﻿NEW 
  METALS 
  AND 
  NEW 
  METHODS 
  

  

  By 
  C. 
  H. 
  Desch, 
  F. 
  R. 
  S. 
  

  

  There 
  has 
  been 
  an 
  enormous 
  increase 
  in 
  the 
  production 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  

   important 
  metals, 
  the 
  output 
  doubling 
  itself 
  in 
  quite 
  a 
  short 
  period 
  : 
  

   12 
  years 
  for 
  copper, 
  17 
  for 
  pig 
  iron, 
  18 
  for 
  tin, 
  and 
  so 
  on. 
  Along 
  with 
  

   this 
  quantitative 
  growth, 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  modern 
  industry 
  has 
  

   brought 
  with 
  it 
  remarkable 
  qualitative 
  changes, 
  elements 
  which 
  until 
  

   lately 
  were 
  curiosities 
  of 
  the 
  laboratory 
  rising 
  into 
  industrial 
  impor- 
  

   tance. 
  Aluminum, 
  which 
  75 
  years 
  ago 
  had 
  only 
  been 
  obtained 
  in 
  quanti- 
  

   ties 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  pounds, 
  had 
  a 
  world 
  production 
  at 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  

   War 
  approaching 
  a 
  million 
  tons, 
  while 
  its 
  later 
  development 
  on 
  both 
  

   sides 
  of 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  has 
  been 
  on 
  a 
  very 
  large 
  scale. 
  Aluminum 
  is 
  not 
  

   one 
  of 
  the 
  rare 
  metals 
  ; 
  it 
  is, 
  in 
  fact, 
  the 
  most 
  abundant 
  of 
  all 
  metals 
  

   in 
  the 
  earth's 
  crust, 
  but 
  at 
  present 
  bauxite, 
  a 
  rich 
  mineral 
  of 
  very 
  local 
  

   distribution, 
  is 
  alone 
  used 
  for 
  its 
  extraction. 
  But 
  elements 
  of 
  rare 
  

   occurrence, 
  such 
  as 
  tungsten, 
  molybdenum, 
  and 
  vanadium, 
  now 
  occupy, 
  

   in 
  consequence 
  of 
  the 
  ever-increasing 
  demands 
  of 
  the 
  engineering 
  in- 
  

   dustries 
  for 
  materials 
  of 
  higher 
  strength 
  or 
  other 
  special 
  properties, 
  

   a 
  key 
  position 
  out 
  of 
  all 
  proportion 
  to 
  their 
  abundance. 
  This 
  is 
  largely 
  

   due 
  to 
  the 
  discovery 
  that 
  the 
  properties 
  of 
  a 
  metal 
  may 
  be 
  profoundly 
  

   altered 
  by 
  very 
  small 
  additions 
  of 
  another 
  element, 
  metal 
  or 
  nonmetal. 
  

   Pure 
  iron 
  is 
  even 
  softer 
  than 
  copper, 
  but 
  less 
  than 
  1 
  percent 
  of 
  carbon 
  

   converts 
  it 
  into 
  steel 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  made 
  so 
  hard 
  as 
  to 
  scratch 
  glass. 
  

   This 
  fact 
  had 
  been 
  discovered 
  empirically 
  many 
  centuries 
  ago, 
  but 
  now 
  

   that 
  the 
  process 
  is 
  better 
  understood 
  there 
  are 
  many 
  other 
  instances 
  

   of 
  the 
  same 
  kind. 
  Copper 
  can 
  be 
  made 
  hard 
  enough 
  to 
  serve 
  as 
  springs 
  

   and 
  even 
  as 
  nonsparking 
  mining 
  tools 
  by 
  adding 
  2.5 
  percent 
  of 
  beryl- 
  

   lium, 
  while 
  the 
  soft 
  metal 
  lead 
  may 
  be 
  strengthened, 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  offer 
  a 
  

   greater 
  resistance 
  to 
  frost 
  when 
  used 
  for 
  water 
  pipes, 
  by 
  alloying 
  with 
  

   so 
  little 
  as 
  0.05 
  percent 
  of 
  tellurium. 
  

  

  These 
  and 
  similar 
  observations 
  have 
  led 
  to 
  important 
  developments 
  

   in 
  metallurgy 
  depending 
  on 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  comparatively 
  rare 
  metals 
  which 
  

   are 
  mostly 
  found 
  only 
  in 
  local 
  concentrations 
  in 
  various 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  

   earth. 
  In 
  a 
  statistical 
  table, 
  the 
  production 
  of 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  minerals 
  

  

  1 
  Paper 
  read 
  at 
  the 
  Conference 
  on 
  Mineral 
  Resources 
  and 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  Charter 
  arranged 
  

   by 
  the 
  Division 
  for 
  the 
  Social 
  and 
  International 
  Relations 
  of 
  Science 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  Associa- 
  

   tion 
  on 
  July 
  25. 
  Reprinted 
  by 
  permission 
  from 
  Nature, 
  vol. 
  150, 
  No. 
  3806, 
  October 
  10, 
  1942. 
  

   566766 
  — 
  44 
  15 
  213 
  

  

  