PREFACE TO THE DIGITAL EDITION, 2003

Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Special Publication No. 28, Mineral and Water Resources of Montana, published in 1963, has been long out of print. However, the comprehensive information it contains is still useful, and the publication is one of the most-requested out-of-print items at the Bureau. For this reason, the Bureau has prepared this digital edition of the report. It consists primarily of the original text, together with versions of the fold-out maps that were modified (but not updated) to be more suitable for web display; in some cases links are provided to full-sized figures scanned from the original, especially where the figures or tables are too large to incorporate directly into the text. To preserve legibility, some of these images will be larger than most computer screens; in Internet Explorer, a default low-resolution image may be displayed to fit the screen. You may need to click the expander to see the full-size image (move the cursor over the image, then click the expander button in the lower right corner). A few external links have been provided to point the user to sources of more information; if you are using the CD-ROM version of this report, you will need to be connected to the Internet for the links to work.

A few references to newer publications have been given where appropriate in the text, to help bring the report up to date in a small way (much more information can be found in other reports of the Bureau). Also, production, price and consumption information from 1999-2002 U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Commodity Summaries has been included where relevant, for comparison with figures quoted in the 1963 text. Similar updated information on fuels was derived from the Energy Information Administration. Any new text is displayed in red to make the distinction from the original text.

Formatting for the web, including scanning, editing, updating data, and figure additions and revisions, was done by Richard I. Gibson for the Bureau in 2002-03; Charlotte McKenzie prepared Table 1. The text was scanned and converted to a digital form using optical character recognition; it is likely that a few scanning errors remain. The 166-page text was enhanced by adding new photos and images which were derived from various sources, including other MBMG web pages, other Montana State office web sites (especially the Montana Board of Oil and Gas Conservation), the U.S. Geological Survey, NASA, and photographs by R.I. Gibson.

Users of this report should note that one commodity, Platinum-Group Elements (including Palladium), is not included because there was no production in Montana at the time of this report. Montana is now the sole domestic mine producer of these elements, from the Stillwater Mine in southwestern Stillwater County.

Additional updated information may be found in annual versions of the U.S. Geological Survey's "The Mineral Industry in Montana," a chapter in the Minerals Yearbook. In addition, you may be interested in a recent (2000) map of Major Mineral Producing Areas of Montana. This map, produced by the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology and the U.S. Geological Survey, is in PDF format.

The original 1963 print edition was published at the request of Montana Senator Lee Metcalf. It was reprinted in 1968. We hope that you find this digital edition useful.

We are also indebted to Mr. G.W. Yoder, chairman of the Oil and Gas Commission of the State of Montana, for permission to reproduce figure 6 and table 1 of this report, both of which have been taken from publications of the commission.

THE MINERAL INDUSTRY IN MONTANA

(By A. E. Weissenborn, U.S. Geological Survey, Spokane, Wash.)

Montana is known as the Treasure State because of the richness and variety of its mineral resources, and the State's economy from its beginning has been closely tied to its mineral wealth. It was the discovery of gold that in the 1860's brought the first permanent settlers to what is now the State of Montana, and it was the copper mines of Butte that in the early 1880's brought the railroads to Montana, thus facilitating the settlement of the country. The population centers that grew around the mines and smelters provided local markets for the products of the rancher and farmer who soon followed the miner. Montana mineral production has made important contributions to both the local and the national economy, Butte alone having added over $2 billion of new wealth to the Nation--one of the very few metal mining districts in the world that has produced this much. Montana's gold production is estimated at 17,600,000 ounces or over $616 million at the present price of gold, much of it having been produced in the years following the Civil War when gold was urgently needed to strengthen the currency and to bolster the economy. Strategic and critical metals and minerals from the State's mines have contributed significantly to the national security at times when these were urgently needed. The value of the annual output of the minerals and metals that Montana has produced is shown graphically in figure 1 below. In figure 1, red represents gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc (1880-1961); blue represents petroleum (1935-61), and black represents other mineral products (1935-61). Data from U.S. Bureau of Mines Minerals Yearbooks, and from Chace (1947).

