APPENDIX A Estimated number and output of lode mines in the United States in 1948, classified according to production of base metals [Those mines producing more than 1,200 short tons yearly of recoverable copper, lead, and zinc, combined, are designated noneligible] [From the Congressional Record of Thursday, October 6, 1949, vol. 95, No. 186] SENATE (Legislative day of Saturday, September 3, 1949) STRATEGIC ORES, METALS, AND MINERALS Mr. LUCAS. Mr. President, I move that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Senate bill 2105, Calendar No. 967. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will state the bill by title. The LEGISLATIVE CLERK. A bill (S. 2105) to stimulate exploration for and conservation of strategic and critical ores, metals, and minerals, and for other purposes. The motion was agreed to, and the Senate proceeded to consider the bill, which had been reported from the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs with an amendment, on page 1, after line 4, to strike out down to and including line 8 on page 7, and insert: "SEC. 2. (a) It is the policy of the Congress that every effort be made to stimulate exploration for and conservation of strategic and critical metals and minerals and other essential metals and minerals by private enterprise to supply the industrial, military, and naval needs of the United States, and that every effort be made to encourage the development and maintenance of sources of these metals and minerals within the United States in order to decrease and prevent, wherever possible, a dangerous and costly dependence by the United States upon foreign nations for supplies of such materials. To this end it is the further policy of the Congress that every effort be made to maintain a sound and active mining industry within the United States; to expand exploration for those ores and other mineral substances which are essential to the common defense or the industrial needs of the United States; and to prevent the discontinuance of mine operations under such circumstances as to make it probable that production would not or could not be resumed when needed for the national economy or security. "(b) In carrying out these policies small mining enterprises shall be encouraged to apply for aid under this act, and for this purpose the Secretary of the Interior shall provide small mining enterprises with full information concerning this act, and shall make special provision for expenditious handling of applications from small mining enterprises. "SEC. 3. A minerals Conservation Board, consisting of the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Secretary of the Treasury, is hereby established. The Secretary of the Interior shall be the executive chairman of the Board. The members of the Board may delegate their powers, functions, and duties, including those relating to appeals, to suitable officers of their respective agencies. "SEC. 4. To carry out the policy of this act, the Board shall by regulation determine "(a) the amount of appropriated money to be allocated to the aid of exploration, on the one hand, and to the aid of conservation, on the other hand: "(b) the amount of appropriated money to be allocated to the aid of exploration for any metal or mineral or group of metals or minerals, as specified by the Board; "(c) the amount of appropriated money to be allocated to the aid of conservation of any metal or mineral or group of metals or minerals, as specified by the Board; "(d) the maximum price or the minimum price, or both, which may be paid for the purchase of any metal or mineral or conservation: Provided, That adequate allowance shall be made for depletion and depreciation in computing costs of operation or maintenance; "(e) the maximum amount or the minimum amount, or both, which may be paid on account of participation in the costs of maintenance for conservation with respect to any metal or mineral; "(f) the maximum amount or the minimum amount, or both, which may be paid to any producer or class of producers on account of exploration for any metal or mineral or group of metals or minerals, and the ratio which the Government's contribution for exploration shall bear to the contribution of any producer or class of producers for exploration; "(g) the particular metals or minerals or ores thereof and specifications therefor that shall be eligible for aid for conservation; "(h) the particular metals or minerals that shall be eligible for aid for exploration; and "(i) the time limits or dates within which contracts for aid for conservation shall terminate. "SEC. 5. (a) The Board shall promulgate such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out its functions and duties under this act, and to provide fair and equitable treatment for all applicants for aid. "(b) The Secretary, subject to the rules and regulations of the Board, may prescribe rules and regulations for carrying out the provisions of this act and which must be complied with by applicants for contracts under the provisions of this act. "(c) The Secretary may delegate any of his functions under this act. 99483-50-ser. 23- -7 "(d) All rules and regulations issued under the authority contained in this section shall be published in the Federal Register. "SEC. 6. (a) Any producer may file with the Secretary an application for financial aid in carrying out a specified project for exploration or financial aid to conserve a deposit of ores or minerals. An application to conserve may be either for aid by participating in the costs of maintaining the property in stand-by condition or by purchasing all or any part of the metals or minerals resulting from production from such deposit. The application and the project for aid disclosed by the application must conform to the express policy and provisions of this act and with the rules and regulations of the Board and of the Secretary: Provided, however, That simple contracts covering exploration projects shall be awarded upon application to small base metal mines and such contracts shall provide for the payment by the United States of one-half of the total reasonable costs of all tunnels, shafts, winzes, and raises in such a mine if the application discloses that there is a reasonable promise of developing unknown or undeveloped sources of metals or minerals. "(b) The Secretary shall cause qualified mining engineers, geologists, and any other necessary technicians to make examination