STATE OF WASHINGTON ARTHUR B. LANGLIE, Governor Department of Conservation and Development W. A. GALBRAITH, Director BIENNIAL REPORT NO. 6 of the DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY For the Period Commencing July 1, 1954 and Ending June 30, 1956 By SHELDON L. GLOVER Supervisor STATE PRINTING Pl..ANT OLYMPIA~ WASH. .,, DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY Biennial Report No. 6 SHELDON L. GLOVER, Supervisor GENERAL STATEMENT The following report applies to the organization and activities of the Divi­ sion of Mines and Geology, Department of Conservation and Development, for the period July 1, 1954 to June 30, 1956. The technical staff for the full period included Sheldon L. Glover, Super­ visor; Marshall T. Huntting, Assistant Supervisor; and W. A. G. Bennett, Geologist. C. Phillips Purdy, J r., who had been on the staff as a geologist since April 7, 1947, resigned on October 15, 1954. Howard E. Banta was employed as an assistant geologist on January 24, 1955 and resigned on February 24, 1956; he was replaced June 11, 1956 by Vaughn E. Livingston. Temporary employees included Gerald L. Gould and Nathan R. Segel, draftsmen. Non­ technical employees included two short-time field assistants during the sum­ mers of 1954 and 1955 and one in 1956. The clerical staff consisted of Dorothy Rinkenberger, Secretary, and Gloria DeRossitt, clerk-stenographer. The Division was particularly active during the biennium in acquiring further information on the metallic and nonmetallic resources of the state and in supplying data on these resources to all inquirers who indicated an interest in prospecting or in mineral development and utilization. The outstanding feature of the period, of course, was the phenomenal activity of prospectors in the search for uranium; this is the subject of a separate section in the present report. In general, the requests for information have far exceeded in number those of previous years. They have been handled, as before, by office conferences, occasional out-of-town conferences and meetings, by an increas­ ingly voluminous correspondence, and by the issuance of bulletins and re­ ports of investigations when the commodities discussed were of general in­ terest. The Division continued to cooperate with the U. S. Geological Survey in topographic mapping, with the U. S. Bureau of Mines in the collection of sta­ tistics of mineral production, and with various other Federal agencies in mat­ ters of mutual interest. As usual, the Division supplied information and as­ sistance to other state agencies in problems involving geology and mineralogy whenever such services were requested. The volumes in the Division's reference library were augmented by addi­ tional publications of the U. S. Geological Survey, U. S. Bur eau of Mines, and other state surveys. Also, a considerable number of texts and reference works dealing with uranium were acquired, owing to the unusual interest in this subject. Similarly, a large collection of uranium minerals and representa­ tive ores were added to the mineral display which is maintained particularly for the information of prospectors and miners. SELECTED MINERAL PRODUCTION<D-1948 THROUGH 1955 ~ JO.ii:! --1- ___1m _o__ _ _ JVW 1951 PR0DGC1' \JlltUJtlty Vuluc Quunllly I Value Quantity I Vuluc Qum1Llty I Value (; lay (cxc,• 11l for e<,meut) ........... shorl tons t:162,260 ;1111, ;as $26, ,300 2li ,000 $151,$50 :CCJ,000 $285,6:ll Con! . ., ......................... .... shor.t tons , . , , i :~ i~~~O;s 7 ,SU:I, 123 1 ~uu,wo 0,028,();16 h 4,000 ;,e28,jJJ I Sti7,UOO 0,001 ,4!