Manhattan Project feed materials program: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Program of the Manhattan Project to convert uranium ores into feed materials}}

{{good article}}

{{use American English|date=April 2025}}

{{use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{main|Manhattan Project}}

[[File:Uranium processing.png|thumb|right|upright=1.3|Chart describing the processing of uranium]]

The '''Manhattan Project feed materials program''' located and procured [[uranium ore]]s, and refined and processed them into feed materials for use in the [[Manhattan Project]]'s [[isotope enrichment]] plants at the [[Clinton Engineer Works]] in [[Oak Ridge, Tennessee]], and its [[nuclear reactor]]s at the [[Hanford Engineer Works]] in [[Washington state]]. The [[highly enriched uranium]] product of the enrichment plants and the [[plutonium]] from the reactors was used to make [[atomic bomb]]s.

The original goal of the feed materials program in 1942 was to acquire approximately {{convert|1,700|ST|t|order=flip}} of [[triuranium octoxide]] ({{chem2|U3O8}}) (black oxide). By the time of the dissolution of the Manhattan District on 1 January 1947, it had acquired about {{convert|10,000|ST|order=flip}}, {{Percentage|6983|10220|1}} of which came from the [[Belgian Congo]], {{Percentage|1349|10220|1}} from the [[Colorado Plateau]], and {{Percentage|1137|10220|1}} from Canada. An additional {{Percentage|481+270|10220|1}} came from "miscellaneous sources", which included quantities recovered from Europe by the Manhattan Project's [[Alsos Mission]].

Ores from the Belgian Congo contained the most uranium per mass of rock by far. Much of the mined ore from the [[Shinkolobwe]] mine had a black oxide content as high as 65% to 75%, which was many times higher than any other global sources. In comparison, the Canadian ores could be as rich as 30% uranium oxides, while American ores, mostly byproducts of the mining of other minerals (especially [[vanadium]]), typically contained less than 1% uranium. In 1941, both the Shinkolobwe mine and the [[Eldorado Mine (Northwest Territories)|Eldorado Mine]] in Canada were closed and flooded; the Manhattan Project had them reopened and returned to service.

Beyond their immediate wartime needs, the American and British governments attempted to control as much of the world's uranium deposits as possible. They created the [[Combined Development Trust]] in June 1944, with the director of the Manhattan Project, [[Major General (United States)|Major General]] [[Leslie R. Groves Jr.]] as its chairman. The Combined Development Trust procured uranium and [[thorium#Occurrence|thorium ores]] on international markets. A special account not subject to the usual auditing and controls was used to hold Trust monies. Between 1944 and his resignation from the Trust in 1947, Groves deposited a total of $37.5 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|37.5|1944|r=2}} million in {{Inflation/year|US}}). In 1944, the Combined Development Trust purchased {{convert|3440000|lb|kg}} of uranium oxide ore from the Belgian Congo.

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A major deposit was found at [[Shinkolobwe]] in what was then the [[Belgian Congo]] in 1915, and extraction was begun by a Belgian mining company, [[Union Minière du Haut-Katanga]], after the First World War. The first batch of uranium ore arrived in Belgium in December 1921.{{sfn|Vanthemsche|2012|p=192}} Only the richest uranium-bearing ore was exported to [[Olen, Belgium]] for the production of [[radium]] metal by [[Biraco]], a subsidiary company of Union Minière du Haut Katanga. The metal became an important export of Belgium from 1922 up until World War II.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Adams |first=A |date=January 1993 |title=The origin and early development of the Belgian radium industry |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/016041209390274L |journal=Environment International |volume=19 |issue=5 |pages=491–501 |bibcode=1993EnInt..19..491A |doi=10.1016/0160-4120(93)90274-l |issn=0160-4120|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

The high grade of the ore from the mine—65% or more [[triuranium octoxide]]) ({{chem2|U3O8}}), known as black oxide, when most sites considered 0.03% to be good—enabled the company to dominate the market. Even the 2,000 tonnes of tailings from the mine considered too poor to bother processing contained up to 20% uranium ore.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|pp=S4–S5}}{{sfn|Nichols|1987|p=47}}<ref>{{cite news |date=4 August 2020 |first=Frank |last=Swain |title=The forgotten mine that built the atomic bomb |publisher=BBC |url=https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200803-the-forgotten-mine-that-built-the-atomic-bomb |access-date=19 February 2025 |archive-date=30 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250130075136/https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200803-the-forgotten-mine-that-built-the-atomic-bomb |url-status=live }}</ref> Black oxide was mainly used as a glaze in the ceramics industry, which consumed about {{convert|150|ST|t|order=flip}} annually as a coloring agent for [[uranium tiles]] and [[uranium glass]], and in 1941 sold for USD{{convert|2.05|$/lb|2|order=flip}} (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|{{convert|2.05|/lb|order=flip|disp=number}}|1941}}/kg in {{Inflation/year|US}}). [[Uranium nitrate]] ({{chem2|UO2(NO3)2}}) was used by the photographic industry, and sold for USD{{convert|2.36|$/lb|2|order=flip}} (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|{{convert|2.36|/lb|order=flip|disp=number}}|1941}}/kg in {{Inflation/year|US}}).{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|pp=5.1–5.2}} The market for uranium was quite small, and by 1937, Union Minière had thirty years' supply on hand, so the mining and refining operations at Shinkolobwe were terminated.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|pp=S4–S5}}

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====The US Army takes over====

