THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF ARIZONA 103 
 
ing a new work force caused abnormally high costs. To offset these costs,
copper produced from ores mined at Christmas was priced at 47 cents per pound
rather than the 38-cent price that prevailed among most primary producers.

 During 1967, the Christmas concentrator was operated 195 days and treated
856,926 tons of ore at an average of 4,394 tons per day, recovering 4,494
tons of copper. The daily quantity of ore treated was approximately 400 tons
over the rated capacity. Ore reserves at this property were believed to be
sufficient for approximately 8 years, during the early part of which period
the stripping ratio was expected to remain high. Prospects for developing
additional ore were reported as good. 
 Concentrates produced from the openpit ores at Christmas were trucked 36
miles north to Miami and discharged into railroad cars for a short haul up
the hill to the company smelter. At the nearby electrolytic refinery, blister
copper obtained from the smelting of the concentrates was refined to cathode
copper. 
 Bagdad Copper Corp., a major independent copper producer in Arizona, reported
the production of 18,373 tons of copper. Recovery of copper from sulfide
ores was 25.7 million pounds, 6 percent lower than that reported in 1966.
Accounting for the drop in production, the average grade of ore mined during
1967 was 0.77 percent, compared with 0.94 percent in 1966. The quantity of
waste material stripped from the ore body during 1967 was 4 percent below
that removed in 1966; stripping, however, was in excess of that required
for ore production. The company began stripping operations to uncover an
additional 17 million tons of ore. Estimated life of the sulfide ore reserves
was 23 years; leach ore should last for an equal period. The company operated
normally during the strike period, except that sales, somewhat irregular,
were largely for export; 13.3 million pounds of copper were sold in the overseas
market. 
 Miami Copper Co. Division, Tennessee Corp. (a subsidiary of Cities Service
Co.), recovered copper from low-grade copper ores obtained from the Copper
Cities open-pit mine, from leaching of low-grade dumps at the Castle Dome
property, and from in-place leaching of ore at the Miami mine. The Miami
mine, closed in 1959, had been operated by block 
caving. Concentrates produced at the Copper Cities mill were shipped to the
smelter operated by Inspiration Consolidated Copper Co. at Inspiration. Copper
precipitates from Castle Dome, Copper Cities, and Miami were shipped to the
Phelps Dodge Corp. smelter at Douglas. 
 Production at the Magma and San Manuel underground properties, of Magma
Copper Co., was adversely affected by the strike. San Manuel Division mined
7.9 million tons of ore containing 0.758 percent sulfide ore, compared with
14.4 million tons assaying 0.772 percent sulfide ore in 1966. Ore mined per
operating day increased for the second consecutive year, from 37,791 tons
in 1965, and 40,312 tons in 1966, to 41,463 tons in 1967. Copper recovery
declined from 14.09 pounds per ton of ore mined in 1966 to 13.68 pounds in
1967. San Manuel quarried 36,100 tons of limestone and 6,500 tons of quartzite
for metallurgical use. 
 The San Manuel concentrator treated 7.8 million tons of ore at an average
rate of 41,227 tons per operating day. Approximately 89 percent of the total
copper and 93 percent of the sulfide copper were recovered, indicating a
slight rise in plant efficiency. The San Manuel smelter processed 183,460
tons of concentrate assaying 29.88 percent copper; 339,652 tons assaying
29.95 percent copper was smelted in 1966. Metal production was 53,963 tons
of copper, 2,000 tons of molybdenum sulfide, 10,500 troy ounces of gold,
and 166,900 troy ounces of silver. 
 The Magma mine at Superior, about 65 miles east of Phoenix in the Pioneer
(Superior) mining district, was operated by Superior Division, Magma Copper
Co. Output was 219,510 tons of ore containing 4.77 percent copper, 0.026
troy ounce of gold, and 1.01 troy ounces of silver per ton, compared with
431,900 tons mined in 1966 containing 4.70 percent copper, 0.032 troy ounce
of gold, and 1.13 troy ounces of silver per ton. Copper production at Magma
was 9,550 tons, compared with 19,631 tons in 1966. 
 Development in the upper limestone beds added 3.5 million tons of ore to
the 3.5 million ton reserve reported in that area in 1966. Including the
ore in the lower beds, total reserves were estimated at nearly 9 million
tons of plus 5-percent-copper ore. A study was underway to determine the
economic value of the ore re