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Show S The Western Mineral Surrey, Salt Lake City, Utah March 6, 1953 r Option Taken New Mexico Domestic Lead Production Scene Of New On Fluorspar Advances Decreases Sligl itly In 1952 Continued from Page production of Work Properties Yield most the district decrease able lead in the combined Prilling Copper while Southwest tons in Missouri ern States totaled a summary Idaho An option as in other years In Following Eastern Utah recover- Mine 1 West- of is of ' SALMON, fluordrilling wells as released by the to lease recently-discusseScouting Division of Carter Oil spar- claims in Lemhi County Co.: was signed last week by Austin G. E. Houston Xo. 1 (Locat- P. Smothers, Shoup veteran prospector and outfitter, Jay ed SE SW Sec. 18, IS, IE Total depth 10,124 ft. Ran Kobe Betties, Wallace, Idaho, repreequipment; displaced oil base senting a large mining concernmud with crude oil; Moved out in the Coeur dAlenes, obtained the .option, Mr. Smothers rotary tools. Wliitlock-TaylXo. 1 (Locat- said. Betties, , who visited the ed NW SW Sec. 24, IS, 1W Total depth 9907 ft. Drill stem claims recently wHth Dr. F. E. test No. 8, ft., tool Scott, Wallace dentist and minrecovered ing man, said he believed the opened prematurely, 8000 ft. oil base mud; Set hook-wfa- deposits might prove bigger FluMountain than the 9652 fa. to test at Crystal paqker Mont at orite hole V. deposits Darby, F. open ft; The fluorspar claims, called 6640 ft. GGC fluid in 6 hours; Swabbed mostly gas and some the Crystal Cluster and Broken e mud; Tool plugged; Drill Halter Claims, are located in the stem test No. 10: reset tool at Salmon River Canyon, 20 miles 9642 ft., Swabbed 16 barrels below the end of the river road. oil in 12 hours; Drill stem test They start at the head of the No. 11: ft, acid with Black Canyon. 1500 gals., Swabing from 5500 Mr. Smothers reported that ft. with F. L. 5000 ft. the lead vein of high quality Elmer Moon Xo 1 (Located fluorspar was about 20 feet wide 50 ft. E of S CW SE, Sec. 8, and approximately 4 miles in 4S, 3W, Antelope WC Total length, with three parallel leads about 3 miles in depth 6571 ft., plugged back each running are also numerThere from 8246 ft. Temporarily aban- length. ous small all centering at 1953. leads, doned on Feb. 11, he said. Salmon the 1 . River, Sutton, Xo. (Located Roy acid-typis and The Walker Hollow, SW SE, Sec. 5, fluorspar extenindications show surface 24E 7S, Spudded in Feb. 13, in. at 505 ft. w275 sive tonnage. Extensive explo1953; 10 ration work has already been sx. drilling 1200 ft 2 Xo. Orlan L Johnson (Lo- done by the owner of the claims, Walker Hollow cated SW NE, and most of the principal veins Sec 9, 7S, 24EV Spudded in have been located. According to Mr. Smothers, Feb. 12, 1953; 10 in. at 471 the 2029 principal difficulty of getft. ft w280 sx; Drilling Gloria Baniburger Xo. 1 (Lo- ting the fluorspar to market will cated Walker Hollow,. SW NE, be the transportation problem Sec. 7, 7S 24 E Plugged total At present, the claims are by the owner by boatdepth 5338 ft., plugged back reached 5730 ft. Shut in waiting on ing down the Salmon River. A to complete wfell. pack trip to the site may be unit swabbing made, but it is 20 miles to the Gloria Baniburger Xo. 2 cated Walker Hollow SW NE, nearest road and the terrain is Sea 8, 7S, 24 E Total depth rough. Mr. Smothers first announced 5500 ft., plugged back from 5640 discovery of the huge fluorspar ft Instaling lease equipment. claims last June, and has been approached by a number of large mining firms concerning the property since that time. d or 9095-989- 3 ll 9691-990- 7 oil-bas- 9641-989- 5 e, - Drive Made For Tax Plan To Aid Mines Continued from Page 1 !' strategic metals, Bradley added. ' Crux of the taxation plan, Which Wormser said is now in resolution form before the legislature of several western states, is that whenever domestic market prices of lead and zinc fall below the prices required to perpetuate the domestic mining industry, (a base price level to be established) a sliding scale tax would then be levied on imported metals. The import tax would be at the rate of one cent per pound for each one cent, the market price is below the base price to a maximum limit of five cents per pound. (There is no request or provision for subsidization, as it is felt this is detrimental and unhealthy program for these metals, according to Wormser.) The plan, Wormser alleged, would have the virtue of being automatic in operation, requiring no payments from government; would observe the cardinal requirement of least interference with a free market; and would afford the mining industry at continuity of operation it does not now possess. He pointed out that the taxation program already had the support of many important lead and zinc consumers who apparently feel that any added cost to them involved in the plan Would amply be justified by a return to a stabilization in prices. Wormser cited that the effect of inflation since the adoption of the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act in 1934 (on the specific rather than rfd valorem rates) had all but wiped out the tariff protection on lead and g He declared