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Show UUmi1 UitHS Q ft. r, OP UIUBS VAT'. LI V.- - OF U. CITY SALT LAKE VALLEY SMELTER HUES ; WESTERN MINERAL SURVEY - ...... .......11.119c, corrEE ...,ptul lAMc LEAD. imt GOLB le devoid to (he niilii mmi oil. lodtuiriee of ' (Ttik aed the Week A noome of the ootstoodiag ...... ........ . .....IMt . t.CSc ZINC ....; SILVER (im m. new nlitl) W.N SILVER (per m. epet).. ....SLttc ... le carried each week. Features Mining, Oil, Financial Salt Lake City; Utah, January 29, 1943' Vol. 14 No. 5 $2.00 Year, $1.00, 6 Mos. Natural Gas Legislature Gets Bill Production 3 Bills To 41 Figures Are Denver Meeting Sets Program 5-Po- . A gram designed to increase the production of vital war materials was adopted here by a conference of representatives of management arid labor, in the metal mining industry And goverment meeting last week, l consists . The program, which of a series of recommendations will be submitted within next few. days to Paul'V. McNutt, chairman of the War Manpower non-ferro- - - - . he Commission. The Denver conference was .planned during the early fall to 'review, the operations of the War Manpower Commissions, directive of Sept. 1942, stabilizing employment throughout the , industry. , ' . of the. ' major all Practically, the producers of West were represented at the which was also atconference, : tended by representatives of all of the labor organizations in the industry. The first point in the recommended program provides fojrex-tensio- n of employment stabilization programs .to labor, shortage areas, in western states to regu late the hiring of incoming work - -- non-ferro- non-ferro- us us . . - i uit;'thehardrockrcas: - ' The conferees felt that the reg- ulation of hiring; at the , point erf employment would further : re- -' in- the diice the labor turnover ' , - industry Second: point in the non-ferro- . . recom-rnendati- on . . ; . ' for-mor- e See MANPOWER On Demands and the substitution ; of natural gas for fuel oil, were reflected In natural-ga- s consumption in 1941 by a continuation of the expansion .which began in 1939, according to the Bureau of Mines, United States Department of the Interior. .Although statistics for 1942 are not yet "available, further gains are., expected in MR. ICKES that year. The. marketed production, or consumption less exports, of natural gas in 1941 was 2,812,658,000,000 cubic feet, and was 6 per cent oyer the of 2, 660,222, 009, 000 cubic feetpeak reported In 1940. Oklahoma with a 9 per cent decline and New York with a 14 per cent decline in 1941 from output, were the only major producing states did not. WBP Sees Increased in which production Louisiana- - production 8 per cent; West VirOutput Of Material increased"! ginia production 10 per cent; California production 7 per cent; and In Coming Year , Texas production 2 per cent over WASHINGTON.At least five 1940 totals.; new producers of metallurgical The consumption of natural grade fluorspar .are expected to gas reached an. all- time, high of come into production accubic feet, 6 per 2,805,192,000,000 cording to present plans, which should addL t an&ther.JHUMOJoi ml of this critical material to the 1940. 'The increase in supply available ..to the. nations demand was largest from' miscellaneous steel mills, it was revealed recentindustries, which used 19 per ly at a meeting of the fluorspar cent more gas than in 1940. Doproducers industry1 advisory mestic consumption registered a WPB committee to in Washingdecline,' slight although the numton. , consumers of ber increased, pos.' Reports just completed showed reflecting a more frugal use that the production of. metallur- sibly of- fuel in 1941. Thie apparent gical grade dropped 15 per cent decline in field consumption rein December from the previous sulted from the use of a new months, it was announced. While basis of reporting by a company, this decline is serious, it was not which has been the largest conunexpected; for unless some way sumer in Texas, It is probable Is found to provide adequate of gas actually the that amount, cona for the mines, manpower consumed in the field increased tinuing decline in production several per cent in 1941 over must be expected. in 1940. All major that consumed conManpower operators: said, in 1941 tinues to be their major produc- classes of .consumption 1940 exover demands increased tion problem. WPB some months in used the manufac gas imcept to an attention called ago of carbon 'black and for dopending 1943 shortage of 50,000 ture - The major mestic . purposes. as a to 100,000 tons, principally of classes consumption were di-result of insufficient mine labor, field use, 686,folowsl: as vided and instituted a conservation pro158.000.