Show IMen Men Who Dig Uranium Ore Oro Want Moro More Money Continued from first page hall half the plateaus plateau's refining capacity capacity ca ca- ca is in operation What we wo ought to get Js Ss about to ton declares de de- 30 33 a cIa clarea clares res one ono raw miner That would pay our costs and give us a decent profit prom To help themselves get a fair lair shake the indr miners ra have formed forme-d an association for Cor collective roller tive bargaining with the tho AlEC and the milling companies Prices paid for lor raw ore now are arc based on both Its vanadium and uranium content and the t average per ton comes to about 2350 Miners get 31 cents a pound for Cor the thc vanadium oxide or unrefined metal In their rock That compares with 21 cents a n pound before belore the tho war and 45 cents during the feak peak war demand for the metal meta metIn In InI addition during the war th the I miners got help from the Metals Reserve Corp which developed roads in the area and made loans of money and equipment Besides the current 31 cents a pound for vanadium content minors get 1 to a pound I Ifor for the uranium oxide oxide- in their ore depending on its Us richness These payments are made under under under un un- un- un der a schedule of basic prices set up by the tho AlEC plus allowances allowances allowances allow allow- ances and premiums The pay scale gets some of the diggers as befuddled as a schoolboy inan in inan inan an algebra quiz Costs Have Climbed Although the the- current 2350 a ton price is higher than the wartime e level of 18 when miners miners mins min min- ers were paid only for vanadium content and nothing for uranium uranIum uranium urani uranI- um at the bottom of the 1947 mining slump ore prices dropped dropped dropped drop drop- ped to 1440 a ton it 11 still isn't in line with increased mining mining min min- mining ing costs says Blair Burwell a n walking encyclopedia on the vanadium an and aid uranium indus tries Hes He's president pre of Minerals Engineering Co In Grand Junc tion which does exploratory drilling ing and consulting engin Bering cering Mr Bunwell Burwell agrees with other other oth oth- er miners that costs have nearly doubled since 1042 The cost of producing a ton of rock now averages averages av av- av around 27 compared with 13 to 14 six or seven years ago ogo Labor for tor example now runs to an hour It Lt used to cost 70 to 75 cents Other cost boosts have been made on drills explosives trucks machinery similar mining equipment I haven't been able to make a living mining ore complains Douis Dunning So he has leased 34 claims ea each h claim Is about 20 acres in southwestern Colorado to Vanadium Corp Two Plants Operating At present only two processing processIng process process- ing plants are operating in the area One is the U U. S S. S Vanadium plant at Rifle Colo processing about tons a day or about half hwU of its capacity The other Is Vanadium Corps plant a at t NaturIta in southwestern western Colorado Colorado Colorado Colo Colo- rado also working tons of ore are dally daily Slated for operation by nex next t July uly 1 is the ton a day plant at Monticello Utah Ore is being stockpiled for It now An important feature of this plant is that it will use anew a anew anew new treating pro process ss by which uranium can be recovered from lime ore says Philip C. C Leahy engineer for the ArEC in Grand Junction These ores have a relatively higher uranium content content con con- tent than other types of ores he says but heretofore no one has had a process for foa treating them The Monticello plant will be toe operated for the ABC by Gallagher Gallagher Gallagher Galla Galla- gher Macine Co of Salt Lake City I other processing plants are expected to get Into operation operation operation opera opera- tion this summer one owned by U. U S. S Vanadium Corp at Uravan Uravan Uravan Ura- Ura van Colo the other owned by the government at Dur Durango ngo Colo The Durango plant was sold to U. U S. S Vanadium Corp after the war war but later was sold back to the EC Now its it's been be-an leased to Vanadium Corp for foro o operation This program will give the area five operating plants the same number it had grinding away at ore during the years of peak war demand Its It's aimed to process about tons of ore aday a aday day the normal capacity of I plants now in existence I Outside the Colorado plateau which Is the oldest of the known uranium fields only two important important important tant sources have be been been n ed One Ane is the Belgian controlled mine in South Africa Africa Africa Af Af- rica discovered in 1913 the theother theother theother other the El EI Dorado mine was found in tn Canada near th the Arctic Arctic Arctic Arc Arc- tic circle in 1930 Secondary deposits have been found in Bohemia Bohemia Bo Bo- hemia and Portugal Russia is rumored to have discovered uranium deposits within its bor bor- ders Jt t it has all inform information a tion has been kept a tight secret |