The Combined Development Agency (CDA), originally the Combined Development Trust (CDT), was a defense purchasing authority established in 1944 by the governments of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

. Its role was to ensure adequate supplies of

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

for the respective countries weapons development programs. The agency initiated a range of incentives to several countries to encourage exploration and a fast buildup of mineral reserves. The main countries targeted for the programs were the US,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

, and to a limited extent

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The countries tried to monopolize on the resources of the territories they owned or that had hardly any claim. The

Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...

was an example of the third world place that was used for its resources. In Australia, uranium ore from a number of mines was processed at the purpose built Port Pirie Uranium Treatment Complex which operated under contract to the CDA by the Government of South Australia between 1955 and 1962.

History

General Leslie Groves was a United States General that was put in charge of assembling and maintaining the Manhattan Project. He was a major campaigner for the creation of the CDT because he saw the importance of not only obtaining an adequate amount of uranium to complete the needs of the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

, but also to attempt to obtain the uranium so that the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

would have less access. The entire world's stockpile of uranium was unknown, but a joint effort was a good start to securing access to the most uranium possible. He first created a program, Murray Hill Area Project, that's main goal was to seek locations of uranium ore and thorium ore based on reports from mostly foreign documents. He found that protecting the thorium could prove just as important because it could be converted into uranium. This meant that finding the locations was only half the battle and funneled money into the purchase of the varies mineral rights.

References

Uranium Agencies of the United States government 1944 establishments in the United States {{US-org-stub