A large quantity of tin was recovered in bronze, and part of the brass remelted contains a little tin and lead, which in the aggregate amounts to a considerable quantity. Other alloys from which secondary tin was recovered were solder, babbitt, pewter, terne metal, and electrotype metal. From reports received by the Geological Survey the clean tinplate scrap detinned in 1923 was about 28,460 long tons more than in 1922. The average metallic content of the tin oxide was given as 65.8 per cent, that of the tin bichloride as 24.5 per cent, tin crystals 52.6 per cent, and tin tetrachloride between 45.4 and 46 per cent. The relatively small quantity of secondary tin recovered from tinplate scrap and old tin-coated cans is significantly shown when compared with the quantity of tin used in making tin plate. It is estimated that 35,000 short tons of tin was used by makers of tin plate in 1923, that the total recovery of tin as metal and in compounds from tin-plate scrap and old cans was 2,917 short tons, and that of this quantity only about 3 tons was obtained from old cans. All the old cans detinned in 1923 were treated by the Vulcan Detinning Co. The cans purchased were classified as follows: Class 1. Unused empty and unrusted tin cans not exceeding the 1-gallon size, with or without labels attached but otherwise free from foreign material such as ice, water, ashes, paint, varnish, white lead, and similar insoluble (in water) contents. Class 2. Used cans not exceeding the 1-gallon size and otherwise as described in class 1. Cass 3. Used empty and unrusted tin cans exceeding in size the 1-gallon size but not exceeding the 5-gallon size and otherwise as described in class 1. A description of the method used in treating old tin-coated cans is given in Mineral Resources for 1919. New tin-plate clippings were treated at plants of the Vulcan Detinning Co. at Sewaren, N. J., Neville Island, Pa., and Streator, Ill.; by the Johnson & Jennings Co., of Cleveland, Ohio; and at the plants of the Metal & Thermit Co. at San Francisco, East Chicago, Ind., and Chrome, N. J. The plants utilizing old tin cans, which can handle 25,000 tons a year, treated only 262 long tons in 1923. These plants have never received shipments large enough to operate steadily at full capacity, even when the prices of tin and black sheet-metal scrap were high. The present prices do not warrant even local collections of old cans, and the plants are practically idle. The supply of tin chloride, which is made almost entirely from scrap and which is the main product of detinning plants, is ample since war uses have ceased. Although there is now a supply of tin sufficient for all requirements at less than pre-war prices, there are two good reasons for restricting its use to the lowest point. One is that the supply of new tin is derived almost entirely from foreign sources, and the other is that tin is a relatively high-priced metal and the use of substitutes giving approximately equal efficiency radically reduces the cost of many alloys, such as solder, babbitt, and other bearing metals. SECONDARY ALUMINUM Secondary aluminum recovered in 1923, in short tons Secondary aluminum recovered unalloyed__. 6,800 14, 500 21, 300 Primary aluminum produced, imported, and exported in 1923 Value of primary aluminum produced in the United Aluminum (crude and semicrude) imported for con- $28, 305, 000 ---pounds 42, 476, 789 Aluminum (crude and semicrude) exported-pounds__ 5, 539, 671 The recovery of secondary aluminum as pig aluminum or in alloys in 1923 amounted to 21,300 short tons, valued at $10,824,600, compared with 16,290 tons, valued at $6,085,900, in 1922. Some of the larger secondary smelters and refiners of aluminum in 1923 were as follows: Peninsular Smelting & Refining Co., Detroit, Mich. Great Western Smelting & Refining Co., St. Louis, Mo. Loewenthal Co., Chicago, Ill. National Smelting Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio. Charles L. Hilb Smelting & Refining Co., Cincinnati, Ohio. Columbia Smelting & Refining Co., New York, N. Y. W. F. Jobbins Co. (Inc.), Aurora, Ill. Apex Smelting Co., Chicago, Ill. General Aluminum & Brass Corporation, Detroit, Mich. Various products are made by smelters and refiners from scrap aluminum. A large quantity of No. 12 secondary ingots (92 per cent aluminum and about 8 per cent copper) is made by smelters from old or defective castings, borings, and scrap, as is shown by the fact that the secondary recovery of aluminum in alloys was 68 per cent of the total