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Show V THOUSANDS OF YEARS ot erosion resulting Iroa ebbl oceans and Wees left this formation east I of Grand Junction. Drainage of an ocean perhaps millions of years ago left huge ridges which bad been on the ocean bed in the form of hills. Then, when the heavy runoff of the huge J lakes that were left occurred, deep valleys (such as the Grand Valley of the Colorado River) were f left. Some Believe AEC Bungles Job Of Handling Ore Stockpiles Is the Atomic Energy Commls-1 slon bungling the Job of handling the huge stockpiles of uranium ores, failing because of poor planning to get the raw product to the mill? That question is being ' asked by prominent Industry men, There are huge piles of uranium ore at Montlecilo and Moab, Utah which, according to some, should have been milled long ago. Some even claim that winds blow away much of the uranium material on these stockpiles, thus there is a loss to the taxpayers. Others claim the loss Is negligible. Dut that is only one side of the question, and one loss. A more serious loss, some persons who will not permit themselves to be quoted directly say, is the loss of development of atomic energy for peaceful pursuits. During the late months of last year there was considerable discussion and negotiation between the AE" and Vanadium Corp. of America for erection of a mill at Hit;. Utah, to handle the White Canyon ores. These negotiations bogged down in disagreement over metallurgy. Then a Salt Lake City firm, Minerals Reduction Engineering Co., started dealing with the AEC for a mill in the Hite area. AEC has the final word on who shall build a mill and who shall not, and most company officials are therefore reluctant to be quoted on their problems. Either they are getting along and they say as much, or they say nothing for direct quotation. But, off the record, they will tell what they think, without any encouragement. Said one prominent mill man: "It is our idea that the AEC will stran-le in its own stockpile of uranium ore. Then they will agree to cut out all the red tape and call in the major mining companies to solve their problems." Another company executive declared that "the AEC is attached to one certain program qf metallurgy for use in reduction of non-vana-iium type ores. It spent millions of dollars on this program. It Intends to ram it down the throat of any private operator building a mill In Utah," In attempting to defend the AEC on these charges one runs up against the stopper that any detailed discussion of the subject would lead to disclosure of classified information, which is prob-ably quite true. But the AECs raw materials office is qutck to say that K feels strongly that the proposed fixed prices for concentrates would place the small miner in the "clutches" of mill operators. It also says that with the many types of ores being worked today, it would be impossible and unfair to set a fixed price for such concentrates. And so It seems that the conflict between millers and the AEC over who will do the milling of the present stockpiles ot uranium ores, and the price to be paid for concentrates, may continue for some time to come. Meanwhile, the question of whether or not the AEC is actually bungling the job of handling these stockpiles, of getting them Into concentrated yellow cake, remains officially unanswered. |
