790 
MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1967 
 Zinc.—Decreases in zinc production were reported at seven mines, increases
at only three. The overall zinc production from 15 operations in seven counties
was down 8 percent. 
 
MINERAL FUELS 
 
 Asphalt and Related Bitumcns.—Successful bidders leased 10,000 acres
of asphaltic sands near Vernal. Phillips Petroleum Co. paid $162 per acre
for a 157.4-acre tract. A total of $50,000 was paid in bonus rentals. 
 The Castle Peak gilsonite mine near Duchesne was closed after 30 years of
operation. Production of gilsonite, from five mines in two counties, was
down 10 percent. 
 
 Carbon Dioxide~—Farnham Dome Carbon County, the only source of commercial
carbon dioxide,. yielded 30 percent less gas than during the previous year;
the one producing well was the Equity Oil Co. Mounds No. 3. 
 
 Coal (Bituminous).—Coal, down 10 per~~ cent to 4.2 million tons, had
the lowest annual output in the last 26 years—equal to only 56 percent
of the peak production year in 1947. Coal was produced at 24 underground
mines in six counties. Trucks were used to transport 10 percent of the shipments;
90 percent was shipped by rail. 
 Equipment used at the mines included 42 loading machines, 29 continuous
mining machines, and one longwall mining unit. Continuous mining machines
were used to produce 69 percent of the coal. Only 65 percent was cleaned
mechanically. 
 The Columbia mine of USS was closed during 1967, after producing 17 million
tons of coking coal since opening in 1923. Coking coal for the Geneva steel
plant will now be supplied by the Geneva mine and the Somerset, Cob., mine,
both owned by 
USS. 
 Coking coal used at the Fontana, Calif., plant of Kaiser Steel Corp. came
from the Sunnyside mines and from the new York Canyon mine opened in 1966
near Raton, N. Mex. 
 New coal mines were started at three locations. In Carbon County coal seams
near the old Wattis mine were opened by Plateau Mining Co., and extensive
construction work was carried out on surface facilities. In Gordon Creek,
Swisher Coal Co. made preparations to mine the Castle- 
Table 11.—Coal (bituminous) sold or used 1, by counties 
 
(Short tons) 
 
 
1966 
 
1967 
 
 
Number 
 
Number 
 
 
of 
 
of 
 
County 
mines 
 
oper- 
 
ating 
(all 
under- 
ground) 
Quantity 
mines 
oper- 
ating 
(all 
under 
ground) 
Quantity 
Carbon.... 
Emery~._ 
Iron      
Kane     
Sevier     
Summit~ 
 
Total 
14 
7 
1 
1 
1 
1 
3,379,907 
1,170,402 
3,500 
1,719 
64,739 
15,063 
14 
6 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2,971,422 
1,113,017 
3,000 
2,117 
72,255 
13,446 
 
25 
4,635,330 
24 
4,175,257 
 ' Excludes mines producing less than 1,000 short tons. 
 
 
gate "A" seam. Castle Valley Mining Co. opened a new mine in Emery County.
Two entries were driven about 2,500 feet to determine the quality of a large
reserve of coal above Orangeville. 
 The Office of Coal Research, U.S. Department of the Interior, signed a contract
with the University of Utah for research work in 1967 and 1968. The university
received $181,000 to develop optimum operating conditions for conversion
of Western U.S. coals into liquid and gaseous products. The scientists will
experiment primarily with hydrogenation of coals; however, work will be conducted
in several other phases. 
 Directors of the two companies involved agreed to the sale of the Independent
Coal & Coke Co. properties at Castle Gate, Kenilworth, and Clear Creek
to The North American Coal Corp. for about $3.6 million. The new company
plans to operate the mines with little change in the present management.
Since about 1900 these properties have been among the largest sources of
coal in Utah for the commercial market. 
 
 Natural Gas.—The 20.4-billion-cubicfoot decline in marketed natural
gas amounted to 29 percent of the quantity marketed in 1966. Production from
San Juan County, which ranked second in the State, decreased from 28.0 billion
to 13.4 billion cubic feet. Uintah County led with 22.0 billion cubic feet,
followed by San Juan and Grand Counties (8.3 billion cubic feet). Although
Lisbon field, San