CINDERELLA METAL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 70, Issue 69, 3 January 1950, Page 2

CINDERELLA METAL

TITANIUM FROM CANADIAN CLIFFS QUEBEC CITY. The jagged, black-and-white cliffs of Lac Tio, Quebec, will be blown down in a 30,000,000-dollar attempt to exploit the world’s richest known deposits of the Cinderella metal, titanium. No time has been lost in getting to work on the deposits discovered two years ago by prospectors ranging through the rough country on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River, opposite Anticosti Island. The Lac Tio ore body i« estimated to contain 150 million tons of ilmenite, source of titanium dioxide. Mining company officials anticipate that in three years, Quebec will be the dioxide centre of the world. Production of the metal titanium in Quebec will come, they say, with development of more skilful 1 and economic techniques of refining. Industrial scientists say titanium holds such immense promise that it, may surpass nickel or aluminium in its usefulness to mankind. Already, it is being used in its oxide form for paint pigments, and in the making of paper, water colours, soap, rubber goods, inks, and even smoke screens.

Strength Same as Stainless Steel

The metal itself has about the same strength as stainless steel, and keeps its strength 'at high temperatures, a factor that may make it invaluable in the development of jet engines. It shows a high resistance to salt-water corrosion. Used in alloys, it toughens other metals, adding tensile strength and providing'"Heat resistance. It can even be made into brilliant gems. > The Quebec Iron and Titanium Oxidei an electric smelter at Sorel, Quebec, will be completed in two or three years. 'lt will produce iron from the Lac Tio ore, and, as a by-product, a high-grade titanium dioxide slag. This slag will be shipped to the United States, where it will be used as a source of titanium metal and pigments. The company expects to get about 600 tons of titanium oxide slag and 400 tons of iron ore from each 1500 tons of Lac Tio ilmenite processed. A railroad is being built from the little port of Havre St. Pierre, on the St, Lawrence, 27 miles inland over muskeg and rock to Lac Tio. Camps have already been set up at she ore face, and drilling is at an advanced stage. Mining the ore consists simply of drilling holes in the hard surface, and setting off blasts, then, power shovels drag the coal-black rocks away—the same rocks that Indians, in earlier days, tried without success to burn as coal. Many Uses for the Metal This black ore, after processing, yields the fine white powder that is the oxide of titanium. This powder is now the principal pigment used in the making of white and light-coloured paints. It has the highest obliterating or hiding power for the volume and money paid for it, providing hiding qualities that permit use of the palest lacquers and enamels as a finish. Titanium pigments also are used in plastics, glass, cosmetics, textile printing, flooring, leather finishes, wallboard, and even false teeth. Scientists "are constantly finding new uses foi’ the metal. It may be used for aircraft, textile machinery, automotive pistons, spring balances, sporting goods', gas turbine parts, television; as an alloying element in nic-i kel welding, and in cutting tools—for it will cut glass. Most glamorous aspect of titanium is its development in the form of gems. Finely powdered titanium oxide is blown through the intense heat of an electric furnace, and a molten mist is formed. Condensed on a silicate base, it forms a crystalline rock that can be cut and polished to a gem brighter than a, dia-mond-—for titanium has the highest known index of refraction, or ability to send back light rays.