Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-12-05
DEFENSE BOOM
REEVES STATE
CHROME MINING
UNCLE SAM GOES INTO BEAR.
TOOTH RANGE FOR METAL
VITALITY NEEDED

VITALITY NEEDED
Uncle Sam has gone into the Bear
tooth range to extract a colorful
metal made precious by national de-
tense.
Today. coppice-covered remains of
ghost towns and lone shacks are rum
bling to life in the Beartooths awak-
ened from long lethargy by a reveille
sounded by diamond drills and the
miners pick.
It's all part OF an about effort by
the government to divorce itself from
dependency upon foreign countries as
sources for the vital defense metal
chrome.
With the European war placing in
creasing limitations on transportation
and production facilities of chrome
mines abroad, the development of
Montana chrome deposits occupies a
top position in the far-flung program
of national defense.
Important for Planes
In airplane production, the use of
"l8-8"-chromium steel, 10 percent
chromium and percent nickel-is be-
coming more important each day be-
cause of its tensile strength, three
times that of plain carbon steel. Stain
less steel has come to the foreground
for its use in hospitals as well as
architectural design.
Chrome, because Of its great re-
sktance to abrasion and wear, its
strength, hardness and all round
toughness, is vital metal in defense
production. In addition to its use as
steel alloy, chrome is important in
the tanning Of leather for shoes and
other military equipment; important,
in its vital way, as a dye for olive
drab cloth.
Two Beartooth properties-those of
NJ. w. Mouat & Associates, and the
late 7. c. Benbow-have been singled
out by the government to meet the
pressing demands for chrome by the
defense industries of the nation.
In the spring of 1910 a diamond
drilling program was carried on by
the bureau of mines in the Behbow
area, located on the east slope of the
range of mountains on the east side
of the Saltwater river opposite the
remains of old Nye City. This drilling
showed that the veins continued down
at least several hundred feet below
the surface outcrop and sufficient ore
was blocked out to make large-scale
operations advisable.
A. C. NJ. Is Agent
Government officials decided to let
the actual mining of the ore be done
by private companies who would act
as agents for the government on the
defense program. Financed by the de-
tense plant corporation, a subsidiary
of the reconstruction finance corpo-
ration, the Anaconda Copper Mining
Co. is acting as government agent in
the development of both the Benbow
and Mouat properties.
During the last year, four long tun-
nels have been run in the Benbow
area as preliminary to operations to
stope the ore. Installation of a tram
way and construction of a mill at
the foot of the mountain slope short
distance above Dean keynote present
activity in the BenboW area. These
operations are being designed so that
approximately 600 tons of ore can be
mined and treated per day from the
Benbow claims. The forest service has
played an important role by construct
ing a new road into the area.
The bureau of mines conducts a
diamond drilling program in the
Mouat area during the summer and
blocked out a considerable tonnage of
ore. The Anaconda company is driv-
ing two tunnels into this area. A
tractor trail has been constructed,
two camps have been established and
Nye City is awakening after a lapse
of more than so years. Government
officials point out that if exploration
work proves out as expected, large
scale mining and milling operations
will border the sides of the Saltwater
river in the chrome belt area.
Officials of the bureau of mines es-
innate that when full production gets
under way, approximately 40 percent
of the total chromite needed in the
defense program can be procured from
the Mouat and Benbow areas. The
defense requirement is equal to APP
proXimately 80 to IS percent of the
needs of the nation during peacetime.
Attempting to Trace Ore
The bureau of mines is attempting
to trace the chromite ore from the
higher outcrops down toward the Still
water river This area is covered with
overburden and is difficult to explore.
A 16O-foot shaft has been sunk by
the bureau below Mountain View lake
on the Mouat properties to prove up
the continuation of the vein. Starting
early next year the bureau contem-
plates deeper drilling on both the
Benbow and Mouat properties in Or
der to keep sufficient ore blocked out
ahead of actual mining operations.
When operations enter the maximum
stage, several hundred persons will be
EMPLOYED in the Benbow and Mouat