Garfield County News | 1955-02-24 | Page 84 | Mining Requires Team Work, Too

Mining Requires Team Work, Too Finding a uranium deposit Isn't just going out Into the field with a gelgcr counter and locating a spot where It crackles the loudest. There is a lot of work for specially trained technicians, too. For example, geologists, engineers and mining technicians are usually called in to assist in locating and then mining the ore. Claims and mines must be sur-eyed if accurate boundaries are to be established. Too, an accurate map of claims to be sold is a major requirement. Now try to Imagine that a drill core shows promising ore at a depth of 70 feet. Do you dig straight down to it? Or do you make a slanting tunnel to the core line? The answer, of course, would be a slanting shaft. Now how would you know at what degree of slant to dig the shaft so that you would reach the exact spot you wanted T The answer lies in using data supplied by a competent surveyor. Most survey companies keep from 5 to 10 men in the field at all times, working on various projects assigned by the home office. After the ore body has been reached (thanks to the surveyor). Most survey companies keep there Is the problem of following the ore body. That's where the geologist comes in. lie can determine, after an appropriate study and examination, where the ore body will drift and to what extent, and the difficulties that may be found in following the body. Mining technicians, of course, are the men who know how best to dig the shaft, how to protect the lives of men working in the diggings, and the answers to most of the other problems that occur in mining operations. The gelger counter may lead to the spot where uranium may be found but it requires the combined efforts of a team of trained technicians to bring it to the surface.