OCR Text |
Show Remarkable Record of Utah Copper Company H A few years ago it was considered good business busi-ness practice to envelope the operations of a mining company in a veil of mystery. To all except ex-cept the officers and the heaviest slcckholders the performances and plans of such companies were secrets, guarded as jealously as the rites of a lodge. There is no more encouraging sign of progress toward a higher plane than the change in this respect that has come abous vithin a recent re-cent period. "Utahns are proud of the fact that the companies com-panies operating in this state were among the first to recognize the rights of minor stockholders and the widespread benefits of frankness in their dealings with the public. One of the pioneers in this praiseworthy movement was the Utah Copper Cop-per company. It owes much of its present popularity popu-larity among investors to its valuable ground, its magnificent equipment, and its capable management, manage-ment, but none of these has done so much to bring it into favor as the absolute candor with which it treats all who are interested in its operations. oper-ations. The quarterly reports which have been issued by the Utah Copper since its work became systematized sys-tematized are models. All material facts, whether favorable or otherwise, are presented with a clearness clear-ness that makes them intelligible to every reader. Npr does the public have to wait for these reports "to keep advised as to the affairs of the mining, company. Every development of any consequence is cheerfully given by the local officers to the newspapers at the time of its occurrence, without with-out color or bias. Fortunately the unfavorable incidents in the development of the great enterprise have been few and far between. That there were not more of them seems remarkable when we remember that the compa'ny blazed the trail into an untrodden untrod-den field, created new methods of copper production produc-tion and was compelled to work out without guide or precedent dozens of unexpected problems. It has been a tremendous work to bring the property to its present state of efficiency, but the result justifies the labor and the cost. The main problem was to take a mountain of copper ore, so low in grade that no one had considered it of commercial value, and convert it to the service of mankind at a cost so low as to give a fair return re-turn on the millions of capital needed to effect the transformation. Recent official reports show how well the undertaking has been carried out. With one, and part of the time two, of its mill sections not yet in commission, the company produced pro-duced in July, August and September 12,000,925 pounds of pure copper. Since that report was issued the twelfth and last section of the Garfield Gar-field mill has been put Into the harness, and the immense plant is running as smoothly as a sewing sew-ing machine. Its maximum capacity is 6000 tons of crude ore a day. The company's smaller mill, the plant at Bingham canyon, in close proximity to the mine, consumes 800 tons of sulphide ore from the underground workings every day. Although the sulphides carry much the higher percentage of metal, interest attaches chiefly to the porphyry because of its fabulous quantity and the late discovery of its wealth-making possibilities. possi-bilities. Novelties are encountered at every step in following the worthless-looking rock from its bed on the mountain side to its exit from the mill as a concentrate one-third metal. Few manifestations of human ingenuity are il more impressive than the spectacle of the great !1 steam shovels dexterously scooping up tons of HH the rock with one motion and carelessly dumping WH it into a freight car with another. The perform- 'H ance is so beautifully simple and so magnificently effective that the official estimate of mining cost H as 25 cents a ton occasions no surprise. After a year's trial the Utah Copper has proved con- H cluslvely that steam shovel mining, under such conditions as exist at its Bingham property, is much more economical than overhead stoping. The management is so well satisfied with the re- suits shown that it is constantly adding to its H equipment for this work, and now has seven shovels in service. H Since the drop in the price of copper metal H the matter of production costs has loomed large H on the horizons ot the mine managers, but the H gentlemen who guide the destinies of Utah Cop- H per rest comfortably in the knowledge that there H Is a broad margin between the total cost of min- H ing, hauling, concentrating, refining and market- H ing their one and two per cent ore and the lowest H price that has ruled, or is likely to rule, In the H eastern market. In exact figures the cost of the H finished product this year has been from, 8.1G to H 8.73 cents a pound, the variation being due to the H proportion of refractory material entering into H the tonnage. H As the ore nearest the surface is least amen- H able to treatment, It is reasonable to suppose that H recoveries will increase and costs diminish as H depth is gained in the porphyry bed. H Although consumption of metals has been at a low ebb during the past year, the Utah Copper HH mmmmmmmmmmmcmmmmmmmmammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmimmmmmmmmmmmmmmBmmKBKmmKKn WMMMMMMMMMMm , SW S s 4 r W ' . H The Garfield Mill of the Utah Copper Company K HJ& Im company has had no difficulty in disposing of its II output. For six months it has not had a pound of Hjn unsold copper on its hands. H'ffi The inauguration of a quarterly dividend, be- H ginning at 50 cents a share, is pretty substantial H evidence that the corporation surface mine, H steam shovels, reduction plant and all have gone H beyond the experimental stage and achieved sue- H cess. But there is still stronger proof. The ca- H pacity of the mill is to be increased to 9,000 tons H of ore a day. H Business men as wise as those in charge of H Utah Copper do not enlarge plants whose efll- H ciency is questionable. H , Estimates based on actual experience show H that the addition to the mill will add considerably H more than half to the former output, bringing H the annual production of copper to ninety or one H hundred million pounds. To transport, the atldi- H tlonal tonnage better railroad facilities will be in- H dispensable, and it is more than probable that the H company will build a line of its own from Bing- H ham to Garfield. H It is understood that General Manager D. C. H .Tackling, who is also first vice president of the H corporation, went over the expansion plans with H ! the directors during his recent visit to New York, H and was given authority to proceed with the H' work. The official announcement may be made H in the next quarterly report. |