Events began to move swiftly once the Army became involved. On 15 September 1942, Ruhoff secured Sengier's approval for the release of {{convert|100|ST|t}} of ore, which was shipped to Eldorado's refinery at [[Port Hope, Ontario]], for testing of the oxide content.{{sfn|Jones|1985|p=79}} Nichols met with Sengier in the latter's office at [[Cunard Building (New York City)|25 Broadway]] on 18 September,{{sfn|Norris|2002|p=326}} and the two men reached an eight-sentence agreement that Nichols recorded on a yellow [[legal pad]], giving Sengier a [[carbon copy]]. Under this agreement, the United States agreed to buy the ore in storage on Staten Island and was granted prior rights to purchase the {{convert|3,000|ST|t}} in the Belgian Congo, which would be shipped, stored and refined at the US government's expense. African Metals would retain ownership of the radium in the ore. At a meeting on 23 September, they agreed on a price: USD{{convert|1.60|$/lb}} (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|{{convert|1.60|/lb|order=flip|disp=number}}|1942}}/kg in {{Inflation/year|US}}), of which $1 would go to African Metals and 60 cents to Eldorado for refining.{{sfn|Nichols|1987|pp=43–46}} Sengier opened a special bank account to receive the payments, which the [[Federal Reserve]] was instructed to ignore and auditors instructed to accept without question.{{sfn|Groves|1962|p=37}} Contracts were signed on 19 October.{{sfn|Helmreich|1986|p=9}}

[[File:Bowling Green NYC Feb 2020 07.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Cunard Building (New York City)|Cunard Building]] at 25 Broadway, where Sengier had his office]]

The ore in Staten Island was transferred to the [[Seneca Army Depot|Seneca Ordnance Depot]] in [[Romulus, New York]], for safe keeping. Meanwhile, arrangements were made to ship the ore from the Belgian Congo. The Shinkolobwe mine had been closed since 1937, and had fallen into disrepair and flooded. The [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] restored the mine, expanded the aerodromes in [[Léopoldville]] and [[Elisabethville]], improved railroads and built a port in [[Matadi]], Congo's single outlet to the sea. The army also secured the remaining ore in Shinkolobwe, which was shipped to the United States: 950 tons of approximately 70% ore and 160 tons of 20% ore.{{sfn|Williams|2016|pp=1–6}} As the port of Lobito in [[Portugal during World War II|neutral Angola]] was considered a security risk, all uranium transported by sea from the last week of January 1943 was routed through Matadi in sealed barrels marked "Special Cobalt." The uranium was first sent north by train from Shinkolobwe to the [[railhead]] at Port-Francqui (now [[Ilebo]]) on the Kasai River. From there, the sealed barrels were loaded onto barges to be transported to Léopoldville (now known as [[Kinshasa]]), where they were taken by train to Matadi.{{sfn|Williams|2016|pp=1–6}}

Sengier thought it would be safer for the ore to be shipped in {{convert|16|kn|kph|adj=on|sp=us}} freighters that could outrun the German [[U-boat]]s rather than in [[convoy]]. This was accepted, and the first shipment, of {{convert|250|LT|t|order=flip}}, departed on 10 October, followed by a second on 20 October and a third on 10 November. The shipments were managed by the [[American West African Line]], known as the [[Barber Line]], which ran a service between New York and Matadi.{{sfn|Williams|2016|pp=1–6}} Uranium for the Manhattan Project was also transported by air on the [[Pan American Airways]] [[Boeing 314 Clipper|clipper]] service. The Brazil–West Africa air link was extended to reach Leopoldville, primarily to gain access to uranium from what was then the Belgian Congo.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stanley |first=William R. |date=1994 |title=Trans-South Atlantic Air Link in World War II |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/41146247 |journal=GeoJournal |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=459–463 |doi=10.1007/BF00806430 |jstor=41146247 |bibcode=1994GeoJo..33..459S |issn=0343-2521|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{sfn|Cotta Vaz|2018|pp=306-307}} Thereafter, ore was shipped at a rate of {{convert|400|LT|t|order=flip}} per month from December 1942 to May 1943. Two shipments were lost, one to a U-boat in late 1942, and one due to a maritime accident in early 1943. The ore arrived faster than it could be processed, so it was stored at Seneca.{{sfn|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|p=291}}{{sfn|Nichols|1987|p=47}}{{sfn|Jones|1985|p=80}} About {{convert|200|ST|t|order=flip}} was lost. Later shipments were temporarily stored at the Clinton Engineer Works. In November 1943, the [[Middlesex Sampling Plant]], a in [[Middlesex, New Jersey]], was leased for storage, sampling and assaying. The ore was received in bags and sent for refining as required.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|pp=2.5–2.6}}

In August 1943, [[Winston Churchill]] and [[Franklin Roosevelt]] negotiated the [[Quebec Agreement]], which merged the British and American atomic bomb projects,{{sfn|Gowing|1964|pp=168–173}}{{sfn|Bernstein|1976|pp=216–217}} and established the [[Combined Policy Committee]] to coordinate their efforts.{{sfn|Jones|1985|p=296}} In turn, the Combined Policy Committee created the [[Combined Development Trust]] on 13 June 1944 to procure uranium and [[thorium#Occurrence|thorium ores]] on international markets.{{sfn|Helmreich|1986|p=16}} Groves was appointed its chairman, with Sir [[Charles Jocelyn Hambro|Charles Hambro]], the head of the British Raw Materials Mission in Washington, [[Frank Godbould Lee|Frank Lee]] from the [[HM Treasury|Treasury]] delegation as the British trustees, and George Bateman, a deputy minister and a member of the [[Combined Production and Resources Board]], representing Canada.{{sfn|Gowing|1964|p=301}}{{sfn|Jones|1985|p=299}} A special account not subject to the usual auditing and controls was used to hold Trust monies. Between 1944 and his resignation from the Trust at the end of 1947, Groves deposited a total of $37.5&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|37.5|1944|r=2}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).{{sfn|Jones|1985|pp=90, 299–306}}

