FINANCE
W & L L STREET OF C » E ^ 1 § T H ¥ Sales of Foote Mineral increase 5 0 % in 1 9 5 0 ; company expects shortages to increase use of lithium a n d zirconium, plans expansion, m a y b e n e w financing sales of Foote Mineral N i'.rcreased 50'', to $5,147, Ml
Co. inin 1950. as compared with S-Ud >.9()9 in 19-49. according to tlie report ol II. C. Meyer. president, at die thirty-sixth animal stockholders* meeting. Unaudited net income amounted to $556,000, equivalent alter preferred dividends to $9.47 per share of common stock. The stockholders approved a proposed amendment to the articles of incorporation to split the stock three for one. Meyer attrihuted the large gain in sales during 1950. a >ear of "troubled prosperity," to greater industrial use of Foote's principal chemical product, lithium. Probably the largest single factor was the capture of r){)'"f ol the market by replacing lead oxide with lepidolite, a lithium ore, in television tubes. Each tube contains 4 to 5 pounds of the ore to provide a cheaper glass, with better sealing and handling properties. T h e stockholders were treated to a convincing presentation 1 of the Foote story and were permitted to peer ahead into the company's future. They were told, for example, that production of zirconium had been rapidly
expanded in the past year, that t h e ductile metal has an important place in atomic reactors and jet engines because ol its low neutron absoiption. Cood physical properties, high strength, and corrosion resistance offer the hope that peacetime applications will be uncovered, although the present cost is very high. With perhaps $1 million annually in sales, zirconium is one of the brighter stars in Foote's firmament. Its production by a refining process, utilizing a closed tube with iodine as a transport to carry the zirconium to an incandescent element where it is deposited, is unique; separation of other metals by this process is now being sponsored by the Army Signal Corps. The most important of Foote products, lithium, is receiving considerable stimulus as a replacement for other metals which are in short supply. For instance, lithium carbonate will probably replace nickel in a ferrite core which is attached to the neck of television tubes. In the ceramics industry, lithium displaced 10,000 tons of lead in 1950, and Foote predicts an eventual replacement of 32,000 tons a %ear in the near future. Other lithium
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chemicals uliich \\,\\c exhibited strong growth CIUACS arc litr liuin b \ pochlorito bleaches, lithium greases in petroleum, refining, and lubricating industries, and lithium coatings lor electrodes. Emerging Iroin booties laboratories an* new steel addition agcrats; a new type of welding rod coating; zirconium, tungsten, and more* lithium chemicals; and a porcelain enamel o n aluminum. Behirad these products, Foote has secured substantial deposits of mineral raw materials. Favorable contracts for lepidolite ore firom tho largest mines in t h e world located in Southwest Africa have loeen o b t a i n e d , and reccntU the company purchased tine Knit* Mountain, X. C„ litli ium-bearin g ores. spoduiuene unci pegmatite, from Solvav . Production from these ores will In-gin this summer, and t h e ore bodies are
