OCR Text |
Show The Story of Copper in Utah ' iiR-.'V'j: : fH'y f ( . Here tracks are iteratlvely being moved "bodily" at Bingham. Tracks must be moved frequently to keep them close enough to level banks so that the shovels can load ore and waste directly into railroad cars. (Editor's Note: CThis is the sixth of a series of eiffht articles titled "The Story of Copper in Utah.") The job of moving the mountain at Bingham in order to obtain the infinitesimal amount of metal that It contains constitutes one of the greatest man-niade spectacles in history. For every ton of ore moved it is necessary to move about 1 1 '5 tons of over-burden or waste. Since the mine was started In 1904, more than 465.000.000 cubic yards of material, including ore and waste (equivalent to 965,000,000 tons) have been moved. Excavations Excava-tions for the Panama Canal, one of the modern wonders of the world, are estimated at 232,300,000 cubic yards. What of the enterprise today and what of its future? Despite its great record of the past, the mine's future fu-ture operation depends upon production pro-duction costs, including taxes and metal prices. The cost of production produc-tion was what Jackling gambled upon when he won and the stumbling stumb-ling block over which many thought he would fall. Now it is of importance, impor-tance, not only to the company, but to the State of Utah, because the lower that costs can be brought, the lower the grade of ore that can be mined, and the longer will be the life of the mine. As an example, production was started originally on the basis of mining 2 per cent copper ore. Today To-day ore averaging less than 1 per cent is being successfully handled, needless to say, there Is more ore of 12 of 1 per cent copper dis-ceminated dis-ceminated through the hills of Bingham than there is 1 per cent copper, so consequently the life of the enterprise is dependent upon production costs, and of course, the rate of output. In 192S Mr. Jackling reported that the company had an effectual a!l around equipped capacity of 60,-000 60,-000 tons of ore per day, corresponding correspond-ing to an annual production of 400,-0000,000 400,-0000,000 pounds of coi.per, more or less. During the war. the mine and its men rose to tli6 demand for all-out production with a record undreamed of in peace-time years. At times production exceeded 100,000 tons of ore per day and in one year produced more than 600,000,000 pounds of copper, vital for the war effort. (The seventh article in this series will appear in these columns soon.) |