SCHEELITE.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 October 1917, Page 3

SCHEELITE.

BRITISH OUSTING THE GERMAN RING. NEW ZEALAND HELPING THE BRITISH SUPPLY. The Dunedin Star lias been inquiring about New Zealand scheelite—how the mines of the Dominion are getting on, and whether they are of any value for war purposes. Incidentally it has come across a budget of information on the subject generally. To commence at the beginning, a few words about tungsten. It is an indispensable ingredient in the making of what is known technically as high-speed steel, Armament makers could not get on without it. Tungsten is produced from several ores. The most important of these ores are wolfram and scheelite.

German has no deposits of these ores Worth mentioning, but the Prussians, foreseeing the big war, laid in enormous stocks of tungsten, and set up big works to make more from the ores. England, on the other hand, owned only one small plant for treating seheelite, and it proved to be comparatively inefficient. That was a very awkward position for the British. They had got accustomed to sending the ores to Germany, to be there treated and sent back as tungsten to the steti manufacturers. When the war started this alarming state of affairs forced together 31 of the steel 'manufacturers that had been rivals in the Old Country, and they patriotically set about, establishing the Highspeed Steel Alloys Company—a concern that has so marvellously prospered that it now makes Britain independent of (iermany, not only for so long as the war lasts, but for ever It is proved that the British tungsten is superior in every way to the German article.

New Zealand is specially interested in this matter because it produces some of the tungsten ores. Wolframite is found in Nelson and in Stewart Island, and some day it may pay to work those deposits. Of seheelite we have supplies in sight that will last for years. The chief deposits are in the Wakatipu district, in the Barewood district, and at Macraes Plat, also near Blenheim. At places seheelite exists in commercial quantity. Seheelite is a calcium tungatate. In selling the sheelite they assay it and find out how much tungstic acid it eontains. Pure seheelite contains 80.0 per cent, of tungstic acid and 19.4 per cent, of lime. Tungstic acid is also called tungstem trioxide. The seheelite is sold by the producer at so much per unit. Every 1 per cent, of tungsten trioxide is a unit. The purchasers generally stipulate that they will not take seheelite containing less than 65 per cent, of tungsten trioxide.

" Two years ago the New Zealand Government placed an embargo on the export of seheelite, and entored into an agreement with all the producers to take tiie whole of their output. The seheelite wa s wanted for the Imperial' Government, and the price was fixed at 55s per unit delivered in London. During the two years there has been no variation of that agreement, except as to the increased charges for freight, insurance, etc. A fresh-arrangement is now proposed by the Government. Their new offer is to pay s:os per unit at the point of origyi. It does not seem to be very clear what "point of origin" means. Presumably the New Zealand Government intend to take delivery at the various plants where the seheelite ore is concentrated.