Antimony Serves Nations At War In Varied Ways

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 195, 19 August 1942, Page 4

Antimony Serves Nations At War In Varied Ways

\Y HAT essential commodity is

responsible for the following—a car battery, the head of a match, the hardening of a leaden bullet, the v isible burst of an anti-aircraft shell, and this very printed page? Here is a poser to try out on your friends. It is, in fact, a mineral called antimony.

By A. W. B. Powell

In medieval times ana earlier antimony was commonly used in the practice of medicine; in fact, it is still used to a small extent for that purpose. At one time antimony was so widely used for medical purposes, without its action being properly understood, that injury to health resulted, causing the complete banning of its use for a considerable time.

The origin of the name antimony is lost in obscurity, that is unless we accept what may be termed a "believe it or not" version that tells of the first successful treatment of sickly hogs with a preparation of the mineral, followed by a less successful application to the inmates of a monastery—hence the name "antimonk." Lead-like Mineral Antimony is a lead-like mineral usually found as stibnite, sulphide of antimony, characterised by its long slender "crystals which set in all directions, some cutting across and interlacing with the general direction of the bulk of the crystals. I'p to 1 (t2."> China supplied 90 per c r nt of the world's antimony and Japan took a hand in attempting to deny it to us. Their best efforts, however, only succeeded in the now Allied nations seeking and developing other resources, with the result that Mexican "production and. again. Bolivian supplies are each now individually far greater than the peak Chinese production. .Japan once possessed antimony deposits of good quality, but these are now almost exhausted, and she must rely upon what can be filched from occupied China. Japan in past years had a considerable export of showy but inferior quality electroplated vases, dishes and household ornaments, all of which were extremely brittle and easily broken, being made of antimony. In this way Japan squandered her comparatively small antimony resources and must now rely on China for supplies for munitions.

The principal uses of antimony are in the hardening of lead, and the greatest tonnage goes into the production of battery plates. Type metal is another great consumer, for lead alone is too soft for type casting. Not only does antimony serve in hardening lead, but it is also useful in preventing the shrinkage which lead normally undergoes in cooling. Can be Reclaimed The metallurgical uses of antimony destroy very little of the metal, for much of it can be reclaimed from scrap, such as old battery plates, cable coverings and type metals. Some uses, however, remove it permanently from the market, notably that used in the heads and striking surface of safety matches. White enamels and some other white paint pigments represent another use where the metal becomes irretrievable.

Antimony has very direct military uses, in that it is essential for hardening the cores of bullets and shrapnel balls.

Antimony sulphide also has a valuable use as an inclusion in anti-air-craft shells, whereby a dense white smoke obtains, indicating clearly where the bursts take place. Regarding supplies of antimony, neither the Allies nor the Axis are faced with serious supply difficulty, apart from that of transport.