An enormous increase in U.S. aluminum and magnesium production was authorized by WPB this week. The program calls for an annual output of 2,000,000,000 Ib. of aluminum, 700,000,000 Ib. of magnesium-the first a 35%, the second a 75% increase in capacity previously planned.
The magnesium program was to enlist a new process that uses less power than present electrolytic methods: ferrosilicon. Pulverized and mixed with calcined dolomite (a common magnesium ore), the ferrosilicon reduces the ore in a vacuum, and magnesium of high purity results. Henry Ford, Union Carbide & Carbon and...
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