Ore will be refined at an extraction plant near Delta to fill a $26 million federal government contract for beryllium billets for the government's strategic-materials stockpile.
The process for 91,000 pounds of vacuum hot press beryllium billets will be conducted in 1991 and 1992 by Brush Wellman Inc. The contract allows the option for 43,000 pounds of beryllium to be supplied in 1993 for about $13 million, however.The billets will be produced from a portion of the ore that is in the government agency's stockpile, the announcement stated. Metallurgical processing, billet fabrication and testing will be done at Brush Wellman's beryllium plant at Elmore, Ohio. Cleveland is headquarters for the company.
A portion of the beryl ore in stockpile will be upgraded to a more readily available form of metallic beryllium, said Rep. Paul Gillmor, R-Ohio. He said the upgrading will shorten the response time and reduce the risk of supply interruptions during a national emergency, and is therefore important to the nation's defense.
Brush Wellman manufactures engineered materials. Its subsidiaries supply worldwide markets.