In the autumn of 1943, Groves triedattempted to have the Shinkolobwe mine re-opened and its output sold to the United States.{{sfn|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|pp=285–286}} Sengier reported that the mine could yield another {{convert|10,000|ST|t|order=flip}} of ore containing 50 to 60 per cent oxide, but restarting production required new equipment, electricity to pump out the flooded mine, and assembling a workforce, which would take 18 to 20 months.{{sfn|Helmreich|1986|p=18}} Mine repairs and dewatering cost about $350,000 and another $200,000 was required to divert electricity away from copper mines.{{sfn|Helmreich|1986|p=35}} As 30 per cent of the stock in Union Minière were held by British shareholders and the [[Belgian Government in Exile]] was in London, the British took the lead in negotiations.{{sfn|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|pp=285–286}} Negotiations took much longer than anticipated, but Sir [[John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley|John Anderson]] and Ambassador [[John Winant]] hammered out a deal in May 1944 with Sengier and the Belgian Government in Exile for the mine to be reopened and {{convert|1720|ST}} of ore to be purchased, and the contract was signed until 25 September 1944.{{sfn|Helmreich|1986|pp=36–37}} The agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Belgium lasted ten years and financed the development of [[nuclear energy in Belgium]].{{sfn|Helmreich|1990|pp=320-321}}

====Post-war====

Groves tried to have the Shinkolobwe mine re-opened and its output sold to the United States.{{sfn|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|pp=285–286}} Sengier reported that the mine could yield another {{convert|10,000|ST|t|order=flip}} of ore containing 50 to 60 per cent oxide, but restarting production required new equipment, electricity to pump out the flooded mine, and assembling a workforce, which would take 18 to 20 months.{{sfn|Helmreich|1986|p=18}} Mine repairs and dewatering cost about $350,000 and another $200,000 was required to divert electricity away from copper mines.{{sfn|Helmreich|1986|p=35}} As 30 per cent of the stock in Union Minière were held by British shareholders and the [[Belgian Government in Exile]] was in London, the British took the lead in negotiations.{{sfn|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|pp=285–286}} Negotiations took much longer than anticipated, but Sir [[John Anderson, 1st Viscount Waverley|John Anderson]] and Ambassador [[John Winant]] hammered out a deal in May 1944 with Sengier and the Belgian Government in Exile for the mine to be reopened and {{convert|1720|ST}} of ore to be purchased, and the contract was signed until 25 September 1944.{{sfn|Helmreich|1986|pp=36–37}} The agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Belgium lasted ten years and financed the development of [[nuclear energy in Belgium]].{{sfn|Helmreich|1990|pp=320-321}}

[[File:BOILER and PROCESS BUILDINGS, SOUTHWEST OBLIQUE - Middlesex Sampling Plant, Process Building, 239 Mountain Avenue, Middlesex, Middlesex County, NJ HAER NJ,12-MIDSX,1A-6.tif|thumb|left|Boiler and process buildings, [[Middlesex Sampling Plant]]]]

During the war, all uranium from the Congo had gone to the United States, as had that captured in Europe by the [[Alsos Mission]], although some of it passingpassed through British hands.{{sfn|Gowing|Arnold|1974|pp=102–103}} The entire output of Shinkolobwe was contracted to the Combined Development Trust until 1956, but in March 1946 there were (unrealized) fears that the mine might be exhausted in 1947, resulting in a severe uranium shortage.{{sfn|Gowing|Arnold|1974|pp=358–359}} After some negotiation, Groves and [[James Chadwick]], the head of the [[British Mission to the Manhattan Project]], agreed on a division of uranium ore production, with everything up to March 1946 going to the United States, and supplies being shared equally thereafter.{{sfn|Gowing|Arnold|1974|pp=102–103}}{{sfn|Gowing|Arnold|1974|pp=358–359}} Between [[VJ-Day]] and 31 March 1946, ore containing {{convert|850|ST|t|order=flip}} of oxide at a cost of USD$2,582,260 ({{Inflation|US|2,582,260|1946|fmt=eq}}). Production then picked up as the effect of new machinery was felt, and from 1 April to 1 July {{convert|1,969|ST|t|order=flip}} of oxide was delivered at a cost of $7,113,956 ({{Inflation|US|7,113,956|1946|fmt=eq}}).{{sfn|Helmreich|1986|p=117}}

At the Combined Policy Committee meeting on 31 July 1946, the financial arrangements were adjusted. Previously, the two countries had split the costs equally; henceforth each would pay for only what they received.{{sfn|Gowing|Arnold|1974|pp=102–103}} Britain was therefore able to secure the uranium it needed for [[High Explosive Research]], its own nuclear weapons program, without having to outbid the United States, and paid for it in [[pound sterling|sterling]]. Meanwhile, because the adjustment applied retrospectively to VJ-Day, it received reimbursement for the supplies allocated to Britain but given to the United States, thus easing Britain's dollar shortage.{{sfn|Gowing|Arnold|1974|pp=102–103}}{{sfn|Gowing|Arnold|1974|p=356}} Although Union Minière would have preferred payment in dollars, it had to accept half in sterling.{{sfn|Helmreich|1986|p=117}}

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[[File:Gilbert Labine examining uranium ore at the Eldorado Mine located at Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories.jpg|thumb|right|[[Gilbert LaBine]] examines uranium ore at the [[Eldorado Mine (Northwest Territories)|Eldorado Mine]] ]]

