BUSINESS & FINANCE Cahf. West End's plant is located on the southwest border of the lake, and the company holds nearly 3000 acres of the lake under Government leases, paying royalties from 3 to 5% of gross sales of mineral products. After carbonation of the brine pumped from the lake, borax is extracted by refrigeration and crystallization; calcining of the bicarbonate precipitate yields soda ash. Originally designed to produce only borax and soda ash, the West End plant was expanded in 1955 to include a plant designed to produce 50,000 tons of sodium sulfate annually. Construction has been started on another salt cake unit of the same size. The first such unit was completed at a cost of $1.2 million and the second unit will cost $1.3 million, of which $500,000 had been expended by last June 30. Large quantities of lime expended in the brine extraction process are obtained from lime deposits north of the lake. A large lime deposit was acquired in that area in 1954 and 1955, and West End now has under construction a large rotary lime kiln capable of producing about 40,000 tons annually of hydrated lime. In the past two years, $2.5 million has been spent for the installation and substantial completion of the lime kiln and for the equipment at the lime quarry. In 1955, West End's soda ash sales were 62% of its total sales of $6.5 million, or about $4 miUion; borax sales accounted for 32% of the total, or about $2 million. Since the sodium sulfate plant did not begin to operate until April, 1955, sales were only 3% of the total, or $200,000. Currently, sodium sulfate sales are running at 12% of total sales ($3.7 million for the first half of 1 9 5 6 ) , or $450,000 for the half year. At the annual rate of $900,000 for 50,000 tons, West End seems to be getting $18 a ton for salt cake, most of which is used in the manufacture of kraft paper. • Borax. Stauffer has produced boric acid in its San Francisco plant since 1895 and refined borax since 1902. For its boric acid production, Stauffer purchases kernite from Pacific Coast Borax in Kern County, Calif., and since 1933 Stauffer has been exclusive sales agent for West End borax produced at Searles Lake. About 90% of world production of boron materials is based on kernite (sodium borate) and on the sodium borate available from Searles Lake. The Anniversary Mine, acquired by West End in 1921, is believed to be the largest single deposits of colemanite (a calcium borate ore) known to exist in the world. Located in Clark County, 5308
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Nev., the Anniversary Mine b e c a m e obsolete with the discovery of sodium borate ores and has not been operated since 1928. Stauffer says that there is no reason to believe that colemanite will become a competitive source of boron minerals in the foreseeable future. In the past, borax had been obtained from colemanite by boiling with souiuni eaxuûiiâte, a process which is no longer economical. However, recent experiments and developments in the use o f baron in metallurgy and as a jet ftiel additive suggest interesting, although speculative, possibilities for boron i n these and related fields, according t o Stauffer. The company has announced a tenfold expansion in facilities for production of boron trichloride at Niagara Falls, Ν. Υ., where the product can b e
converted b y Olin Mathieson at the same location into a high-energy boron fuel. Thus if demand should skyrocket, colemanite might come back into the boron picture again.
No Letup Yet Continued growth o f the chemical industry will b e f i nanced from earnings, but outside help m a y be n e e d e d V T R O W T H i n the chemical industry shows no signs of leveling off, says Monsanto president Charles A. Thomas. And, k e adds, the key to this growth will be research and development—plus money-
Basse Infesrnafsonal S^snbess Like the basic international chemical and engi neering equations, the M. W. Kellogg symbol is internationaiiy recognized as fundamental to the planning, engineering, a n d operation of profitable petroleum and petrochemical plants. In these two areas, M. W. Kellogg has gained high international recognition because it ]s international . . . in its approach to process a n d plant design . . . in its facilities to procure materials, equipment, labor . . . in its ability t o coordinate and direct every
CHEMICAL
THE
Ml W. 711 T H I R D
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KE AVENUE, N E W
phase of a major capital expenditure toward an early on-stream date, wherever in the world the project may be. Through its headquarters i n New York and sub sidiary companies in Toronto, London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, and Caracas, M. \i/V. Kellogg has worked with leading oil refiners a n d chemical firms the world over. If you are planning new or expanded facilities at home or abroad, we believe that M. W. Kellogg's unique international background and constant contact with technological advances here and overseas will result in a more profitable invest ment for your company.
