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Show 15 I N D U STRI ES M ining Pract ically every m ineral need ed in m odern m anufact ure is found in Ut ah, within a co m p arat ively short d ist ance o f Salt Lake C i t y . The m ore im p o rt ant ones, such as co p p er, lead, silver, iron, co al, lim estone, asp halt , arsenic .and zinc o ccu r in larg e q uant it ies. Scien t if ic ad van ce m ent is co nst ant ly lift ing others o f the 210 known m inerals o f Ut ah t o co m m ercial im p o rt an ce. It has been est im at ed t h at 47 p er cen t o f the st at e's po pulatio n is d ep end ent d irect ly or in d irect ly upon m ining. Utah fo r m any years has been the leading m ineral st at e o f the W est . During the p ast sevent y- five years the m ountain ranges have yield ed base and precio us m etals wit h an est im at ed value in excess o f $ 2 ,000 ,000 ,000 . The coal reso urces o f Utah are enorm ous. O n e- fift h o f the ent ire st at e is underlaid b y co aH an d the reco verab le am ount is est im at ed t o be ab o ut 196,453,000,000 tons, with an ad d it io nal 318,000,000,000 tons classified as " d if f icu lt t o m ine." So f ar as q u alit y is co n cern ed ,_Utah co al,, a high- g rade bituminous! is the equal o f any coal p ro d uced in the Unit ed St at es. Utah p ro d uces enough co al to supp ly all her own needs, and ships enough out o f the st at e t o bring an annual revenue o f some eleven million d o llars. O n e o f the m ost awe- insp iring sights in the world is N orth A m erica's larg est su rface co p p er mine at Bingham , ab o ut 28 miles from Salt Lake C i t y . H ere will be seen a m ountain being act u ally rem oved b y g iant elect ric shovels, working on a sco re o f t erraces. In normal o p erat io n, m ore m at erial is dug and dum ped into railro ad cars here every d ay than was m oved during the d ig g ing o f the Panama Can al in any one d ay o f the m ost intensive o p erat io ns on the isthm us. Sm elt ing W it h such act ivit y in mining within the st at e, it is only natural t h at a g reat sm elting ind ust ry should d evelo p . W it h in f if t y miles o f Salt Lake C i t y are gro uped the co ncent rat ing mills and sm elters which t o g et her co m p rise the larg est nonferrous sm elting cen t er in the wo rld . Recen t ly the larg est lead refin ery west o f Om aha was b uilt on the outskirt s o f Salt Lake C i t y . The p lant has a cap acit y o f 27,000 tons annually. W it h in the p ast 15 years Utah has won reco g nitio n as the steel st at e o f the W est . A b last furnace is in o p erat io n near Salt Lake Cit y , making pig iron fro m Utah iron o re. This planti^ using iron ore, coking co al and lim estone fro m nearb y d ep o sit s, has. a maximum d aily consum p tion o f co al o f 1,500 to ns. The maximum d aily p ro d uct io n o f coke is 800 to ns. In the wake o f this newly d evelo p ing ind ustry has alread y com e relat ed act ivit ies such as a car wheel m anufact uring p lant now o p erat ing in Salt Lake Cit y , and a cast - iro n pip e f act o ry, which is in o p erat io n near the b last fu rn ace. The bulk o f Utah pig iron is ship ped t o the Pacific Co ast and the O rien t , b ut increasing p ro p o rt io ns o f it are used in m any m anufacturing plants in this st at e, which have the ad van t ag e o f a nearb y sup p ly. |
