MOLYBDENUM. 
A  MOLYBDENITE  DEPOSIT  IN  EASTERN  MAINE. 
By  George  Otis  Smith. 
In  Mineral  Resources  of  the  United  States  for  1903,«  Dr.  J.  H. 
Pratt  summarizes  the  production  of  the  steel-hardening  metals.  He 
states  that  an  increasing  use  of  molybdenum  steel  has  caused  a 
greater  demand  for  the  ores  of  molybdenum.  The  principal  prop- 
erty imparted  to  steel  by  the  use  of  molybdenum  is  an  increase  in 
hardness  and  toughness.  Molybdenum  steel  is  recommended  for 
large  forgings  for  marine  engines,  for  large  guns,  for  boiler  plates, 
and  for  high-speed  tool  steel.  "  The  molybdenum  increases  the  elon- 
gation of  steel  very  considerably,  and  for  wire  drawing  such  an 
increase  at  a  comparatively  small  cost  is  important." 
The  limited  use  of  molybdenum  is  due  not  so  much  to  any  question 
as  to  its  value  as  a  steel-hardening  metal  as  to  the  comparative  rarity 
and  high  cost  of  the  ores.  The  development  of  molybdenum  deposits 
is  similarly  hampered  by  the  uncertainty  regarding  the  demand  for 
the  product.  Doctor  Pratt  reports  that  the  output  of  wulfenite  and 
molybdenite  for  1903  was  795  short  tons,  valued  at  $60,865.  The 
probable  value  of  molybdenum  concentrates  at  Xew  York  is  given 
as  approximately  $200  per  ton.  The  molybdenite  from  the  deposit 
described  below  would  doubtless  command  a  high  price  because  of  its 
ferity,  since >no  other  metallic  minerals  appear  to  occur  with  it. 
One  of  the  principal  deposits  of  molybdenum  ore  mentioned  by 
Doctor  Pratt  is  at  Cooper,  Me.,  and  this  deposit  was  visited  by  the 
writer  in  company  with  two  members  of  the  Maine  Survey  Com- 
mission in  September,  1904.  The  town  of  Cooper  is  in  Washington 
County,  in  the  extreme  southeastern  part  of  Maine,  and  is  the  fourth 
township  west  of  Calais.  The  nearest  railroad  station  is  Marion, 
in  the  second  township  south.  At  this  locality  prospecting  for 
molybdenite  has  been  carried  on  at  several  points,  but  the  only 
important   development    thus    tar    is   that    on   the   property   of   the 
a  Pp.  285-310. 
197 
