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RADIUM ORE

FOUND IN-DEVON.

Mi- T. Arscott, of the staff of the Timaru Gas Works, has just received from Home an account of a 'radium ore discovery in. Devon,' by a Mr Hendy, a friend of his with whom he •used to work, fifty years ago. • The story of the discovery makes very interesting reading. It occurred on the wood estate-. of Kingswood which contains considerable mineral wealth, and Mr Hendy, being a veteran miner, was secured to supervise a body of miners who were employed to prospect for copper, though he had been living in retirement for the past fifteen years. Mr Hendy came across a mineral which he had-not seen before. It was found to be pitchblende, and a sample was. sent to London for analysis with the result that a startling report was back stating that it showed a maximum' oxide content of over 26 per cent., ,or thirteen times as rich as the American ore of radium. The Home paper which has been sent to Mr Arscott, giving an account of the discovery, says that "it is a remarkable discovery and that its importance from a scientific commercial standpoint cannot bo over-estimated. The whole' discovery bears an atmosphere'of romance seeing that it was made -by a veteran miner eighty years of age, wlio first drove his pick in the locality over 60 years ago." The Kingswood estate formerly belonged to the Earl of Macclesfield. The value of radium is £4oo.oooan ounce i;

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THD19190529.2.20

Bibliographic details

Timaru Herald, Volume CVIII, Issue 16821, 29 May 1919, Page 5

Word Count
246

RADIUM ORE Timaru Herald, Volume CVIII, Issue 16821, 29 May 1919, Page 5

RADIUM ORE Timaru Herald, Volume CVIII, Issue 16821, 29 May 1919, Page 5