OCR Text |
Show 2 1 26, 1954 February Hie Western Mineral Survey, Salt Lake City, Utah Metal Arizona Of Value Oreille Laws Pend In Mining Change To Aid Prospector Achieves Output Hits Record High Designed the Record vSuetoa the the Output the Idaho Mines price, the an at its School Head rise in than forestry northeastern large decrease fact that To. Retire present statutes, back t Several changes in mining laws have been proposed by the public lands' committee of the Northwest Mining association in effort to resolve longstanding controversy with public officials over alland and leged inadequacies and abuses of without handiand miner the prospector capping in his activities or limiting his freedom to acquire and develop mineral resources. J ,The recommended changes were disclosed recently through publication of the full report of the committee, which has been in process of preparation for several months. The committee, which is headed by P. E. Oscarson, Spokane consulting geologist, said it believes the proposals will encourage prospecting and development' of new mineral deposits. Several of them were endorsed by the association at its convention in Spokane last December. for the most a of changed cirpart, recognition cumstances since the original laws were written. One, for example, wpuld permit location of a claim without discovery of a valuable mineral, because of the fact that practically all exposed ore deposits have been found and to make a discovery today requires a substantial amount of digging based on geological evidence. Under this proposal the locator would be restricted in use of the ground to mineral exploration until a discovery was made, but he would be protected from intervenors so long as he is willing to spend time, and money in exploring his claims Another proposal' would allow adequate discovery on one claim to servers discovery by presumption on' perhaps -- 12 . contiguous' claims. An ore body on one claim may dip or strike into an adjoining claim or claims on which no surface exposure can be found,, the committee, pointed out. Inclusion in the law of a definition of discovery by the prudent man rule is also recommended by the committee. Courts have held that a valid discovery consists ox mineral-bearin- g rock in place on which a prudent man would be warranted in expending his time and money, in reasonable expec-tio-n of . developing a productive mine, the report points out, but the federal administrative agency is not bound by this ride. ' The committee also recommends that appeals from discovery decisions by the interior department be ' permitted to the court of appeals in the district in which the claim is located. This would protect locators from arbitrary action by government administrative officials. Three changes in the statutes on ' annual assessment work are proposed because of new methods of exploration and development. One would permit the inclusion ,of geological, geochemical, and geo-- . logical surveying, trail or road construction, or any other work which tends to explore ore develops the claim as assessment work. Another, particularly helpful to the owner of ' small means, . They-represen- t, - out-croppi- . , . would permit doing assessment work in advance for as much as two years, by doing $100 worth of work on each claim for each year the work is to cover. For example, an expenditure of $900 in one year, under this rule, would cover three claims for .the current year and two years in advance. Another proposal would require the filing of proof of labor with the bureau of land management as well as with the county recorder. If assessment work is not done on time and recorded, title would revert to the government. An optimist is a girl who mistakes a budge for a curve. -R- ING LARDNER advance to to record Ugh of $22495, SOOowmg to of of Mines, Bureau Office according to the Denver, copper Interior, the of United States Department As the gain in the copper value the more offset heavy declines in tons mined in 1952. A lead of the of ore value more both quantity and Stale output copper in and zinc output, and a moderate than offset a ores. The and decrease in silver, the total value zinc-lea- d of the five metals increased from quantity qf copper ore treated in$220,686,278 in 1952 to $240,697,080 creased from 44,472,522 tons in in 1953 a gain over 1952 1952 to about 45,550,000 tons in 1953, over. the former rec- the largest annual tonnage on recand ord value of $235,289,045 in 1951. and ord. The quantity of zinc-lea- d mined ores decreased the remained Arizona largest g state in the Unit- to about 470,000 tons compared mar- with 797,597 tons in 1952. The bulk ed States, with a gin over Utah, the second largest of the copper ore