- 000 .cubic feet 25 per to reduce mills steel gram among domestic, 442,067,000,000 consumption. A saving of from cent); 10 to 15. per cent of the former cubic feet (16 per cent); comcubic 144,844,000,000 mercial use is hoped for. carbon-blac- k feet, (5 of cent),, per The principal objectives the meeting were to .determine manufacture 365,377,000,000 cubfuel in pewhat steps should be taken- in ic feet, (13 per. cent); 148,127,000,-000 order to assure an adequate troleum refineries,' fuel cubic (5. feet,' unskilled cent); and per supply of skilled power labor for all fluorspar mines and in electric public-utilit205,156,000,000 cubic feet plants See FLUORSPAR On Page 4 (7 per cent); and Other industrial uses,1 813,463,000,000 cubic feet, (29 per cent). These figures show a gain of 3 per cent in gas used for miscellaneous industrial uses at the: expense of gas used in the field and for the manufacture of carbon black. The average value of gas tion through the intensive develthe wells was 4.9 cents at opment of the mineral resources in 1941, with compared of the state than through any 4.5 cents in 1940. This gain other activity, due to gains in the was Therefore, be it resolved that valuelargely of gas used In the field this association urgently requests 6ome of the southwestern gas the state administration and the in fields and to the increased prolegislative assembly, when pre- duction of the higher priced gas paring such postwar program, to in the Appalachian district. The give serious consideration to mine average value of gas at points development, and in furtherance of consumption was 22.1 cents of such a plan this association re- in 1941 compared with 21.7 cents spectfully suggests the following in 1940. The average value of gas used by commercial consumers steps be taken: (1) That 5 per cent of the li- declined 0.6 cent to 47.2 cents cense tax levied upon metal in 1941. All other major classes mines, coal mines, oil production, registered increases in values natural gas and cement, as well over the 1940 averages. as of corporation, license tax upon Natural gas mixed with manuand factured gas totaled 65,979,000,000 smelting mining, milling companies, and upon the produc- cubic feet In 1941 compared with ers of cement and lime, and upon 65.102.000.- 000 cubic feet in 1940. oil and gas, pipelines and refin- There were. 9,730,110 domestic (7,250,900 eries, or its equivalent from the consumers using and 2,479,210 desnatural, be straight fund, permanently general 1941 compar-ignated for the support of the using mixed gas) in . . Five New ar . Producers . the-194- 0 -- - in-1943- - . . - , . . - . program included recommendations to re-- . fer all questions of occupational deferent of workers to the selective servicp boards in the area This ' of - employment. included . both the classification of a worker and his appeal. it was felt that the selective service board 'in the area . where the worker is engaged would be in a better position to judge the value of. the Job to the war effort and the necessity of retaining the worker in the job than would a board in another section of the country where the worker formerly resided and was regis tered. .. ' The conference also requested more ; explicit instructions that ' defer--. .verning .' occupational ments be issued by. the chairman of the War Manpower Commission and the director of selective service. . The third point in the program effective meth- provided of the workers ods for informing . . " ; us h InlLS. pro- five-poi- nt Proposals for another change in Utahs metal mines tax setcome today in the twenty-fifthad Utah Legislature, as the up end of the third legislative week neared in a session marked by a scarcity of bills affecting the industry. Introduced in the Senate Thurs made by .the' war, day afternoon was a measure by Highest Ever int DENVER 4 l-H-&e - . - . - - y . - -- Montana Mining Men Ask State Aid For Industry Mont; Support to of mines and bureau state the to the policy of taking roads to isolated mining properties was .asked of the Montana. Legislature by members of the Mining Association of Montana as they concluded one of the largest and most successful meetings in the history here last t organizations week. More than 100 delegates attended the meeting, which coni' eluded with election of officers r and adoption of resolutions. Partial text of the resolution asking for state aid follows: ' c Whereas, mining is the primary and one of the fundamental industries of. the state of Montana, that has produced billions 5 yt Iff' of dollars in metal values, and HELENA, t , . . it: i i V: - . Whereas, it is the opinion of this association that a larger volume of employment can be sustained and more permanent results accrue to the state and na V' 1 Restore Block Leasing9 Get Favorable Reports , See MONTANA On Page 2 Sec GAS On Page 4 Sen. George M. Miller aimed at establishing a new basis for taxation on metal mines in the state. According to the authors claims, it would not substantially affect the amount of the tax to be