Show MEN WHO DIG URANIUM ORE WANT MORE MO MONEY EY MANY ARE ABANDONING MINES A recent edition of the authoritative nu- nu Wall Street Journal carried the thc following article written by Lewis B. B ser a staff correspondent who had iad made a careful study of the uranium situation In the thc so 80 called Colorado Plateau The article Is factual concise and will make interesting reading for or those thoo who have been led to believe that all nIl is well In the uranium belt Increased US U.S. supplies of Uranium uranium the raw v material of atomic energy and vanadium ho tho metallic element clement which toughens steel arc stakes in a three handed poker game now being played high in the Rock- Rock ies es On one side of the thc table sit the ho Independent miners who dig the thc ore in this rich section of mineral land The chips they hope to win are arc higher prices for their rock They now get an overage of 23 2350 0 a ton They want 30 to 33 because they maintain it Jt costs 26 20 to 27 a aon aton aton ton on to mine ore today Across oss the thc table is the Atom Atom- ic c Energy Commission It Is is seeking increased domestic production production pro pro- of uranium But Dut it wants to play the cost of ore close to Its belt This area the country's only discovered maor ma ma- Jor br or source of atomic material m should be developed says the commission but with reasonable reasonable reasonable reason able economy That means It doesn't want ore are prices to get out of hand Two nl Big Refiners The third participant Is theore theore the theore ore the middleman the refiner who buys ore from the min miners rs and sells the metal to the he and steel companies There are two refiners Vanadium Van um urn Corp of America and U U. S. S Vanadium Corp Cerp the latter a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corp If the refiners have to pay higher prices for ore that will mean higher operating operating op op- crating costs They want that like Junior wants castor oil because because be be- cause they are primarily in the vanadium business In that field they have to compete with molybdenum mot mol which which- does the same job as vanadium in making high quality steel alloys This abis game Is being played on the tIie Colorado Plateau whose an en- rocks are arc studded with vanadium and uranium uranium- cven oven the ore like the poker chips is varicolored Red streaks in the rock indicate a vanadium deposit depos depos- it bright yellow marks signal uranium ore I This mile long mile wide tableland In the tho heart of the spills splIts from western Colorado Into eastern Utah and laps over Into northwestern New Now Mexico and northeastern Arizona Found 46 Years Ago Agon In Th n the 40 46 years since vanadium um urn was first found In the he olat- olat eau enu production of that metal has totaled about 62 million pounds valued at around million During the war years when vanadium was wa-s one of the most precious of industrial minerals minerals min mm- the plateau supplied the U. U S. S and its allies alUes with 60 of 01 their needs But Dut until the government bean began be be- gan an developing the areas area's uranium ura ura- ium deposits in 1943 1043 o o one me nc paid aid much attention to the atomic material Some uranium was recovered and was used chiefly as a coloring agent in ceramics audi uch at bathroom tile but ut most of the uranium was washed down clown the creeks In tailings the waste from front lum ium um refining mills Engineers estimate this loss at around six million pounds of the refined relined product However In 1943 1043 when work on the thc atomic bomb was well under way army engineers began began be be- gan digging into the plies piles of tailings left from earlier processing processing pro pro- of vanadium For pro pro-I two wo years ye-ars rears this waste ore oco was run through extracting mills at Du- Du Uravan and ana Grand Junction Junction Junc- Junc tion ion In n western Colorado How JIow much uranium was re recovered from these tailings ia is a secret I In 1944 when the government cancelled Its Us vanadium procurement procure procure- meat ment program mining activity in m the plateau began to slump an and in 1045 1945 when the supply 0 oi of tailings ran out the army array halted halted halted halt halt- ed its Ita uranium recovery opera opera- tion But Dut the area got a new boost in 1047 1947 when the U. U S. S geological survey urvey started an exploration ex cx- program fo for lor the I eX-I This hunt for uranium deposits is still being carried on In an I effort to definitely prove up the uranium resources of the region Many Are Quitting I Meanwhile actual uranium ore are production isn't gaining much headway for lor want of better better bet bet- ter prices for their rock miners claim Many of the estimated 12 small smaIl operators in Jn the area are getting discouraged and are quitting they say ay Less LeN than Continued on last Jast ast p page ge |