lithium. End Product Of Local
Plant, Replacing Use ol Lead
(Ed. Note: The following arti
cle on the growth "?f use of li
thium, end product of the min
ing Of lithium oxide by Foote
(Mineral Company at its Kings
Mouhtaln plant, appeared In the
February 19 issue of the New
York Journal of Commerce. It
was date -lined Paoli, Pa., and
was written by Dwight Moody.)
"Lithium, a hitherto relatively
neglected metal, Is rapidly re
placing scarce-supply lead in
chemical compounds fop a num
ber of important industrial uses.
"Officials of Foote Mineral Co.,
the largest producer of lithium,
reveal that In the ceramic in
dustry, ? for instance, lithium
compounds in 1950 displaced ap
proximately 10,000 tons of lead.
This is one-third of theindustry's
total requirements.
Foote Mineral officials claim
that the switch to lithium com
pounds from lead already has
saved the ceramic industry mil
lions of dollars. And because of
the cost advantage as well as
other factors coincident with
growing shortages in lead, they
look for an eventual lead dis
placement of 32,000 tons a year
in the ceramics alone.
This Includes use of lithium in
television glass which in the past
contained as much as 29 per cent
lead oxide. At present about SO
per cent of television glass being
produced uses lithium.
"Lithium glass is Increasingly
replacing lead glass in television
tubes. And ? continuing Shift
from lead is predicted, particular
ily because, it is claimed, new li
thium glass tubes are both easier
to form and lighter in weight
than lead, making for better
tubes at reduced cost.
Also Replacing Nickel
''Lithium also is replacing
scarce -supply nickel in televls
? ion sets In ferrlte cores, such as
deflection yokes and horizontal
output transformers. Foots Min
eral official! say that use of fer
rlte cores In TV components has
permitted design of higher-effi
ciency Circuits using fewer tubes
with resultant consumer cost re
duction.
Such widening industrial uses
Cor lithium and other products,
plus new military demands, ac
counted for the 50 percent gain
in Foote Mineral sales in 1950, to
$5,440,000 from $3,613,909 ? and
officials of the company predict
further sharp gains In 1951.
Pending Treasury Department
tax findings, final audited earn
ing figures for 1950 are not yet
available, hut President H. Con
rad Meyer, at the company's an
nual meeting a few days ago, es
timated the past year's earnings
at $9.47 a share on some out
standing common shares, com
paring with. $3.47 a share on 56,
355 shares in 1949.
Zirconium Citad
"Final figures; he added, won't
vary more than a few cents a
share from this estimate, in eith
er .direction.
"As an example of new mili
tary demands, the case of zircon
ium can he cited. The metal zir
conium In pure ductile form has
been produced commercially toy
Foote since 1942, tout following
receipt of a contract from the U.
S. Atomic Energy Commission,
relatively large-scale production
of zirconium has developed dur
ing the past few months.
A EC's Interest 1n zirconium lies
in the fact that this metal, un
like most other metals,, has a
comparatively low tendency to
capture neutrons, in addition to
such other properties as corros
ion resistance, strength and weir
ght Thus, zirconium is adapta
ble for use in atomic furnace*
and the A EC la acquiring sub
stantial quantities of the metal
for an experimental program.
To Introduce Bleach
"Foote also expects to enter the
consumer product field shortly,
for the first time, with a new
household ble>a?"h, * pondered
compound of lithium hypochlor
ite. One ounce of this dry mater
ial is said to perform the same
duty as a half -gallon of conven
tional liquid bleach.
" Another, older lithium com.
pound, for which demand has
been tiring sharply of late, is li
thium multi-purpose grease,
which has a wide range of oper
ating temperatures. At the start,
acceptance of this grease devel
oped only slowly, but at present,
27- major oil companies have
been licensed by Foote to pro
duce lithium greases, and de-.
mand is in a sharp upswing.
'To assure adequate supplies
of lithium ? bearing ore, Foote
has contracted for the entire out
put of the lepidolite mines oper
ated by Jooste of Southwest Af
rica ? believed to be the world's
largest source. In addition, to
provide against loss of this sup
ply in event of war, the compa
ny has acquired control, with op
tion to buy, of lithium ore bodi
es in Kings Mountain, N. C., be
lieved to be the largest deposits
in the Western Hemisphere, and
will be receiving ore from this
source by next summer.