collected and would be directed at obtaining a different distribution of. the funds in the interests of the smaller school districts of the state,' but it ap-eared that actual results, if the Eill should pass, might materially affect many mine operators. Meanwhile, three' bills introduced In the Senate last week lt by Senator Lynn S. Richards Lake) and Mitchell Melich n) CD-Sa- exempting - ), mine lessors from' paying workmans Social Security compensation, and other similar taxes on lessees who are, in fact, independent operators and not payroll employes, had all been reported favorably from ... committee and stood on the second reading calendar of the upper house, with Senate action expected befote the end of next week. In the House, not a single mining bill had appeared by the middle of the third legislative . . - . stantially. increased, and the larg--' er operators would have a definite smaller men and advantageovrthe in attempting'to increase efficien- composed largely of men .' women from other fields of interest, few measures dealing with the mining industry were expected to originate there this session. Senator Millers ' proposed bill would base the assessed valuation of a metal mine on the actual net proceeds of the previous year, insteady of. double that . BEN. MILLER come would be reduced while that on gross income would be sub , amount as under the present statute, and then would raise from one to two per cent the occupational tax, based on the gross value of the years output. While the sponsor of the plan contends that the total revenue derived under it would be substantially the same as under the present law, many doubted this claim and insisted that the state would lose considerably in income if the plan should be adopted. Even if the total "take under the new. plan should be substantially unchanged from what it is now, however, other questions would .arise of great interest to mining, men who would be paying the money. It appears: most likely that if Senator' Millers ' plan went into effect, the small operator would suffer at the expense of the large . mining companies. Certainly the advantage would all be with the man whose operations were most efficient, as the tax on net in- - S'. cy. Also, the plan would work to hamper development of low grade ore Dodies, tending to restrict major operations to higher grade producers,, where the- efficiency margin would be greater. Sentiment about the Capitol at the present time, however, is anything but enthusiastic over the Miller plan, and the bill (when and if it is introduced) Is given very slim chance of ever becom-ing law. The Richards-Melictrio of bills, on the other hand, are con sidered to have excellent chances of going through, and the result would be highly beneficial from all points of view. Not only would the block leasing practice be restored, thus increasing total op. erations and particularly develop ment work and bringing back into action a great many skilled miners whose age or other factors keep them from working on regular shifts, but the total out- of metals so needed gutthe strategic war effort would be sub stantially boosted. Favorable reports by the Senates mining committee are looKtfl' on as good omens for the bills in question, and mining men of the state are looking forward with reasonable confidence to SB 40, 41 and 42 becoming, law. , . - . h Penalized Ore Will Be Reclaimed In Colorado LEADVILLE, Colo. An im- portant event in 1942 was the start of construction of a modern 1,000-to- n mill to handle lead-zin-c ores of this rich mining district. After spending thousands of dollars in testing old Leadville mine dumps and on metallurgical and engineering work looking toward the economic treatment of such dump ore, the Ore and Chemical Co., of New York decided to build a large mill at Leadville. The construction, which Is expected to cost upwards of half a million dollars, was awarded to the Western Machinery Co. and Western Knapp Engineering Co. The site selected is west of the citys southern limits. A railroad spur will connect the new , - mill with the A. S. & R. com- panys tracks. Ground was brok- en .early in November and en gineers and construction men brought in by the companies have been doing their best to cope with difficulties in securing materials and workers for the project. It appears the mill will be finished before May. This mill will be the largest ore treatment plant in Colorado except for the A. S. & R. Co. smelter here, and the Golden Cycle Mill at Colorado Springs, It will employ a process new to the state known as sink and Edward D. DIckerman, float, widely known mining man and engineer of Denver and Leadville is tlie engineer in charge of mill construction work. Kurt A. Spohr was appointed as manager in Colorado for the Ore and Chemical Co. Construction is not at government expense but through corporation financing. ' v |