recovery in 1923. The expanded output of the automotive industry, which is estimated to consume more than 25 per cent of the aluminum production, is reflected in the increased consumption of secondary No. 12 alloy. The recovery of aluminum in alloys in 1923 was 60 per cent more than that reported in 1922. The recent articles relating to aluminum are as follows: Anderson, R. J., Iron-pot melting practice for aluminum alloys: Metal Industry, February, 1922, p. 60. Notes on aluminum alloys for casting, prepared by the technical department, Aluminum Co. of America: Chem. and Met. Eng., Sept. 6, 1922, p. 501. Lange, J. A., Melting aluminum for rolling; Brass World, vol. 19, p. 272, August, 1923. The following articles on aluminum were published in the report for 1919 on secondary metals: Casting losses in aluminum foundry practice in the United States, by Robert J. Anderson. Scrap aluminum, by Charles Vickers. Tentative specifications for aluminum presented to the American Society for Testing Materials. Primary nickel produced, imported, and exported in 1923, in short tons Nickel produced as a by-product from the electrolytic re- 100 Nickel imported for consumption in the United States as 20, 335 6 434 The nickel recovered from secondary sources in 1923 includes nickel in monel metal but not in ferrous alloys. Most of the nickel in matte, oxide, ore, etc., imported came from the Sudbury district, Ontario. No nickel was recovered at the refinery of the Missouri Cobalt Co., at Fredericktown, Mo., from ores that contain nickel, lead, copper, and cobalt, and the only production from domestic sources was obtained from the electrolytic refining of copper. The secondary metal recovered from nonferrous sources in 1923 was equal to 7.6 per cent of the imports. It was equal to 20 per cent in 1922, owing to the unusually small imports. Formerly more than 60 per cent of the refined nickel produced was used in nickel steel, 30 per cent in white-metal alloys, 5 per cent in anodes for plating, and 5 per cent for miscellaneous purposes, including the manufacture of salts and other chemical compounds. Since the World War, however, much less nickel is used in ferrous alloys. The International Nickel Co. states that the sales in 1923 indicate that approximately 40 per cent was used in ferrous alloys, 16 per cent in nickel silver, 26 per cent in anodes, 11 per cent in special alloys, including nichrome, and 7 per cent for miscellaneous purposes. As nickel is used chiefly as an alloy in steel, and as the secondary nickel reported to the Geological Survey as recovered in 1923 was obtained solely from nonferrous scrap, it is evident that the 1,550 tons of nickel reported forms only a portion of the nickel in alloys recovered and reused. An article written by J. A. Wadhams entitled "Nickel, monel, since the war," quoted in the Brass World, May, 1924, discusses the development in the nickel industry due to the necessary change from an almost purely ordnance industry to that of peaceful arts. Gun forgings, armor plates, bayonet steel, and bullet jackets formerly con sumed the bulk of the nickel produced. A critical survey now shows that the use of nickel steel for automobile construction and for general machinery and equipment is steadily expanding. Nickel is also being more generally used instead of brass, bronze, and silver-plated alloys in dairy, laundry, cafeteria, and household equipment and utensils. For this reason it is certain that the quantity of secondary nickel recovered will greatly increase in a few years. In both the printed annual report of the International Nickel Co. for 1923 and in its publication Inco special attention is drawn to the intensive research for and development of new uses for nickel, monel metal, and other nickel alloys. Research and advertising are bringing successful results which will more than compensate for the losses sustained by the reduction of armaments and ordnance. The secondary nickel reported in 1923 was nearly all recovered from old nickel anodes, nichrome, nickel silver, and monel metal. A nickel alloy which is now being more generally used is composed of about 60 per cent nickel and the remainder mainly chromium. The properties and uses of this alloy, called "nichrome," which is used in eat treatment of steel, are described in an article recently published. Extracts from this article are given in the report on secondary metals in 1919. Analyses of various nickel alloys have already been published by the United States Geological Survey. 