uranium utah owns and operates two uranium mines and related processing facilities in wyoming uranium oxide u3os produced from these mines is sold to foreign and domestic companies for eventual use as a fuel for nuclear power plants the combined annual output capacity of both wyoming operations is approximately 4.3 million pounds of u3os existing contract commitments require utah to deliver 12.9 million pounds of u3o8 during the three-year period through 1975 which is essentially the total output of the two operations during that period mounting evidence indicates that uranium will play an increasing role in providing fuel to meet energy needs of the future while the timing of the expected rise in the demand for nuclear fuels is uncertain utah is confident that with efficient operations available reserves and uncommitted production capacity in the latter half of the 1970's it is well placed to supply this market as it develops the lucky me uranium mine and mill which have been in continuous operation since 1958 delivered all output to the atomic energy commis sion until 1967 to satisfy contract obligations sales then began to other governments and private and public companies and gained in importance as deliveries to the aec were completed in 1971 in 1972 lucky me produced and shipped 2.3 million pounds of ujo somewhat below the 1971 per formance however some additional shipments were made possible by purchasing concentrates and through arrangements with others to mil utah's ore coupled with improved ore grades this enabled profits from lucky me to reflect some improvement in 1972 shirley basin originated as an underground mine in 1 960 and was later converted to a solution mining operation utilizing a technique whereby minerals in place are dissolved by an acid solution and then pumped to the surface and recovered in 1970 the solution mining operation was discontinued and an open pit operation was commenced to yield considerably greater output at the same time a new mill was erected near the mine and began processing ore early in the 1971 fiscal year in its first year of operation the shirley basin mine encountered pit wall instability problems which precluded satisfactory deliveries to the mill in terms of both quantity and grade a program of pit wall dewatering and some increased stripping have brought these problems under good control the mine and mill are now operating at design capacity and the project has been profitable since march 1972 during the year deliveries of u3o8 produced from shirley basin reached 1 9 million pounds greatly exceeding the shipment levels and profit performance of the prior year copper in 1972 ample supplies of copper were available to consumers as new mines came into production and inventories in the hands of users were at relatively high levels average copper prices were below those of the pre ceding year copper consumption increased as the year progressed and this trend should continue in 1973 this could lend strength to the pricing structure for copper in the year ahead even though ample copper production capacity worldwide is available to meet expected consumer demands for the next several years culminating two and one-half years of planning and development utah's new island copper mine shipped its first concentrates in december 1971 . located at the north end of vancouver island island copper represents a diversification in the minerals mined by utah for its own account in that copper and significant gold values are contained in the concentrates and molybdenum and rhenium are produced as by-products start-up operations encountered some difficulties and initial output and profitability have been below expectations the primary problem area has been in the autogenous grinding mills where unexpected ore characteristics have resulted in inadequate throughput partial charging of these mills with steel grinding balls has resulted in improved production but it is apparent that design capacity cannot be reached with this arrangement 10 shaped into tools and weapons copper was one of the first metals to be used by man in his efforts to achieve better living standards today due to electrical conductivity properties and a high resistance to corrosion copper and its alloys continue to perform an integral role in man's quest for advancement contacted by air bubble