146 S. RADCLIFF. 



Some typical specimens of the ore were I understand, 

 forwarded to Madame Curie; she reported that the ore was 

 only feebly radioactive and of little commercial value, 

 radium at that time being comparatively cheap. 



In 1909 a company known as the Radium Hill Company 

 was formed in Sydney to exploit the deposit commercially, 

 and a consignment of about 30 tons of picked ore was taken 

 to England by Dr. Mawson, who brought it under the notice 

 of a number of firms, both in England and on the Continent, 

 interested in the extraction of radium from its ores. A 

 few tons were also sent to America. The low uranium 

 content and the high percentage of titanium present, 

 which rendered treatment difficult, militated against the 

 disposal of the ore, and no offers of any value were received 

 for it. 



While these negotiations were in progress, the author of 

 this paper (who, some time prior to the Olary find had 

 discovered a radioactive copper ore at Moonta, S.A.) was 

 asked to investigate the possibility of treating the ore 

 locally; and after some twelve months' experimental work 

 developed a process which gave promise of commercial 

 success. The preliminary work was done at the Bairnsdale 

 School of Mines, Victoria, which possesses a fairly exten- 

 sive metallurgical plant, a total quantity of 30 tons being 

 dealt with in the course of the experiments. From the 

 data so obtained the plant now in successful operation at 

 Woolwich on the Parramatta River, Sydney, was designed. 



The present communication gives a preliminary account 

 of the treatment process as it is worked at the present 

 time. 



The most complete account yet given of the extraction 

 of radium from its ores is that by Haitinger and Ulrich. 1 



1 Haitinger and Ulrich, Sitz Ber. der Wiener Akad. Ha Bd. 117 (1908) 

 pp. 619-630. 



