108 
MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1967 
 
 Completed to the satisfaction of the Government were the OME contracts negotiated
with Big Treasure Mining and Development Co. and Donald C. Gilbert, to explore
for silver at the Little TreasureAdjust group of claims in Pinal County and
the Royal Deer-Horn claims in Santa Cruz County, respectively. 
 Production of silver dropped 28 percent (1.8 million ounces) below that
of 1966, largely because of the copper strike. Of the total quantity of silver
produced, 87 percent, 4.0 million ounces, was recovered as a byproduct of
copper ore, 11 percent from lead-zinc ores, 1 percent from dry silver ores,
and 1 percent from miscellaneous ores and materials. Phelps Dodge Corp.,
with three mines—Copper QueenLavender, New Cornelia, and Morenci—
was the leading producer, accounting for 1.2 million ounces, 25 percent of
the production. The five leading silver-producing companies—Phelps
Dodge Corp., Asarco, Duval Corp., Pima Mining Co., and Shattuck Denn Mining
Corp—accounted for 81.3 percent of the State total. In 1967, the ratio
of recoverable silver to copper, in the copper ores mined, was 8.9 ounces
of silver for each ton of copper produced, compared with 8.2 ounces in 1966.

 
 Tungsten.—A small quantity of tungsten concentrate (60 percent WO3)
was produced from ore mined at the Carboloy mine in Pima County and shipped
to Kennametal Inc., Falion, Nev., by Fernstrom Mining Co. 
 
 Uranium.—Valued at $666,000, production (recoverable content U308)
declined 81 percent, both in output and in value. These declines were caused
primarily by the closing in July 1966 of the Orphan mine of Westec Corp.
on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, and by a lower output of ore by Foote
Mineral Co. and Vanadium Corporation of America (VCA) from mines in Apache
County. On August 30, stockholders of these two companies approved the merger
of VCA into Foote Mineral Co. The Monument No. 2 mine, VCA's largest uranium-vanadium
operation, was closed. The Orphan mine, purchased by Cotter Corp. in August,
began mining at the end of September at the rate of 100 tons of ore per day.

 Shipments of crude ore from 14 operations, 13 in Apache and one in Coconino
County, to processing plants at Grand Junction and Canon City, Cob., and
Shiprock and Grants, N. Mex., totaled 15,723 short tons. The fob. mine value
of the ore shipped ranged from $2.56 per ton for crude ore containing 0.08
percent uranium oxide (U3O8) to $203.50 per ton for crude ore containing
2.09 percent thU8. The average grade of the ore shipped was 0.28 percent
U308, 0.08 below that reported for the previous year. The average value of
mine shipments for the 15,700 tons produced was $22.29, $8.53 per ton below
that reported in 1966. 
 
 Vanadium.—Vanadium was recovered from uranium-vanadium ores mined
in Apache County. The ores were processed at the Climax Uranium Co., Amax
Nuclear Division, American Metal Climax, Inc., mill at Grand Junction, Cob.,
and the Foote Mineral Co. mill at Shiprock, N. Mex. 
 
 Zinc.—Ores from three lode mines in Mohave, Pima, and Yavapai Counties
yielded 13,700 tons, 95 percent, of the recoverable zinc produced in the
State. Total State output declined 10 percent in quantity and 14 percent
in value below that of 1966. This decline was caused primarily by a decrease
in the tonnage and grade of the ore produced at the Iron King mine operated
by Shattuck Denn Mining Corp., and by the closing of the Old Dick mine in
mid-1966 when ore reserves were exhausted. Except for an exploration and
development program to search for new ore and to develop a previously discovered
ore zone, the Old Dick underground mine and 330-ton-per-day selective flotation
mill owned by Cyprus Mines Corp. were inactive the entire year. The Bruce
shaft was deepened to 70 feet below the 1,700-foot levels crosscuts and drifts
were driven on four levels to develop and delineate the deep ore body. By
the fourth quarter of 1968, the shaft was to be at its planned depth of 2,200
feet and the mine developed on eight levels. With the completion of development
work late in 1968, sufficient ore reserves would be available to operate
the mill at its maximum monthly capacity of 10,000 tons for at least 18 months.