Windfall in Molybdenum

The United Nations had a great piece of luck. In Washington, mining officials happily announced that a "large deposit" of molybdenite had been discovered about 400 miles northwest of Quebec. Molybdenite yields molybdenum, a white, slippery alloying metal which is so vital in armor plate and guns that it is No. 1 on Canada's strategic list.

The new bonanza was prospected--and is mostly owned--by Canada's veteran gold miner, Dome Mines Ltd. Engineers of Dome stumbled on the deposit last August when they were frantically looking for something to replace moribund gold digging. Dome will spend $250,000 for new facilities, hopes to mine over 2,000,000 Ib. of the stuff annually--roughly 6% of world production and enough to supply practically all Canadian steel mills. To Dome this is a financial break: molybdenum sells for about 80-c- a Ib. At peak output the company should gross over $1,600,000 a year, one-fifth as much as all Dome's gold output once yielded.

The United Nations had been using up molybdenum "faster than it could be replenished." The joint U.S.-British raw-materials board recently notified Russia, Australia, Canada, et al. that their quarterly allocations must be cut. When Dome gets into production in January at least part of this cut can be restored.

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