Arizona republican., 1917-08-27
The Arizona State Bureau of Mines

Many tunes the question IS dSheu, What is the Arizona State Bureau of Mines and what are it's cbjects?" AL thought the law that created the state bureau had long list of objects, its ! leading object, which embraces all the rest, is service. Its object is to per form any service which the mining in duStry of the state, miners, operators or prospectors, may require, and which are within the limit of possibilities of the funds available.
 Three years ago the state bureau was an infant organization, operated virtually without money, doing what little 1t could to call to the attention of the public the vast importance of Arl- [ Zona'S mineral resources, and to assist i wherever possible in the utilization of ! those resources. It was without affil- ation or connection as state organiZa- | ton, although 1t was a department of ! the University of Arizona. The legislature of 1915 recognized [ the possibilities of a state bureau of [ lnInes and created as state organza- : ton the University of Arizona Bureau of Mines as the Arizona State Bureau 1 of Mines, with an appropriation of $5,- | l U00 annually. W hiie this was a won | derful enlargement in the scope of the work possible by the bureau, the almost 1 unprecedented development, the search | for minerals and the influx of mining ] population into the state, made the | 5000 appropriation dWindle to the 1 comparative size Of the $500 appropria- 1 ton of the previous. year.. The bureau was able to do a great deal of work, l but it was limited to the few things of 1 supreme importance.
 The activities of the Bureau extended l :.;+ .l extension service, the furnishing of personal and individual information to those requesting the same, and the dis seminatiOn of timely information which was thought of value to the people Of 1 the state.
 The search for new minerals and | metals made the rock analysis and as l saying department of the bureau such
 busy one that it shortly became nec- essary to keep man exclusively on
 that work. ana for the past year sam
 pies have been coming in at the rate
 of 200 samples per month.
 ,l More important however, in the work of the past year, has been the
 formation of the policy which the State
 Bureau of Mines plans to pursue. The
 outlining and starting of campaign
 of education for the miner and pros-
 pector, which will enable him to seek
 and find more easily both the new and | old minerals. This will allow him to
 utilize more completely the minerals
 will cause him to conserve and develop
 without waste of financial or natural
 resources, and will help him to avoid
 mistakes.
 7 The State Bureau of Mines is close
 to the people; it has no red tape and
 when information is at hand which the l people of the state should know, it may
 be speedily put before them. As to the
 policy adopted regarding its bulletin
 service, 1t has been decided that ire
 quent bulletins put out in a non-tech- 5 nical manner, a small number printed g so that reprints may be more frequent
 and upto-date, and it is hoped that
 eventually there will be a bulletin at
 hand that will answer any inquiry in
 complete form that may come to the
 office. This means that in a general ; way the bulletin work of :he next three or four years is outlined they being a published in the order of their import f ance and demand
 The bulletin service is divided into series, such as the mineral technology
 series, the economic. law, metallurgical
 and other series, any complete series
 being an elementary textbook on their
 respective subjects, relating principally | to Arizona
 The wonderful productiveness of the Arizona mining fields in such varied = lines and its natural spread over the
 production of newer minerals, have
 caused, during the past year, more de- mands upon the bureau than could pos T, sibly be financed. Not alone were the 1I funds insufficient, but in order to give A the people of Arizona the best informa If ton possible specialists were needed = In generous recognition of the pas
 work of the bureau, the state legisla
 ture of 1917 increased it's appropriation ,~ from 5000 to $25,000 annually Thi. m virtually does not allow much expan. n sion of it's work. beyond the demand. ,- already made upon it, but it allows fo st specialists in the various lines. if Besides the director and the admins trative force, there will be on the staf
 of the bureau a metallurgist, who's ~ duty will be to keep the people in .o formed as to the true metallurgica | conditions within the state, to assis 70 men employed in the metalurgica If plants of the state to gain the knowl !. edge that will better them in their DO
 sition, to inform the seller of smal
 quantities of ore as to the metallurgica , treatment of the same, and to Serv m as the metallurgical engineer for tn % state of Arizona
 ,t The growing importance of the Tar tf and non metallic minerals has empha = sized the necessity of the minera
 technologist on the staff of the bureat
 who will be able to advise how to fin
 the rare minerals and how to utili2 ,@ .e them properly after they are found, { - keep in touch with the markets an
 to see that the people of Arizona gt
 the greatest value from their natur; " resources in this line
 UT More important than the conserva 'et tion of our mineral resources is tt tI conservation of life, and this is to . the particular field of the safety CT
 gineer of the bureau. It has been def VI nitely proven that but small percent
 age of the accidents and fatalities ca
 be prevented by mechanical means u
 larger percentage being in the huma Ia. factor, which can only be lessened ' . constant care and thought The safet s engineer will be the leader in satel ~ movements throughout the state tl
 stimulatOr of interest in safety, u ne organizer of safety clubs, and will kee
 before the miners of the state the in TTndnrta1xinu E, Emho1r;n