that enamounts of lead had tered the country nearly nine r rate. A totimes the tal of 600,000 tons was imported in 1952, for exanple, comimports of pared with pre-yrtons. about 75,000 Declaring the fundamental issue was do we, or dont we, want a vigorous lead and zinc mining industry in the United States? he said that American miners are now being subjected to the unsettling effects of monopolistic buying and selling of metals by foreign governments, state trading, which had caused sharp declines in the zinc. record-breakin- pre-wa- ar market here. - The lead and zinc miners are entitled to some governmental protection from, this practice, vtfth which they themselves are unable to cope, Wormser asserted. He referred to the Colorado Mining Association resolution asking Congress to impose the sliding-scalimport tax as historfor the industry. y-making He said this is the first time the lead-zin- c mining industry has been able to get together on a simple legislative program in keeping with the American idea of free enterprise. The mining executive appealed for support of the San Fran-- ' and other Chamber cisco miners to Western of groups assure Congressional action on the resolution. Responding to a questioner at the Chamber meeting who declared that lead and zinc were just part of the over-a- ll mining industry, and were of small importance to California, e since 1952, World War II, there was little activity in straight gold and silver mining in Newf Mexico, owing to the high cost of labor and materials compared with the fixed price of gold. Most of the state output of gold was recovered from base-metores mined in the Central and Lordsburg districts. None of the individual mines was an important producer of gold. The increase in output of silver in 1952 resulted from the mining of larger tonnages of base-metores that yielded silver as a byproduct. Substantial producers of silver included the Ground Hog and Bayard zinc-leamines in Grant County, the mine in Lynchburg zinc-lea- d Socorro County, and the Chest and Atwood copper mines in Hidalgo County. mine of The Chino open-pi- t the Kennecott Copper Corporation Chino Mines Division at Santa Rita (Central district), New Mexicos major producer of copper, operated continuously 7 days a week in 1952. The capacity for ore extraction has been increased by recent extensive stripping and expansion of mining to the east i extension of the pit. Preliminary figures tndH cate that the mines output of copper in 1952 was higher than in any previous year. The or$ is concentrated in the company 22,500-to- n mill at Hurley. The concentrates are treated in the company smelter adjacent to the mill. The smelter also treats copper preciptaterf recovered by leaching of dumps; and siliceous copper ore from the pit used as a flux. Molybdenite is recovered in the mill as a byproduct. Some by product gold and silver are recovered from blister copper, produced occasionally; the main product of the smelter is copper. Copper ore was produced from underground workings at the Banner Mining Companys Boney-Miser- s Chest group flotaa 500-towith (equipped tion mill) and the Atwood mine near Lordsburg. In Guadalupe siliceous copCounty ore was per fluxing shipped to the from the Stauber open-pEl Paso smelter. Old siliceous copper-bearintailings, containalso some gold and silver, ing were shipped from the Gillette mill site at Pinos Altos. al al d Bon-ney-Mic- ers fire-refine- d n low-gra- de it g show- 225,727 The ed a notable increase. & Root Seven Quick pit (Brown and American Zinc, Lead & Smelting Co.) and the Kelsey Norman pit of the Badgett Mine Stripping Corp. joined the Potters Sims Mines, Inc., in September to make open-p- it production in Southwest Missouri the major source of lead and zinc from that area. New Record Attained By Canada Mines o OTTAWA, Canada Canadian minerals production soared to a new high of $1,278,000,000 in 1952, according to preliminary figures of the Bureau of StatisThis was 2.6 per cent tics. above the previous high of in 1951. increases in oil, iron ore, n as- bestos and cement outweighed decreases in some oi the principal metais, including goid, mcKei, copper,. zinc and lead.. uutput oi crude' petroieum rose to bl million barrels valued at $144 million,' compared wuu 48 million barrels vaiuea at li mimon m 1951. Total vaiue ot all metais was reduced to $728 million from $140 million, in volume of outlosses put gains out were not sufficient to onset price declines during the year. The tonnage of zinc was up 12 per cent t3 aa2,U0u tons bUt the total value declined nearly 2 per cent to $i33,4bu,Uuo. Leau production ' increased 4 per cent to loo, uuu tons but -- the value dropped to 8 per cent $53,322,-oouutput oi nickel was greater to. 1.5 per cent at 140,OOu tons but the value was slightly lower at $150,009,000. Copper declined 4.5 per cent in quantiiy to 258, Ooo tons but the increase m the average price during tne year, was not. sufficient to offset this decline and the value was down 1 per cent to $147,850,000. Goid production total 4,419,000 ounces, compared with 4,392,000 m 1951, but the value was down to $151 million from 162 million tor 1951. The price ox gold at the Royal (Canadian Mint in Canadian dollars averaged $34.27, compared with $36.85 in 1951. . . . 