By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News correspondent
The Burgin mine, located near Eureka, is a world-class
mine and still has the possibility of being a valuable
mining asset capable of producing lead, zinc and silver in
marketable quantities.
Juab County Commissioners voted to write a letter in
support of the mine development project and will attend a
hearing to offer further support of the proposal to open the
Burgin mine.
"It would be a good idea to have more jobs and to have
a further water source for the people of Juab County," said
Robert Steele, commissioner.
Paul C. Spor, LLC, Executive Director of Tintic Utah
Metals with Chief Consolidated Mining Company, said that the
Tintic area had a long history of mineral mining. The Tintic
Mining District contained a high grade silver which
contributed significantly to the world economy from 1896
with the discovery of the Humbug deposit.
Spor said the mine would employ 300 people and most of
those workers would come from the Juab County area. Workers
would make from $12 to $25 per hour and there would be some
white collar jobs that would pay $100,000 per year.
In addition, since Nephi is 700-feet lower than
Eureka, some of the water could be piped to Nephi for use.
The water is very old and has been below the surface
for some time said Spor. "Since the Atomic tests in Nevada
water has traces of tritium, a radiation trace mineral."
The water in the Burgin mine does not.
The mining company, he said, is interested in mining
the 1.2 million tons of ore known to still be minable.
Another 1 million tons within the Burgin resource area is
likely available.
"The most recent mineral developments in the East
Tintic District were the discoveries of the Burgin ore zone
in 1958, the Trixie in 1969, and the Ball Park mineralized
area in 1970," said Spor.
All of these later discoveries, he said, were made by
Kennecott Copper Corporation and were based on intensive
geologic and alteration studies made by the U.S. Geological
Survey from 1943 to 1956.
Since 1963, essentially all of the primary ore production
has come from the Burgin and Trixie mines.
During the Burgin mine's life, said Spor,
approximately 1.8 million tons of ore were mined which
assayed 8.6 percent lead, 8.5 ounces per ton silver, and 8.7
percent zinc.
"From an economic standpoint, Kennecott's operation of
the Burgin mine proved largely unsuccessful," he said. "This
was due to high mining costs as a result of significant
inflows of hot, saline water and bad ground conditions.
Kennecott suspended operations at the Burgin mine
mid-1978."
Spor said the economics of the Burgin mine are based
on the minable resources, grades, metal prices, and
successfully dewatering.
"Waters pumped from the Burgin mine were geothermal
with temperatures ranging from the 130 to over 150 degrees,"
said Spor. "When the Burgin mine was closed and the pumps
were turned of, the dewatered portion of the mine flooded
and returned to the 4,550-foot elevation within 24
hours."
He said no other water aquifers were affected by the
15 years of pumping because there would have been a change
in water temperatures, mineral characteristics, and
dissolved constituents in the Burgin inflows.
"A second conclusion is that the geothermal system is
very large and deep-seated because of the very quick
recharge experienced at closure," Spor said.
Sunshine Mining and several consulting firms have
projected, based on the area and depth of the New Burgin
mine, that approximately 12,000 to 18,000 gallons of
geothermal water will need to be pumped per minute.
Treating the Burgin mine water and putting it to
beneficial use seems to be the most environmentally sound
and responsible method, he said.
"Geothermal mine water is hot and salty with some
amounts of metals," said Spor. However, the water can be
purified with common, reliable, treatment technique to a
quality that will exceed Utah's drinking water standard. A
byproduct of table salt is potentially recoverable in
addition to the water.
There were nine entities and individuals who protested
the Chief's application. They were all given 30 days to
respond and only the Central Utah Water Conservancy District
provided the further information in support of the
objections they had made.
The geothermal water, said Spor, is likely volcanic
and perhaps three to six miles below mean sea level and four
to six miles below the surface of Goshen Valley.
"After 15 years of pumping up to 9,800 gallons per
minute, the water level in the mine was only reduced 156
feet," said Spor.
During that 15 years, approximately 158,000 acre feet
of water was pumped which is a volume only slightly less
than the capacity of Deer Creek Reservoir on the Provo
River. However, during that time, the quantity of inflow
from geothermal springs into Utah Lake was not affected.
"We believe that the geothermal water is confined in
to the area because of faults that lock it into place," said
Spor.
|