came from the producer, and ranked fourth in sil- Copper Mountain (Morenci), Ajo, Mineral Creek ver production, fifth in gold, eighth Globe-Miam- i, Eureka in lead, and tenth in zinc; and (Ray), (Bagdad), Wairen Pioneer and (Superior) again ranked first in total value (Bisbee), ore came of the five metals. districts; the zinc-lea- d the Big Bug, Pima, Preliminary production figures largely from and Aracaipa Bisbee, Harshaw, 1953 show a State output (in for ore the and of districts; terms of recoverable metals) from the Cochise came mostly 0 4,352,-00112,500 fine ounces of gold, fine ounces of silver, 392,300 (Dragoon), Verde (Jerome), Eushort tons of copper, 9,300 short reka, and Yucca (Cedar Valley) tons of lead, and 27,300 short tons districts. The United Verde mine of zinc. These figures indicate lit- of the Phelps Dodge Corp. at Jetle change from 1952 in gold pro- rome, a large producer of ore in 1952, closed in March duction but show a decrease of 7 1953. percent in silver, 1 percent in Mining operations at 6 open pits copper, 44 percent in lead, and 42 Ajo, Bagdad, Inspiration, Miami percent in zinc. The prices used for gold and (Castle Dome), Morenci, and Ray produced approximately 38,500,-00- 0 silver in both years were the Unittons of copper ore in 1953 comed States Mint price of $35 per with 37,478,651 tons in 1952. pared fine ounce of gold and $0.9050505 from the Inspiration and Ray Ore per fine ounce of silver. The quotwas mined from open properties ed market price of silver in New and underground. pits York was $0.8425 from January 2 to 21, 1953, and $9.8525 from Janu- Government Aid in Exploration Government aid in financing exary 22 through December. The avin search of reserves of erage weighted price per pound of ploration and critical minerals, domestic copper was $0,286, lead strategic Producauthorized the Defence by 1953 and $0,133, and zinc. $0,109 in of 1950, was continued in tion Act $0,242, $0,161, and $0,166, respec1953 under the Defense Minerals tively, in 1952. After the price of aldomestic copper was decontrolled Exploration Administration, insome of by the government on February though lead and,-zinc-the minerals, cluding previously 25, 1953, the quoted price per pound were aid off the for taken eligible rose from 0.245 to around $0.30 new list for after April applications within three days and remained at Ariz15. As of November 1953, 30, about that level the rest of the 13 .projects in force, inona had year. The price, of lead declined from $0.1475 a pound at the begin- volving a total of 802,122 in combined government and private ning of 1953 to a low of $0,120 on April 20 and stood at $0,135 in De- capital. Milling and Smelting cember. The zinc price was $0.13 About 98 percent of the ore proon January 2 and $0.10 in Decemduced in Arizona was treatber.' ed in concentration mills and Mining eaching plants nearly all the The total ore mined and treated remainder was shipped crude to from Arizona mines and dumps in smelters. The principal copper- 1953 was about 46,050,000 tons, a small increase over the 45,385,327 Oontinned on Page 3 i Dean A. W, Fahrenwald, head of the college of mines at the University, of Idaho for 21 years, will retire on September 1 to do consulting work and engage in tide manufacture of mineral processing equipment which he has developed, it was announced this week. He will establish an office with General Machinery company of Spokane, which manufacturers equipment developed by him, and will be associated with that firm in a consulting capacity and in the further development of a new line of laboratory equipment, a field in which he has done extensive work. Besides relinquishing the position of dean, Fahrenwald will also vacate the positions of director of the Idaho bureau of mines and geology, professor of mining and metallurgy, and head of, the department of mining and metallurgy. He will, however, acquire a new title dean of mines, emeritus and will maintain an office at the university to carry forward a number of unfinished research projects as time permits. Machines developed by Fahrenwald are widely used in mining districts throughout the world. The Fahrenwald flotation machine is standard everywhere. The Fahrenwald hydrosizer, embodying new principles was revolutionary when it was introduced. in 1923, and after 31 years still holds leadership in the industry. . . Conditions Of Lead-Zin- c To Be Aired The critical condition of the national lead and zinc industries will be thoroughly aired at hearings to be held by. a Senate investigating committee in the near future, Sen. George W. Malone (R., Nev.), chairman of the interior group, said Tuesday of this week.1 The announcement came shortly after Sen. Malone and