diesel powered sh this sequence shows the modern iron ore methods employed by our affiliate m mining company at san juan bay peru at the open pit mir mine and load iron or of 34 ion diesel trucl 17 miles to the prim from the crushing plant the iron w by belt conveyor to stockpile and ulti fer into the holds of cia san juan s a has endeavored to meet this problem by entering into long term charter agreements and by the purchase through its wholly owned subsidiary san juan carriers ltd of large specialized ore carriers during the year two new sister ships of 32,000 dead weight tons capacity the s s harvey s mudd and the s s allen d christensen along with the 1 6,000 dead weight ton m.v san juan trader a converted oil tanker were purchased and placed in service these ships along with the vessels under long term charter are capable of moving ore at cost substantially below that of the prevailing charter markets and have enabled cia san juan to main tain a reasonable shipping cost san juan carriers ltd has also placed additional orders with japanese shipyards for the delivery of two 46,000 dead weight ton specialized carriers which are scheduled for delivery in late 1958 and early 1959 purchase of these vessels was financed in part by the use of bank credit the value of new vessels has more than doubled since the initial order for the s s harvey s mudd was placed and as a consequence the cost of the vessels that san juan carriers ltd has purchased or has on order is several million dollars below the prevailing prices for those vessels in today's market marco ist-a 2£x2>7x2?gt co m fan y strong demand for ore and better prices resulted in favorable operations for marcona mining company during the year regular preferred dividends were paid as due and a dividend of 5.50 a share was declared and paid on the class b common stock outstanding during the year the company paid off its indebtedness to the export-import bank and retired 3,000,000 of its second preferred stock one-half of which was held by utah construction company there remains outstanding second preferred stock in the amount of 2,000,000 equally held by utah and by cyprus exploration by the company has added considerably to the proven reserves of both direct shipping ore and ore that will ultimately require bene ficiation if it is to be mined and marketed to the fullest advantage studies regarding the feasibility and desirability of beneficiating the lower grade ores are under way s s harvey s mudd owned by san juan carriers ltd receiving or pile for delivery to european and dom __ . of an iron ore beneficiation pilot plai employing gravity magnetic and flotalic ntrating equipment installed to study ¦ lethods of ore treatment this copper mining and milling corporation located near tucson arizona is owned 25 per cent each by our company union oil company of california and 50 per cent by cyprus mines corporation during 1956 the erection of the mill and concentrator was completed and the mining properties were stripped of overburden so as to enable open pit mining and mill operations to commence in december 1956 copper prices in the world and domestic mar ket have dropped considerably from their highs of the past year however the financial and economic feasibility studies upon which this project was conceived were based on an estimated price sufficiently low as to produce satisfactory profits at prices well below present levels lucky mc txransritjm corporation during 1956 our company under the terms of an option agreement to acquire 60 per cent of the ownership of this company conducted intensive geological investigations of the mining properties and leases controlled by lucky me these studies confirmed the existence of sizable bodies of uranium ore of good grade and quality as a result your company has negotiated for lucky me a long term milling and sales contract for uranium concentrate with the atomic energy commission our company has substantially completed for lucky me uranium corporation the financing arrangements necessary for mill con struction and working capital based upon contracts for the engineering design construction and operation of the ore processing mill and attendant strip mining operations which are required to be performed by our company we expect that the lucky me financing will be finalized in the early months of 1957 and at that time utah will acquire 60 per cent of lucky me in august of 1956 our affiliate san juan carriers ltd i delivery of the third member of its growing fleet of spe ized ore carriers the 31,600 ton s.s allen d chri ' itership of s s harvey s mudd here the ch ' she taid en voy up at san francisco on the first leg of its rage from the builder's yard where inspection e held for employees owners and friends of