>0 Uo 1,pcr .......... ........... •..•.. ... short tons 5,GO,; ;/,J58,6l0 5,275 :l,OiS.~50 .;,oa . 2,;.oa,,li 4,069 ] ,019.0,U Gold .... , ........... ................ t roy ounces ~0,075 ;/,;5t,b:li> 71,99~ :1,519,,90 V;l,117 ;;;,2:.!4,09.> ~l,405 :t,~.59, r,5 Leuti ............... .... .............. short to11s 7,H7 .!,S,"ib,o.!O 0,417 :l,O:li ,i 1;( 10,:,~-l ;1, , 00,lSO ll,002 2,768,C92 !'cut ........... ............. ........ sbort loJlS © @ (!) (0 ·············· .............. ~5.aO~ 98,9.5 t:J Fumice .. , .. ............... •.. , .... short tons :16,675 ,t( ,1,ijl S,6HJ ll:!,;/;11 11,t.a ;U,Oit J, IC,:; ,u.~ ,-,. s,rnd nod gnl\·c, ...... , ............. shorL tons 0,267,225 11,057,129 0,215,UH G,391.H> l0,0t'6,tt0 7,-l.a5,:HO 10,,;.1,,coo 7 .595,S:Ji ~ Silver .... ............... ............ troy ouutoes 3;r,,s31 340,HC 357,Soa 323,~.• ;;ol,l.~0 :;;/Y, 12i ;,;;5,000 sos.rn; i;;· 5,:l:c!U,500 •1,105,5lb 4 ,U.il ,C0.1 ol, ;3.t,563 o,oao,ooo J,66l ,4;J:; ,-,. Slone .. , ....... , . ............ ... , , ...short tons 0,3S2,·16:I 3,o~S.800 0 'l'tmgsten ore (UOO/,; cone.) ........... shorl tons 9 3:J,417 Z:nc . .. ........ ... , ....... ... ... short tons · · · · · · · i2;i;3i,l · .. :i:aoi :10s· · ·· ·.. iO: i,io· ·· · · 2 :oo:i:.:.;io H,!.Oi ·· · · .i:~o-~:iss· 18,IE9 0 ,620, 796 .:l fi' ,lt9.;JS~ 20 ,SO:l, 9,10 Miscelltrncous@ , ............... , .... , , ... , , .... -w.aH .:l67 . ... ... .. .... H,43S.1,; . .......... 0 '-h 'l'otal. ..... ..... , . , ..•........•..•••...... $,IS,928,COO I·. ,. ..... ,... ·I t~O.S63,000 :-:·tH,CJ,j;'j,t:UO ············ ·· $.j-& ,.;.;.1,000 ~... I .:l 1952 W53 19,>i 1955© ~ PRODUO'l' I - - -- ----- --- --- - -- -- c,, qu,1ttt:ty Vn luo' Quuotity I Vuluc (~uunlity I Value {luantity I V uluc I § (;lt\y (except for cement) ..... ...... short tons ~2.;,oco I _>:J~2,5,C J~S,~3a _t;lJ~,1~1 1,0,212 j24G,:l8-I 280,000 $,140.0: 0 ~ Coal ....... , ................ , ........ short tons i;.1.,1 ,000 o,9. 6, 1;19 t~0.~~1 J,04, .92o <D;2a, ns 4,255,,100 610,000 .1,200.000 Co1i1>cr ....... ......... .. ....•...... short ton~ ·l,~;';i 2. 1~,i88 3,,40 2.H6.760 :J,C:l6 I 2,145,240 3,95.3 2 ,92,1.220 Q Gold ..... , ...•..........•......... tr.oy ounces 04,170 l,Oli ,lllO 62,5C,O 2, 189 .000 66,7!0 2,335,900 76,280 2,669.oOO ~ Lead .... , ... ....•.••................ short Lons 11 ,i4~ 3,iSl,568 11,0IH 2,i,os. ms 9,038 2,'123,012 10,415 2. 103,6i0,, 0...... l?f11t .. .. ......................•..... shol't tonR 42,5110 111,:l,!O a:! ,101 104 .274 42.M4 153,058 0 Pumlt·~ ...... .... ... , , . .... , ....... short ton~ ~.ll04 8,089 © @ © © ~ © Sand and grnvrl. , .. , ........ ..... , .. short ton~ 1:!,:l2:!,000 9,-1;1:1,117 11, 1F2 .~:10 o,:in.rna )6,011,436 l~,494,JH lii,500,000 ]3,0C0.000 ~liver .. , ........................... troy ounces ;;JO,r,00 :lt'.J,675 :!:11,202 290,iOI 31S,i:i5 2e3,94G 42:!,:lOO :18:! ,:!4S ~ Stone ....... , .... , ...................short tons 4.