774 MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1967 
 
announced ' by the company. National Steel Corp. announced plans for a steel
building manufacturing complex on a 155-acre site near Houston. Coastal Forge
and Steel Co. completed construction of two furnaces for the production of
plate die forgings and roll forgings. 
 
 Lead.—Ores and concentrates from other States and from foreign countries
were treated at the El Paso lead works of Asarco. Output from scrap metal
smelters increased slightly during the year. Lead was produced from one primary
smelter and six secondary smelters located within the State during 1967.

 
 Magnesium and Magnesium Compounds. 
—The Dow Chemical Co. recovered magnesium metal, magnesium chloride
and other magnesium compounds from gulf sea water by an electrochemical process.
Output of metal at the Freeport and Velasco plants was near capacity as market
demand for the metal increased 20 percent. The metal was used in alloys of
aluminum for die casting, and as a reductant in metal production, particularly
for titanium and ductile iron. 
 Uses of the compounds included preparation of paper, pulp, refractory magnesia,
oxychloride and oxysulfate cements, magnesium insulation, and sugar. Also
at Freeport, E. J. Lavino & Co. processed magnesium hydroxide, supplied
by Dow, to produce refractory magnesia (periclase). 
 A second magnesium producer—American Magnesium Company of Tulsa, Okia.

—planned a 30,000-ton-per-year magnesium metal recovery plant to be
located near Snyder in Scurry County. Initial production is scheduled for
early 1969. The plant will produce magnesium metal and chlorine from subsurface
brines near Gail in Borden County. The brine contains about 11 percent magnesium
chloride, compared with 0.25 percent magnesium in sea water. Magnesium chloride
will be separated from the other brine constituents by a dehydration process
and magnesium metal recovered from the chloride crystals by electrolysis.
Chlorine gas will be recovered as a byproduct, about 3 pounds of chlorine
gas per pound of magnesium produced. 
 Manganese.—Ferroalloys, including ferromanganese, were produced from
foreign manganese ores at the Houston plant of Tenn-Tex Alloy & Chemical
Corp. 
 
 Mercury.—Mercury was recovered as the result of exploration and development
work at five properties in 1967. Output and value were considerably larger
than in 1966. Mercury demand continued to exceed supply with a resultant
rise in metal price to about $500 per flask. Principal markets for the versatile
metal remained the electrolytic preparation of chlorine and caustic soda,
electrical apparatus, and industrial control equipment. 
 
 Tin-Tungsten.—Tin and tungsten were recovered from foreign ores and
concentrates at the Texas City smelter of Wah Chang Corp. during 1967. The
company deferred an earlier decision to discontinue tin smelting at the smelter.
The facility, which has processed low-grade Bolivian tin ores, will not be
able to compete with the proposed new tin smelter the Bolivian Government
planned to build. 
 
 Uranuim.—Uranium ores from Karnes County were processed at the Fall
City ntill of Susquehanna Corp. The company increased its mill capacity to
1.2 million pounds of yellow cake per year. 
 Uranium prospecting increased substantially in 1967 as lease and exploration
projects were active in a 300-mile strip from Fayette County in south-central
Texas to Starr County on the Rio Grande River. The activity included nearly
every major oil company and several major mining companies. Many oil companies
were enlarging geological staffs to include mineral exploration as others
formed wholly-owned subsidiaries. An example of the latter was Amarillo Oil
Co. which formed Amarillo Minerals, Inc., for the purpose of leasing, exploring,
and developing mineral leases. 
 
 Zinc.—Zinc retort facilities at Amarillo and Dumas and the electrolytic
zinc plant at Corpus Christi produced zinc metal during 1967. Metal output
was substantially reduced because of the mine and smelter strike.