Editing Manhattan Project (section)

=== Ore ===

{{main|Manhattan Project feed materials program}}

[[File:Torbernite-220577.jpg|thumb|A sample of a high-quality uranium-bearing ore ([[Tobernite]]) from the [[Shinkolobwe]] mine in [[Belgian Congo]]]]
The key raw material for the project was uranium, which was used as fuel for the reactors, as feed that was transformed into plutonium, and, in its enriched form, in the atomic bomb itself. There were four known major deposits of uranium in 1940: in Colorado, in northern Canada, in [[Jáchymov|Joachimsthal]] in Czechoslovakia, and in the [[Belgian Congo]].<ref>{{harvnb|Smyth|1945|p=39}}.</ref> All but Joachimstal were in Allied hands. A 1942 survey determined that sufficient quantities of uranium were available to satisfy the project's requirements.<ref>{{harvnb|Smyth|1945|p=92}}.</ref>{{efn|The original project goal in 1942 was to acquire approximately {{convert|1700|ST}} of uranium ore. By the time of the dissolution of the Manhattan District, it had acquired about {{convert|10000|ST}} tons of uranium oxides, 72% of which came from the Congolese ores, 14% from the Colorado plateau, and 9% from Canadian ores.<ref>{{cite book|title=Manhattan District History, Book 7, Volume 1 (Feed Materials and Special Procurement)|date=1947|url=https://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2014/09/05/general-groves-secret-history/|volume=Book 7, Volume 1|pages=2.14, 5.1, Appendix D.3}}. An additional 5% came from "miscellaneous sources", which included some ores recovered by the [[Alsos Mission]] from Europe.</ref>}} Nichols arranged with the [[State Department]] for export controls to be placed on [[uranium oxide]] and negotiated for the purchase of {{convert|1200|ST}} of uranium ore from the Belgian Congo that was being stored in a warehouse on [[Staten Island]] and the remaining stocks of mined ore stored in the Congo. He negotiated with [[Eldorado Mining and Refining|Eldorado Gold Mines]] for the purchase of ore from its refinery in Port Hope, Ontario. The Canadian government subsequently bought up the company's stock until it acquired a controlling interest.<ref>{{harvnb|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|pp=85–86}}.</ref>

[[File:Ames Process uranium biscuit.jpg|thumb|A uranium metal "biscuit" created from the [[redox|reduction]] reaction of the [[Ames process]]]]

Of these ores, those from the Belgian Congo contained the most uranium per mass of rock by far.<ref name="Nichols 1987 47">{{harvnb|Nichols|1987|p=47}}</ref>{{efn|Much of the mined ore from the [[Shinkolobwe]] mine had a uranium oxide content as high as 65% to 75%, which was many times higher than any other global sources.<ref name="Nichols 1987 47">{{harvnb|Nichols|1987|p=47}}</ref> By comparison, the Canadian ores could be as high as 30%, and American sources, many of them byproducts of the mining of other minerals (especially [[vanadium]]), contained less than 1% uranium.<ref>{{cite book|title=Manhattan District History, Book 7, Volume 1 (Feed Materials and Special Procurement)|date=1947|url=https://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2014/09/05/general-groves-secret-history/|volume=Book 7, Volume 1|pages=Appendix C1}}.</ref>}} Beyond their wartime needs, American and British leaders concluded that it was in their countries' interest to control as much of the world's uranium deposits as possible. The [[Shinkolobwe]] mine was flooded and closed, and Nichols unsuccessfully attempted to negotiate its reopening and the sale of the entire future output to the United States with [[Edgar Sengier]], the director of the company that owned the mine, the [[Union Minière du Haut-Katanga]].<ref>{{harvnb|Jones|1985|p=295}}.</ref> The matter was then taken up by the Combined Policy Committee. As 30 percent of Union Minière's stock was controlled by British interests, the British took the lead in negotiations. Sir John Anderson and Ambassador [[John Winant]] hammered out a deal with Sengier and the Belgian government in May 1944 for the mine to be reopened and {{convert|1720|ST}} of ore to be purchased at $1.45 a pound.<ref>{{harvnb|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|pp=285–288}}.</ref> To avoid dependence on the British and Canadians for ore, Groves also arranged for the purchase of US Vanadium Corporation's stockpile in [[Uravan, Colorado]].<ref>{{harvnb|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|pp=291–292}}.</ref>

The raw ore was dissolved in [[nitric acid]] to produce [[uranyl nitrate]], which was processed into [[uranium trioxide]], which was reduced to highly pure [[uranium dioxide]].<ref>{{harvnb|Ruhoff|Fain|1962|pp=3–9}}.</ref> By July 1942, Mallinckrodt was producing a ton of highly pure oxide a day, but turning this into uranium metal initially proved more difficult.<ref>{{harvnb|Hoddeson|Henriksen|Meade|Westfall|1993|p=31}}</ref> Production was too slow and quality was unacceptably low. A branch of the Metallurgical Laboratory was established at [[Iowa State College]] in [[Ames, Iowa]], under Frank Spedding to investigate alternatives. This became known as the [[Ames Project]], and its [[Ames process]] became available in 1943.<ref>{{harvnb|Hewlett|Anderson|1962|pp=87–88}}.</ref>