On 16 May, LaBine found pitchblende near the shores of Echo Bay at a mine site that became [[Port Radium]].{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=23–25}}<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Science: Radium |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=https://time.com/archive/6757353/science-radium/ |access-date=25 February 2025 }}</ref> Eldorado also established a processing plant at Port Hope, Ontario, the only facility of its kind in North America. To run it, LaBine hired Marcel Pochon, a French chemist who had learned how to refine radium under [[Pierre Curie]], who was working at the recently closed [[South Terras mine]] in Cornwall.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=55–57}}<ref>{{cite web |title=How Canada supplied uranium for the Manhattan Project |publisher=CBC Documentaries |url=https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/how-canada-supplied-uranium-for-the-manhattan-project-1.7402051 |access-date=25 February 2025 |archive-date=11 February 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250211161617/https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/how-canada-supplied-uranium-for-the-manhattan-project-1.7402051 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Science: Radium |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,758086-2,00.html |access-date=25 February 2025 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=10 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010121538/https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,758086-2,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Ore was mined at Port Radium and shipped via [[Great Bear River|Great Bear]], [[Mackenzie River|Mackenzie]] and [[Slave River]]s to [[Waterways, Alberta]], and thence by rail to Port Hope.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=11–15}}<ref name="Macleans">{{cite magazine |title=Port Radium's Eldorado - The Mine that Shook the World |first=Ronald A. |last=Keith |magazine=Maclean's Magazine |date=15 November 1945 |via=Republic of Mining |url=https://republicofmining.com/2016/09/14/port-radiums-eldorado-the-mine-that-shook-the-world-by-ronald-a-keith-macleans-magazine-november-15-1945/ |access-date=26 February 2025}}</ref> In 1936, Eldorado Gold Mines took over [[Marine Transportation Services|Northern Transportation Company Limited]] (NTCL). Its flagships were the ''[[Radium Queen (ship)|Radium Queen]]'' and ''[[Radium King]]'' both commissioned in 1937.<ref>{{Cite book |last=van Wyck |first=Peter |title=Highway of the Atom |date=2010 |publisher=MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-3783-5 |___location=Montreal |pages=31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=15 April 1937 |title=Radium King's en route - Eldorado subsidiary ship leaves for west by train |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Gi8rAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qZgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4583,2000389&dq=radium-king&hl=en |work=The Montreal Gazette |volume=CLXVI |issue=90}}</ref> The two [[Tugboat|tugboats]] pulled or pushed, depending on the conditions, ore [[scow]]s named ''Radium One'' to ''Radium Twelve''.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=66–67}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Discouraging Difficulties Overcome by Eldorado Pioneers |newspaper=[[Edmonton Bulletin]] |date=11 December 1945 |page=16 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-edmonton-bulletin/113391751/ |access-date=26 February 2025}}</ref> Great Bear Lake is only navigable between early July and early October, being icebound the rest of the year,{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=11, 41}} but mining activity continued year-round, sustained by the [[Eldorado Radium Silver Express]], which flew personnel and supplies to the mine and transported ores back by air.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|p=3.1}}{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=368–375}}<ref name="CnsBulletin2005">{{cite journal |author=Arsenault |first=Jim E. |date=December 2005 |title=The Eldorado Radium Silver Express |url=https://cns-snc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Vol26_No4_2005.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Canadian Nuclear Society Bulletin |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=47–49 |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2012-12-01}}</ref>

In 1936, Eldorado Gold Mines took over [[Marine Transportation Services|Northern Transportation Company Limited]] (NTCL). Its flagships were the ''[[Radium Queen (ship)|Radium Queen]]'' and ''[[Radium King]]'' both commissioned in 1937.{{sfn|Van Wyck|2010|p=31}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 April 1937 |title=Radium King's en route - Eldorado subsidiary ship leaves for west by train |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Gi8rAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qZgFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4583,2000389&dq=radium-king&hl=en |newspaper=The Montreal Gazette |volume=CLXVI |issue=90}}</ref> The two [[Tugboat|tugboats]] pulled or pushed, depending on the conditions, ore [[scow]]s named ''Radium One'' to ''Radium Twelve''.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=66–67}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Discouraging Difficulties Overcome by Eldorado Pioneers |newspaper=[[Edmonton Bulletin]] |date=11 December 1945 |page=16 |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-edmonton-bulletin/113391751/ |access-date=26 February 2025}}</ref> Great Bear Lake is only navigable between early July and early October, being icebound the rest of the year,{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=11, 41}} but mining activity continued year-round, sustained by the [[Eldorado Radium Silver Express]], which flew personnel and supplies to the mine and transported ores back by air.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|p=3.1}}{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=368–375}}<ref name="CnsBulletin2005">{{cite journal |author=Arsenault |first=Jim E. |date=December 2005 |title=The Eldorado Radium Silver Express |url=https://cns-snc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Vol26_No4_2005.pdf |journal=Canadian Nuclear Society Bulletin |issn= 0714-7074 |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=47–49 |access-date=16 August 2025}}</ref>

Competition from Union Minière was fierce and served to drive the price of radium down from CAD$70 per milligram in 1930 ({{Inflation|CA|70|1930|fmt=eq}}) to CAD$21 per milligram in 1937 ({{Inflation|CA|21|1937|fmt=eq}}). Boris Pregel negotiated a cartel deal with Union Minière under which each company gained exclusive access to its home market and split the rest of the world 60:40 in Union Minière's favor. The outbreak of war in September 1939 blocked access to hard-won European markets, especially Germany, a major customer for ceramic-grade uranium. Union Minière lost its refinery at [[Olen, Belgium|Olen]] when Belgium was overrun, forcing it to use Eldorado's mill at Port Hope.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=71–75}} With sufficient stocks on hand for five years of operations, Eldorado closed the mine in June 1940.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|p=3.1}}{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=102–107}}

