Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1941-09-13
Strategic Minerals OF
Montana Offer Field
For Much Prospecting

immediate result will, of course, be a
rapid increase in the supply Of vitality
necessary metals for the defense pro
gram. 'Query: With all the additional
aluminium production facilities, what
about the competition between copper
and aluminium after the war?
Whether the same result could have
been obtained by the stimulation by
private industry through an adequately
cosstrolled program of price increase
for these metals, it is probably useless
to debate.
Subsidy for Copper
An interesting recent step in this
last direction is the announcement that
a subsidy of / cent a pound will be
paid for copper produced from the
mines of Michigan peninsula. How
ever, the announcement also states that
as a condition the miners are to be
given a raise of dollar a day. Now
the Michigan ores are notably low
grade, seldom containing as much as
80 pounds of copper to the ton. Under
this plan, therefore, the miners would
have to produce at least 1-3 tons of
ore per man before the mine operator
would make enough extra to pay the
increase in wages, and it is doubtful
whether output per man will reach this
figure.
So much for the large general pic
ture. Turning to Montana the ques-
ton naturally arises, What should
man do who thinks he has discovered
a new deposit of mineral which is in
demand for the defensee program?"
The first thing is, of course, to make
sure what the mineral is. This can
be done by sending a few typical speci-
mems to the School of Mines where a
mineral determination will be made
without charge. When the specimens
are sent in, they should be accompanied
by brief description Of the occurrence
and of its location.
Expert Advice
If the occurrence appears to war
rant, a member of the staff either of
the bureau of mines and geology OF of
the WPA mineral resources survey will
endeavor to make a visit to the prop
erty to size up its economic possibilities
and to advise as to preliminary devel-
opment. In certain cases 1t may be
possible to assign a WPA crew to do
a certain amount Of trenching and
sampling.
Assuming that the property stands
up under such a program and gives
promise of substantial production, the
matter will be brought to the attention
of the United States geological survey
and the United States bureau of mines,
with a view to interesting the federal
government in further development OF
the enterprise, provided again, that the
deposit in the Judgment Of government
biologists and engineers warrants the
expenditure of federal. funds.
It must be emphasized, however, that
this program provides no immediate
return and no ready market for the
man who owns small property no
matter how meritorious it may be.
Small or isolated deposits Of lead, zinc
or copper are under the same limita-
tions as always, prices are not high
enough to justify operation of mar
ginal mines of these metals and there
is no occasion to get excited about
them.
Specifications Too Rigid
AL H1GSellb, lluCn b44C SAME l4444lB -
true even for deposits of chromium,
manganese, tungsten, anthony and
other metals of the original strategic
list. Much publicity has been given
to the national need for these, but no
readily available government market
has been established for small or oc-
casional shipments; furthermore, gov
eminent specifications, as yet, are too
rigid for the small producer to meet.
Senator James E. Murray has urged
the establishment of purchasing cen
tiers at which under proper supervision
the Metals Reserve company would
purchase small lots, on sample, under
relaxed specifications and pay cash for
them. This program would contem-
plate the assembling of such small lots
at a suitably situated beneficiation
plant and their conversion into ac-
ceptable market products disable by
industry.
AS the need becomes more urgent
something Of this kind will almost GER
tainly be arranged. Meanwhile, the
potential producer of small amounts oi
these much-talked-of minerals does not
stand much chance of selling his stuff
unless he can find private buyer ano
unfortunately the price-control policy
does not leave much margin for pri-
vate transactions of this kind.
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