It was described as the wonder metal and used for incendiary munitions casings and airplane engines, frames, and other parts. The processing of magnesium is multi-step task using significant amounts of energy. In the June 1944 issue of the Desert, Lelande Quick provides the following pictorial of how magnesium is processed:
Several employees of Basic Magnesium spent much time in England learning the skills required for the above process. Ironically, the Germans assisted England in building the plant prior to war. Locating the processing plant near Hoover Dam resulted in low cost energy. When the facility was at full capacity it produced over five million pounds of magnesium nuggets per day and employed over 13,500 people. This made BMI bigger than the employee base of the Hoover Dam and BMI's weekly payroll was greater than a month's payroll at the dam.
Below is a series of photographs taken inside the factory, which were found at the website: http://www.mypubliclibrary.com/catalog/history/bmi_plant.html.
BMI Plant Bundling Magnesium Ingots for Shipping
October 1, 1943
BMI Plant Casting Magnesium Ingots
June 11, 1943
BMI Plant Crew Members of the Army Air Force Bomber Memphis Belle with Plant Workers
July 13, 1943
The last photo brings together the two major contributes Nevada was able to provide to the war effort. Nevada's natural resources and landscape provided for two very valuable contributions to winning the war: the metal from which planes and bullet/bomb casing were made and the pilots who learned how to fly the airplanes, which dropped the bombs.
Sources:
Elliott, Russell R. And William D. Rowley, History of Nevada. Nebraska: University of Nebraska, 1987
Schemata, Geoff Sun, Sin and Suburbia: An Essential History of Modern Las Vegas. Nevada: Stephens Press LLC, 2010.
Quick, Lelande. Miracle Metal from Nevada Hills, Desert Magazine, June 1944, pages 10-13. Retrieve from http://www.scribd.com/doc/2097157/194406-Desert-Magazine-1944-June
Las Vegas Evening Review-Journal and Boulder City Journal, August 14, 1942
Websites:
http://media.nara.gov/media/images/27/23/272214a.gif http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/ww2/navy-casualties/nevada.html
http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/ww2/army-casualties/nevada.htm
http://www.nellis.af.mil/library/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=4096
http://www.mybaseguide.com/air-force/nellis-creech-afb http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lasvegas/peopleevents/e_federalprojects.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties www.homeofheroes.com/moh/states/nv.html
http://www.mypubliclibrary.com/catalog/history/bmi_plant.htm
http://www.paulrwilliamsproject.org/gallery/basic-magnesium-plant-housing-las-vegas-nv/
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