Competition from Union Minière was fierce and served to drive the price of radium down from CAD$70 per milligram in 1930 ({{Inflation|CA|70|1930|fmt=eq}}) to CAD$21 per milligram in 1937 ({{Inflation|CA|21|1937|fmt=eq}}). Boris Pregel negotiated a cartel deal with Union Minière under which each company gained exclusive access to its home market and split the rest of the world 60:40 in Union Minière's favor. The outbreak of war in September 1939 blocked access to hard-won European markets, especially Germany, a major customer for ceramic-grade uranium. Union Minière lost its refinery at [[Olen, Belgium|Olen]] when Belgium was overrun, forcing it to use Eldorado's mill at Port Hope.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=71–75}} With sufficient stocks on hand for five years of operations, Eldorado closed the mine in June 1940.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|p=3.1}}{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=102–107}}

[[File:Port Radium uranian mine entrance in 1947.png|thumb|left|Entrance to the uranium mine at Port Radium in the Northwest Territories in 1947]]

On 15 June 1942, [[Malcolm MacDonald]], the [[List of high commissioners of the United Kingdom to Canada|United Kingdom high commissioner to Canada]], [[George Paget Thomson]] from the [[University of London]] and [[Michael Perrin]] from Tube Alloys met with [[Mackenzie King]], the [[Prime Minister of Canada]], and briefed him on the atomic bomb project. A subsequent meeting was arranged that same day at which the trio met with [[C. D. Howe]], the [[Department of Munitions and Supply|Minister for Munitions and Supply]] and [[Jack Mackenzie|C. J. Mackenzie]], the president of the [[National Research Council Canada]]. The British had noticed how uranium prices had been rising and feared that Pregel would attempt to corner the market, and they urged that Eldorado be brought under government control. Mackenzie proposed to effect this through secret purchase of the stock.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=119–121}} Howe then met with Gilbert LaBine, who agreed to sell his 1,000,303 shares at CDN$1.25 per share ({{Inflation|CA|1.25|1942|fmt=eq}}). This was a good deal for LaBine; the stock was trading at 40 cents a share at the time, but the stock only amounted to a quarter of the company's four million shares.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=123–124}}

Complex negotiations followed between the Americans, British and Canadians regarding patent rights, export controls, and the exchange of scientific information, but the purchase was approved when Churchill and Roosevelt met at the [[Second Washington Conference]] in June 1942.{{sfn|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|pp=85–86}} Over the next eighteen months, LaBine and John Proctor from the [[Imperial Bank of Canada]] criss-crossed North America buying up stock in EldoradoEl Dorado Gold Mines,{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=123–124}} which changed its name to the more accurate Eldorado Mining and Refining on 3 June 1943.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|p=3.1}} On 28 January 1944, Howe announced in the [[House of Commons of Canada]] that Eldorado had become a [[crown corporation]], and the remaining shareholders would be reimbursed at CSN$1.35 a share.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|p=149}}<ref>{{cite web |first=Clarence Decatur |last=Howe |author-link=C. D. Howe |date=28 January 1944 |title=Acquisition of Properties and Assets by Expropriation of Capital Shares |publisher=Lipad - Linked Parliamentary Data Project |via=University of Toronto |url=https://www.lipad.ca/full/1944/01/28/2/ |access-date=16 August 2025}}</ref> Many shareholdeers had paid considerably more, but the government insisted that this was fair price,{{sfn|Sims|1980|p=39}} as the final market price was CDN$1.31 per share.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|p=149}}

Shortly after to the nationalization of Eldorado Gold Mines, the Canadian government initiated an investigation into the company's historical management practices and operations thathat yielded evidence suggesting fraudulent activities.<ref name=":0">{{Cite webmagazine |last=Sylvain |first=Lumbroso |last2=Wentzell |first2=Tyler |date=2 January 2024 |title=Unearthing a Nuclear Scandal |url=https://thewalrus.ca/unearthing-a-nuclear-scandal/ |access-date=26 April 2025 |websitemagazine=[[The Walrus]] }}</ref> As a result, in February 1946, Marcel Pochon, financial director Carl French, and Boris Pregel were charged with criminal conspiracy and fraud. They were alleged to have misappropriated and significant funds from Eldorado through a network of secretly controlled companies.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 February 1946 |title=Uranium To Forefront In Spy Ring Inquiry |url=https://princealbertlibrary.ca/padh/1946/February/Feb%2019,1946.pdf |newspaper=[[Prince Albert Daily Herald]] |pages=1, 8 |access-date=26 April 2025 }}</ref> However, the criminal proceedings against Pochon, French, and Pregel were discontinued. This decision was reportedly driven by the Canadian government's desire to avoid public disclosure of potentially sensitive wartime transactions. Terms of any settlement reached with Eldorado remained confidential.<ref name=":0" /> Related scrutiny also brought to light reports that Pregel, operating with U.S. government authorization, had facilitated the sale of {{convert|500|lb|kg|abbr=in|order=flip}} of uranium oxide to the Soviet Union during the war period. This transaction indicated that the distribution of Canadian uranium was not solely confined to the Manhattan Project.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Mining: Uranium Unlimited? |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |issue=11 |date=13 March 1950 |pp=83–84 |url=https://time.com/vault/issue/1950-03-13/page/87/ |access-date=26 April 2025}}</ref>

