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Show Jfew All-Time Drilling Record Set By U-lsidusfry, AEC Reports Surface exploration and development drilling by the U.S. Uranium mining industry in-dustry in calendar year 19-63 19-63 totaled 23,800,000 feet and eclipsed all prior records, it was announced today by tho Grand Junction, Colorado, office tff the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission The 19G8 drilling figure was more than double the 10,700,000 feet drilled by the industry in 1967, the previous pre-vious high year The 1968 record represents 22 per cent of the total of 110,000, 030 fet of surface drilling for uranium since 1948, when the AEC began to record industry drilling figures. According to information supplied to the Grand Junction Junc-tion AEC Office by uranium companies active throughout the western United States, the footages drilled by calendar cal-endar quarters in 19C8 were:. First calendar quarter, exploration ex-ploration drilling 2,100.000; developmnt drilling, 1.800, 000; total surface drilling Z, 930.000. Second calendar quarter exploration drilling 3,930.003 development drilling 2,100, 030; total surface drilling 6,000,009. Third calendar quarter, exploration drilling 5,700,003 development drilling 2,100, C03; total surface drilling 7, 833,030. Fourth calendar quarter exploration drilling 4,500,000 development drilling, 1,600. 000; total surface drilling 6, 130,000. Total exploration drilling 16.2C0.0C0 development drilling drill-ing 7,630.000 total surface drilling 23,800,000. Exploration drilling is done in search of now deposits de-posits whereas development drilling is done to define size, configurations, and grade cf deposits. During the uranium rush of the 1953's, the peak drilling drill-ing activity was in 1957 when a total of 9,200,000 feet was reported by the industry. Surface drilling declined steadily thereafter to a low of slightly over 2,000,000 tt. in 1965. Beginning in 1966, when 4.230,000 feet were drilled, there was a resurgence resur-gence of interest in uranium exploration in response to long-term demands for uranium uran-ium as a fuel for the fast-growing fast-growing nuclear power industry in-dustry The average depth of holes has nearly doubled twecn 19G6 and 1968, with some drilling being done to depths of two to three thousand thous-and feet. A comparison of the number and average depth of holes drilled in the last three years is given in tihe following table. In 1967 the number of holes 18.930, average depth 220 feet. In 1967 29,700 holes averaging 360 feet deep. In. 1968 53,000 holes were, drilled drill-ed averaging 410 . feet in deplh. A breakdown cf industry's 1938 drilling activity by states, as reported to AEC. fellows: Wyoming, drilling ft. 12, 000,000, 50.5 percent of total. to-tal. New Mexico 4,500,000 drilling feet, 18.9 per cent of total. Texas 3,300,000 drilling drill-ing feet, 13.8 percent of total. to-tal. Utah 1,700,000 drilling ft. 7.1 percent of total. Colorado, Colo-rado, 1,300,000 drilling feet, 5.5 percnt to total. South Dakota 440,000 drilling drill-ing feet, 1.9 percent of total. to-tal. California, 140,000 drilling drill-ing feet, 0.6 percent of total. to-tal. Arizona, 120,000 drilling feet, 0.5 percent of total. Washington 110,000 drilling feet, 0.5 per cent of total Nevada 50,000 drilling feet-0.2 feet-0.2 percent of total. Idaho 40,000 drilling feet, 0.2 percent per-cent of total. Olhers (Oregon Montana) 80.000 drilling "ft, 0.3 percent of total. A total of 23,800,000 drilling drill-ing feet At the end of' 1008, esli-muted esli-muted U. S. uranium ore re. serves were 70.4 million tons Willi nn average grade of 0.23 percent U:ii). 'n,, i-ontain 161,000 tons of U308 r.voyerabk- at $!) per p,mi or U308 or leS,s. This com. pares wilh Mlt.000 tons a year earlier. New reserves developed in 101.3 were 26,000 tons Af ter adjustment for oee min-I','1 min-I','1 ll,u1 d'iPM to mills 1"'ro was n net increase Kov,L?rini; ,,,R f luring 17, the (m Vo-ir "j" lwo M,;it rw,;.n showed h iw naini ,.h( r(,; ""rve add il ions were 17 700 Ions, iind (ho net Increase In-crease in lihiil yenr was 7 000 tons U30II. |