iron ore iron ore is found in many forms and in considerable supply throughout the world successful development of an iron ore deposit requires employment of an efficient blend of mining processing and transportation methods to gain a position among those competing to supply the world's steel industries many different and innovative combinations of these factors are currently in evidence suited to the location quality and geological characteristics of particular ore bodies utah participates in four such iron ore projects with shipments commencing in 1944 the iron springs mine near cedar city utah represents one of the company's early entries into the mining business by conventional open-pit mining methods and through employment of a unique travelling magnetic concentrator which processes low grade alluvial deposits iron springs produces iron concentrates for delivery by rail to united states steel corporation's geneva works at provo utah shipments in 1973 were 580,000 short tons relatively unchanged from the two prior years cf&i steel corporation owns several iron ore mines nearby at which utah as a contractor performs stripping and mining operations utah development company holds a one-third interest in mount goldsworthy mining associates a group involved in operating and developing hematitic iron ore properties in western australia the first such venture involved the construc tion of the mount goldsworthy mine crushing and shiploading facilities at port hedland and a railroad to link the two installations since the first shipments from the mount goldsworthy deposit in 1966 the mining operations have been expanded on several occasions with production prior to the current year reach ing a peak of 6.5 million dry long tons in 1971 a more recent expansion program completed in 1973 involved the develop ment of new ore bodies at shay gap and sunrise hill with these new operations total shipments in 1973 rose to 8.0 million dry long tons from the 6.0 million ton level of 1972 when buyers were seeking to reduce deliveries substantially all of the current year's sales were under long term contracts with the japanese steel industry except relatively small quantities sold to china and france a deposit from which the mount goldsworthy group could realize sub stantial future production is designated as mining area c where the presence of some 750 million tons of good quality iron ore is indicated a mining operation at this location including a plant to pelletize some portion of its output would require a sizeable investment detailed feasibility studies and discussions with the japanese steel industry and the australian govern ment are in progress to determine whether such a project is viable at this time utah owns 46 of marcona corpora tion which through subsidiaries operates iron ore mines in peru and new zealand and owns a fleet of vessels engaged in ocean shipping marcona was originally formed in 1952 to develop large iron ore deposits near the southern coast of peru in order to meet the rising quality stan dards established by the steel industries which it serves the marcona mine has continually increased its capacity to pro duce beneficiated iron ore products as a result the marcona mine today is a complex installation of mining and processing equipment with the ability to produce in excess of ten million tons of beneficiated product each year including four million tons of highly merchantable iron ore pellets since it is located in an arid and undeveloped area marcona at mount goldsworthy marcona and iron springs iron ore is mined processed and prepared for transportation to the world's steel making industry