three other western senators called on President Eisenhower to find out what specific plans the administration has for aiding the two industries, especially at this time, when an estimated half of the countrys lead and zinc miners are out of ork. Accompanying Sen. Malone on the trip to the White House were Senators Henry Dkorshak of Idaho, Carl Hayden of Arizona and Clinton Anderson of New Mexico. According to Sun. Malone, the President outlined the instructions to his cabinet committee, which he named last fall, to develop a minerals policy for the United States which would protect domestic mine expansion and assure the nation enough minerals 'or the years ahead. JThe four senators agreed that the cabinet committees suggestion would be helpful to the work of the Malone minerals, materials' and fuels economic subcommittee in working out both temporary and permanent solutions to problems miners. facing stricken lead-zin- c Recommendations from the Presidents policy committee are expected by March 31st. Pend Orielle Mines and Metals achieved a new ore production records of 500,042 tons in 1953 mine in the Metaline big zinc-lea- d district of Washingthe operthe ton, despite from a six to ation was cut schedule during the last a five-da- y of the year, according to quarter Jens Jensen, Spokane, vice president and treasurer, reports the Wallace Miner. The record output last year was 40 per cent . above the 1952 total of 356,025 tons, he said. Increased mechanization of underground operations through the installation of additional trackless mining equipment made the production boost possible at a substantial reduction in per-to- n costs, thus offsetting in the drop in lead and zinc part he indicated. ' prices, two-thirof the about Only companys milling capacity was operated during 1953, Jensen stated. All production was processed in the new East concentrator units where two were in operation throughout year. The old Josephine, or West, mill on the opposite side of the Pend Oreille river was idle all last year, he said, because of low metal prices. Its operation would have added about 250,000 tons to the 1953 output. At the present time daily ore output is averaging between 1500 and 1600 tons, sufficient to keep only the East mill supplied. An annual production qf 900,000 to 1,000,000 tons of ore is the eventual goal of the big expansion program which has been in progress at the property for the past several years. Milling capacity for this tonnage will be achieved by adding a third 800-tounit in file East plant as originally planned. The mill building was designed for three units and the first one was put into operation in January, 1951. The second was added in August, 1952. Low metal prices have upset the original expansion time-tabl- e and no definite plans for installation of the third unit have been disclosed. ds ns i : : zinc-copp- - zinc-copp- er copper-producin- 46-perc- zinc-copp- er zinc-copp- er . . in-195- Sunshine Net Income Takes Steep Decline x copper-l- . ' Sunshine Mining companys net income in 1953 was almost 30 per cent less than in the previous year, according to a report filed this week with the Spokane Stock Exchange. Eranings last year totaled $854,-53or approximately 58 cents a share, compared with $1,224,916, or 82 cents a share in 1952. The decline occurred despite a 12 per cent increase in production,, from 222,257 tons of ore 'in 1952 to 249,686 tons last year, and can be attributed in part to increased labor and supply costs in the face of a fixed price for the companys principal product, silver. Writeoffs of losses and abandonments were also an 'important factor. In the final' quarter of last year gross, income mounted to $1,200,-0compared with $874,133, $966,-53- 4 and $783,796 in the three previous quarters, but the increase was of partially offset, by charge-off- s 13 cents a share, for $192,077, or losses and abandonments. Income taxes for the fourth quarter were estimated at $118,759. , Net income for the final quarter of 1953 was $217,017, or about 15 cents a share. This compares with $190,201 or 13, cents a share, in the A discouraged traveling sales- third quarter; 274,503, or 18, cents man wired his home office: If in the second quarter; and $182,-81Stalin wants more territory, he or 12 cents, in the first can have. mine. Now Western Mineral Survey 8, . four-memb- er 22 Vi Salt Lake City, Utah PUBLISHED ONCE EACH WEEK Late News, Quotations, Information Service, on er 8, East 1st South Mining, Oil, Financial KEEP POSTED ON THE GREAT URANIUM BOOM ' 1 $3.00 One Year $5.00 Two Years 4 Enclosed find $ L... 'i M Subscription Order .! i , ; . a for which send me Western - Mineral Survey for. . 7, , Name. Address. : ............. .1... . |