SILVER IN INDUSTRY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue 38, 15 February 1943, Page 5

SILVER IN INDUSTRY

Silver is being used in the United States on a large scale as a substitute for copper in industry, chiefly for electrical purposes. When the shortage of copper became acute owing to war-time demands, it was' suggested that silver lying In the Treasury vaults might be used Industrially, thereby releasing a substantial quantity of copper for munitions. ... ... 1 ~ The Treasury authorities concluded that they could legally "lease lend" their free silver stocks for such purposes, and the President approved a plan whereby the silver would be made available to plants engaged in war production, whether under Government or private ownership. The Treasury was to retain the title to the silver, which would not be used up in production, but would form part of the productive equipment. Plants producing aluminium and magnesium especially could employ the silver for electrical bus bars and other purposes for which copper is normally used, and the silver could be returned to the Treasury after the war. Over 1,360,000,000 ounces of free silver were available in the Treasury, and it was estimated that more than 40,000 tons of copper would be released for war requirements by this plan.