THE RAREST THING IN THE WORLD.

Hokitika Guardian, 4 February 1924, Page 4

THE RAREST THING IN THE WORLD.

I.OXHDN. (M. :il Tv,,. »cars ago there was a kirron u aslo ul |;iii<l nt Onion, uoi Ini' !v;nn .\lllw< I'! 1. Ton!;iy thorn .stnmis a largo factory, with its smoking chimneys an.l ils lit ilo toleny of Workmen's dwelling . A now industry lias arisen the winning n! radini.i, ii ! * ■ rarest thing in ilm world. A ricli find of pin link-ndo me in il.o IJelgia n Congo Inn, Limn'd llie radium world ii|.-ide down. There is r w radium in plenty: in fact, a veni-iMo glut of this wonderful siihslnneo of which ;i lew years ago ii was thought that prn'ialily only half nu ounce existed in I lie whole world. A. casual observer mil'll see imp. leads of ore being driven into in • ire lory yard »l Cmlon, drays loaded with earhoys of acids and chemicals ; In might see the factory; alive with Usy workpeople, and yet might look in vain for any sign oi output Iroin line works. As a matter of fact, the entire output of vadium in a month amounts in si/.e to that, o! ahoul hall an ordinary lump of sugar! The value runs into many thousands of pounds, for radium is still extraordinarily costly. If you want to buy radium to-day, you must pay something in the neighbourhood ot a thousand pounds a grain. Vot there t" radium enough and to spare. Fifteen or twenfv tons of the Congo ore yields ahout one gramme flifteen and a half grains) of radium. 'let this newly discovered mineral is so remarkably rich that producers in other parts of the owrld have actually closed down their mines owing to their inability to compete with the Beluhm product. The winning of a gramme of substance from twenty of rocky mineral is a process that demands the highest technical skill, and it will always remain a source of great admiration for iter patience and scientific skill that .M me. C urie succeeded in the first instance in culling this: precious element from the ton of pitchblende residues which was given to her by the Austrian Government in ISh'ii. Afost of the radium that has boon produced during the last few years has been obtained from the carnotiic of Colorado and Utah, a much pooret ore, seven hundred tens of which have had to be treated in order to obtain a gramme of radium element. The richness of the Congo ore has been such as to bring down the price of radium from {.-21,000 to C 15,00;) a gramme during the present year. What can be done with all the radium that is being produced to-day f There is more than enough to supply all tlie demands that are likely to be made upon it by medical science. Can the energy that is given off continuously by radium for its life ol 2.300 years be utilised for some chemical purpose?—this is the problem which is being attacked by workers on radioactivity the world over. At present radium is being used exclusively for medical purposes, tor die treatment of lupus, rancor, and .tint!red diseases. But radium has not yet come into its own. There must be many industrial processes ill which it is yet to play a great part, and fresli laurels are to be won by many an experimenter who is lucky enough to find an outlet for flto glut of radium we are certain to find during the next few years. j