Show PRICES OF RARE EARTH ORES the term rare earth while by no means vague is one which includes several groups of elements some of thess these elements form oxides which are earths and which are chiefly used as such for instance in the mantles of gas lamps of the type and in the electric incandescent lamps of the bernst type but in all cases the elements at the base of these oxide earths are ara metals when isolated and purified many of these are now being used as metals or alloys in the new experimental lamps such as the siemens tantalum the auer Os osmium etc the application of these rare metals and their oxides to the skeleton glowers of incandescent lamp is itself a large one but more important probably than this is the projected use of some of the rare metals in the production of alloys of iron and steel the market price of these rare metals is sometimes referred to as being fictitious this is rather a severe word to apply to the quotations of a market which is honorable in every c ense sense but which must perforce be provisional and tentative in quotations of material which is at present supplying an experimental peri mental demand some of the temporary quotations are as follows vanadium ore containing 3 to 5 per cent is rated at 5 per ton f 0 b cars tungsten or ore with 70 per cent acid is quoted at 4 per unit f 0 b new york or per ton molybdenum ore high grade concentrate with 90 to 95 per cent of the sulphide is worth 25 cents per pound or per ton tantalum ore as tantalite or with say 22 per cent of acid is quoted at 20 per unit or per ton uranium ore as pitchblende is 13 worth 2 per pound high grade picked ore or concentrate cen would thus run into the hundreds of dollars ore low grade sandstone with 3 to 5 per cent of uranium oxide calls for 5 per unit or at 40 per cent per ton but the high grade hand sort ed ore calls for per pound of container conta inel uranium oxide and at say 50 per cent oxide figures 1500 per ton these figures of course will be greatly modified by the varying demand by new finds and by condition of longtime long time contracts also in several cases tungsten for example the supply is really greater than the demand charles S palmer in engineering eng and mining journal |