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Show i ' - ' ' r! Yl - " J 4t & s l - - t " . V. t T -m, - 1 .y.:y.- ' : VMe rt ' , , ' -"A. " ' -V . : fcrinlrr-..--Tr.lBLi.MM--rl1firwmll,r-)iiriWiwirt.iliniiBiiiirii- ' 1 . ... -- .... Early Needs Led to Present Wealth Utah's present stature in the mining world evolved from the covered wagon pioneer who sought metals to ease his primitive lot. PIONEER UTAH MINERS IGNORED WEALTH FOR IMMEDIATE NEEDS I Need for metals to make life easier in Utah's pioneering days, rather than the desire for monetary gain, were the motives for theirst tentative tapping of the state's natural resources. As opposed to most areas, where miners first sought gold and silver, Utah began its mining history in the 1870's with the use of iron deposits de-posits near Cedar City for horseshoes, horse-shoes, wagon irons and wheel tires; and lead deposits near Minersville for bullets. ' However,.because of limited local metal needs, no extensive mining was attempted until the railroad moved into Utah in 1869. Then, with the opening up of eastern markets and the availability of transportation, men with an eye to the future began to risk their capital to develop lead, zinc and copper deposits. t 0 Cost High Early mining and processing methods kept production costs high, and with markets limited, only the richest ore deposits were worked. As the demand for metal grew, the mining industry began to develop improved mining, milling, smelting and refining methods, along with new machines. Resultant increased efficiency led to the processing of lower grade ores, culminating in the establishment establish-ment of the Utah Copper operation at Bingham Canyon. There, mass mining and processing methods demonstrated the practicality of transforming what was thought to be a useless mountain into a copper mine that today produces 30 of the nation's new copper. Growth Felt The growth of Utah's mining industry in-dustry soon became apparent throughout the state, through the effect of constantly increasing payrolls, pay-rolls, supply purchases and tax payments. A recent survey indicated indicat-ed that for every person engaged in mining and allied industries. 12 persons were supported through jobs created in service professions and industries. Changing conditions have recently recent-ly stimulated new mining activities in Utah. In 10 years the iron industry in-dustry grew from negligible stature to the production of 1.6 million tons of steel per year. Other recent re-cent developments havje been the production of gypsum m Sevier County, cement in Salt Lake and Morgan Counties, fluorspar in Millard Mil-lard County and vanadium, uranium, ura-nium, oil and gas in the eastern and southern parts of the state. These natural resources were developed de-veloped when economic conditions became favorable. Still waiting development de-velopment are oil shale, phosphate and alunite. Dramatic Evidence Dramatic evidence of the growth of Utah's mining industry can be found in comparing production figures fig-ures of 1890 and 1951. In 1890 the state produced 503 tons of copper, 15,000 tons of lead, no zinc, 31,444 ounces of gold and 8,750,000 of silver, for a total value of $13,000,000. In 1951 the figures were: 273,000 tons of copper, 61,300 tons of lead, 34,600 tons of zinc, 435,200 ounces of gold and 7,365,-000 7,365,-000 ounces of silver. Value of the metals have not yet been computed but it is known that 10,900 mine employees received about $47,000,000 in wages. Over $30,000,000 werespent for supplies, and about $10,000,000 was paid in state and local taxes. Further additions addi-tions were made to Utah's economy by salaries to engineering staffs and office workers, machinery maintenance and replacement, office rent and other expenditures. The current picture of the Utah, mining industry certainly substantiates substan-tiates its motto, "From the earth comes an abundant life for all." |