A MONOPOLY.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 29 May 1912, Page 4

A MONOPOLY.

.A By the purchase of two mines at Joactimsthal, the combined annual output ol which ig about one>»tw-elfth of an ounce, the Austraih Government has secured a_ radium monopoly—a monopoly within its own confines, at least. . It already ownes the other Joacaimsthal mines, the product of which is a little less than one-twelfth of an ounce a year. The total output from all the mines of this fantastic trust (excluding uraumni, which is a side product Vis about one-seventh of an ounce.. In order to obtain this infinitesimal total "thousands of dollars are Invested (about 600,000 dollars was paid for the two mines just purchased) a»rl hundreds of men employed. ] There is a radium extracting company in England of comparatively recent organisation whose annual product is already measured in grains, and there appears some possibility of w irk able radium deposits in other reigons. It is quite conceivable that the world's total annual output may eventually be pushed up to a quarter or perhaps even a- third of an ounce.