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Show Page 2 OIL Rocky Mtn. OIL MINING JOURNAL . o Published weekly in Salt Lake City, Utahby r Utah Scene Publishing, P.O. Box 71, Salt Lake City, Utah 84110. Serving the mining and oil industries of the Rocky Mountain Region. 25$ per copy. Subscription rate $10 per year. EDITOR & PUBLISHER - new device to measure the concentration of airA borne radioactive particles in uranium mines has been developed under sponsorship of the Atomic Energy Commission. Present measuring procedures, made manually, require about an hour to make. The new device, called an Instant Working Level Meter, was designed and built at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under an AEC contract. EDITORIAL Building Prototypes The AEC plans to have five prototypes built within the next year. The meter is portable, weighs less than 15 pounds and is about the size of an attache case. It can be carried from one location to another within a mine, giving safety engineers exact and imme- As rescue crews labor at the Lark, Utah mine of the United States Smelting, Refining and Mining Company to free William Vernon (Buck) Jones, 61, trapped for nearly a week in a cave in, the problems of mine safety have been brought into the limelight in the The heroic effort by Buck Jones' fellow workers is a tribute to the miner tradition of taking care of their own and refusing to give up hope despite overwhelming odds. The crews continued to work despite continuing perils and were rewarded by finally hearing of more cave-in- s Buck's voice. The long struggle is not over yet as we go to press, but confidence is strong. GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. -Su-rface exploration and development U.S. uranium mining industry in 1968 eclipsed all prior records, according to a report by the AEC office here. Drillings totaled 23.8 million feet, more than double the 10.7 million feet drilled by the industry in 1967, the previous high year, the AEC drilled by the reached 290 last year including 78 coal miners killed in a Mannington, W. Va., coal mine explosion. Also under study are ways to improve health conditions. r Mixed reactions have greeted Administration proposals for greater mine safety. Secretary of the Interior waiter J. Hickel has testified that coal mining safety laws are inadequate and that coal mine conditions responsible for 90 per cent of mine accident deaths are not reached by present safety laws. And Bureau of the Mines Director John F. O'Leary two to three he said-kil- l said health hazards-whi- ch times as many coal miners as do accidents are not covered by the present law at all. "Miners are dying both from poor safety conditions and practices, and from occupationally caused diseases," said Hickel. "In my opinion, those who oppose health legislation are the same people who oppose safety leg- reported. The 1968 record represents 22 per cent of the 110 million feet of surface drilling for uranium since the AEC began to record industry drilling figures in 1948. Glenn Sorensen, president of the Kemmerer Coal Co., Frontier, Wyo., and past president of the ng Coal Operators Association, maintains that more restrictive laws may not be the whole answer. Part .of the answer has to be the continued education of employees, he said. "Whatever the law, we'll abide by it. But one of the big problems will be t see that employees abide by it Some of the provisions won't be tough enough-sowill be impossible to enforce," he predicted. GOLDEN, Colo. The Colorado Commission on Higher Education has approved six new degrees at the Colorado School of Mines. The action establishes a system of nine bachelors degrees, sixteen masters degrees and nine Ph.D. degrees at the school. Three additional bachelor of 123 East Broadway Salt Lake-City- , Utah 841 Tel. (801) 521-332- 0 TWX 1 1 910-925-58- 32 . level is the standard unit for describing the airborne raconcentration of the short-liv- ed don daughter products commonly referred to as Radium A, B, C and A working C'. The meter is designed so that the filter can be used separately with the present method of calculating concentrations as a cross check on the meters calibration. The meter, designed by Dr. G. L. Schroeder of the MIT Radioactivity Center, was tested between June and October of 1968 both in laboratories and in uranium mines. The five prototype meters which the AEC plans to have built are expected to cost between $4,000 and $5,000 