~m ,ooo :i,401,520 4 ,43S,259 5,S90,8·19 4,COll,724 ii ,309,3SS .; •000 . C-00 8,i50,000 Tungsten ore ((JOO,i; cone.) ........... short tons ,1 14,008 ij 19.110 18 65,812 20 'i0.000 Z:nc .... , . ...... ............. , ... , .... short tons O.Ot!-1.~6~ 3;1,786 7 J,40.7f0 :!:!,:!0 1 •I ,1r17, 664 20,;,91 7 .2i9,:$S<i Mi~<:ell ulll•IJUS @ ..... ' .... ' ............... ...... ' ...... ~~: 10-~. w.~~;.,02 ············ lS.Sli ,01:l .............. Hi,Oi:!,728 ·· ·········· ·· l ii ,HS,ll;t; 1 -- - - --- ---- - -- ·-· '1.'o!ttl.. , ............. , .......... , ... , .. .............. $.;G, t:1!),000 . ... .......... j;,4 ,r,;; ,(JOO . ......... .... t,i2,~:l:l,(JO() ........... .. ~f,~ .lH,OOCl 0 ('0111plled hy Hlate Oiv:sion of )Jines und Geology from stntistir.s @ tnC'lu<h'~ llelll~ lndk,ilc.l l y © uhov.: also In vul'lous yeurs llw fol· obtuinc,I In cooperation with 0. S. Uurc•au or Mines anrl, in part, puh­ lowing: carhon dioxide (natural), dlatom:tc, ePSomlte, gem stones. lil'hctl iu Minerals Yearbook. gyp~lte, iron ore, lime, magnesite, manganeec. olivine, portland rc•mmt, © Included In "Al lseello neoue." quartz, strontium, nranium, an,1 other mineral commoclllles. © Preliminary stntlstles, subject to revision. Division of Mines and Geology 5 THE STATE'S MINERAL INDUSTRY The healthy condition of the state's mineral industry is indicated by the accompanying graph, showing a general, average rise in the value of annual mineral production since 1933. The detailed statistics of this production are 60 - .. I '1 $0 I\ / V /',, I I 'IJ ~ ,o 0 ' • -, L-1 - ,\ot\ J \ ,. ......_ IV .,. V ,.,. 10' A. I" \ o'O'_J , 11 '\ / 10 - L___..,-., ,.__,_ G°I! 901. 0 1900 "'° 1920 "'" 1960 Value of Washington's Mineral Production, 1900-1855 given in the accompanying tabulation for the years 1948 through 1955. Final figures are shown except for those of 1954, which are still preliminary though essentially correct, and 1955, which are strictly preliminary and subject to revision. It is doubted that the final statistics for 1955, when available, will indicate any marked change in the total for that year-an amount that reached $58 million, a value of production that broke all previous records for the state and exceeded by $2 million the hitherto record year of 1952. The commodities chiefly responsible for this large production are clay, copper, gold, lead, mag­ nesite, portland cement, stone, tungsten, and zinc, all of which were produced in record or near-record amounts. URANIUM PROSPECTING AND DEVELOPMENT The search for uranium minerals during the past year or so has caused the greatest prospecting boom in the state's history. No particular interest had been shown in this element prior to the development of the "atomic bomb" and the finding of extensive uranium deposits in the Colorado Plateau region. However, three entirely unsubstantiated reports of uranium occw·rences in Washington had been made. The earliest was in 1897, when a Mr. R. F. Brown mentioned finding "a 5-foot ledge of uranium 12 miles from Peshastin Station on the Great Northern Railway" in Chelan County.