Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-10-20 | Page 37 | Utah is Producing some Radium Ores

' UTAH IS PRODUCING k SOME 111 ORES World's Scant Supply Augmented Aug-mented From Deposits Near Castleton. v GROUND IS EXTENSIVE Former Senator Kearns Held the Largest Known Body Near Thompson. That Utah is actively engaged in con. trjbuting to the augmentation of the world's scant supply of radium, of which it is officially stated there are jjely about three ouuc.es it) existence, "i3 not generally known. But it is the fact, nevertheless, according to Henry M. Adkineon, well known mining engineer engi-neer and rare metals expert, who is the business associate of H. K- Thurber, geologist and also an expert in the va. liflttS rare metals. Mr. Thurber, said . Mr. Adkinson yesterday, has been for some time busy near Castleton, Utah, a 6hort distance out of Cisco, looking after the development for- the United States Metals Seduction company, a close and private corporation of Pitts-burg, Pitts-burg, which holds thirty-two full claims oi carnotite ores in that vicinity. High Commercial Value. This carnotite,' when it contains 3per cent of urano-oxjde (Vo'OS), has commercial com-mercial value of from $125 to $151) per ton, and it is this class of ore that the Pittsburg company is now engaged in developing. Considerable of the ore, said Mr. Adkinson, runs high enough so that it does not require concentration, concentra-tion, and is shipped directly to the refinery re-finery at Pittsburg. However, there is a large volume of the ore that is extremely ex-tremely valuable, but runs a little under (he required 2 per cent, and for the purposes pur-poses of treatment a plant is being in--talled, the product to be handled at the mine and the concentrates shipped to thi refinery located at Pittsburg. That Utah should be a factor in the production of the rarest, most valuable and most soiiprht-for metals in the world njay be considered in many respects remarkable, re-markable, but that it will before many v ears add to its fame in this regard is entirely probable, The late former Senator Sen-ator Thomas Kearns of Utah and for-mci' for-mci' Senator W. A. Clark of Montana lield what 's considered the largest known deposit of radium-bearing ores in the United States, located - uear Thompson. Only a few days prior to hc accident that resulted in his un-lamely un-lamely death. Senator Kearns, in conversation con-versation with Mr. Adkinson, referred to these deposits and expressed the hope that they might soon be developed. Seeking Substitutes. Jj The value of radium, alike in scien-Si)fi scien-Si)fi and business circles, is generally pretty well understood. It is so scarce and so hard to obtain that for many years scientists and rare metals experts have diligently sought for substitutes. Only ten days ago, at the meeting of the' American Institute of Mining Engineers, En-gineers, held in Milwaukee, Dr. Eich-ird Eich-ird B. Moore of the United States bureau bu-reau of mines, told of a radium substitute substi-tute that he had found,1 Mesothorium is the name given to this substitute, which, according to Dr. Moore, is excellent in many ways. He said that it could be used just as efficiently effi-ciently as radium in luminous paint, and it. is this use to. which radium is being especially put on airplane dial?, compasses, and gun sights. It can also be used for the treatment of cancer, although its life is stated to be much shorter than that of radium-