====Production====

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Ed Bolger, who had been the mine superintendent from 1939 to 1940, led the effort to reactivate the mine in April 1942. He arrived by air with an advance party of 25 and supplies, flown in by [[Canadian Pacific Air Lines]]. Some ore had been abandoned on the docks when the mine was closed, and could be shipped immediately, but reactivation was complicated. The mine had filled with water that had to be pumped out, and the water had rotted the timbers. One [[raise (mining)|raise]] was filled with helium. In order to thaw out the rock, electric heaters were brought in and ventilation was reduced, but this exposed the miner workers to a build up of radon gas. Bolger sought out the richest deposits and worked them first; in one [[vein (geology)|vein]], the oxide content was as high as 5%, but monthly production consistently fell short of targets, falling from a high of {{convert|80,000|ST|t|order=flip}} in August 1943 to {{convert|18,454|ST|t|order=flip}} in December.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=102–107}}{{sfn|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|p=85}}

[[File:Radium Queen at the Fort Fitzgerald docks, July 1, 1937.jpg|thumb|left|The ''Radium Queen'' at the dock in July 1937]]

Each season, some {{convert|1,200|to|1,400|ST|t|order=flip}} of freight was delivered to Port Radium by water, along with {{convert|2,500|to|3,000|ST|t|order=flip}} of oil for the diesel generators from [[Norman Wells]] on the Mackenzie River. Shipping supplies by water from Waterways cost {{convert|0.05|$/lb|order=flip}} (equivalent to ${{Inflation|CA|{{convert|0.05|/lb|order=flip|disp=number}}|1943}}/kg in {{Inflation/year|CA}}), while air freight from [[Edmonton]] cost {{convert|0.70|$/lb|order=flip}} (equivalent to ${{Inflation|CA|{{convert|0.70|/lb|order=flip|disp=number}}|1943}}/kg in {{Inflation/year|CA}}).<ref name="Macleans"/> LaBine asked the Americans to expedite the delivery of two new [[Lockheed Model 18 Lodestar]] aircraft to Canadian Pacific.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=102–107}} United States and Canadian military aircraft were used to move ore from Port Radium to Waterways. In 1943, {{convert|300|ST|t|order=flip}} of ore was moved by air.{{sfn|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|p=291}} He was also able to get some personnel released from the Canadian armed forces. By 1944, Eldorado had a work force of 230.{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=102–107}}

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=== Europe ===

{{main|Alsos Mission}}

The Alsos Mission was the Manhattan Project's [[scientific intelligence]] mission that operated in Europe. It was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel [[Boris Pash]], with [[Samuel Goudsmit]] as his scientific deputy. It moved with the advance of the Allied armies (and sometimes ahead of them).{{sfn|Groves|1962|pp=207–208}} In September 1944, after the liberation [[Antwerp]], the mission secured the corporate headquarters of Union Minière in [[Antwerp]] and seized its records.{{sfn|Groves|1962|pp=218–219}} They discovered that over {{convert|1,000|t|ST|order=flip}} tons of refined uranium had been sent to Germany, but about {{convert|150|ST|t|order=flip}} remained at Olen.{{sfn|Pash|1969|pp=82–86}} They then set out for Olen, where they located {{convert|68|ST|t|order=flip}}, but found another {{convert|80|ST|t|order=flip}} were missing, having been shipped to France in 1940 ahead of the German invasion of Belgium.{{sfn|Groves|1962|pp=219–220}} Groves had itthe recovered uranium shipped to England, and, ultimately, to the United States.{{sfn|Jones|1985|p=287}}

[[File:Alsos mealtime.jpg|thumb|left|Personnel of the [[Alsos Mission]] in Germany. [[Boris Pash]] is in the center, wearing a helmet.]]

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Eldorado's Port Hope refinery was located on the shores of [[Lake Ontario]] in buildings originally built in 1847 as part of a grain terminal.{{sfn|Arsenault|2008|p=45}} When production started in January 1933,{{sfn|Pochon|1937|p=362}} there were just 25 employees; this rose to 287 in 1943.{{sfn|Arsenault|2008|pp=46–47}} To cope with the increased demands of the Manhattan Project, a new building was added, and production was converted from a batch to a continuous process.{{sfn|Arsenault|2008|p=45}} Its commercial process was designed to process black oxide. Before the war, Port Hope had a capacity of {{convert|30|ST|t|order=flip}} per month. This was increased to {{convert|150|ST|t|order=flip}} per month.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|pp=7.1–7.3}}

Ore arrived from Port Radium after having already undergone some gravity and water separation that increased the percentage of black oxide to 35–50%. At Port Hope, the concentrate was crushed and a magnet used to remove iron. It was then heated to {{convert|1100|F|C|order=flip}} to remove [[sulfide]]s and [[carbonate]]s by decomposition and [[arsenic]] and [[antimony]] by volatilisation. It was then re-roasted with salt ({{chem2|NaCl}}) to form uranium chloride ({{chem2|UCl4}}). This was treated with [[sulfuric acid]] ({{chem2|H2SO4}}) and sodium carbonate ({{chem2|NaCO3}}) to form sodium [[uranyl carbonate]] ({{chem2|Na4UO2(CO3)3}}), which was decomposed with sulfuric acid. [[Caustic soda]] ({{chem2|NaOH}}) was then added to create [[sodium diuranate]] (soda salt) ({{chem2|Na2U2O7}}). Boiling removed excess hydrogen sulfide ({{chem2|H2S}}), and [[ammonium hydroxide]] ({{chem2|NH4OH}}) was added to form [[ammonium diuranate]] ({{chem2|(NH4)2U2O7}}), to facilitate removal of the silver content. The ammonium diuranite was then burned in crucible to produce black oxide., Thiswhich was then crushed and bagged for shipment.{{sfn|Pochon|1937|pp=363–364}}{{sfn|Arsenault|2008|pp=46–47}}

