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Show A government publication' reports that in 1880 the following mineral operations existed in Utah: 535 1 18 34 10 deep mines (mines with shafts or tunnels) placer mine (gold) amalgamating mills (gold and/ or silver) smelting works metallurgical plants (sampling, concentrating and leaching) This source also reports Utah's mineral production for the year as $5034674 in gold and silver and 15,400 tons of lead. ' , Another interesting fact is that with practically no lead production up to 1870, ~tah in that year mined 23.4% of the entire United States production; 45.5% In 1~7~, and above 25% until 1878, when it dropped to 23.8%. Other great western mInIng areas began to come into prominence during this period and reduced Utah's percentage of the total U. S. production, although Utah's volume of production continued to increase. Brigham Young recognized the potential wealth in Utah's mineral resources, as well as the great need for outside capital to develop that wealth. Accordingly, in 1873 he wrote the editor of the New York Herald, calling attention to Utah's mineral resources and inviting eastern capital to provide the means of esta?lishing mining ~nd manufacturing enterprises. Development capital for mInIng and most of Its manufacturing continued to come largely from out-ofstate sources. . Gold, silver and lead were Utah 's principal mineral products up to the p.enod ~900 ~o 1905, when copper surged ahead toward its present leading position. ZInC did not become of real value to the state's mineral economy until 1925 ~hen the new pr?cess of flotation made possible the separation of lead and ZInC In the ore. Pnor to that, zinc was an objectionable constituent of lead ore, for its presence interfered with the lead smelting process. Up to and including 1905 all other minerals mined in the state (other than gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc) represented less than 10% of the total mineral production value. Coal, stone, sand and gravel, clay, salt and limestone were mined principally for use in local areas. "All other minerals" in 1905 were valued at $2,400,851, compared with a total value of $26046948 for the major nonferrous metals named above. By 1940 the "other miner~ls"'represented 17% of the .s tate's total production; by 1945 they had reached 30%; and in 1966 they constituted 67.6% of the state's total value of mineral production of $439,234,000. This development has been due to tremendously increased demand for iron, coal, gypsum, gilsonite, uranium, salt, and many other minerals ~rom markets outside the state. Much of Utah's manufacturing growth has been In plants to process those minerals to compete for out-of-state markets. The most recent major additions to Utah's productive minerals are uranium, oil and gas, and potash. Uran!um was first mined in Grand and San Juan counties in the early 1900s, but activity came to an end in the early 1920s. In 1950, two years after the Atomic Energy Commission announced an incentive purchase program there were .only 14 mines in Utah and one government-owned mill at Monticello: Utah. :rhe Industry passed through the highly promotional, speculative stage, similar In some respects to the early-day gold rush booms. By 1958 there were 392 producing mines located in 11 counties of the state. Uranium mining in Utah 'Statistics and Technology of the Precious Metals-a report of the Census Bureau to the Department of the Interior for the year ending May 31, 1880. 8 reached its peak that year, when 1,239,767 tons of ore was mined, containing 4,456 tons of uranium oxide (U 30 8)' Similar production increases in other states, principally New Mexico, Wyoming and Colorado, resulted in a great over-supply for government needs. As the government was the only buyer of uranium, a curtailment program was initiated, which resulted in trimming Utah's production back to 761 ,180 tons of ore in 1964, containing 3,015 tons of U 3 0 8 . Preliminary data for 19~5 and 1966 show further reductions. The government will continue to buy a limited amount of uranium through 1970. After 1970 sales will be made principally to private buyers. The great improvements in atomic ene~gy power plants promise a substantially increased market for uranium by the mld-1970s. ExploratIOn for uranium for these future markets has reached a high level and Utah 's uranium mining industry will likely return toward its former high production levels. Oil and gas have similarly progressed from a very minor role to one of major importance. A few prospecting wells were drilled in Utah over the past 50 years but no commercial oil discoveries were made until 1948. After that year, production of oil jumped from practically zero to a rate of 115,000 barrels per day in 1958. Numerous oil fields have been developed in Uintah , Duchesne and San Juan counties. Natural gas has been produ ced on a relatively small scale over several decades. New discoveries in central and southeastern Utah since 1953 have greatly increased natural gas reserves and have justified construction. of pipelines to communities in Utah and from Utah fields to the nort~ern PaCific Coast area; also to older Jines from New MeXICO and Texas for delivery of gas to California. High cost potash was produced from the alunite deposits near Marysvale, Utah during World War I when potash shipments from Germany were cut off. In 1936 a potash plant was built near Wendover, Utah, to recover potash from salt brines. It has continued to operate since that time. Potash was discovered in a salt dome near Moab in southeastern Utah in the process of drilling for oil. Mine development and a milling plant designed to treat 4,000 tons per day went into operation in 1964 and began making shipments of potash early in 1965. Utah now ranks as a major potash producer with substantial reserves for future operations. Utah's great and varied mineral reserves have made possible a progression through various phases of activity, each materially broadening the economic base of the state. In review those phases were: 1. Production by the pioneers of minerals suitable to their isolated, homeindustry, agricultural economy-1847 -1 869. 2. Mining and smelting of lead, silver, gold, joined by copper and zinc in the latter stages-1869-1940-largely for export trade. 3. Mining and processing of metals and nonmetallic minerals to meet needs of rapidly growing Western States area-(iron , gypsum, phosphate, cement, salt, potash, clays, etc. )-1940 to present. 4. Uranium, potash and oil and gas development-1948 to present. The fifth, or future phase , is the retention of the broad economic base furnished by Utah's highly varied mineral production and the addition to the Jist as markets, technology, and production costs permit, of our potential mineral production in oil shale, potash, various industrial clays, etc . . . . Utah has gone a long way toward fulfilling Abraham Lincoln's prediction, "Utah will yet become the treasure house of the nation ." 9 |
