska to great britain for treatment and a small quantity of foreign tin ore was smelt ed in new york this condition makes secondary tin an important factor in supplying domestic consumption the secondary tin recovered in 1912 was equal to per cent of the tin as metal or as oxide imported into the united states during the year secondary tin recoveries increased from short tons valued at in 1911 to tons valued at in 1912 the quantity recovered as tin was tons and that in alloys and chemical chemic fil compounds 7 tons the recovered tin includes the tin content of bf products made by several plants from tin scrap these included some tin oxide putty powders etc but consisted consist dd mainly of tin chloride the production of these compounds is calculated as metal and not separately stated in order to avoid disclosing confidential information As the products pio ducts are made from scrap tin and thus conserve the primary metal they are prop erly regarded as recovered tin two forms of if tin chloride are handled commercially stannic and stannous salts stannic chloride is usually sold bold either as a water solution called chloride bi of tin or as an anhydrous 11 liquid duld termed tetrachloride ot tin and is used principally in the silk industry stannous chloride is sold in the form of crystals and is used in dyeing and calico pi printing inting of the tin oxide tetrachloride and other products were made from clean tin plate clippings or f from rom tin liquors left lef t in dyeing or weighting silks the dry chlorine process was used to recover the tin till from the clippings in some places in others furnaces were used to remove the tin coating and a large quantity oi of tin was recovered in the form of a tin powder by the electrolytic treatment of clean scrap the powder pow der being sent to secondary smelters shelters sm elters the largest recoveries of 0 tin were made from the scruff and drossel that occur in making tin and terne plate and amounted to over tons the recovery of tin from block tin pipe tin foil and old tin cans was relatively small only orie one firm reported using old tin containers from which the tin and solder were first svea sweated ted and the black plate re melted to make sash weights two years ot of high prices for tin have failed to bring about any increase in the recovery from used tin cans and there seems to be no present prospect of any conservation of the large quantity of tin used for tin plate which now finds its way to the unsightly dump pile the principal alloys in which secondary tin was recovered were babbitt and other bearing metals bronze solder pewter and electrotype metal the increase of tin in alloys was small probably because the high price for the metal the last two years has caused the use of less tin in bearing metals and solder |