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Show (Reprinted from the July 30, 1954 issue of The Western Mineral Survey) Vol. 25; No. 32 Salt Lake City. Utah. Inly 30. 1954 Research Big Mesa Buys Zirr' $16,700 Driller The Pierce Steel Equipment Company of Salt Lake, recently tile zir sold a new $16,700 dry hole of Mine., driller to the Big Mesa Uranium Company of which Earl J. New-o- n today. is President. Big Mesa stock was issued on subscription this Almost as strong as steel, but somewhat lighter, metallic zirweek. conium has high resistance to corrosion, and a high melting The purpose of the new type point (3,350 deg. Far.). Also, it driler is to fully explore propdoes not absorb, and thus waste, erties of the company. The driller neutrons needed to sustain a is being assembled here by .the chain reaction. These properties Sharp Engineering Company. It In qualify it for use in building hot will be ready for operation in atomic ovens. It was a vital ma10 days at the most. With the terial in the construction of In a move to further consoli- new equipment it will be possible U.S.S. Nautilus, the first atomic-pomere- d date their holdings of lithium ore to drill to a depth of 350 feet on submarine. in North America, two holes in an eight hour day. properties In 1945 Bureau of Mines Lithium Corporation of America, A total of 40 dry hole drillers metallurgists began the tack of Inc., has acquired 100 interest are operating on the Colorado adapting the Knoll magnesium-reductio- in the Cat Lake, Manitoba Ca- Plateau. The one purchased by process, already sucnadian properties formerly own- Big Mesa is the third shipped duccessfully used in making ed by Northern Chemicals, Ltd. from Salt Lake. The Sharp Comtile titanium metal, to producThese substantial properties pany will have delivered all tion of metallic zirconium. have been held by Northern three. The Atomic Energy Commis- Chemicals, Ltd., in which for One interesting feature of Big sion became interested in zircon- some time Lithium Corporation Mesas new driller is the fact it ium as a 'construction material of America, Inc., has held a sub- has a 500 foot Davy Diesel in 1948 and, contacting the Bu- stantial, but not controlling, in' which gives an advantage reau's Northwest Electrodevelop- terest. In a recent move, Lithium of deeper and faster. ment Laboratory at Albany, Ore., Corporation of America, Inc., ac- The drilling two previous drillers assemfound a pilot plant capable of quired 100 interest in Northern bled by Sharp Engineering now producing 60 pounds of sponge Chemicals, Ltd. by means of an in operation on the Plateau are a week already operating. In co- assignment of Northern Chemiequipped with a 350 foot comoperation with the AEC and the cals, Ltd., to the American com- pressor. With a 500 foot comNavy's Bureau of Ships, facili- pany. . pressor results are obtained more ties at Albany since have been At the present time there are quickly. expanded to the point where no mining and recovery activities-alA Geigej: counter is placed. at more than 280,000 "pounds of though some diamond drill- the entrance to' a hole when drillsponge metal was produced in ing and surface trenching has ing is begun and dust collected in 1953. been completed. a unicon (dust absorber). When Until recently the Bureau was this assumed that is move, the Geiger counter registers fathe only source of zirconium onIttop- of the announced vorable indications the dust is recently needed for the Nations defense entered into between removed from the unicon. The agreement program, and it is still by far Lithium Corporation of America, machine is then put in operation the largest producer of clean CorLithium new and and sifted Quebec again Inc., separately sponge metal from which zirconenhance to further in chemical will a order conduct poration, ium ingots are made. Private in- Lithium it. of Corporation's position analysis dustry now . is using the Knoll with respect to their long-rang- e process to produce the metal, and reserves of the important lithium when it can supply defense re- ores. x. Lithium Co. Gains Footing Canada n com-presso- r - quirements the Bureau will be free to concentrate more on basic research. As production capacity at the Albany plant expanded and supplies of the new metal grew, Bureau metallurgists began substituting zirconium parts where other metals had been used in the s apparatus. The superior performance of this new metal in a process that involves infrequent exposure to high tem- - ' Kroll-proces- One Year $3.00 Rare Uranium Strike Made in Wyoming Considerable excitement is being generated over the discovery of Schroeckeringerite, (commonly called dakite, most valuable of the uranium ores family) by three Salt Lake men. The discovery was made in the Gas Hills area of eastern Fremont . County, Wyoming, of which Lander is the county seat. Vem Hughes, Earl Allgood, and John Armstrong, all ,of 1326 West North Temple, Salt Lake City, made the discovery about one mile west of a similar discovery made at the same time by the Sateco Uranium Mining Company, of Lander. The location of the claims owned by the Salt Lakers is about one and a quarter miles east of the Lucky Mack Mine in the Gas Hills, which is in limited uranium production now. Preliminary surveys indicate that the find is a sizeable one, since airborne surveys have picked up extremely high radioactivity indications at up to twelve hundred feet off the terrain. Black and Deason, one of the oldest assay firms in the West, are preparing assay reports at their Salt Lake offices, which are expected to shed further light on the value of the strike. It is to be noted, however, that schroeckeringerite is rarely found in anything but highly concentrated bodies. Only small bodies of the ore have been found until the developments of recent months in the Gas Hills of the Wind River formation in Wyoming were brought to light. Uranium Merges, Plans New Mill Up-Gradi- ng Consolidated Uranium Company, one of the pioneer companies in western uranium exploration, announced today a merger with Uranium Mines of America, and plans' for construction of an upgrading mill at Temple Mountain by the joint companies. it has been approved through the company. Consolldated.began exploration of uranium in 1950, and now holds one of the west's largest producing uranium mines' at Temple Mountain, near Green-river, Utah. Both Consolidated and UraniWork on the new mill has not um Mines of America have offistarted yet, according to Grant ces at 414 Darling Bldg., Salt McGowen of Consolidated, but Lake City. peratures .and corrosive condi tions indicates that zirconium will become a popular construction material for the chemical industry when more is available and it costs less. Although zirconium is classed as a rare element, it is actually more plentiful in the earth's crust ones as copper, than ' (Continued on Page 2) well-know- n Subscribe Now Western Mineral Survey Salt Lake City, Utah 421 Chuck St. Published Once Each Week Late News, Quotations, Information Service, on Mining. Oil Financial $3.00 KEEP POSTED ON THE GREAT UBANIUM BOOM $5.00 Two Years One Year Circulation Dept. 22 Vh East 1st Sonth 9 Subscription Enclosed find $ Order for which send me Western Mineral Survey for. Name worker si Temple Mountain Diggings, now one of Ike largest producing uran-iu- m Consolidated recently executed a mines CONSOLIDATED Address. merger with Uranium Mines of America, and plans to build an Mountain site. up-gradi- ng mill at the Temple |