1952, a decrease of 2 per cent from the tonnage produced in 1951. These states accounted for 59 per cent of the total domestic production compared . with 60 per cent in 1951. Lead output in Idaho in 1952 was 72,291 tons, a decrease of 6 per cent from the 1951 total. Declining market prices for lead and zinc and a restriction on the use of electric power were the principal factors contributing to the reduced output The Signal Mining Co., Hilarity mine and the Idaho Custer Mines, Inc., Livingston Mine shut down and Day Mines, Inc., Spokane-IdahMining Co., and Sunset Minerals, Inc., curtailed operations because of low metal prices. Pacific Northwest consumers of power using more than 8000 kilowatt hours per week were required to reduce their consurqp-tioto 90 per cent of what it was in 1951, owing to the lack of rain during the summer and fall. About 90 per cent of the state total lead output in 1952 came from the Coeur dAlene region. The remainder was produced chiefly in the Warm Springs, Bayhorse, and Texas districts. The Bunker Hill & Sullivan mine of the Bunker Hill & Sullivan Mining & Concentrating Co. accounted for more than one-thiof the state output. Other large producers were the Day Mines, Iric.j the Page and Morning mines and Frisco group of the Federal Mining and Smelting CO., the Star mine of the Sullivan Mining Co., the Triumph Mining Co., the Sunshine Mining Co., Golconda Lead Mines, the Sidney group, of the Sidney Mining Co., and the Constitution mine of the Spokane-Idah- o Mining Co. Recoverable lead output in Nevada in 1952 decreased to 6850 tons, 4 per cent below the 1951 tonnage, owing chiefly to the closing of the Copper Canyon Mining Co. Copper Canyon mine rd out-number- ed . o. , . in October and the Ely Valley Mines, Inc., mine in August be- cause of low metal prices. The Combined Metals Reduction Co. Combined Metals group was by far the largest produced in the state, followed by the Cbpper Canyon and Ely Valley properties. - Output of recoverable lead in Utah in 1952 declined 1 per cent from the 1951 total to approxi- Zinc-leamately 50,000 tons. ore supplied 92 per cent of the state total lead. About 69 per cent of the output came from the West Mountain (Bingham) district, 15 per cent from the Park City region, and 8 per cent from the Tintlc district. The United States & Lark property of the United States Smelting, Refining & Mining Co remained by far the largest producer in the state, and was followed by the Chief Consolidated Mining Co. (Chief Consolidated Mining Co. (Chief Consolidated mine), New Park Mining Co. (New Park property), Combined Metals Reduction Co. (Calumet Mining Co. mine), Park Utah Consolidated Mining Co. (Park Utah property), Silver King Coalition Mining Cb. (Silver King Coalition mine), and Combined Metals Reduction Co. (Butterfield Mining Co. group). In the Park City region the Park Utah Consolidated Mining Co. property was shut down on June 25 because of a labor strike and the Silver King Coalition Mining Co. property closed Aug. 16 because of low metal prices. The Chief Consolidated Mining Co. property in the Tin-ti- c district was shut down by a labor strike for nearly three months during the summer. d Resting Or Sleeping? A recent decision by an NLRB arbitrator states that a company may not fire an employe for being asleep on the job unless it has first taken the precaution to awaken him. Regardless of appearances, the only conclusive proof that an employe is asleep would be some overt attempt to arouse him. In the present case the employes defense was that he was merely resting after an arduous hour and a half of work. The NLRB arbitrator pointed out that the burden of proof is certainly upon the company in such cases to establish the fact that the man was indeed asleep while on duty. However likely .the contention of the company and however probable the event supporting the companys reasonable conclusion, it must still be established as an unqualified fact Wormser Agreed that the identical problem certainly did exist in practically all stategic and critical metal mining. But, he said, if. lead and zinc led the way, the same resulting benefits could logically be expected for the other metals. Yellow Pine Smelter May Reopen This Year During the past year the Yellow Pine Smelter of Bradley Mining Co. (at Stibnite, Idaho) became a victim of economic circumstances. The first half of 1952 found the antimony market weakening, and by August it became necessary to close the smelter. Mining was of course also discontinued, and there are not plans for resuming that activity. But the smelter may be- reopened in starting up on products presently available such as concentrates, drosses, etc. During the winter months, while the Stibnite road is closed, underground exploration is being conducted. In addition, a small smelter crew is reworking and concentrating refiner and converter bridk which have been impregnated with gold and silver, as well as with antimony. The concentrated product from this operation Will be shipped to Salt Lake City for reduction, when the roads . open in the t spring. - - mid-195- 3, . 5 . . |