OCR Text |
Show : r OF U LIBRARY SU. CITY 1 A v ' 9 :XV . i Features Mining, Oil, Financial yri Salt Lake City, Utah, July 31, 1953 Vol. 24. No. 31 One Year $2J0 rttr Idaho Mineral Production In Billions Basis For Pricing Of Zinc Changed Idahos recorded metal and mineral production has totaled near- - asing point system for pricing prime Western zinc has been diminated. The change gives ma-;zinc consuming areas an break in the prices they must pay for the metal. ly $1,900,000,000 since the discovery of gold by Capt. E. D. Pierce near the present city of Orofino in 1860 brought prospectors thronging into the wilderness in this or im-orta- nt area. American Smelting and Refining Co., a top producer and refiner of zinc, is increasing its sale price for prime Western grade zinc V4 cent a pound from 11 cents to 11V4. The company also announced discontinuance of its former practice of selling this grade of zinc on the basis of East iSt. with I1L, delivery Louis, conto from the fiat point freight sumers plai.. paid for by the buyer. This was revealed last week at the Golden Jubilee convention of the Idaho Mining Association in a talk on I t Ninety-thre- e v Years of in Idaho" prepared by Henry L. Day, president of the ashim, sociation, and delivered when he was unable to attend the convention, by Vice President J. E. Berg. In the paper Day traced briefly the history of production of most of Idahos metal and mineral resources from the earliest discoveries down to the present day, and touched upon the factors, both economic metallurgical, which spurred and hampered development. He covered not only the principal metals gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc but also the lesser metals and minerals, the economic importance of which have gained rapid recognition in relatively recent years, including antimony, barite, beryl, cobalt, mercury,' mica, monazite sands, phosphate rock and tungsten. Some of the salient points brought out in the talk were: Discovery oLlead mines, in Idaho was not as widely acclaimed as the earlier gold and silver discoveries, but the states lead has been its greatest contribution to the mineral wealth of the nation and has comprised over 40 per cent of the states total mineral output. The highest lead production ever recorded in the state was during World War I, in 1917, when 393,559,521, or nearly 200,000 tons, were produced. In the 1860s the Silver City district of Owyhee County ranked second in the nation as a area, being surpassed oply by the' fabulous Comstock lode of Nevada. Placer gold mining was Idahos chief industry from 1860 to 1870 but in the latter year was already on the wane. Mercury and tungsten mining in Mining i and' . . silver-produci- ng Metal Miners Vote For Strike Action nt Contracts Passes 500 Mark , With the 'signing of 46 new mineral exploration contracts in the quarter ended June 30, the Defense Minerals Exploration Administration has now executed a total of 517 contracts under the national deDistrict miners represented fense program to discover and bring into production critical and stralocal 18 of the International Union of Mine, Mill and Smelter Workers tegic minerals, Secre&ry of the Interior Douglas McKay annmiwtwi. (Ind.) last Thursday voted overwhelmingly in favor of strike action if union wage and contract de- mands are not met, officials of the local announced this week, according to the Wallace, Ida., Miner. About 1150 of 2500 union mem- bers eligible to vqte cast ballots and 79.7 per cent of the votes, they said, were yes" in answer to the question: Do you authorize the international executive board, in consultation with the national wage policy committee and your local negotiating committee, to take strike ll ar natio- non-ferro- us ' companys new price of cents will apply to all deliveries made from the Atlantic Coast to the Continental Divide. West of the Continental Divide, the price will be 11 V& cents a pound. The new price for prime Western grade also will bring Eastern seaboard quotations more in line with competitive prices for foreign zinc which has been selling cent to at prices ranging from a cent a pound below the 1L83-ceNew York quotation for domestic metal, based on the East St Louis price. 11V4 DMEA Approval Of Mining war-tim- sands have become two of the states most valuable mineral resources. Following the talk Berg called upon Stanly A. Easton, president of Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining and Concentrating Company, for a few words on his recollections of Idahos early-da- y mining history. Easton, who played a" prominent part in the industrys development, particularly in the Coeur dAlene area, responded with short stories. The Rejection by the United States Congress of the Simpson bill providing for tariff protection of domestically produced lead and zinc ores has resulted in a gloomy outlook for mining firms dependent upon income from these ores. Defeat of the Simpson bill was based largely on the inclusion of many other items including residual fuels now imported from foreign countries in mines now rests in the possibility of introducing legislation huge volume. The fate of lead-zin- c pertaining to the import of these metals. It has been indicated that Congress would be favorable to such action. In the meantime, mines throughout the country are dosing down due to the low prices forced by foreign imports of low cost ores. Most of these metals were mined and stockpiled through the foreign aid policy. Shown above is one of the large producing camps a5 fected by the congressional action. in the state have so far been largdy action, toif