OCR Text |
Show reserves are committed, directly or provisionally, to the requirements of APS. Navajo is already the eighth largest coal mine in the country, and to the extent that other utilities are attracted to this fuel source we shall expect to see further improvement in our earnings for many years into the future. Other substantial coal reserves which Utah can marshal into this program are located near Craig. Colorado, and in Southern Utah. Based on our experience to date, there seems to be an optimistic future for our steam coal reserves. I referred to "steam coal" to distinguish our interest in metallurgical coal with which we have already had successful experience. We have now located an extensive bed of coking coal in Australia. Its commercial quality has been confirmed and we are now making a more accurate determination of the extent of its reserves. Geography makes it a logical and economic source of supply for the Japanese steel market, and if suitable firm contracts can be negotiated it will become another new source of earnings for Utah. Copper is also of interest to Utah. Our one fourth ownership of Pima Mining Company, which operates copper mining properties near Tucson, Arizona, has produced sizeable profits in the past. With last year's expansion of its crushing and concentrating facilities, Pima is able to utilize lower grade ores, and the life of its mine has been extended to at least 1975. Pima's earnings in 1963 were higher than in 1962, and with its new facilities - 13- |