European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 26, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse Re u i " r -1 kill.--. 111 i. glory Hole of Climax molybdenum mine makes Mountain look As if it had been scooped out by a giant ice Cream dipper. By . Miniclier associated press wave of Colorado miners is coming forc a confrontation Between a town and the oper at ors of the world s largest molybdenum mine Over that Basic Issue development is. The environment and peace and quiet. The Climax molybdenum co., a division of the giant american Metal Climax inc., runs the huge Climax mine 60 air Miles across the Rockies from the Valley Hamlet of crested Butte. Now it s looking at mount Emmons which towers 3,000 feet above the 48-Square-Block Community with an Eye to extracting 160 million tons of Ore. Old timers want the mine but a majority of residents Many recently arrived from the East to reap the benefits of open space and Mountain fresh air fear that an influx of transient miners and the buildup of million of tons of waste will ruin the High Mountain Valley. The dispute typifies the Colorado mining Industry. Norm Blake director of the state division of mines Esti mates the state s total Mineral production at about $1 Bil lion a year. Within a decade the number of miners looking for coat Zinc uranium Oil shale and other minerals i expected to double to 40,000. Crested Butte town planner Myles Rademan who moved Here six years ago from new York compares the operation of the Climax mine with the space program or the building of the Aswan dam on the Nile. You just can t imagine its size he says. Rademan is my his Best to soften the Impact of the mine s expected operations. The Climax mine on the Continental Divide near Lead Ville is an open pit operation at an Elevation of 12,000 feet with 100 Miles of tunnels 23 trains and 2,800 people on the payroll. It must mine a ton of Ore to extract 5.3 pounds of molybdenum an element with a melting Point 2,000 degrees higher than steel it is used As an Alloy for structural steel armaments air planes and spacecraft. Climax spokesman Nelson Fugate says Climax mines More in a Day than 90 percent of american mines produce in a year. Daily production has risen to 47,000 tons a Day from 250 tons a Day in 1917. Half of Bartlett Mountain the mine s glory Hole looks As if it has been scooped out by a giant ice Cream dipper. Across the Highway a tailing Pond has a capacity of 525 million tons of residue. It is 150 Miles by a meandering Highway Between Climax and crested Butte and perhaps a Century i philosophy. Crested Butte is nestled in a Valley at the end of a 32 mile Road from the ranching and farming Community of Gunnison. The smell of Wood burning stoves permeates the air. Horses Graze in a Field on the Edge of town. Motorists carefully observe the 15 Mph Speed limit. Children play in the streets. It is a Vista of peace and Tranquility of victorian architecture without Neon lights. The town almost died after the local Coal mine closed in 1952 but was revived by development of a ski resort in 1962. In the last six years crested Butte has grown from 350 to 1,200 inhabitants. Fishing hiking backpacking and skiing bring new residents and thousands of tourists. Coal Creek bubbles through town a reminder that mining can kill nature. Metal from forgotten mines has ended life in the Stream. Paul Veltri is in a minority Here. Sitting by the pot Bel lied stove in Tony s general store he says he d like the Page 14 mine in town. Raised on a Coal Field in Wyoming the fort Yish Veltri supports his family As a rancher and construction worker when there s something to build. He notes the country was founded by Farmers and miners and quoting Thomas Jefferson he says a Strong nation must be both Well fed and Well armed. Rademan disagrees. It is a sorry state of affairs if we must destroy our Small communities to develop natural resources. When we should be reviving Small town America he says. This is my Home. We Are looking for people to invest time and Energy to nurture a personal Community rather than merely invest their he notes that 18 months ago a 50-by-125-foot lot sold for $10,000, but now goes for $25,000, As Specula tors from both coasts move in. People who Are Selling forget Why they moved Here says Rademan. They have a perverted sense of the fron tier ethic. Thinking they can keep moving on and Don thave to save any Lee Irwin came Here seven years ago giving up six waterbed outlets in the san Francisco Bay area. He pub Lishes the weekly crested Butte Pilot. It s a Beautiful place to live. We Don t lock our doors and it s a Community not a sprawling suburb he says. At it. Crested Butte the ski resort which incorporated As a town in 1974, geologists from Climax rented apart ments for the summer. . Gus Larkin former crested Butte mayor and resort general manager says the mine will have an Impact in housing and Competition for skilled jobs. The resort pays $3.25 to $5.50 an hour for lift and ski patrol employees and less for housekeeping staff. Starting salary for the lowest of 200 Job categories a Climax is nearly $7 an hour. The stars and stripes nos Butte is now a Village in a tranquil Colorado Valley. But Homes Are being built and land prices soaring As miners Rush there. A photos by Rick Browne Rademan fears an influx of trailer Homes. They Are cheap in the Short run but expensive in the Long run he says and predicts they will disintegrate into slums under 350 inches of annual snowfall. The Community will pay the social Cost As the work ers Are crammed together and take out their frustrations on the town he says. The town has 23 restaurants most serving Beer wine or liquor. Fugate director of Public relations for Climax Dis agrees. He notes that hundreds of Climax employees commute More than 100 Miles a Day to Homes in Buena Vista and Salida and predicts that Many miners at mount Emmons will commute to Gunnison 32 Miles Down the he does agree on the transient character of miners. He says the firm has an annual turnover rate of about 35 percent at the Climax mine and had to hire a total of 7,000 persons before its payroll stabilized when the staff was increased from 1,680 to 2,800 in 1973. Many work in the mines for a grubs take before moving on he says. Others fresh out of College and unable to find a Job come to work and grow frustrated because they can t afford to leave. In attempts to assure a More permanent work Force 242 company built Homes and 10 three Story apartment buildings were moved 13 Miles to Leadville in the 1960s. Employees renting them were Given first option to buy. A House sold for $2,400. Too often folks have the idea that miners Are second class citizens who do physical work and Are always being blown up. They think it takes someone who is not All there to be a Miner says Fugate who has worked under ground. He agrees that miners work drink and play hard just like rail Auto or ism Vernon Gunther 45, has worked underground at Climax for 20 years. He bought a Home in Leadville and raised six children there. If you Are going to live in a place you make it your Home he says. Dave Scott 26 everyone Calls me Tennes see " was driving through Leadville two years ago when his car broke Down. Scott began work at Climax and now drives an Ore train. I made it a year and will probably stay a lifetime he says. Blake says the image of miners has always been Low but he has Little patience with some transplanted Eastern ers at crested Butte. It was a mine Camp. I feel a lot of people there waited until the miners were starved out and then bought their Homes at Rock Bottom prices and now they Don t want them Back he there is a Chance to put something Back there that would produce something besides the broken Bones of the ski f i an a i al Jefff a Fri Mimbu " T from the mine Are covering Pine Trees and filling the valleys below the mine. Tuesday sep fiber 26, 1978 the stars and stripes Page 15
