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Nftn l9mi(ZIraDrtt dountii |IubUr ICtbrarg The NEW BEKN Because this bwn of ours is hardly more than a stone’s throw away from the hroad and often turbulent Atlantic, the idea of mining minerals from the sea should hold at least mUd fascination for industry* conscious New Bemians. All streams and rivers, including our own Neuse and Trent, carry with them to the ocean an assortment of minerals in solution. As a matter of fact, we are told by those who ought to know that virtually all of the minerals important to mankind are present in soluble form. Science has figured out through exhaustive tests that a cubic mile of seawater contains 166 million tons of di^lved salts. Admittedly, 85 percent of this tonnage is common salt, but included also are 26 million tons of magnesium salts, four million tons of potassium sulphate, and lesser amounts of copper, zinc, tin, iodine, uranium and gold. The last named minerals are in rather small concentrations, but tiiey can’t be disregarded. Evaporation of water taken from the sea already makes it possible to mine many minerals, but the problem is how to do this economically. Obviously, no commercial concern is interested in spending more money to extract the minerals than the harvest will bring on the market. Undoubtedly, when ores now available on land become depleted, the value of sea minerals will soar. Dame Nature has pointed the way with her gigantic natural evaporation basins in the Dead Sea. No other spot in all the world provides as much common salt for man’s use. And it is an established fact that the basins, with sound industrial methods used, could furnish us with countless millions of tons of magnesium, potash and bromine. Heaven mly knows how many minerals in huge quantities are at the bottom of the Atlantic and other oceans. We are told that the sea floor is cluttered up with lumps described as “nodules.” Said to have been formed by natural chemical processes, they are loaded with considerable quantities of copper, iron, nickel, manganese and cobalt. Plant and animal life show mineral concentratims too, and may' eventually be the answer to profitable sea mining. Seaweeds, as most of us know, are alreadv a commercial source of iooine. At the present time, man hasn’t develc^ed sufficient know how to meet the challenge, and he may never meet it In our life ntoo- Experts have said that a plant handling approximately a million gallons of water a minute is just about as liurge a unit as you could operate profitably, or conveniently. Technical problems not yet mastered make a larger project impractical. ’Thiiricing in such terms, they say, we could get by on the basis I I » » I ... >«)britlriueI >oh’'Page’ ' ' r I FUBLIfHIDWIlKLY Rer;;ional Library r. fc56o j HPfCppy VOLUME 13 NEW BERN, N. C., FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4,1970 NUMBER 38 •IV': SIZING HIM UP—Lisa Cole, six month old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James ^le and granddau^ter of Mr. and Mrs. D. M. Parker, Jr., and Mrs. Arthur Cole, is a serious young lady as she gives Santa Claus the once over. His snow white beard and rosy cheeks intrigue her, but she can’t decide whether she likes him. Of course, when she is just a little older, she’ll discover on Christmas! morning just how wonderful the jolly did gentleman is.—Photo by Florence Hanff. • >(>>'> 111'l'i'i’i'i'i ''i’i’*'i’>’*’>'*'*’i'*"i’i’i'i’i'*'i'i'»’>'»'i'i'i'i’/i'i'i'i'i'.'i’,'i'>'i', *.**.*’**' »»•»**>»>>»•> 1111 >>•*>>>> 111111111 > > 11 >. 1 >»1111... 11,1
The New Bern Mirror (New Bern, N.C.)
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Dec. 4, 1970, edition 1
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