MAN'S SYNTHETIC FUTURE — ADAMS 219 



resources, yet the Government lists 167 strategic items that must be 

 imported. Stockpiling by the Government of materials essential to 

 both war and peace, but not indigenous to the United States or found 

 here in less than the required quantities, has resulted in artificial price 

 increases. 



Let us consider for a moment our mineral supplies. The most 

 widely distributed metals are iron, aluminum, magnesium, and ti- 

 tanium. They are available in amounts sufficient to supply the world's 

 needs for hundreds of years. Aluminum and its alloys will continue 

 to replace steel and other metals in even larger measure than in recent 

 years. Magnesium, a very light metal, has found many uses, espe- 

 cially in alloys, but certain of its properties would appear to limit its 

 extensive industrial application. Titanium, about which much has 

 been heard in recent months, is fourth in abundance of all metals, and 

 its ores are widespread over the world. It is truly the metal with an 

 attractive future. Only half as heavy as steel, it is, in a pure state, 

 ductile, very significantly heat- and chemical-resistant, and readily 

 forms valuable alloys. It does not corrode even in sea water. For 

 jet engines it is ideal. Its applications would be exceedingly numerous 

 were it not for the cost. Titanium dioxide, a common derivative, 

 which can be obtained readily from the native ore, is familiar as a 

 superior white pigment for outdoor house paints and in finely divided 

 form as a delustrant for rayon and nylon. The cheap production of 

 pure titanium metal, however, has baffled the efforts of chemists and 

 metallurgists for years. The annual supply of the metal has been only 

 a few hundred tons, and it has sold at a price of $10 to $20 or more 

 per pound, thus restricting its use to items where properties are all 

 important and cost is a small factor. But now the Government is 

 supporting the construction of plants that will provide an annual 

 production of several thousand tons to be used primarily for military 

 purposes. The cost of production, even on the larger scale contem- 

 plated, is likely to bring the price down to not less than $5.00 a pound, 

 a figure much too high for general industrial application. One of 

 the liveliest chemical problems today is the attempt to discover a 

 cheaper way of obtaining pure titanium metal from its ores. When 

 solved, several of the metals now considered so essential for certain 

 steels and alloys will be in less demand. 



Proved mineral deposits of all ores of less common metals, such as 

 copper, lead, zinc, manganese, chromium, tungsten, tin, and others, 

 would appear to have a limited life. There is, however, still much 

 territory on earth that has not been prospected, and there still exists 

 the possibility of mineral deposits being found deep in the earth or 

 under lakes and seas. It has been reported that under the lakes in 

 central Finland rich bodies of ore have recently been discovered. Per- 



