OCR Text |
Show Rep. King Introduces Bill To Save Cobalt Industry Rep. David S. King Monday introduced a bill which he hopes will avert a collapse of the domestic do-mestic cobalt industry. "Unless the Congress acts, the industry faces certain collapse when, the General Services administration's ad-ministration's purchase agreement agree-ment with the tUah-Idaho cobalt producers expires this year." Mr. King's bill , proposes to amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to fix a duty of $1 per pound on the cobalt content of cobalt imports. im-ports. Such a tariff would hold the domestic price at the level which has prevailed in the GSA purchase pur-chase agreement. "To let this industry collapse is to ignore one of the painful lessons of World War II." The United States then was cut off from itsp rincipal cobalt supply sup-ply when the German armies overran the Belgian cobalt industry. in-dustry. "Everi though the U. S. again is importing the bulk of its cobalt co-balt from foreign producers we must recognize the importance of maintaining the domestic source," Mr. King said. "Cobalt has important applications appli-cations in the tools on which our national security now largely rests namely, jet parts, rocket , Since cobalt prices are sagging on the world markets, the industry in-dustry canont expect to continue production without a duty to protect the domestic price, or another an-other contract. The industry has little hope of another contract because GSA has , outstanding commitments for 61 million pounds of cobalt. Of these commitments, Calera Mining and Howe Sound have the only domestic contract. The payroll in 1958 at the mine , was an estimated $1,826,-000 $1,826,-000 and at the refinery at Magna approximately $750,000. At their peak the two payrolls include in-clude 400 employees. At present there are 126 employees em-ployees at the fine and 100 at the refinery. , Collapse of the Industry woud wipe out a sizeable investment' in the development of the mine. Cobalt is a shifting, rather than solid ore. The miners have a constant battle to maintain their access to the ore. The . mine structure would collapse if pro-i duction were interrupted. . r . , "If it ever became necessary to reopen the mine in a time of national crisis we would face not only the heavy cost of rebuilding it but also the critical delay the reconstruction would entail." j and missile propulsion systems and electronic equipment. The Calera Mining Co. of Cot-bait; Cot-bait; Idaho and its Salt Lake City affiliate, Howe Sound Co., mine and mill ores from Idaho Blackbird. Black-bird. Mine, wheih represents the nation's only primary cobalt de- posit. . ... . I With great difficulty this in dustry has perfected processes which make production profitable profit-able under i the prices which the GSA contract, provides, the congressman said. Under the contract, which expires ex-pires Dec 3 1; 1959, Calera Mining Min-ing and Howe Sound are delivering deliver-ing 6.5,milion pounds of cobalt to government stockpiles at $2.30 per pound. As of Jan. 1, they had delivered 4,920,000 pounds and will, at the present rate, fill the contract quota by May odr June of this year. |