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Show WATER FOR UTAH UTAH'S FERROUS METALS INDUSTRIES ... The Resource Base ... - The production of iron and steel in the West is only now beginning to meet the requirements of this area. Three integrated steel operations are now located in the Western States where but one existed in 1940. Large plants are now established for the production of pig iron, its treatment to steel ingot and the manufacture of basic steel and cast- iron products. The raw materials required to support this expanding industry are primarily iron ore, coal and coke, limestone, manganese, fluorspar steel scrap, various refractory and ferroalloy materials. On the basis of known commercial reserves, the West's supplies of these - particularly iron ore - are thought to be sufficiently extensive to sustain a full- scale iron and steel industry in Utah for many decades. Recent estimates have placed the western iron ore reserves at about five hundred million tons. However, additional exploration - both areal and depth - together with intensified research on the beneficiation and use of ore grades not normally preferred by the iron and steel industry, may well extend these reserves of the West to a significant extent. The most important iron ore districts in the Western States, on the basis of information so far gathered by geologists and mining engineers, are those of the Iron Mountain mines in southwestern Utah, the Sunrise mines in Wyoming, and the Eagle Mountain district in southern California. Other mines and districts in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington can provide additional supplies. Their importance does not match that of the first three mentioned. In Utah, the Iron Mountain district ores in Iron County contain a mixture of hematite and magnetite. They average a somewhat higher metallic iron content - between 52% and 56% - than most eastern ores and are low in silica. The estimated tonnage of this district has been indicated at one hundred million tons of measured and indicated ore, with another two hundred fifty million tons inferred. Other potential but minor Utah districts include Bull Valley in Washington County, Mineral Point in Cache County and others in Box Elder, Morgan, Wasatch and Juab Counties. The other raw materials needed by Utah's iron and steel industry are available in more than adequate quantities. Bituminous coal is one of the State's major resources, with reserves estimated at two hundred billion tons, which include the all- important coking variety for Utah's coking ovens. Limestone is widely distributed in substantial quantities. Steel scrap, of primary necessity in steel- making, is obtainable from various points in the Western States. Other materials such as refractory bricks for blast furnaces and for the lining of steel furnaces, and fluospar ( a necessary ingredient in steel- making) are also available from various points in the West. On the other hand, Utah's local resources of various ferroalloy materials for steel and steel alloys are not substantial; therefore, out- of- state and foreign supplies must be utilized. There are certain potential exceptions. The most striking feature of the resource base for Utah's ferrous metals industry is the favorable juxtaposition of principal raw materials such as iron, limestone and coal. At Geneva and I ronton, Utah, the centers of Utah's iron and steel plants, one ton of pig iron requires the transportation equivalents of 452 ton- miles for iron ore, 173 ton- miles for coal, 10 ton- milesrfor fluxing materials, or a total ton- mileage for all raw materials of 635. This total compares favorably with the required 1,522 ton- miles for Fontana, California; 1,037 ton- miles for the steel industry in Gary, Indiana; 875 ton- miles for that of Pueblo, Colorado; 604 ton- miles for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a low of 49 ton- miles for Birmingham, Alabama. This, together with relatively low unit costs for Utah's ferrous metal raw materials, permits a somewhat low level of total costs per ton of pig iron for the assembly of raw materials. In 1944, it was estimated that the cost of materials per ton of pig iron, for various producing centers in the United States, was as follows: Utah, $ 10.76; Birm- 15IJ |