each. AEC expects the meters to become vital tools for uranium mine ventilation engineers. Will License Use The working level meter will allow ventilation engineers to identity high concentrations, locate the source, and check effectiveness of corrections immediately. The AEC will license the use of the working level meter design, identified as patent application 315, under the normal patent licensing procedure. An AEC publication, USAEC Patents Available for Licensing, (TID 4557) describes the procedure and may be obtained from the Assistant General Counsel for Patents, USAEC Washington D.C., 20545. S-- 37, totaled 3.3 million, Utah 1.7 million and Colorado 1.3 million. to find new Exploration drilling Estimated Reserves Up deposits accounted for 16.2 million By the end of 1968 estimated U.S. feet of the 1968 drillings. The other uranium ore reached 7.4 million 7.6 million feet was development tons with an average grade of .23 drilling to define size, configuracent of uranium oxide. This per tion and grade of deposits. meant some 161,000 tons of uranSlightly more than 50 per cent of ium oxide recoverable at $8 a pound the total drilling was performed in or with less compared 148,000 in Wyoming, followed in order of ac1967. tivity by New Mexico, Texas, Utah New reserves developed in 1968 and Colorado, and other states. were 26,000 tons of $8 a pound or Wyoming performed 12 million less uranium oxide. But discountfeet of drilling, New Mexico drillore mined and shipped to mills, ing totaled 4.5 million feet, Texas ing the net gain was 13,000 tons. Exploration Drilling degrees science degrees and master of science degrees were approved. In addition to B.S. degrees in the six mineral engineering departments. (geological, geophysical, metallurgical, mining, petroleum and chemical an undergraduate may choose to earn a degree in mineral engineering chemistry, mineral engineering mathematics, or mineral engineering physics. Boyles Bros. Drilling Co. Nen-Prefita- Company Organised CONTRACTING SERVICES o Help Prospectors Exploration NUno Developing Rotary Drilling Shafts 0 Geology 1624 Piorieer Road Salt Lake City, Utah 84104 P.O. . 1 District Offices: P.O. lox Mi In K7I Phoenix, Aril. K8H P.O. In Ul Auburn, Calif, KM) ISMS W. Ith Are. OoMen, Colo. . IM0I $N'h, mil P.O. Bn Spoknno, 99202 P.O. Nevada . l045 .. . WEEKLY: Consolidated reports from active Wyoming counties, shows where staking and laasing is baing dona and who is doing it. MONTHLY: An map each month showing mineral to at a glance. 307 Louliyjllt, Ky. Salt Lake City, Utah MINERAL ACTIVITY INFORMATION With. In 7415 40207 NEW MEMBERS WELCOME : PAUL J. ANGELOS ixrriria.ix2xuuuxrrrrr Gnnnrol Offices: 487-367- SELL OR LEASE Properties to Individuals or Major Companies. Their Grouting Engineering Coro Drilling Tunnels 801: An unusual graduate program approved earlier by toe commission will make toe School of Mines the second school in the nation to offer a degree in mineral economics. Pennsylvania State University is believed to be the only other university offering an M.S. in mineral economics. Within mineral economics, petroleum economics so far has had most attention at the College of Mines. WESTERN PROSPECTORS ASSOC. A Soil Sampling intermountain area, MINING STOCKS We have information on the following stocks: (1) Tri State Inc. (2) Big Indian Uranium Mines at Elliot Lake, Ontario. The performance was checked against the current method and the meter proved to be both functional and accurate. Unit of Measurement 6 new mine school islation. me pulse-heig- ht 68 uranium drillings skyrocket The episode in the Lark mine is a sobering reminder of the need to stress mine safety. Currently Congress is looking into ways to reduce the mine death toll, which Utah-Wyomi- analyzer, and a miniature analog computer which converts the readings into working levels. channel U.S., Canada Tests diate information on the level of radiactive particles and the need for The mine tests took place in the adjusting ventilation in the area. Kerr-McGee mines at Ambrosia The AEC -- MIT meter combines an air filtration system, a three- - Lake, N.M., and in the Denison Rocky Mountain region. BARRACO & COMPANY 8f 1969 develops test device AEC WASHIN GTON Chuck Hayward We Specialize in over fhe counter, March MINING JOURNAL Working level meter V" & & For more information coll or writo: MINERAL ACTIVITY SERVICE ' (307) 234-944- 4, P. JOHN P. DEVER O. Bon Ml. Casper, Wyoming 82401 ae-bvi- ty |