iron ore directly and through its 46%-ownership interest in marcona corporation and a one-third interest in the mount golds worthy mine utah participates in four iron ore projects located in the united states australia peru and new zea land iron ore and beneficiated iron ore products including pellets and pellet feed are marketed throughout the world the combination of fixed-price contracts and worldwide inflationary trends in 1974 had an adverse effect on the profitability of all iron ore operations except the iron springs mine in utah similar situations existed at iron ore operations throughout the world major buyers recognized the diffi cult situations facing the iron ore suppliers and during the latter part of 1974 price increases of 20 to 25 were negotiated thus for the near term the profitability of all of utah's iron ore mines has been enhanced the iron springs open-pit mine located near cedar city utah is utah international's oldest and only wholly owned iron ore mine despite its limited size this operation has contributed a reliable flow of income to utah substan tially all of the iron springs production is delivered to u.s steel corporation's geneva works near provo utah under a long-term contract during 1974 this agreement was extended for an addi tional five years and will now expire in 1981 utah has shipped approximately 18.2 million tons of iron ore from this property since it was acquired in 1946 shipments during 1974 totaled 555,000 tons as compared to 580,000 tons during 1973 as production was adversely affected during 1974 by a six-week strike which extended through much of august and september utah also oper ates an iron ore mine in the same district for cf&i steel corporation under terms operations ultimately reduce coarse iron ore a powder-like consistency suitable for agglo as iron ore slurry passes through disc filters the fine concentrate is de-watered prior to pelletizing marcona's highly marketable iroi pellets are then delivered to steel industry c tomers primarily in japan and europe of a mining and stripping contract the ore is delivered by rail to the minnequa works near pueblo colorado utah's first mining venture in australia was through its participation in the de velopment of the mount goldsworthy iron ore deposits located some 70 miles east of port hedland on the northwest coast of australia utah development company which is 90 owned by utah international holds a one-third interest in the venture expanded on several occasions since making its first deliveries in 1966 mount goldsworthy now has the capa city to produce 8 million tons annually shipments during 1974 totaled 7.6 million tons as compared to 8 million tons for 1973 unusual labor unrest dur ing 1974 contributed to the decline in sales relative to the record 1 973 shipments feasibility studies and discussions with prospective buyers are continuing in regard to mining area c an iron ore deposit held by the mount goldsworthy group where the existence of some 750 million tons of good quality iron ore has been outlined by extensive drilling this deposit is located about 210 miles south of port hedland the port through which mount goldsworthy ore is now shipped current studies indicate that a mine at least twice the size of the present mount goldsworthy operation will be required for a viable operation its development would ensure expansion and continuation of the mount golds worthy joint venture activities for many years originally created in 1952 to develop large iron ore deposits located on the southern coast of peru marcona cor poration through subsidiaries now operates iron ore mines in peru and new zealand the company also owns and charters a large fleet of vessels engaged in ocean shipping the peru vian operation located in an arid and