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A SUBSIDIARY OF PULLMAN INCORPORATED The Canadian Kellogg Company Limited, Toronto · Kellogg International Corporation, London Companhia Kellogg Brasileira, Rio d e Janeiro · Compania Kellogg de Venezuela, Caracas Kellogg Pan American Corporation, New York · Société Kellogg, Paris
KEÎ.LOGG
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put pet* in a tired
oil well Here's a n i d e a , as y e t untried, but with g o o d p o t e n t i a l . W e have a r e m a r k a b l e product, Sodium Borohydride (NaBH 4 ). It is soluble in water to the extent of 55 g . N a B H 4 / 1 0 0 g . H 2 0 , or 4.4 p o u n d s / g a l l o n o f w a t e r a t 2 5 ° C . These solutions are stable in alkaline water solutions a t a pH of 9 or higher, but when treated w i t h a c i d , N a B H 4 is decomposed to release h y d r o g e n . θ Η NaBH 4 + • 2 H 2 0 - > 4 H 2 + N a B 0 2 W e suggest that a n alkaline solution of N c B H 4 b e pumped into a n oil w e l l , perhaps with a wetting agent, a n d a l l o w e d to diffuse into the pores of the o i l bearing rock. This w o u l d be f o l l o w e d b y pumping in a solution o f acid which w o u l d react and generate h y d r o g e n insitu. The evolution of hydrogen (38 cu. f t . / l b . NaBH 4 ) should open clogs in t h e porous strata a n d under a hydrostatic h e a d could generate considerable pressure in the pores. Note that no special equipment would b e necessary f o r this treatment. If interested, w h y not take a d v a n t a g e of our experience in h y d r i d e chemistry. . PIONEER-S.IN
HYDROGEN
COMPOUNDS
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Thomas told the N e w York section of the Investment Banking Association of America last week that the average chemical company puts at least 39^ of its sales dollar into research and devel opment. Monsanto alone tossed some $60 million into research between 1950 and 1955. As a result it introduced 173 new products over the period. Similar efforts b y the industry a s a whole have brought sales u p five-fold since 1939 to $ 2 3 billion last year. Plant expansion dollars loom larger, too. In the past four years the indus try has sunk at least a million dollars annually into expanding facilities; this year nearly $1.4 billion will be spent and almost $1.6 billion is slated for 1957. * Behind this expansion: research and development. Promising areas pointed out by Thomas: synthetic inorganic polymers which can b e mixed on a con struction site and polymerized into ar tificial stone, ion exchange resins that can convert salt water to fresh water, solid state physics, and atomic power, not to mention plastics and adhesives. But money is needed if these poten tialities are to b e realized, he adds. Some wonder where it will come from. The chemical industry, Thomas told the IB A group, hopes to generate as much capital as possible out of its earn ings. This is one reason, h e suggests, that chemical stocks will continue to be purchased for growth potential rather than dividend yield. But should some developments n o w foreseen reach fruition more quickly than i s expected, it may b e necessary for the industry to seek some financial aid from outside.
• American Enka's directors have de cided against declaring an extra cash dividend this year similar to the 40cent year-end extra paid a year ago. Although the regular 40-cent common dividend has been declared, the com pany wants t o conserve cash t o meet the needs of its expansion program. A large rayon staple plant nearing com pletion at Lowlands, Tenn., is expected to be in operation before the end of the year. • Lithium Corp. will pay a 3% stock dividend to stockholders on Dec. 3 . A similar dividend w a s disbursed last
July 1. • Texas Co. has declared a n extra divi dend of 4 5 cents payable Dec. 10, bringing total payments for the year to $2.35. Last year Texaco paid the equivalent of $ 2 . 1 2 1 / 2 o n a present share basis. 5310
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