| Show huge pumps claim treasure chemicals from sea water near wilmington ion N C boy athars gold in them waves but if you want to get it you must build an enormous pumping plant and huge industrial chemical works like those of chemical company at kure beach near wilmington N C last year this outfit whose main purpose is the manufacture of bromine which is an ingredient of ethyl gasoline sucked salt water through the bromine plant plan t equal to one square mile ot of atlantic ocean 76 feet in depth says a writer in the chicago daily news it recovered several thousand tons ot of bromine and its research chemists found that this huge tonnage of brine carried a treasure of if all its mineral and chemical constituents could be commercially salvaged according to the chemists reports the sea water pumped last year Y ear aggregating pounds contain contained ed tons of 0 minerals and chemicals which included 86 pounds of gold valued a at t and equivalent to a ball six inches in diameter silver passing through the plant amounted to one and a third tons which would make a ball about two feet in diameter with a value of but the these se precious metals amounted to little compared to the potential value of more useful chern chemicals icalas for example the sea water pumped through the plant contained tons of sodium chloride or common salt worth at present market prices it was figured out that this salt it if compressed into one foot cubes placed side by side would form a single row extending from new york to los angeles and halfway back magnesium sulphate or epsom salts amounting to tons worth was in this salt water enough to give each man woman a and nd child in the united states about eight pounds other potential products of the pounds of sea water sucked from the ocean last year by the pumps of this plant were calcium chloride tons worth potassium chloride 52 tons worth which would make about tons of potash rich fertilizer magnesium tons worth aluminum tons copper nearly eight tons iodine two and three tons iron tons and strontium carbonate tons the extraction of bromine from sea water is now a well established industrial operation but the economic recovery of products byproducts by remains a problem |
