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Show 1957 12, Friday, July THE WESTERN MINERAL SURVEY Face I (The followinc article is reprinted from The Salt lake Tribune) . Utahs TT , ft . . t i . WESTERN MINERAL ' : SURVEY ' . MEWS . - I 1 40 ' XU Salt Lake City. Utah 403 Curtlf St Denver ALplne Kntered m eecond clave matter at Lake City, Utah, under Act of March 3, ' 1879. Subscription rates: for one year. 13.00 8S.00 for too yean; Pleaie mention Western Mineral Survey ales on application. then writing to advertisers. Advertising ment et al. Its perfectly true that the free world has more uranium largely purchased at.U.S, taxpayers expense than it knows what to do with. Its also true that no really nuclear reactor has been as yet developed which is cheap enough in total cost and operating ratios to give coal, natural gas and bunker oil any real competition in the major field of steam electric generation. Its true that great new things are planned by way of a nuclear navy for the United States. But the submarines, for example, are even more efficient in utiliation of uranium than at first thought. Its true that there are so many nuclear reactor designs out that few electric power companies and even many government authorities would recommend risking large sums of money on them for the simple reason they might be outdated next month. Its true that the military emergency drive for production of uranium in this country, Canada, Australia and South Africa .Xdltor U M. HILL. All news appearing In the Western Iflneral Survey Is obtained from sources relieved to be reliable but no responsibility is assumed for accuracy of statements. Reproduction of any material from this publication must have written permission from the publlsner. . is hown STORAGE SPHERE: The operator in the foreground used for pressure testing during cap on freon cylinders ef Fnlto. N. Y. . S. L. Oilman Blasts Fellow Workers SSKSS tf Lake oilman Graham Campbell blames geological cowardice in latest issue of ' Petroleum Week Magazine for oil companies overlooking many important oil and gas pools in Utahs Uintah Basin.. . . THE GEOLOGIST, in a provocative articile, says that his fellows are apologetic, effacing and weak-knewhen it comes to selling a drilling program based on stratographic conditions as opposed to the conventional clo-e- d Its true that there is not now a large useable, free world market for the fantastic stores of uranium which the U.S, has accumulated if for no other reason than to keep them out of the hands of the Soviets. : BUT it is also true that: Uranium looks good because so manu other metals look so bad. v The guaranteed ore purchase program still has four years to go and if you have a mine now, or find a relatively small one in the next two or three years, you should be able to sell your ore. The reason for this is that many mills established in our area three and four years ago have the capacity to handle this ore. They need the ore. Virtually every other major program for metals has ended or is poming to an end, although some hope is held: out-thathe Congress this session and (probably) next will pass a suitable long range minerals plan based on affecticontrols import ng1 tungsten, copper, lead, zinc flourspar and that a reasonable purchase plan will be developed for mercury, chrome, cobalt, antimony and other metals. , Uranium looks good because there is a concentrates purchase, program that extends info March of I960 which will guarantee production at a level of at least 500 tons from any one mine per year. Much needs to be defined in this latter program as it affects both the independent miner and the jniller. But undeniably, it IS a program. - The new look at uranium has resulted in a boom in the Crooks Gap and Gas Hills district of Fremont County, Wyo. It has continued to stimulate activity in the Ambrosia Lake District of New Mexico. And an increase in major company activity in prospecting is noted in southeastern Utah districts. We have never had any faith in the witless theorists who predict what is going to happen to our world in 1975. We are concerned with mineral development today and now , which is the basis for the future including 1975. As a result, the uranium raw materials picture is less clouded now than before with threats from the fissionable compretitor, thorium, and the ravings of eastern science writers who see nu clear fission applied to motorcycles in the next few years. And we cannot help but think that the good sense of the Grand Junction Operations Office of the Atomic Energy Commission has had much to do with the changed picture of affairs The West looks hopefully toward a maturing and continu ing prosperous uranium mining industry. ed - structure. The mania of closure, he says, is still dominant in the industry, even though geologists of all breeds, types and position known closure is not essential to discovery of oil and gas. He says geological heaids in major companies suffer from tunnel vision in this regard. V . t M4 Wesco Oil Galls Special Meeting A of the stock- special meeting holders of. the Wesco Oil Refining Co. has been called for July 15 to vote on merging it into New Metals Corp. The refinery at Rangely, Colo., has a production of 1,200 barrels English Publication Hints Lead-Zin- c Industries Now Turning Sour' tificially high and to encourage production inside and outside of the United States. In consequence, says the publication, foreign production of lead and zinc is now a greater It states that the barter program of American farm surpluses for threat to the prosperity of the foreign produced lead and zinc American mines than it was on page 4) served to keep world prices ar d . . plant 'Ji. Olin Mathieson Chemical Corporation. nitrogen, which is used in the production !? y fuels. The high-enerto States United produce the Niagara Falls plant is the first in High-energTuels y are basis. fuels on a chemical fn.ta m.0ppp.5d NIAGARA FALLS, N. Y. at a cost of $5,500,000. Olin Mathieson Chemical CorporbeFirst shipments of the ' fuel had ation today announced it