Purity was a major problem. The Manhattan District disliked impurities, particularly [[rare earth element]]s like [[gadolinium]] because they could be [[neutron poison]]s. But higher purity required repeated ammonium hydroxide baths, which were time consuming and expensive. Rather than aiming for 99% purity, it was better to settle for 97% and let [[Mallinckrodt]] deal with the problem in [[St Louis]].{{sfn|Bothwell|1984|pp=114–115}} By 1 January 1947, Eldorado had produced approximately {{convert|1,832|ST|t|order=flip}} of black oxide from African ore at a cost of $2,528,560 ({{Inflation|US|2,528,560|1947|fmt=eq}}), the average processing cost was therefore approximately $0.69 per pound ({{Inflation|US|0.69|1947|fmt=eq}}). In addition to the African ores, Port Hope also produced {{convert|847|ST|t|order=flip}} of black oxide from Canadian ores.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|pp=7.1–7.3}}

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Before the war, the only uranium metal available commercially was produced by the [[Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company]], using a photochemical process. Brown oxide was reacted with [[potassium fluoride]] in large vats on the roof of Westinghouse's plant in [[Bloomfield, New Jersey]].{{sfn|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|pp=65–66}} This produced ingots the size of a [[Quarter (United States coin)|quarter]] that were sold for around $20 per gram. [[Edward Creutz]], the head of the Metallurgical Laboratory's group responsible for fabricating the uranium, wanted a metal sphere the size of an orange for his experiments. With Westinghouse's process, this would have cost $200,000 ({{Inflation|US|200,000|1942|fmt=eq}}) and taken a year to produce.{{sfn|Compton|1956|pp=90–91}}

The hydride or "hydramet" process was developed by Peter P. Alexander, at Metal Hydrides, which used [[calcium hydride]] ({{chem2|CaH2}}) as the [[reducing agent]].{{sfn|Alexander|1943|p=3}}{{sfn|Wilhelm|1960|p=59}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Adams |first=David L. |date=March 1996 |title=Metal Hydrides and the Dawn of the Atomic Age |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ed073p205 |journal=Journal of Chemical Education |language=en |volume=73 |issue=3 |pages=205 |doi=10.1021/ed073p205 |bibcode=1996JChEd..73..205A |issn=0021-9584|url-access=subscription }}</ref> By this means the Metal Hydrides plant in Beverly, Massachusetts,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Singer-Vine |first1=Jeremy |last2=Emshwiller |first2=John R. |last3=Parmar |first3=Neil |last4=Scott |first4=Charity |title=Ventron Corporation — Beverly, Mass. — Waste Lands America's forgotten nuclear legacy |url=https://www.wsj.com/graphics/waste-lands/site/67-ventron-corporation/ |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=The Wall Street Journal}}</ref> managed to produce a few pounds of uranium metal. Unfortunately, the calcium hydride used contained unacceptable amounts of [[boron]], a neutron poison, making the metal unsuitable for use in a reactor. Some months would pass before Clement J. Rodden from the National Bureau of Standards and Union Carbide found a means to produce sufficiently pure calcium hydride.{{sfn|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|pp=65–66}}{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947e|pp=12.9–12.10}} Meal Hydrides managed to produce {{convert|41|ST|t|order=flip}} of metal by the time operations were suspended on 31 August 1943. It then started reprocessing scrap uranium metal, and produced {{convert|1,090|ST|t|order=flip}} at a cost of $0.33 per pound.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|pp=10.7–10.7}}

At the [[Ames Project]] at [[Iowa State College]], Frank Spedding and [[Harley Wilhelm]] began looking for ways to create the uranium metal. At the time, it was produced in the form of a powder, and was highly [[pyrophoric]]. It could be pressed and [[sintered]] and stored in cans, but to be useful, it needed to be melted and cast. Casting presented difficulty because uranium corroded [[crucible]]s of beryllium, magnesia and graphite. To produce uranium metal, they tried reducing uranium oxide with hydrogen, but this did not work. While most of the neighboring elements on the [[periodic table]] can be reduced to form pure metal and [[slag]], uranium did not behave this way.{{sfn|Payne|1992|pp=66–67}} (At the time it was mistakenly believed that uranium belonged under [[chromium]], [[molybdenum]] and [[tungsten]] in the periodic table.{{sfn|Wilhelm|1960|p=60}}) In June 1942 they tried reducing the uranium with carbon in a hydrogen atmosphere, with only moderate success. They then tried aluminium, magnesium and calcium, all of which were unsuccessful. The following month the Ames team found that molten uranium could be cast in a graphite container.{{sfn|Payne|1992|pp=66–67}} Although graphite was known to react with uranium, this could be managed because the carbide formed only where the two touched.{{sfn|Corbett|2001|pp=15–16}}

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Mallinckrodt established a uranium metal plant on the second floor of the building containing the green salt plant using the Ames Process. Production commenced in July 1943 and {{convert|1,364|ST|t|order=flip}} of metal was produced by 1 January 1947, at a cost of $2,773,750 ({{Inflation|US|2,773,750|1947|fmt=eq}}). The unit price contracted for the first {{convert|90|ST|t|order=flip}} was $4.17 a pound, but Mallinckrodt found that it could produce it for substantially less, and voluntarily refunded $2.20 a pound to the government. By 1 January 1947, the price had fallen to $0.71 per pound.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|pp=10.2–10.3}}

The Electro-Metallurgical Company in [[Niagara Falls, New York]], (a division of [[Union Carbide]]) built an Ames Process uranium metal plant on its property under a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract at a cost of $234,300 ({{Inflation|US|234,300|1943|fmt=eq}}). The plant operated from April 1943 to Ju1yJuly 1946, and produced {{convert|1,538|ST|t|order=flip}} of metal at an average cost of $0.67 per pound.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|pp=10.3–10.4}} DuPont built a plant in Deepwater for $1,050,300 ({{Inflation|US|1,050,000|1943|fmt=eq}}). The plant encountered various difficulties in operation and only produced {{convert|232|ST|t|order=flip}} of metal at an average cost of $1.72 per pound before the Manhattan Project decided to close it down in August 1944.{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947a|pp=10.3–10.4}}