and whenournecessary and order wage support e industries. contract demands?" Idahos zinc production has in In this district the Mine-Mirecent years become increasingly important in the state mining union is bargaining agent at pracexpe- tically all organized properties picture. During the the and Mine the Morning riod from 1941 to 1950 the value cept of zinc production exceeded the Lucky Friday Mine, both near Mullan. value of lead output The local vote was part of a The history of lead and zinc n-wide strike referendum conmining has been one of precipithroughout tous ups and downs, reflecting a ducted by Mine-Mi- ll ing the ecto fluctuating high sensitivity Interdustry. Reports from the onomic conditions. The states antimony industry national headquarters at 'Denver has been sacrificed in favor of state that the vote favored strike margins in every complete reliance on foreign sup- action by heavywas held and that where it area plies. 89.3 per cent was vote overall the Phosphate rock and monazite ten-ye- i The traditional East St. Louis metal-minin- favorable. Current demands of the international include a general .wage increase of 15 cents an hour, a boost in pension benefits, health and welfare program, improvements and a national occupational disease fund" to which employers would contribute one cent an hour. The wage pattern is obviously tailored to' the relatively favorable in copper .mining conditions branch which has been enjoying Continued on Page 2 Strange Gear Does Ore Divorce Job The 517 contracts have an estimated total project cost of of which the governments $25,-171,5- 83, share is 15,204,434, and the operators share is $9,967,149, Secretary McKay said. These contracts involve exploration for 26 minerals in 31 states and Alaska. At the end of June 325 contracts were Down at the old assay office of in effect the former Murray smelter of the During the quarter DMEA reAmerican Smelting and Refining ceived 135 applications for exploCompany is a collection of some ration assistance. This is a highof the strangest equipment in the er monthly average than last west were for year. The It belongs to the Minerals Re- assistance onapplications for 20 comprojects fining Company, headed by Paul modities in 19 states and Alaska, Cardon, chemist and inventor. ranging from $2000 for columbium Mr. Cardon and his associates, in Colorado to $323,000 for uranirecently licensed by the Atomic um in Colorado. Energy Commission to deal in reIn addition to recording the duction of uranium and thorium (fissionable materials) hope to 500th contract and passing the dollar mark, DMEA Continued on Page 2 also certified the 50th discovery or development of ore. Nineteen certifications were issued in the quarter. Certification is made Week ending July 25, 1953 when the government considers BINGHAM DISTRICT, UTAH that the exploration project has Combined Metals Reduction Co. resulted in ore discovery or deHO tons. velopment in sufficient quantity U. S. Mines-53- 34 tons. for possible commercial produc' Utah Copper (Kennecott) 960 tion within 10 years from the conn cars daily .average. ' tract date. PARK CITY DISTRICT, UTAH on Ore Shipments 85-to- New Park Mining Co. 1315 As of June 30, 1953, DMEA had issued 52 certifications relating to tons. thl discovery or development of EUREKA DISTRICT, UTAH Chief Consolidated ore con- 13 different mineral commodities and to projects located in 19 centrates 39 cars. states. The certifications cover: Dragon i Consolidated clay 25 lead-zin16; tungsten, 7, mica, cars. beryl-mic- a, 7; 5; 1 car. Mines ore Empire 5; copper, fluorspar, and NEVADA PIOCHE DISTRICT, 2 each; and antimanganese, Combined Metals Reduction Co. Zinc cone. 5 cars. Lead cone. mony, monazite, rutile, sulphur, talc, and uranium, 1 each. Thir3 cars. Perlite 21 cars. Man- teen of these certified projects ganese nodules 2 cars. Continued on Page 2 J. A. Hogle Mining Dept - L- c, lead-zinc-cop-p- er, f f 11-ce-nt The departure from the East St Louis basing point system will mean lower prices for steel mills in the Pittsburgh area, the Eastern seaboard and the West Coast. These are major users of prime Western grade metal in galvanizing operations. Under the East St. Louis base price of 11 cents a pound, the cost to consumers in Pittsburgh, after adding freight, was 1.60 cents a pound, and on the ' East and West Coasts, 11.83 cents a pound. With the new system users will get prime Western zinc at 1194 cents a pound, delivered to their plants east of file Continental Divide and at lift cents a pound, delivered to their plants east of the Continental Divide and at lift cents west of the divide. American Smelting also said it is increasing its price for other grades of rinc which have been and will continue to be on the basis of delivery to consumers. The price for regular high-grad- e will be 12.60 cents a pound east of the Continental Divide and 12.85 cents west of the divide. Special high-grad- e zinc will be 1294 cents a pound, delivered east of the divide and 13 cents west of the divide. Some reasons behind American Smeltings departure from its previous practice of marketing prime Western zinc has been the only metal on which major the price to the consumer varied widely, depending on the point of delivery. Furthermore, the company said, the steady rise in railroad freight rates has put consumers in the Atlantic Coast and Pacific Coast areas at too great a price disadvantage, compared with Midwest consumers. non-ferro- us Complancency is worse than erIts not near so bad to lose some timber by miscalculating as it is to allow the log to rot in the forest ror. , |