have already been delivered to come the first company in the high-enerthe Air Force, Dr. L. K. Herndon, United States to produce fuels head of the high-enerfuels on a Falls, rebasis. The fuel is now being operation at Niagara which began ported. Shipments, shipped to the. U. S. Air Force. are month a being than less ago, scheduled An interim facility, ... in made quantities. Increasing of this end for completion at the is now fuel The times being produced year, will turn out three expected to be the forerunner of the amount of fuel now being a $1,000,000,000 industry in the produced in the next ten years. This estimate, Air An plant. made by W. C. Foster executive in plant, expected to come will vice president of Olin Mathieson, within the next 20 months, curis projected on the basis of the times increase output many quantities of the fuel rent volume, according to an Air tremendous needed for military aircraft and Force spokesman. This plant is civilian long-rang- e confor later Force Air the result of an flights. At the present: time, the tract awarded to Olin Mathieson confuel is considered to be suitable Chemical Corporation for for aircraft only. struction of a $36,000,000 facility. fuel chemical Brig. Gen. C. H. Mitchell, depsigy director of production of ths nificantly increases the range of uty of Procurement and Directorate by aircraft and missiles powereddoes at Production Wright Patterson It engines. Base Force Dayton," Ohio, failure Air' probwith engine away breakOlin Mathiesons said lems at high altitudes. high-enerfuels reon of five of through years The' result greater strength for the search and two years of called United States. The General said fuels, tion testing, the (High-Energy HEF-3 that he could visualize use. of this HEF-- 2 and future fuel in the Fuel-- 2 and 3), had been made in noncivilians small laboratory pilot units by for transporting to as bt one k from point given stop Olin Mathieson as far heretofore distances other over an now produced being 1952. It is in the Niagara Falls plant which considered impossible. high-energ- gy al gy semi-commerc- semi-commerc- gy ial ial Force-sponsor- ed , . High-energ- air-breathi- ng . sig-nifi- ed gy not-too-dist- ant . . Basin Project Benefits Reach Beyond Today, Rotary Told per day and is located in the center of one of the largest oil fields in the United States. Crude oil is pumped two miles directly from a tank battery at the Texas Companys wells to the Wesco Main benefits of the Upper Refinery. Additional crude oil Colorado River Storage Project stocks are purchased for indenot will the millions expendbe pendent producers in the Rangely field. ed today, but the far reaching benefits of years ahead, Ernest O. Larson, regional director, tola Bureau of Reclamation, Salt Lake Rotarians Tuesday. While money spent on the Glen Canyon and Flaming Gorge projects will have immediate ecoSecretary of the Interior Fred nomic effects on surrounding A. Seaton said today that the ore states, Mr. Larson said, real propotential resulting from 291 min ject benefits will be measured in eral exploration projects certified increased development of indusby the Departments Defense Minerals Exploration Administration try, agriculture, population and is estimated to be worth $490 mil- recreational facilities. speaking before , Mir. 'Larson, lion, based upon December 1956 the noon luncheon meetweekly prices. of Rotary Club, emphasizea Secretary Seaton said he has ing recreational and power features been advised by DMEA administhe of project. trator, C. O. Mittendorf that Power will help pay the way about $8.5 million of Govern for developments other projects ment funds had been disbursed on the in basin, including smaller the successful projects through reclamation he said. dams, April 30, 1957. This represents is it necessary to about $50 million worth of new Therefore, build as lams ore in the ground for each $1 quickly os possible." million of Federal funds invested He noted that 2,600,000 perin these projects. The ratio decrease sto about 23 to 1 when sons had visited recreation facilall contract disbursements made ities at Lake Mead in 1956 and under the DMEA program are forecast a comparable surge of compared with the value of ore tourist interest at: Flaming Gorge potential, the secretary was in- and Glen Canyon. formed. Mr. Larson also explained that Secretary Seaton Tells Ore Values - t the Ntaj.r. hfeh.en.rw fi.ta semi-commerci- Salt - The London Economist, the Wall Street Journal of England, comments that the spoon fed prosperity of the lead and zinc mining industries of the world is turning sour. ' XM ADVERTX8XNO . mining, milling, yellow cake processing, nuclear reactor develop- is over.- i ALplne 501 3608 ' ' Tribune Business Editor' ' The uranium business looks better than ever. And if you dont believe It, you havent been reading the paper lately about a number of major companies jumping into ' Fuel Industry ForU.S High-Energ- y : . By Robert W. Bernick Phon Curtis 8t., Denver 1403 i ' . New - CIRCULATION tSlCbnrch Btrcet Better Now Than Ever V the Bureau of Reclamation has circumvented possible shortages of technical and skilled help by offering on the job training to persons with several years schooling in engineering. We Dont feel that because a young man has been forced to drop out of school after two years of training, he should be. pre- eluded from pursuing his chosen vocation, Mr. Larson said. The training program also frees graduate engineers to preform higher echelon tasks, he said. About 20 guest Rotarians join- -. ed with Salt Lake members Tuesday. Included was Dr. Lewis Ray Burnett, past president of the Aurora, Colo., club who holds a record of 38 consecutive years of perfect attendance at Rotary meetings.' on-the-j- -- . ob ' - Navajo. Test The Texas Co. has announced location for its Navajo E-- 5 test in Aneth Pool, San Juan County. The field development project will be drilled 1,890 feet from the north line and 500 feet from the east line, Section. 15, Township 40 South and Range 24 East. It will test the Hermosa ' ' |