of and to report on each application, and to certify it to the Secretary either for acceptance, as presented or subject to specified modifications, or for rejection. In the case of a project for exploration, the examining experts shall certify whether the project offers reasonable promise of discovering unknown or undeveloped sources of metals or minerals. In the case of a project for aid to conserve a deposit of ores or minerals, either by participating in the costs of maintaining the property in stand-by condition or by purchasing all or any part of the metals or minerals resulting from production from each deposit, the examining experts, considering economic and practical factors, shall certify whether the project offers reasonable promise of maintaining in stand-by condition or in production, as the case may be, a property the production from which would in the absence of financial aid by the United States, be discontinued or remain discontinued under such circumstances as to make it probable that for economic or technical reasons such production would not or could not be resumed when needed for the national economy or security. "(c) The Secretary shall either accept and approve the application, subject to any modification therein which he may require, or he shall reject it: Provided, That if the Secretary's action on the application conflicts with the recommendation and certification of examining experts, he shall refer the application to the Board; and the Board shall either confirm and approve the action of the Secretary, or shall reverse it, or shall direct the Secretary to reconsider it. Confirmation or reversal of the Secretary's action by the Board shall be final, and direction to reconsider shall place the application in the same status it was in before action upon it by the Secretary. If the Secretary accepts the application, either in its original or modified form, the terms of the application and acceptance shall be merged in a formal, written contract. Any applicant who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Secretary upon his application, may at any time within 30 days after receipt of notice of the decision, unless further time is granted by the Board, appeal to the Board, and the Board as expeditiously as possible, shall review the entire matter, make its findings thereon, and notify the applicant of its decision, which shall be final. "(d) All metals or minerals purchased under the provisions of this section, or such equivalent quantities thereof as may be permitted by the contract with the producer, shall be delivered by the producer to and shall be received by the Administrator of General Services at such places and times as may be provided in the contract. The Administrator shall from time to time, and in any event before selling them in the open market, notify the Munitions Board of the inventory of metals or minerals held by him under the provisions of this act and shall continue to hold all metals or minerals received by him under this act until at least 60 days after he was given the Munitions Board notice that they are so held. The Munitions Board may, as long as any such metals or minerals are held by the Administrator, (1) direct the Administrator to transfer any of them to the national security stock pile in accordance with the provisions of the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act, as amended (53 Stat. 811, 60 Stat. 596), or (2) within 60 days after such notice from the Administrator direct him to hold any such metals or minerals listed in the notice until 60 days after the next succeeding appropriation for purchases for the stock pile has become available. Unless notified by the Munitions Board to either transfer any of such metals or minerals or to continue to hold them as provided in this subsection, the Administrator shall sell them in the open market if and when open-market prices will return to the Government at least the price paid by the Government for the metals or minerals, and only in such quantities as will not depress the market. No metal or mineral shall be transferred into the national security stock pile under the provisions of this act unless the material has been found to be strategic and critical as provided in the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act, and meets established specifications as to quality and degree of refinement or processing, and unless such transfer is consistent with the current stock-piling procurement program of the Munitions Board. All moneys received by the Administrator of General Services from such sales in the open market shall be for deposit in miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury, and any transfer of metals or minerals to the national security stock pile shall be covered by a transfer of funds from appropriations available for purchases for the stock pile to miscellaneous receipts of the Treasury in amounts approximating what the costs of the metals or minerals would have been if purchased in the open market at the time of transfer. "(e) All contracts entered into under the provisions of this section AA (1) shall contain an express provision that they are subject to the availability of appropriated money; and (2) may be entered into without regard to sections 3648 and 3709 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, or other provisions of law prescribing the manner of making contracts on behalf of the United States. "(f) No contracts shall be entered into under the provisions of this section for a period exceeding 2 years or after the expiration of 3 years from the effective date of this act. "SEC. 7. As used in this act "(a) 'Secretary,' standing by itself, means the Secretary of the Interior. "(d) 'Exploration' means exploration in the United States for unknown or undeveloped sources of metals or minerals, including extensions of known deposits, conducted from the surface or underground, by surface trenching, core or churn drilling, tunnels, raises, winzes, or shafts, including recognized and sound procedures for obtaining pertinent geological information, and including metallurigal research on processes for the production of such metals or minerals. "(e) 'Production' means the production of ores or minerals from mines in the United States, or from tailings, dumps, slags, or residues of such mines, which the Secretary determines would, in the absence of financial aid by the United States, be