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Show Wirk on Sfew Mine UncSerwav Development work is underway un-derway at the Utah mine of Rio Algom Corporation, a U. S. subsidiary of Rio Algom Al-gom Mines Limited of Canada. Can-ada. The mine, which will probe a half-mile deep ore deposit north of the Lisbon Fault in San Juan county, is located approximately 35 miles southeast of Moab. Contractor for the initial phase of shaft development, Centennial Development of Eureka, Utah, has begun preliminary pre-liminary work on their approximately ap-proximately $1.9 million contract con-tract which calls for sinking an 18-foot diameter ventilation ventila-tion shaft some 2,662 feet to the ore body. Shaft sinking on the project, pro-ject, according to Orval Wilson Wil-son of Centennial, "is still in the surface stage, and on schedule." The company expects ex-pects to be on the project about 18 months, hiring some thirty men during that time. The shaft will be 18 feet in diameter, concrete lined, and 2,662 feet deep. Completion Comple-tion is scheduled for October Octo-ber of 1970. Centennial Development, a Utah based firm, has been in on Moab's uranium story since the start, having sunk many shafts during the first boom of the 1950's. Recently ,they were contractor on the first several hundred feet of tne Texas Gulf Sulphur Co. second shaft at the Cane Creek operation, which was isunk conventionally to that point, and then drilled the remainder of the way. Rio Algom began development develop-ment work imFebroary with the drilling of three water wells to provide water for the mine' site. Contractor on that phase was L. R. French Water Wells of MoniceJlo. Also underway is the designing de-signing of the production shaft headframe and shaft . collar. This engineering contract con-tract was awarded to Denver's Den-ver's Stearns-Roger Corporation. Corpora-tion. Tenders for construction construc-tion for the production shaft will be invited by early May and completion date for this phase of the development project is to be October 1. The mine itself is slated for completion in early 1972. It will have an initial capacity capac-ity of 1.2 million pounds of uranium oxide per year. A portion of the Utah mine's output will be used to fill a sales agreement with Duke Power Company of Charlotte, North Carolina. Tire agreement agree-ment calls for the delivery to the utility company of 3 million pounds of uranium oxide over a 6-year period commencing in 1972. Discussions Discus-sions are underway with other potential customers for the sale of additional uranium from the property. No announcement relative to the milling of ore from the mine has yet been made. |