Iron County Record | 1953-06-18 | Page 5 | Mineral Exploration in Western States Produces Results

Mineral Exploration In Western States Produces Results If proof were needed that the West's "treasure-house of minerals" min-erals" has not been exhausted, it was available today. A recapitultlon of the two-year old program of the Defense Minerals Min-erals Exploration Administration disclosed that 57 ore discoveries have been made under its contracts con-tracts in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, J. H. East, Jr., regional director of the Bureau of Mines, announced. Although many of the newly found ore reserves were small, a few were significant, East said. Taken as a whole, they reconfirmed recon-firmed what mining men have been insisting for years: there's still ore to be had and the chances of finding it by modern exploration methods are reasonably reason-ably good. To date, 110 exploration contracts con-tracts have been signed in the five states. One operator in every three already has found ore, and most of the exploration projects are still active. Only 13 of the "finds" thus far have been actually certified by the Government as discoveries of ore reserves in sufficient quantity to warrant possible commercial production. However 22 of the operators have produced pro-duced and shipped ore and have started repaying the Government's Govern-ment's investment through royalties. royal-ties. Many of these ore deposits ultimately will be officially certified cer-tified as discoveries. Of the ores found, 20 contained lead, 23 zinc, nine copper, four asbestos, eight tungsten, 11 uranium, and one each mangan-eze, mangan-eze, fluorspar and sulphur. Most were complex ores, containing several associated metals or minerals.