Although Montana's beginnings are rooted in the mineral industries as the State's population increased the value of agricultural products became greater than the value of its mineral products. In 1961, the cash receipts from farm marketing amounted to $374.6 million; the value of all mineral products during the same year was $183.4 million according to the U.S. Bureau of Mines Minerals Yearbook. Although now second to agriculture, the mineral industry nevertheless is of vital importance to the economy of the State.

Despite extreme fluctuations such as occurred from 1916 to 1919, or in the depression years of the 1930's, the value of Montana's mineral production has shown a fairly consistent upward trend (fig. 1). This trend is to some degree misleading, because it shows the value of mineral products produced, not the amount, and higher prices in recent years for some commodities tend to distort the curve. For instance the tons of copper produced in 1961 is no greater than the annual production in years immediately preceding World War I, although its dollar value is considerably greater. Nevertheless, the graph serves as a guide to the development of the mineral industry in Montana. For example it brings out clearly the rapid growth since 1935 of the petroleum industry relative to the other mineral industries.

According to statistics from the Montana State Employment Service (as given in the U.S. Bureau of Mines Minerals Yearbooks) in 1961 the total employment in mining within the State, including production of petroleum and natural gas, was 6,900 of which 4,200 persons were employed in metal mining, 700 in mining nonmetals (including coal) and 2,000 in the production of petroleum and natural gas. An additional 4,500 persons were employed in plants processing primary metals and in petroleum refineries. Total employment in 1961 directly connected with mineral industries was 11,400. This contrasts with 1953 when 11,600 were employed in mining: 8,200 in metal mines, 1,000 in nonmetal mines and 2,400 in producing petroleum and natural gas. An additional 4,800 were employed in processing mineral products, making a total of 16,400 employed in the mineral industries. Thus, although the value of mineral production was considerably greater in 1961 than it was in 1953, this production was obtained with a greatly decreased labor force--in the case of metal mining with only a little over half the number employed in 1953. This trend, which is industrywide and not confined to Montana alone, is represented graphically in figure 2. It presents a serious problem to States such as Montana whose economy is so dependent on the mineral industry, and warrants some discussion.

Many factors have tended to bring this about. In contrast to the situation, a few years ago, when there was a scarcity of many mineral commodities, exploration has been successful in finding new deposits of copper, lead, zinc, and other metals, both in the United States and in foreign countries. The result is that for some metals, world productive capacity has caught up with, and in some instances surpassed, consumptive demands, at least temporarily. Coupled with this, some metals are faced with competition from other metals or from such materials as plastics, which, for some uses, can replace them. All this has tended to hold prices of metals and mineral commodities to relatively low levels when compared with other commodities. At the same time, increased labor and materials costs, declining ore grades, deeper mining, and related factors have resulted in higher operating costs. Mine operators have been forced to increase the efficiency of their operations in order to survive. The tendency has been to concentrate operations into fewer, more effective operating units with a significant decrease in the number of active mines. This trend is not new; it has been going on for a long time: as call be seen from inspection of the upper curve of figure 2--the number of mines operating in Montana since 1900--and is paralleled by similar trends in other industries, such as agriculture. An interesting feature of the curve is the sharp reversal that occurred between 1931 and 1943. This resulted from two things-the depression years of the 1930's when many jobless miners tried to scratch a living by prospecting and mining on their own, and the rise in the price of gold, which encouraged the attempt to operate small placer and lode mines. After 1943, the downward trend continued without interruption.

Montana's mineral industry is founded on the resources hidden beneath her mountains and plains, but the minerals produced are consumed almost entirely outside the State. Thus the prosperity of the mineral industry within the State is dependent on the national economy and on demands by industry for mineral products. The past few years have been difficult ones, particularly for the small operator. This situation is not likely to change greatly in the next few years. Nevertheless, there are some hopeful signs. The output of Montana's mineral products has shown a healthy upward trend in the past few years (fig. 1), ore reserves at Butte are said to be at an all time high, and there appears to be some indication of increasing activity in mineral exploration within the State. Consequently, the immediate future can be viewed with at least moderate optimism. In the longer-range view, prospects seem brighter. With increasing populations and improved standards of living, both at home and abroad, the metals and minerals that Montana can produce are likely to be urgently needed.