DEVELOPMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE PUBLIC

LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES

THURSDAY, JULY 24, 1941

UNITED STATES SENATE,

SUBCOMMITTEE OF COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS AND SURVEYS,

Washington, D. C.

The subcommittee met at 10 a. m., pursuant to adjournment, in room 224, Senate Office Building, Senator Joseph C. O'Mahoney (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Senators O'Mahoney (chairman of the subcommittee), Adams, and Thomas of Idaho.

Senator O'MAHONEY. The subcommittee will come to order.

STATEMENT OF J. L. HAUGH, VICE PRESIDENT, UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD CO., OMAHA, NEBR.-Resumed

MINERALS ALPHABETICALLY, S-Z

Mr. HAUGH. When the committee adjourned yesterday I was referring in detail to a number of basic materials of the West. I have a few more to cover before I finish my statement, and I will continue with them from where I left off yesterday.

Silica sand is found in Nevada, 40 miles northeast of Las Vegas. There is a very large deposit at Logandale. There is a smaller deposit about 30 miles northeast of Las Vegas. There is a very large deposit 15 miles southeast of Las Vegas. It is used as a glass sand. It is unusually pure. It is also used in foundry smelting, and in the manufacture of abrasives.

Silver and gold are, of course, precious metals and have always captured public imagination. They are found in Idaho, near Ketchum, in the Triumph mining district and in the Coeur d'Alene district of northern Idaho, which is one of the largest producing districts in the United States.

Sodium sulfate, or sale cake, is found in Wyoming, 26 miles north of Rawlins. That is an undeveloped prospect. It is used in the rayon and textile, glass, paper and pulp, dye, coal tar, and soap industries.

There is a large deposit of sulfur in Utah, 35 miles southwest of Fillmore. Sulfur is used to make sulfuric acid. It is also used in the manufacture of explosives, fertilizers, insecticides, paper, dyes, coal-tar products, rubber, paints, and varnishes.

Tale is found in California. There are several large deposits there from which a wide range of good quality tale products are

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shipped from Dunn and Cima. It is used in the paint, rubber, roofing, paper, electrical, and ceramic industries.

Trona: In Wyoming, near Green River, there is a huge reserve of trona. We do not yet know the full extent of it, but from the drilling that has already been done it is indicated that there are 562,000,000 tons there.

Trona is used to manufacture sodium carbonate, caustic soda, and in the glass, soap, paper, dye, textile, water softener, and petroleum refining industries.

Mr. MENDENHALL. At what depth is that?

Mr. HAUGH. It is at a depth of from 500 to about 1,500 feet, and the vein is about 25 feet thick.

I will refer to that later on in speaking about Mr. Pike and his exploratory work at Green River.

There is a tungsten deposit in Idaho, 140 miles northeast of Boise. That is an undeveloped prospect. They are prospecting, and there is a small-scale production which is in progress, being developed under the direction of the Bureau of Mines. There is another prospect undeveloped, 60 miles north of Mackay.

Vermiculite is found in Wyoming, near Encampment, 45 miles south of Walcott. One hundred thousand tons are available by surface operations. Vermiculite is used as an insulating material and as an ingredient of plaster wallboard and acoustical plaster.

Senator THOMAS of Idaho. Would it interrupt your testimony to go back to tungsten? I want to ask you about the prospect in Yellow Pine, Idaho. Do you have anything on that?

Mr. HAUGH. I think the Bureau of Mines could give you more information than I because they have been investigating that and they have more data on it than I have.

Senator THOMAS of Idaho. All right.

Mr. HAUGH. Zinc. The West is The West is a very large producer of zinc. It is found in the Triumph mining district in Idaho, 6 miles east of Ketchum. That is a large producer of zinc and lead, and some gold

and silver.

The Coeur d'Alene mining district in northern Idaho is also a large producer. Then in Montana, in the Butte mining district, that is a very extensive producer, and also produces lead, gold, and silver.

In Utah, in the Park City mining district, you have a large producer of zinc, and also in the Eureka-Tintic district. That is a heavy producer.

Then in Nevada, in the Pioche district, that is or will be one of the largest producers of zinc, probably, in the world. The reserves are tremendous, and there have been new discoveries there that make it very important.

Now, for further study of the committee, which I will not take time to read now, I am furnishing for the record sheets with respect to 115 minerals that are found in the West.

Senator THOMAS of Idaho (presiding). Very well. They may be made a part of the record.

(The document referred to and submitted by the witness is here printed in full, as follows:)

MINERAL RESERVES IN OR NEAR PUBLIC LANDS OF THE UNITED

STATES

STATE OF WYOMING

FELDSPAR (MAP NO. 1)

(1) Location of deposit (nearest city or cities): Northwestern Larimer County, Colorado, and Southeastern Albany County, Wyoming, 75 miles west of Cheyenne, Wyo.

(2) Railroad service: Union Pacific main line loading station Hermosa Siding. Truck haul not in excess of 10 miles.

(3) Occurrence: Series of dikes cutting granite. Extraction by open-cut operations.

(4) Extent of reserves: No estimates for all available ore but preliminary survey indicates a large reserve. Only a few occurrences have been developed. (5) Estimated refined products obtainable: Estimated tonnages of refined products available dependent on further field exploration.

(6) Chemical composition: No analyses available but ores are known to be of a good commercial grade.

(7) Recovery process: Open-face mining, crushing, and grinding in ball mills. (8) Recoverable commercial products: Ceramic flux, alumina (similar to bauxite).

(9) Uses of products: Ceramic flux in manufacture of enamelware and pottery; as a source of alumina for glass making, and some grades for making soap and abrasives.

NOTE.-Area now being actively developed; raw material treated in Denver and finished product shipped to Middle West and Pacific coast points. The district is capable of considerable expansion.

CEMENT ROCK (MAP NO. 2)

(1) Location of deposit (nearest city or cities): Approximately 5 miles south of Laramie, Wyo.

(2) Railroad service: Union Pacific main line at Laramie; narrow-gage railroad from quarry to plant just south of Laramie.

(3) Occurrence: Bedded deposit of limy shale.

(4) Ex ent of reserves: No available figures but known to be large. (5) Estimated refined products obtainable: Commercial cements.

(6) Chemical composition: Not available.

(7) Recovery process: One plant in operation.

NOTE.-Material in the general area is of sufficient extent to permit expansion of present plant or installation of other plants if markets justify. (8) Recoverable commercial products: Used in the manufacture of commercial cements.

(9) Uses of products: The many uses for cement are well known.

GLASS (SILICA) SAND (MAP NO. 3)

(1) Location of deposit (nearest city or cities): Adjoining city limits of Laramie, Wyo. to the north.

(2) Railroad service: On main line of Union Pacific.

(3) Occurrence: Bedded deposit. Geological department, University of Wyoming, states this sand is present as a continuous bed, averaging 3 feet thick, over a large area. Sand sufficiently friable to be readily excavated.

(4) Extent of reserves: Sufficient to justify establishment of manufacturing facilities.

(5) Estimated refined products obtainable: No estimate has been made but large quantities of silica can be secured.

(7) Recovery process: Sand can be excavated by open-pit process. (8) Recoverable commercial products: Silica sand.

Some years ago, bottle glass was actually manufactured with this sand. (9) Uses of products: Quality of material satisfactory for most glass products.

NOTE.-Limestone and soda used in glass making is also available in this area. Gas fuel available via exitsing pipe line from Medicine Bow area.

GYPSUM (MAP NO. 4)

(1) Location of deposit (nearest city or cities): East of city limits of Laramie. (2) Railroad service: On main line Union Pacific.

(3) Occurrence: Bedded deposits in sedimentary strata.

(4) Extent of reserves: Extensive, but no tonnage estimate available.

Reserves in area of such an extent that it would justify expansion of present plant or installation of other manufacturing facilities provided markets are available.

(5) Estimated refined products obtainable: Dependent on further field exploration and investigation.

(6) Chemical composition: Good commercial grade.

(7) Recovery process: One plant now in operation.

(8) Recoverable commercial products: Manufactures special types of quicksetting cements, plasters, etc.

(9) Uses of products: Wallboard and lath manufacture, special cements, plasters, etc.

IRON (IRON MOUNTAIN) (MAP NO. 5)

(1) Location of deposit (nearest city or cities): Forty miles northwest of Cheyenne and 25 miles northeast of Laramie.

(2) Railroad service: Can be served by construction of a branch from Union Pacific main line.

(3) Occurrence: Dike deposit of ore approximately 14 miles long and 40 to 300 feet wide. Attains an elevation approximating 650 feet above the level of Chugwater Creek. Occupies an area of about 160 acres in sections 22, 23, 26, and 27, T. 19 N., R. 71 W.

(4) Extent of reserves: Reported by United States Geological Survey to be approximately 60,000,000 tons above level of Chugwater Creek that may be mined by steam shovel; 400,000 additional tons available for each foot of depth below creek level.

(5) Estimated refined products obtainable: 27,000,000 tons of metallic iron. (6) Chemical composition as given by United States Geological Survey:

(7) Recovery process: There is no presently known commercial process for the extraction of the titanium content of these ores. Successful smelting process will, without doubt, require very high temperatures, best obtainable by use of the electric furnace, requiring large quantities of electric power.

(8) Recoverable commercial products: The demand for titanium in the making of high-grade tool steels is such that the United States Bureau of Mines might be interested in carrying out experiments toward titanium recovery. This is of particular interest since current imports of high grade titanium minerals exceeds 500,000 tons annually.

(9) Uses of products: The difficulty of smelting ores high in titanium is such that it is improbable there will be an early utilization of this ore if its use be restricted solely to that of metallic iron production. Titanium is finding increasing uses in the manufacture of a tungsten-titanium carbide, a new ultra-hard alloy used in cutting tools, valve seats and other wearing surfaces. There are also outlets in special alloy steels and as a pigment in paint manufacture.