by
By Daryl F. Mallett with Kim K. Howell & Farlow C. Davis
Already published portions of this story are used with permission of BHP Billiton and Farlow C. Davis.
Tiger again became the source of strategic metals at the start of World War II. Vanadium production statistics were withheld from the public by the U.S. Bureau of Mines as “war secrets.” After the United States entered the war, labor was short in the district, so the U.S. Army discharged 65 men and sent them to work in the mines. The Mammoth-St. Anthony Mining Company struggled through the war and probably would have failed were it not for the bonuses the government was paying for its metals.
In 1942, the Mammoth-Tiger Extension Mining Company cleaned out the underground workings of the Ford Mine. The company erected a new headframe; installed new ladders, platforms, air and water lines in the shaft; built a hoist house, blacksmith shed and supply house; installed tanks, a compressor and hoist. The shaft, which was allowed to flood in 1920, was completely dry by 1942. Pumping in the nearby mines at Tiger had lowered the water table below the bottom of the Ford shaft. The ore, which was blocked out at this time, was reported to assay 3.02% lead, 1.75 ounces of silver per ton, 7.8 ounces of gold per ton and 3.7% copper.
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