TANTALITE DEPOSITS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 159, 7 June 1937, Page 7

TANTALITE DEPOSITS

NOW WORTH £OOO A TON. In the last few months, the Alines Department of the Northern Territory ot Australia has received inquiries from all parts of the world for tantnlite. Persistent demands for the metal have resulted in increased activity in those areas where deposits oi tantalite are known to exist. Tantalite is used for hardening steel, and. its potentialities have been discovered only in the last few years. The price has doubled within recent years, and it is now worth more than £GOO a ton. . Air Edgar Gr.ulil, a representative ol a German company, Chemical Industries of Hamburg, was recently in Darwin, prepared to purchase all tantalite produced. Only about, 6001 b was produced last year, and it was bought by Ameren. A similar quantity was shipped to the same destination from Darwin early this year. Since Mr Gruhl’s arrival, men who hove been spasmodically working claims have been consistently hard at work. Air Gru'd has inspected most of tne holdings. He said he was'amazed that the rich holdings be had seen , within a comparatively few miles of Darwin, were not being worked• scientifically.