SCARCE VANADIUM ORES DISCOVERED

One of the narrowest bottlenecks in the U. S. arms production program may be opened up as a result of discoveries of new deposits of vanadium which are being tested by the Department of Petrography.

Among the many ores which have been sent in to be tested, one discovered in Ontario by Teaching Fellow Willard C. Lacy has been found to be the richest. Investigation of the specimens by means of the spectograph, the wonder-working detecting instrument that is taking the place of chemical analysis, is under the direction of Professor Esper S. Larsen.

Vanadium, used to make steel alloys harder and more durable, has heretofore been mined chiefly in Peru and the western United States. Under war demands, new reserves are in urgent demand.