The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1931-03-06
Liberal STAND ON
MINE TAXES URGED
E. w. DAVIS, SUPERINTENDENT
OF THE MINES EXPERIMENT
STATION AT THE UNIVERSITY
SAID STATE MUST PAY MORE
ATTENTION TO MINE TAXES.

The State of Minnesota, E. W. Davis,
superintendent of the mines experiment
station at the University of Mime
sofa, said Saturday, must take more
liberal attitude toward taxation of iron
mining companies in the northern part
of the state if its low grade ores are
to be developed.
Davis, speaking before a meeting Of
the Associated Engineering and Archi-
tectural societies, said it would seem
much wiser" for the state to assume
the attitude of a fee owner and do
everything possible at the present time
to encourage the mining companies to
utilize the enormous tonnageS of low
grade ore before the high grade ore is
gone.
After it has been demonstrated
economically with large. scale opera
tions that the steel companies can,
without question, secure their require
m5nts of iron ore from our low grade
ore deposits for the next several hum
bred years, their interest in foreign
ores will disappear and we will have
an established mining industry that is
p, actically permanent" Davis said
Ontario, which has considerable low
grade ore and but little merchandise
ore, now offers bonus of so cents per
tc1 for all ore mined in that province"
he said. This was done for the pur-
pose Of encouraging the establishment
of low grade iron ore industry.
Why should not the state Of Mime
sofa, which has already collected a
total of over S300,000,000 from the
mining industry in taxes, begin to take
little more encouraging attitude to-
ward the low grade ore industry and
either by change in taxation methods
or a bonus system attempt to stimulate
the mining of these low grade ores?"
There is sufficient iron ore in the
mines of northern Minnesota to last
about 80 years at the present shipping
rate of approximately 100000 tons
per year, Davis said This material,
commonly called "merchantable ore"
contains so per cent or more iron
The cost of handling bulk material
has been reduced to a minimum on the
Minnesota iron ranges, he declared
Therefore, if any reduction in oper
ating cost is to be made in order to
provide for the expense of treating the
low grade ores, this reduction must be
largely in the royalty charges and in
the taxes" he said.
Fee owners in many cases have
offered inducements to the mining
companies to take their low grade ores,
he said
I'VE want the steel industry to
strengthen its ore reserves in Mime
sofa and not IN Canada, South America
and Africa. To anyone who studies
the sitution, it is evident financial en-
couragement will probably be neces-
sary IN order to start this new in
dustry going. There is nothing new or
radical about this.
In effect this would simply be
charging the high grade ore industry
sufficient tax so that some of this
money could be given for the next few
years to the operators who have sufh-
Gent courage to undertake the utili-
zation of the low grade ores. Such
bonus as Ontario now has IN effect
would probably cost the state for a
four-year period a total of about
81 600, 900. Even if it were several
times this amount, it would be a very
low price to pay for the establishment
of a permanent industry that would be
manufacturing merchantable iron ore
from on enormous tonnages of low
gade material for several hundred
years.
There is of course, possibility this
low grade iron ore industry may de-
velop without the aid of the policy
suggested. but lie is certainly true that
this industry VIII not develop properly
without some changes in our taxation
policy"