Show OF RADIUM VANADIUM AND URANIUM FROM ORES the use of modified nitric acid method sor the recovery of radium from camorite camo tite tailings from which the vanadium has been extracted Is suggested by the united states bureau ot mines to prevent the loss of the radium content being wasted in present practice the camorite camo tite ores of colorado and utah were chief source of radium for many ears it is pointed out in serial 2873 by H A doerner recently issued by the bureau in the fall of 1922 news of the very rich deposits of radium ore discovered in the belgian congo caused almost complete cessation of domestic production the congo orp contains pitchblende pitch blend and a number of alteration products including the newly identified minerals bequer elite and reports indicate that a considerable amount of ore containing over 50 per cent uranium oxide has been produced the price of radium was held at 70 per milligram extraction of radium from camorite camo tite by the usual methods does not appear to be profitable at that price with one exception all american firms ceased production after their accumulated stocks of ore had been treated one company which continued to treat for several years has recently shut down its plant camorite Camo tite contains the valuable element vanadium which Is not present in the congo ore the recovery of vanadium is an important factor in the cost of extracting radium from and under favorable conditions can be profitably treated for the vanadium alone vanada ferous sandstones are found ranging all the way from vanadium mica containing little or no uranium to a high uranium and low van adius ores containing 2 per cent or more uranium oxide are classed as radium ore and are sold on the basis of the uranium content which is proportional to the radium content only in exceptional cases have ores been evaluated on the basis of both the radium and vanadium contents although the presence of vanadium has undoubtedly influenced the price of radium ore since the advent of radium from congo ore a large quantity of camo tite has been treated for the vanadium alone the radium being discarded nth the tailings since the entire cost 0 mining transporting and millins the ore is thus covered by the value of the vanadium it seems ad isable to ascertain whether the radium and uranium can not also be recovered at a profit or at least saved in such a concentrated form as to be available when market conditions justify further refining present methods of extracting vanadium from leave the rad lum as a fine precipitate in the fallings the water used to flush these tailings away from the plant and the subsequent weathering may easily disperse the radium bearing slime beyond possibility of recovery if however the tailings are and the slimes de watered and stored then the i adius will be saved in a concentrated condition suitable tor subsequent refining this can be done at a cost aich is an fraction of the former and probable future value of such a concentrate there is also i limited market for such material in the manufacture of so called medicinal radioactive preparations which though reported of doubtful therapeutic value beiter be made effrom a discarded tailing than from a virgin ore having a still lower radium content details tf tl e nitric add method are given in serial 28 3 copies of which may be obtained from the states bureau of mines de apartment part ment of comerce washington D C |