Western War Minerals

Abstract

All of us are becoming increasingly conscious these days of the part many raw materials play in our daily lives. As the priorities system becomes more widespread, and more raw materials are totally withdrawn from civilian use and increasingly restricted in their military uses, there inevitably will be some very marked changes in both the technology, economics, and sources of our raw material supplies. Although the problem of supplying our essential needs is national, its effect will vary regionally. Its influence in the Southwest will be of particular interest because of the normal productivity of this area and the many rapid changes there taking place as a result of war activities. War stimulated industries leave their mark on peacetime industrial development. The tremendous expansion now going on around us will have many permanent effects, some of which are discussed in the following pages.