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Show Gigantic New Power Plant In Prospect for Plateau served by the new utility baa increased 31 percent since 1953, and over 3,000 percent since 1950, according to latest government i figures. Construction was scheduled te start on February 1, and completion date is in November, 1956. It will be operated by a private company to be known as the Western Cole rado Power Co., with headquar-ter- s at Montrose. To fuel the turbines, the plant will use coal from the 160 billion tons of reserve estimated to lie under the Saa Juan Basin country. Construction of a 10 million dol- in Southwestern Colorado may be started soon, designed to utilize coal reserves in the San Juan Basin to operate steam turbines. The plant would have a capacity of 27,000 kwh. lar power plant Four Rural Electrification Associations have banded together to construct the plant. They are the San Miguel, Delta-Montros- IN DAYS OF LONG AGO the only freight lines were photo above, taken in about 1880, shows a load of pipe Pioneers who settled the Colorado new water ditch-linsponsible for the many advantages available to present still considered a frontier. e. Gallium From Ophir Nafurita Booms Along With Hines Assays High A. those using oxen, horses, or mules. The being hauled into Tellui'ide for use in a Plateau in the late 1800s are directly rePlateau dwellers. The Plateau, however, is A. Smith, general superintendent of the Silver Bell Mines at Ophir was interviewed recently the wongallium, concerning der metal, which the Silver Bell mine is preparing to develop. Gallium is only found in small amounts in various parts of the world. All that has been mined to date came from the fine dust of smelters. The Silver Bell expects to recover about $150 worth of gallium from a ton of ore. Prices are quoted at $3.00 or $3.25 per gram, or 1,300 per pound. The metal looks like silver when refrigeratstated Mr. Smith. After ed, being in a persons hand a short time, it runs like quick silver. BLANCHARD DRUG Complete Prescription Service Hunting and Fishing Supplies Fountain & Sundries Most Complete Camera, Film and Accessory Department in Western Colorado. Norwood, Colo. CONN SUPPLY Phillips 66 Gas & Oils. Service Hawkinson Treads Wholesale Delivery Accessories Retail Norwood, Colorado Nucla Hardware & Equipment Co. PLUMBING SUPPLIES And SERVICE ELECTRICAL & BUILDING SUPPLIES FERGUSON TRACTORS And EQUIPMENT Nucla Colorado (PHONE 150) NUCLA MERC. taurant, a drilling company, three and a theater. Two new churches have also been erected, and Montrose county has built a new shop there. One other church is still under construction. Prior to birth of the uranium boom, Naturita was a ranching community and its people were satisfied to live the slow, normal existence they were accustomed to. Now all of that is changed. Not only has a hustling, bustling way of life been created there are the many problems that come with growth of any town. Mayor Vear Ray and the city council face the task of figuring out a way to provide adequate housing for the people moving into Naturita and there is no adequate long-terfinancing available. Con. struction is well underway on a $40,000 water system and local people are demanding that the entire planned system be completed, at an additional cost of about says Ray. Contributing to the prosperity of Naturita is the Vanadium Corp. of America mill two miles away, employing about 100 men. The mill processes uranium and some vanadium and during 1953 increased its capacity by 80 percent. It is now being expanded again.' To accommodate workers, the firm erected a housing settlement near the mill which it calls Vancoram. The settlement, of course, is economically tied to Naturita. To make other housing available, there is talk of a housing project just across the San Miguel river from Naturita. However, plans are still in the talking stage and so temporary housing must do, at least temporarily. But even temporary housing is scarce and a trailer village which was not yet completed last November was already fully rented. There is a shortage of classroom space for school pupils, too. The growth in number of students has been from 40 to a present 140 in the past six years. Before the spring thaws come, a new classroom addition to the present structure will have been completed and plans are underway to build additional classrooms to eventually enlarge the school to 13 rooms, a new heating plant and new toilet facilities. The project, all told, may come to as much as $80,000. Valuation for taxes in School District 25, which includes grade schools at Naturita and Uravan, has jumped from $2,293,915 in trailer courts, Phone 520 Nucla, Colorado and Nucla Drive-I- in 1954. space is another problem. Naturita is nestled in the mountains, and the only way it could expand was westward along the river, where once not so many years ago cattle grazed on fertile fields. Now there are trailer houses, businesses, and drilling rigs and lots of people with money in the bank and in their wallets, ready to support their growing town, to provide for newcomers and for themselves the many necessities that growth creates. Oil MOTEL Artesian WTaler Your Local Conoco Dealer Phones Bus. 53J11 Res. 53J2 Nucla, Colorado COLORADO Greetings From George Wilson NUCLA MERCHANT and COLORADO STATE SENATOR NUCLA HOTEL Modern Rooms Reasonable Rates LILIE MITCHELL R. Borcherdt Manager Proprietor Nucla, Colorado NUCLA THEATRE All First Run Pictures Vista Vision CinemaScope Wide Screen Nucla Colorado In The Heart Of The Uranium Belt Town of Nucla, Colo. Growing HI - TRAILER COURT Washateria SERVICE NORWOOD $20,-00- 1952 to $3,233,190 NUCLAS NEW STORE GROCERIES VEGETABLES And GUARANTEED MEATS EARL ROBUCK Proprietor TOVS "A New And Friendly Bank " Serving Southern Colorado PHONE 6 Member Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation it Phone 10 ' SAN MIGUEL BASIN STATE BANK Uranium Industry Growth NATURITA In 1939 there were but 30 people living in this West End Montrose county town. Today the population is about 1,200. And the entire growth is due to the uranium boom. Naturita lies in the famed San Miguel River valley in the uranium basin of Montrose and San Miguel counties, where most of Colorados ore pro$75,000,000 duction in 1953 occurred. Along with the growth in population has come growth in business, e marincluding a new ket, filling station, hotel, bar, res Em- pire Electric, and the LaPlata Electric. Potential users will be in the Nucla, Naturita, Norwood and Uravan areas, according to word being passed around in REA circles. In these districts are the U.S.V., and V.C.A. mills and the Red Rock mill which still is in the planning stage. Also classified as potential users are 13 lumber mills, 750 operating mines, as well as 1,700 individual REA users in the area, It has been estimated that the power output would cut costs 10 to 25 percent. The people of Cortez, Durango and Delta may also re-- 1 ceive relief from their already overburdened electrical circuits, according to present plants. Power consumption by local purchasers in the entire district which mav be n Colorado Industry Pays The petroleum industry, in five western states (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming) has contributed nearly $200 million to the federal government since 1920 in the form of leases, bonuses, rentals and production of federal land. The Fastest Growing Area on the Western Slope Pro- moting the Uranium Industry. Safe Water Supply Approved by Colo. Health Dept. An Untouched Area For Housing Contractors. NAIDA STEPHENS Gerk |