Obtain Pure Hafnium
"Among recent outstanding re
search achievements at the com
pany's laboratories has been dis
covery of a process for obtaining
a pure form of the metal hafnium
through conversion of the crude
metal to a gaseous compound,
followed by decomposition throu
fifh contact with an incandescent
surface ? the same method us
ed In obtaining pure zirconium
and titanium, but with certain
fundamental changes of equa
tion and process adaptations.
"Potential industrial uses for
pure hafnium are now being ex
plored.
"To meet Indicated defense
and essential civilian needs for
its products, Foote Mineral Isj
embarking on an extensive ex
pansion program this year, and
plana for raising additional cap
ital are expected to be announc
ed in a few months."
By Way Of Mention
By Loi* Beatty
Clyde Cooke of the Army spent
the weekend In this community.
Miss Ann Costner spent the
weekend In Cherryvllle.
Miss Edith Queen <Jf Gastonia
was a recent visitor in this com
munity.
I wish to correct an error made
in this column last week. It was:
Mr. B. f . Brooks who attend a
birthday dinner in Bock Hill re
cently instead of Mrs. Brooks.
Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Bayfield
of Gastonia spent Sunday with
Miss Margaret Buth Heath.
Mrs. B. T. Brooks had as her
guests Sunday Mr. and Mrs.
George Bolick of Gastonia and
Mr. and Mrs. B. L. Bayfield of
Bock Hill. '
Mr. and Mrs. Jim Turner of
Bock Hill spent Sunday with the
latter'a mother, Mrs. Dorus Allen.
Miss Doris McCutry and Mrs.
Betty Hayes spent the weekend
with Mrs. Bobert Whitesid^s and
Betty Hawkins.
Mrs. Tom Crawford spent the
weekend with her sister, Mrs. J.
C. McConnell of Charlotte.
Miss Norma Falls, daughter of
Mir. and Mrsi M. C. Falls, and Mr.
Bobby Bridges, son of Mr. and
Mrs. Elsie Bridges, were married 1
at York, S. C., Saturday night,
March 10th.
as seen in SEVENTEEN
Patterson Grove
News & Comments
By Mr?. Thurman Seism
The G. A.'s and Sunbeams will
meet at the churCh Saturday af
ternoon at 2:30 for a Study Cour
se. Mrs. Carl Falls and Miss Ruth
Seism will have charge.
The G. A.'s met Jast Saturday
at the home of M1as Ruth- Seism
for their regular meeting.
The W. M. U. Sunbeams, G. A.'s
and R. A. will meet at the church
beginning April 14, at 2:30.
The W. M. U. met Saturday
with Mrs. Bverette Lovelace. Sev
enteen members were present.
Mrs. Lloyd Phifer had charge of
the program. After a very inter
esting program our hostess serv
ed a delicious course of chicken
salad, cookies, crackers and
grape juice.
B. T. U. time has been chang
ed. Beginning nex* Sunday B. T..
U. will begin at 7:00 and on the'
second and fourth Sunday nights
preaching service will be at 8:00.
Mr. and Mrs. Clyde Barber
were Sunday guests of Mr. and
Mrs. Marvin Wright, Misses Cor
nelia and Marguerette.
Mrs. Marvin Wright, Mrs.
Lloyd Turner, Wayne and Jane,
and Mrs. Thurman Seism were
Wednesday guests of Mr. and
Mrs. Albert Logan,
Little Roger Putnam, son of
Mr. and Mrs. Russell Putnam is
sick with a light case of pneu
monia.
Nolan Seism, son of Mr., and
Mrs. Raymond Seism has scarlet
fever.
Mr. and Mrs. D. P. Putnam and
daughter, Shelia Ann, have mov
ed into the house Just behind Mr.
Wayne Putnam.
1' Mrs. Beulah Bridges was Sun
day dinner guest of Mr. and Mrs.
Thamer Wright and children.
Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Bridges of
Charlotte were weekend guests
of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Bridges, Coy
| and Robert.
During the fiscal year eliding
June 30, 1950, the American Red
Cross spent $5,054,480 from na
tional funds in behalf of victims
of major natural disasters. Dur
ing the year the Red Cross con
ducted 394 disaster relief opera-,
tlons.
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