Canada. International Nickel Co. of Canada was constructing a $3.6 million plant at Port Colborne, Ontario, for the production of nickel-magnesium alloys used for producing ductile iron. Initial annual production of 14 million pounds was scheduled for mid-1972. The plant will eventually have an annual capacity of 25 million pounds.

France. Société Générale du Magnesium owned jointly by Péchiney and Ugine Kuhlmann completed the installation of a sixth furnace at its plant at Marignac. This facility, with an annual capacity of 9,000 tons per year, produces magnesium by the magnetherm process. Plans for a further increase in capacity to 16,000 tons per year were being considered.

for a concession to exploit large deposits of magnesium salts in the province of Friesland. The deposits, estimated to total about 300 million tons, consist mainly of carnallite-a double salt of magnesium and potassium chloride. According to a press release issued by Shell, plans are under consideration for setting up a magnesium plant.

Norway.—Norsk Hydro-Elektrisk A/S completed the expansion of its magnesium production facility at Heroya raising its production capacity to 47,000 tons per year. Magnesium chloride brine will be supplied by Kali and Salz GmbH, a subsidiary of Salzdetfurth A.G. New facilities being built at Heroya by Norsk Hydro to process the brine material are expected to be completed in the autumn of 1972.

A new technique for making pore-free die castings, using a reactive gas in place of air in the die chamber, has gone into commercial production under a cross-licensing agreement between the International Lead Zinc Research Organization and Nippon Light Metal.2 The technique is applicable to magnesium as well as aluminum and zinc die casting. The pore-free die castings have a 10-percent greater ascast strength and up to two times the elongation of conventionally die-cast parts.

The capacity of seawater activated batteries containing magnesium anodes is often limited by clogging. During discharge the space between the electrodes of the cells nearest to the negative terminal gradually fill with magnesium hydroxide and battery capacity is reduced. By using a filter, the formation of flocculent magnesium hydroxide during discharge can be controlled in low rate AgC1/Mg seawater batteries. When disodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate is used as the filter me

dium, the capacity of these batteries was reportedly increased.3

Battelle Memorial Institute will establish an international magnesium research center at its Columbus, Ohio, laboratories.4 The Dow Chemical Company will transfer its files on magnesium research and development to Battelle for a nominal sum and will place an initial $1 million, 5-year research contract with the new center. The Dow files contain about 14,000 separate reports accumulated over more than 50 years of magnesium research by the company. The files also include indexes listing nearly all pre-1944 scientific publications on mag

nesium.

2 Metals Week. New Process Makes Pore-free Die Castings. V. 42, No. 33, Aug. 16, 1971, p. 7.

3 Mueller, Carl E., and Frederic M. Bowers. The Control of Insoluble Magnesium Compounds Formed During Seawater Battery Discharge. J. Electrochem., Soc., v. 118, No. 2, February 1971, pp. 394-397.

* Chemical & Engineering News. Magnesium: Dow Moves Lab to Battelle. V. 49, No. 24, June 24, 1971, p. 12.

Basic, Inc., produced crude magnesite and brucite from its Gabbs, Nev., property. Northwest International produced olivine from its operations in Washington and North Carolina; Olivine Corp. also produced olivine in Washington.

Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., Basic Magnesia, Inc., Standard Lime and Refractories Co., Corchem, Inc., and Northwest Magnesite Co. produced refractory magnesia from well brines and sea

water. Harbison-Walker Refractories Co., A. P. Green Refractories, Co., International Minerals & Chemicals Corp., and Basic, Inc. were also producers of refractory magnesia. The State of Michigan supplied more refractory magnesia than any of the other producing States, which included California, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, and Texas.

1 Chemist, Division of Nonferrous Metals.

6

5,510

ΝΑ

1 Included in "Other" category.

Prices for magnesia, calcined, technical, heavy, 90 percent and 93 percent (bags, carlot, f.o.b. Luning, Nev.) showed no change from the 1970 rates of $53.00 and $56.00 per short ton, respectively, according to the Oil, Paint and Drug Reporter. Magnesia, technical, synthetic rubber-grade, neoprene-grade, light, was quoted with no change from the 1970 price at $0.24 per pound (bags, carlot, freight-equalized) .

Prices for magnesium carbonate, technical (bags, carlot, freight-equalized), remained the same as in 1970 at $0.16 per

pound and for truckload quantities at $0.18 to $0.185 per pound with no change from the 1970 rate. For magnesium hydroxide, NF, powder (drums, carlot, and truckload, works) the price range was unchanged from that of 1970 and remained at $0.21 to $0.295 per pound. Magnesium chloride, hydrous, 99 percent, flake, bags, carlot, works, was quoted at $72.80 per ton compared to $60.00 in 1970. Magnesium lauryl sulfate, tanks, freight-allowed, dropped to $0.175 per pound from $0.18 in 1970.

Exports of dead-burned magnesite and magnesia in 1971 totaled 53,448 short tons, a decrease of 40 percent from the 1970 total. The loss was due largely to decreased exports to Argentina, Chile, Italy, Mexico, Peru, and Spain. Exports of magnesite, including crude, causticcalcined, lump or ground, decreased 30 percent to 7,050 tons in 1971. Deliveries to Canada, El Salvador, West Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom accounted for over 50 percent of the exports in this class. Imports for consumption of lump or ground caustic-calcined magnesia increased less than 1 percent in 1971 to 11,518 tons.

Imports of dead-burned and grain magnesia and periclase containing a maximum of 4 percent lime increased 22 percent to 115,879 short tons. Imports for the same class of material containing over 4 percent lime decreased from 33,518 tons in 1970 to 13,146 tons in 1971. Total imports increased 1 percent over those of 1970 to 129,025 tons.

Under the "Kennedy round" tariff agreement, tariffs, as of January 1, 1971, were further reduced on a number of magnesium compounds. The tariff on precipitated magnesium carbonate was increased, as the following tabulation shows: