568 MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1967  mine near Lordsburg. In Socorro County, 
 
would be developed at West Section 30 in the Ambrosia Lake dirtrict. Kerr-McGee
filed an application for consolidation of small tracts on another section
in the Ambrosia Lake area. The 1967 State Legislature passed a law that allowed
the State geologist to consolidate for mining purposes up to 660 acres of
land that had been subdivided into tracts of 2 acres or less on which ruining
would be uneconomical and impractical. Royalties from any production would
be distributed among owners of all tracts or held by the State for 10 years
if the owners could not be located. The section applied for by KerrMcGee
contained 1,700 tracts established in 1933. 
 Homestake-Sapin Partners, a partnership of Homestake Mining Co. and United
Nuclear Corp., began development of an underground uranium mine in the Smith
Lake area 18 miles northwest of Grants. Daily production was expected to
be 300 tons of ore when full output is reached in 1968. 
 Increased uranium mining and milling activities were noted by the State
Employment Service, which reported that employment in the uranium industry
of the State increased by 589 persons during the year. 
 Exploration and dezelopment drilling totaled 3.1 million feet. Rotary drilling
accounted for 70.2 percent and percussion drilling 23.0 percent. 
 The four uranium mills operated during the year were those of Kerr-McGee
Corp. in McKinley County, Homestake-Sapin Partners and The Anaconda Company
in Valencia County, and Foote Mineral Co. in San Juan County. Foote assumed
operation of the latter mill as a result of a merger of Vanadium Corporation
of America with Fç~ote Mineral Co. The mill near Shiprock was scheduled
to be closed in 1968. A small amount of ore was shipped to processing facilities
of Union Carbide Corp. in Colorado. 
 
 Vanadium.—The increase in the production of vanadium, more than triple
that of 1966, was due mainly to increased recovery from uranium-mill liquors.
Uranium ores containing significant amounts of vanadium were shipped from
the Largo and Mike Smith lease of A & B Mining Co. in McKinley County,
and from the Begay 1 and 2, the Nelson Point opera- 
tions of Foote Mineral, and the Enos Johnson operation of Ray L. Williams,
all in San Juan County. The ores, plus vanadium-rich liquids recovered at
uranium mills not having vanadium recovery circuits, were processed at the
Shiprock mill of Foote Mneral or at facilities of Union Carbide Corp. in
Colorado. 
 
 Zinc.—Zinc production decreased 27 percent-—7,916 tons in quantity
and $2.6 million in value—due to the closing of several zinc mines
particularly the Kearney mine of American Zinc Co. In addition to closing
the mine in Grant County, the firm also closed the Peru flotation mill near
Deming in Luna County. About 100 mine and mill workers were affected by the
shutdowns. 
 No production was recorded for the Silver King mine in the Camp Fleming
district of Grant County, the BonneyMisers Chest mines and the Red Hill mine
in Hidalgo County, the Bird mine in the Nogal district of Lincoln County,
or the Forrester-Silverwave mine and the Mistletoe mine in the Magdalena
district of Socorro County. A small amount of zinc had been produced at these
properties in 
1966. 
 Most of the zinc ore was treated at the 
Hanover mill of The New Jersey Zinc Co. 
Some ore also was treated at the 
USSR&M Co. mills. 
 The New Jersey Zinc Co., continuing to be the major zinc producer, operated
the Hanover and Oswaldo mines in Grant County and leased the Linchburg mine
in Socorro County to L. A. Patten. The other principal zinc mine, the Princess
in Grant County, was leased by USSR&M Co. to Frank Van Cleave. Other
sources of zinc in Grant County included the Continental properties of USSR&M
Co., which are expected to become major sources of zinc upon completion of
the new copper-zinc mine project. 
 The Royal John mine, operated by Westamerica Mining and Milling, Inc., in
the Swartz district of Grant County, had some zinc production. In Hidalgo
County, output increased at the Crystal mine operated by Don Still in the
San Simon district; production declined at the "85"