discontinued or remain discontinued under such circumstances with respect to each particular mine as to make it probable that for economic or technical reasons such production would not or could not be resumed promptly when needed for the national economy or security. "(f) 'Small base metal mines' mean mines or deposits of ores producing or which in the course of conducting an exploration project produce lead, zinc, or copper ores, or ores containing a combination of such metals, the average aggregate monthly production of which does not exceed 100 tons of lead, zinc, and copper metal combined. "(g) 'Producer' means any person or persons or legal entity by whom or for whose account and interest exploration, maintenance, or production is being performed. "(h) United,' when used in a geographical sense, means the United States and its Territories and possessions. "SEC. 8. This act shall not be construed as superseding or amending the Atomic Energy Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 755), as amended. "SEC. 9. There are hereby authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for carrying out the provisions of this act, including payments to producers for exploration, maintenance, and production, and the costs of administration, such funds to remain available until expended.” The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment reported by the committee. Mr. O'MAHONEY. Mr. President, before the committee amendment is acted on, it will be my purpose to offer certain perfecting amendments by the authority of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. Prior to doing that, I wish to make a brief explanation of what the committee conceived to be the essential need of the enactment of the proposed legislation. It is not too much to say, Mr. President, that the industrial and military potential of any nation is in direct relation to its strength in minerals. The experience of the world in World War I and in World War II amply proves that war power and industrial power are one and the same thing. It was the ability of the people of the United States, through their industrial organizations and their political organizations, to mobilize the national resources of this Nation that made it possible for us in both of those two great conflicts to stem the tide of tyrannical aggression. The sad fact, however, Mr. President, is that our mineral resources are now scattered broadcast throughout the world as a result of their utilization in carrying on the two wars. Minerals which were dug out of the mines of the United States have been transported across the seas and they are scattered all over the geography of the world in the explosions incident to war. They have been sunk in the sea. There is not a sea or a continent in which our mineral resources have not been expended in warfare. Prior to these two great wars we were expending them in building up our industrial potential. It now appears, Mr. President, however, that experts in the mineral field throughout the world recognize the fact, and agree upon it, that the mineral resources of the whole world have been used to an extraordinary degree, and that the time has come when we must pay vigorous attention to the development of new sources of these great minerals. If the United States does not do that, if we should allow our resources of minerals to remain unexplored and undeveloped while those of other nations of the world were being explored, developed, and utilized, we might easily lose our place of leadership. Mr. LODGE. Mr. President, will the Senator yield? Mr. O'MAHONEY. I yield. Mr. LODGE. I should like to ask the Senator two questions. My first question is: Was this bill reported from the committee unanimously? Mr. O'MAHONEY. It was reported by the committee unanimously. Mr. LODGE. My second question is: Can the Senator give us some idea of the possible cost of this proposed legislation? Mr. O'MAHONEY. It was the estimate of the committee that this project probably would not cost more than $90,000,000 in a year, but the bill is limited to 3 years, and it is provided that no contracts with any mine shall be made for more than 2 years. I will say to the Senator from Massachusetts that the measure was worked out after many conferences between members of the committee, the officers of the Bureau of the Budget, the officers of the Bureau of Mines, and the officers of the General Services Agency, the procurement agency of the Government. It represents what the committee and the executive branch together feel is a very practical plan to produce tangible results without waste of the moneys of the United States. Mr. LODGE. I thank the Senator. Mr. O'MAHONEY. The Senator is quite welcome. I was impressed, Mr. President, by the fact that during the recent United Nations conferences at Lake Success early in July, Dr. D. N. Wadia, director of the bureau of mines of the Government of India, recognized the same situation which I have been briefly describing, and pointed out that in war the world has been using up its mineral resources. He said, according to the release which was banded to the press at Lake Success: "Since 1914 more basic metals have been used up, a large part either destroyed or irreclaimably locked up, than during the whole of human history * * The lesson of metal depletion from the accessible parts of the earth's crust should be taken as natures g.im warning that man is spending away a prime treasure which is nonreplenishable.” He went on to say: "The critical shortage in metals is most seriously felt up to now only with respect to tin, lead, and zinc, but signs are apparent that accessible deposits of copper, nickel, manganese, wolfram, and antimony are diminishing and new discovery is not keeping pace with demand. The situation, though general for the whole world, is becoming acute in the Western Hemisphere, chiefly the countries around the North Atlantic border." It seems to me, Mr. President, that those words of an eminent expert from India should be taken into consideration by everybody in the United States. The Western Hemisphere, he said, is losing its natural resouces. To me it has been clear for many years that if the United States is to maintain its leadership in peace and in war, if it is to maintain its policy of leading the world to peace, it cannot afford to risk becoming dependent upon other nations for its supply of natural resources. That was the reason several |