==Other minerals==

Line 429 ⟶ 432:

The conclusion was that the best source of uranium was the Belgian Congo, followed by Canada, the United States and Sweden. The survey rated Czechoslovakia, Portugal and South Africa as "fair", and Australia, Brazil, Madagascar and the United Kingdom as "poor". For thorium, the best sources were considered to be Brazil and India, with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea and the United States regarded as "fair".{{sfn|Manhattan District|1947b|pp=S1–S4 }}

{{Clear}}

==Notes==

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* {{cite book |last=Compton |first=Arthur |author-link=Arthur Compton |year=1956 |title=Atomic Quest |url=https://archive.org/details/atomicquestperso0000comp |url-access=registration |___location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |oclc=173307 }}

* {{cite journal |last=Corbett |first=John D. |title=Frank Harold Spedding 1902–1982 |url=http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10269&page=300%E2%80%93326 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences |publisher=National Academy of Sciences |volume=80 |year=2001 |author-link=John Corbett (chemist) |access-date=June 6, 2015 |isbn=978-0-309-08281-5 |archive-date=5 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405232844/http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10269&page=300%E2%80%93326 |url-status=live }}

* {{cite book |last= Cotta Vaz |first=Mark |title=Pan Am at War: How the Airline Secretly Helped America Fight World War II |date=2018 |publisher=Skyhorse Publishing Company, Incorporated |others=John H. Hill |isbn=978-1-5107-2950-6 |___location=New York }}

* {{cite book |last=Dahlkamp |first=Franz J. |title=Uranium Ore Deposits |publisher=Springer-Verlag |___location=Berlin |year=1993 |isbn=978-3-540-53264-4 |oclc=23213888 }}

* {{cite report |author=Fleishman-Hillard |title=Fuel for the Atomic Age: Completion Report on St. Louis-Area Uranium Processing Operations, 1942–1967 |date=1 January 1967 |doi=10.2172/4137766 |osti=4137766 |___location=St. Louis, Missouri }}

Line 480 ⟶ 483:

* {{cite book |last=Scalia |first=Joseph M. |title=Germany's Last Mission to Japan: The Failed Voyage of U-234 |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=2000 |isbn=1-55750-811-9 |oclc=42290880 |url=https://archive.org/details/germanyslastmiss0000scal }}

* {{cite journal |last1=Seaborg |first1=G. T. |author-link1=Glenn Seaborg |first2=J. W. |last2=Gofman |author-link2=John Gofman |first3=R. W. |last3=Stoughton |title=Nuclear Properties of U233: A New Fissionable Isotope of Uranium |journal=[[Physical Review]] |issn=0031-899X |volume=71 |page=378 |date=15 March 1947 |issue=6 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.71.378.2 }}

* {{cite book |last=Sims |first=Gordon H.E. |title=A History of the Atomic Energy Control Board |publisher=Ministere of Supply and Services Canada |___location=Ottawa |date=July 1980 |isbn=0-660-10812-7 |url=https://inis.iaea.org/records/89cdh-6pb20/files/14762380.pdf |access-date=16 August 2025}}

* {{cite book |last=Smyth |first=Henry DeWolf |author-link=Henry DeWolf Smyth |title=Atomic Energy for Military Purposes: the Official Report on the Development of the Atomic Bomb under the Auspices of the United States Government, 1940–1945 |___location=Princeton, New Jersey |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1945 |oclc=770285|title-link=Smyth Report}}

* {{cite book |last=Vanthemsche |first=Guy |title=Belgium and the Congo, 1885-1980 |date=2012 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |___location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-521-19421-1 |oclc=801193141 }}

* {{Cite book |last=Van Wyck |first=Peter |title=Highway of the Atom |date=2010 |___location=Montreal |publisher=MQUP |isbn=978-0-7735-3783-5 |oclc=630475325 }}

* {{cite book |last=Villa |first=Brian L. |title=The Second World War as a National Experience: Canada |contribution=Chapter 11: Alliance Politics and Atomic Collaboration, 1941–1943 |publisher=The Canadian Committee for the History of the Second World War, Department of National Defence |year=1981 |editor-first=Aster |editor-last=Sidney |editor-link=Sidney Aster |oclc=11646807 |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/Canada/Natl_Exp/index.html |access-date=8 December 2014 |archive-date=17 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917040749/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/UN/Canada/Natl_Exp/index.html |url-status=live }}

* {{cite journal |last=Wilhelm |first=H. A. |author-link=Harley A. Wilhelm |title=Development of Uranium Metal Production in America |journal=[[Journal of Chemical Education]] |issn=0021-9584 |date=February 1, 1960 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=56–68 |doi=10.1021/ed037p56 |bibcode=1960JChEd..37...56W |osti=4732659 }}

* {{cite book | last = Williams |first = Susan |authorlink = Susan Williams (historian) |date = 2016 |title = Spies in the Congo: America's Atomic Mission in World War II |___location = New York |publisher = [[Hachette Book Group|Hachette]] |isbn = 978-1-61039-655-4 |oclc=962172953}}

* {{cite book| last = Williams |first = Susan |authorlink = Susan Williams (historian) |date = 2016 |title = Spies in the Congo: America's Atomic Mission in World War II |___location = New York |publisher = [[Hachette Book Group|Hachette]] |isbn = 978-1-61039-655-4 }}

{{refend}}

{{Manhattan Project|state=open}}

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[[Category:History of the Manhattan Project]]

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