Show Talk Given n t By Steen Sten At t Mine Meet DISCOVERY VER-r VER Early In A A. Steen a geologist prospecting for uranium uranium ur staked 12 adjoining claims in the Big Indian Mining District San Juan County Utah along the flank of the Lisbon Valley Vall-ey Anticline They comprise the property of the Turn to Page 5 5 From Page ge geSteen i 1 Steen Talk Exploration Company A 1 four mile four mile road from the county gravel road was built by Steen who then moved in a a drill rig rifi and on J July ly 3 1952 1932 at the end of the road mad the middle of the Mi Vida claim began drilling the first diamond drill hole inthe In Inthe the district The hole encountered encountered rich deb uranium ore on July 6 at a depth of 70 feet and continued con in ore for 14 feet Sink I ing of the shaft 30 feet teet southeast i from the discovery hole began on on October 4 4 1952 The first ore was hoisted on December 4 1952 and ore shipments from the mine were begun on December 6 1952 The Exploration Company Company Com pany was formed on October 24 1952 Charles A A. A Steen and his mother Mrs Roselle Roselie Shumaker now hold an 81 stock Interest In the corporation Production from Irom the Big Indian In dian dlan Mining District prior to the Steen discovery was approximately approximately tons produced over overa a d year four period Therefore the present rate of production per pei year yeaT Is 50 times greater than it was in 1952 The production fig ures are expected to Increase e by bya bYI a similar multiple In By comparing the total otal production tion with the Ithe estimated reserves It is evident that less than 2 of the deposit has b been en mined On the th the ore reserves approximately 98 of the ore la is still sUll in the ground and the re serve figure Is expected to rise faster than the production fig ure This is evidence I believe that the ore can be mined at a faster rate perhaps up to 1000 tons per pea day Several changes in the pres I ent U U. S S. S buying program would accelerate this tion First a guaranteed market mar mal ket for tor an Indefinite tonnage of ore Second higher hauling al allowance al lowance nce Third elimination of the Ull hl high h lime penalty The most salient factor fator however would be bea a considerable Increase in the depletion depIction allowance It must be bo stated here that no requests for Government assistance assis tance were advanced by the I Exploration Company nor was any tax tax papers money used Inthe in iii inthe the development of the property in tn tact fact has dispensed dispensed dis dis- for core drill in ing feet and BI Big Indian Mines Mines Inc has expended 57 00 for drilling making a grand total of for lor both companies The total cost cosi for road building on the property Is This brings the he total amount to and that 11 figure ure does not include the cash spent to find the ort ore deposit An As a n geologist And uranium producer it is my firm opinion that hat the reserves reserves of the Colorado plateau via a 4 whole have only been t scratched and that the bulk of the uranium in this province has yet yetto to be found The following fallowing compan companies es are expected to be in production by 19 1954 Big BI Indian MInes Mines Cal U Uranium un rani inn Christensen and Her lI rin Little Beaver La Sal Mining Company and Standard Urani Uranium um urn Company These companies a combined total of over over 1000 tons n a day when all are E in production and this does docs not Include c production from Mi Ml VIda mine |