THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF COLORADO 185 
 
Continental Oil Co., and Gulf Oil Corp.— opened offices in Denver for
conducting uranium exploration in the Rocky Mountain area. 
 Molybdenum continued in the spotlight as ' Climax Molybdenum Co. Division,
American Metal Climax, Inc., began production at its Urad mine near Empire
and development of the Henderson deposit near the Urad mine. 
 Petroleum production reversed the downward trend of the last 6 years with
a small (1.1 percent) increase. The greatest increase was in the Maudlin
Gulch field, where a new pay zone in the Dakota formation was discovered
and developed. 
 
 Employment and Injuries.—Preliminary data for 1967 and final data
for 1966 compiled by the Federal Bureau of Mines for employment and injuries
in the mineral industries, excluding the petroleum industry, are shown in
table 4. 
 
 Legislation and Government Programs. 
—The Office of Minerals Exploration (OME) U.S. Geological Survey awarded
five new contracts for mineral exploration work in Colorado. Richmond Hill
Exploration Co., Inc., of Aspen obtained a contract to explore for silver-bearing
ore bodies in the Leadville limestone in the Lenado area of Pitkin County.
The work consisted of surface drilling estimated to cost $78,800. Ventura
Oil Co. of Denver received a contract to explore for silver at the Mountain
Top property in Ouray and San Miguel Counties. Estimated to cost $81,600,
the work consisted of drifting, crosscutting, and diamond drilling for silver-bearing
ore bodies in veins in the San Juan formation. 
 Great Eastern Mines, Inc., of Albuquerque, N. Mex., contracted to explore
for silver on its Sioux City claims in San Juan County. The Great Eastern
vein on the property was to be explored by surface drilling, followed by
underground work. Exploration work was estimated to cost $81,200. Oxley Petroleum
Co. of Tulsa, Okia., received a contract for silver and gold exploration
at the Capital Prize mine in Clear Creek County. The work, estimated to cost
$194,400, consists of tunneling in and along the Capital Prize vein system.
Roy Pray and Associates of Lake City received a contract to explore by tunneling
in and along the Palmetto vein for silver at the Palmetto property 
in Hinsdale County. The cost of the work was estimated at $64,640. 
 In contracts with Richmond Hill Exploration Co., Inc., Ventura Oil Co.,
Great Eastern Mines, Inc., and Roy Pray and Associates the Federal Government's
financial participation was 75 percent of the estimated cost of the work
and 62.5 percent with Oxley Petroleum Co. 
 Cotter Corp. obtained a contract from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
(AEC) to process uranium ore from eligible small mining properties in areas
remote from stretch-out mills. The ores would be processed at the company's
uranium mill in Canon City. The contract covered a 2-year period from January
1, 1967, through December 31, 1968. 
 Several Federal Bureau of Mines pub. lications concerning the mineral' industry
in Colorado were released. A comprehensive report was published on the effect
of urbanization on the mineral-aggregate industry in the Denver Metropolitan
Area.3 Colorado was one of the eight States covered in a report about iron
and steel scrap.4 The Climax mine at Climax was used as the basis of a research
study about scheduling production and development work in long-range mine
planning.5 As part of a program to evaluate potential locations for an in
situ oil shale retorting test 6, details and findings were published of Colorado
Corehole No. 2 drilled in the Green River oil shale. 
 Government-financed construction projjects consumed most of the production
of cement, sand and gravel, and stone. Contracts awarded for road construction
totaled $79.4 million, $25.9 million snore than in 1966, solely due to more
road building in the National System of interstate and Defense Highways.
Construction work was continued throughout the year on the Ruedi and Silver
Jack dams. Completed during the year were the Morrow Point and Rifle Gap
dams. 
 
 ~ Sheridan, Matthew J. Urbanization and Its Impact on the Mineral Aggregate
Industry ra the Denver, Cob., Area. BuMines Inf. Cira. 8320, 1967, 51 pp.

 4 Bennett, Harold J. Iron and Steel Scrap in the Intermountain and Northwestern
Plains States. BuMines Inf. Circ. 8344, 1967, 71 pp. 
5Mathias, Adrian J. A Mine Production- 
Scheduling Model and Critical Path Ana'ysis O~ 
Mine Development Work for Long-Range Mine 
Planning. BuMines Rept. of mv. 6937, 1967, 
48 pp. 
 6 Dana, George F. Bureau of Mines—Atotnic 
Energy Commission Colorado Corehole No. 2, 
Rio Blanco County, Cob. BuMines Open-File 
Report, 1967.