[94] Reported taken over by a Norwegian company. U. S. Commerce Reports, September 24, 1918.
Table 33.—Production of Molybdenite in Queensland, New South Wales and Norway
| Year | Queensland | New South Wales | Norway | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight (short tons) | Value (dollars) | Weight (short tons) | Value (dollars) | Weight (short tons) | Value (dollars) | |
| 1902 | 45.9 | 26,770 | 16.8 | 8,960 | 22 | 16,100 |
| 1903 | 26.9 | 10,220 | 32.5 | 21,960 | 34 | 21,400 |
| 1904 | 23.6 | 13,010 | 28.3 | 13,270 | 33 | 17,400 |
| 1905 | 70.8 | 41,340 | 21.7 | 12,200 | 51 | 16,300 |
| 1906 | 118.9 | 74,330 | 36.6 | 23,350 | 1,129 | 14,200 |
| 1907 | 74.0 | 41,080 | 24.2 | 17,340 | 33 | 12,900 |
| 1908 | 98.7 | 44,960 | 9.5 | 4,520 | 39 | 13,400 |
| 1909 | 103.9 | 45,120 | 31.5 | 15,810 | 33 | 12,100 |
| 1910 | 118.6 | 58,640 | 53.2 | 27,580 | ||
| 1911 | 111.4 | 64,610 | 23.1 | 12,610 | 2 | 800 |
| 1912 | 114.6 | 84,420 | 63.3 | 18,030 | 23 | 5,400 |
| 1913 | 74.3 | 92,460 | 88.3 | 33,100 | 13 | 3,200 |
| 1914 | 87.1 | 185,830 | 68.8 | 55,720 | ||
The production of molybdenite in Queensland, New South Wales and Norway, by years, is shown in the preceding table.
Figures for more recent years indicate the total production in Australia of about 330 short tons per annum and 110 short tons in Norway in 1916. In 1917 the output in Norway was three times the 1916 figures.
North America.
—As already stated, the chief molybdenite deposits in Canada are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. They are low grade and of course need concentration. The Canadian and British governments have been much interested in the concentration of these ores and the Canadian government has a mill engaged in experimental work and in commercial concentration. The Department of Mines has spent a good deal of time in experimentation, believing that molybdenite has an important future in metallurgy.
The production in 1917 was about 80 short tons of high-grade concentrates and was undoubtedly larger in 1918.
Canada when properly prospected may produce a good deal more molybdenite than now.
In the United States are a very large number of small molybdenum deposits, scattered over the western states from Washington to Arizona and from Colorado to California. There are two common minerals—molybdenite, or molybdenum sulphide, and wulfenite, or lead molybdate. Generally speaking, molybdenite is found in the northern states, and wulfenite in the southern states, but this rule is not without exception. In Arizona and New Mexico, the principal mineral is wulfenite, but there are some fairly large deposits of molybdenite, probably the best being at the Leviathan mines, in Copper Canyon, Mohave County, Arizona. This is the only molybdenite deposit that is being worked in New Mexico or Arizona. It is in the Cedar Valley mining district about three miles southeast of Copperville and about 25 miles east of Yucca. This ore carries a good deal of copper, as well as small traces of gold and silver. Some analyses have shown 2 or 3 per cent. MoS2 and 1¹⁄₂ to 2 per cent. copper with 0.02 ounce of gold and 1 to 4 ounces of silver per ton. The percentage of molybdenite is undoubtedly above the average, which does not exceed 1 per cent. The country rock is medium-grained gray granite, consisting of quartz, feldspar, biotite, muscovite and small amounts of other accessory minerals, such as zircon and apatite. The company has erected a mill and has succeeded in making a satisfactory separation of the copper from the molybdenite.