5 The International Nickel Co., desiring to assist users of monel metal to dispose of scrap and at the same time to protect the purity of the primary metal, has established a definite procedure in the purchase of monel scrap. The company's publication Inco contains the following information: The mining and smelting operations are located at Copper Cliff, Ontario; the refining and rolling operations are located at Port Colborne, Ontario, and Huntington, W. Va. Monel-metal scrap must enter operations at one of these points. This is decided to a large extent by the purity of the scrap. Monel metal as produced is held to a close chemical specification. It contains approximately 67 per cent of nickel, 28 per cent of copper, and 5 per cent of other elements. It has in it no lead and no zinc. If the user has not allowed other materials to become mixed with his scrap it should meet production specification. However, it is not entirely possible to prevent all contamination, and in the purchase of scrap the International Nickel Co. allows a certain tolerance. Therefore, scrap within the analysis given below will be purchased at a flat price, which will be quoted on receipt of detailed description of the scrap offered from time to time by the consumer. Nickel, not less than 64 per cent; copper, not less than 27 per cent; iron, not more than 3 per cent; sulphur, not more than 0.05 per cent; lead, none; zinc, none. Providing such scrap does not come within the above analysis, settlement will be made on a basis of copper-nickel content, the price of which will be quoted after sampling and analysis by the International Nickel Co. All scrap will be purchased and settled for on a basis of weight. sample, and analysis. The cost of sampling and analyzing a shipment of scrap is approximately $35. It is therefore necessary to avoid handling small shipments of scrap, if possible, and all consumers are requested to collect their scrap until they have at least 500 pounds before offering it for sale. 1920. Equipment for foundry and plating room: Brass World, vol. 16, pp. 146-147, May, 5 Hess, F. L., Nickel: U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources, 1915, pt. 1, pp. 763-765. 1917. ANTIMONY By FRANK C. SCHRADER THE ANTIMONY SITUATION The United States is dependent upon three main classes of material as sources of antimony or its alloys or compounds-metallic antimony, liquated antimony sulphide, and antimony ore. Metallic antimony, known as antimony regulus, is imported from China, Japan, Mexico, and other countries and during the World War was produced in small quantity in the United States from both foreign and domestic ores. The metallic antimony imported from Japan is derived mainly from the refining of Chinese ore or "crude." Liquated antimony sulphide, also known as "crude antimony," "needle antimony," and antimony matte, is imported in small quantity from China. This material is produced by submitting the ores of the natural antimony sulphide, stibníte, to a heat sufficient to melt but not to decompose it, and the molten metallic sulphide is then run into molds and allowed to cool. Antimony ore is imported from China (direct or by way of Japan), Bolivia (by way of Chile and Peru), Mexico, and other countries, and small quantities of ore are at times produced in the western United States. A fourth class of material which should also be mentioned is antimonial lead, carrying from 12 to 18 per cent of antimony. Any of the three classes of materials noted above may enter into this product, but it is derived mainly from lead ores, most of them of the antimonial variety. The United States has always been dependent mainly on foreign sources for its supplies of antimony. China and Japan have been the principal contributors, although Mexico and Bolivia have also made considerable contributions. This dependence is in part a reflection of the higher wage scale in this country as compared with certain foreign countries, particularly China, but it is due primarily to our comparative poverty in antimony resources. However, little information of a quantitative nature has been collected concerning these resources, and they may be somewhat greater than has generally been assumed. The examination in 1919 of a few of the deposits in Lander County, Nev., and in 1923 of deposits in Valley County, Idaho, indicates the presence of moderate reserves of ore at those localities. Newly discovered deposits are reported to occur in Camas County, Idaho, and in Tulare County, Calif. |