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Show Helicopters Used to Solve Palisade Mountain 'Orel iff GATEWAY. Colo. Less than a dozen white men have been on the top of Palisade Mountain at Gale-way, rich in uranium. Climbing the sheer. 2,200 foot high walls Is a 7 H-hour Job. Dodge Uranium Corp. makes it to the top In less than five minutes by helicopter. Palisade Mountain Is one of the two towering formations from which the town of Gateway got its name. The tip end of this handsome crag gives an nnparalled view up and down the Dolores River O.non and along West Creek. Stone artifacts found there lndi- cate it may have been nsed by early Indians as a ceremonial spot or perhaps a lookout. With the coming of the big uranium search. Palisade Mountain drew the attention of the Lewises, Jack and Ray, and Wallis Win-field. They , made the arduous climb to the top and discovered what appeared to be a rich vein lust below an outcropping of slick rock. The ore strata apeared to run all around the mountain. Four selected samples of the rich ear-notlte assayed from 3.5 to 15.8 percent uranium. It is said. The big problem was how to got the ore down from a location almost twice as high as the Empire State building. They carried some down on their backs, lowered some on a little hand winch maybe seven tons of high grade in all. It was too slow to be profitable. Putting In an aerial tram would have been a big gamble without knowing bow much ore might be up there. And how was anyone going to get a big drilling rig on top of a 2,200 Toot rock that isn't much Alder on top than a one-car garage? Jerry Yakes and Sumner D. Dodge, officers of the Dodge Uranium Co., believed they have the answer in the wingless whlrlybird known as a helicopter: They have been using one on Palisade Mountain for several weeks now, flying equipment and nen to the top and hauling down ere In sacks lashed to the undercarriage. Helicoptering (If there Is such a word) is expensive flying. A ship and pilot cost $75 an hour $1.25 a minute. But Jerry Yakes thinks he has it worked out. "We can make four trips an hour, carrying down 400 pounds of ore," he explained. "If there is enough hlghgrade, one per cent or better ore, up there It will be profitable, and some of that ore should run higher than that. The mountain is hotter than a firecracker." Ore being taken out is solely from exploratory work. The 'copter, piloted by Don Williams of Allied Helicopter Service, has hiuled up a 1,300-pound Hossleld rig for drilling out the ore body. If that carnotite strata runs clear through the mountain, Mr. Yakes says, they have "quite a few million in ore," up there. The helicopter has proven so successful Dodge Uranium has ordered one from Bell Aircraft. A pilot himself for 28 years, Yakes plans to fly the Dodge Uranium whlrlybird himself. The use of a 'copter on Palisade Mountain created a minor sensation in Gateway for several days, but the natives carcely give it more than half a look any more. As a matter of fact, helicopteis with their maximum maneuverability, are being used more and more In the uranium industry, Hidden Splendor Mining Co. (the Atlas Corp. subsidiary) Is using two of them in its operations on the Muddy River and Interstate Mining li Exploration Co. is using a third. Just recently It wm announced that Western National Co. Ltd. had purchased two helicopters for exploratory work. They are to be equipped with $8,000 worth of geo-pbyslce! instruments. One will M used in the Montlcello area and the other kept at Grand Junction. |
