Arizona Daily Star from Tucson, Arizona • Page 57

on 1 Jje Arizona Haihj giar TUCSON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1982 PAGE ONE urloug ClOS6 ey yprus Pima to Oct. industries rebound strongly from their depressed levels, Komadina said. Those industries will show little improvement until interest rates on consumer loans begin a sustained decline to at least 12 percent, he added. Currently, most consumer and mortgage loan rates remain at 15 percent or higher. When a recovery develops, the face of the copper industry may be permanently changed, according to Komadina and other industry ment.

When that job is complete, most of that group will also be laid off. The latest copper layoffs leave about 12,800 of the state's 21,000 copper workers, or 61 percent of the January 1981 work force, on furlough. George A. Komadina, Cyprus Pima's vice president and general manager, repeated the industrywide lament in announcing the shutdown. Market prices, hovering near 60 cents a pound for copper, do not match production costs that near $1 a pound, he said.

a grip on the industry, production rose to 85 million pounds. Cyprus Pima, owned by Standard Oil Co. of Indiana and General Electric announced its first recession-related cutback in December when it extended the four-day holiday shutdown to nine days. In February, it laid off 175 of 730 workers, and put most of the rest on a four-day workweek. In June, Cyprus shut all operations but the milling and processing of low-grade stockpiled ore.

Another 265 workers were laid off at the time. By Edward Lempinen The Arizona Dally Star Cyprus Pima Mining Co. announced yesterday that it will halt its remaining operations Oct. 1 and furlough 208 of 300 employees indefinitely. In yet another dire forecast for the state's crippled copper industry, one top company executive predicted that the shutdown at the mine south of Tucson could last through 1983.

The remaining 92 workers will be kept busy for two to three months mothballing the mine and mill equip- "I guess it (the shutdown) could last most all of 1983 that's my personal opinion," Komadina said. Many copper-industry officials had hoped that the rash of closures this year would allow a depletion of copper inventories, with prices rising as supplies dropped. Though industry giants Phelps Dodge and Kennecott virtually ceased production earlier this year, "the price of copper hasn't moved a bit," Komadina said. The copper market is unlikely to improve before the auto and housing Countries including Chile, Peru Zambia are assuming new strength in world markets because their cost of production is estimated to be as low as 50 cents to 60 cents a pound for higher grade ore than is found in the United States, Komadina said. Conversely, the U.S.

industry may return to no more than 75 percent of its record 1981 production, they say. Had it completed the year, Cyprus Pima would have produced about 50 million pounds of copper. In 1980, it produced 59 million pounds. In 1981, even as a severe recession took -v -Of-' iw 1 4 If wT iX, 'i "V- Professor Gabor A. Somorjai of the University of California Hydrogen process works with equipment that is used to create hydrogen needs more work In brief From wire and local reports The money supply surged $4.3 billion in early September, its seventh straight weekly jump, the Federal Reserve Board reported yesterday.

Analysts said they expected no further relief from high interest rates until growth in the supply of cash and checking account funds slows. President Reagan questioned whether the quasi-autonomous Fed should be placed under the authority of the secretary of the Treasury. Reagan, at a campaign appearance, did not elaborate. The Fed's influence on interest rates has chronically troubled some administration officials, but friction has eased recently as rates have fallen. Pan American World Airways, one of the world's largest and now most troubled airlines, said it is slashing its worldwide work force by 15 percent, or about 5,000 positions.

The cutback will involve layoffs, early retirements, leaves of absence and downgrading of certain categories of fulltime employees to part-time, the company said. A one-month housing surge collapsed in August, with new housing starts falling 16.2 percent after jumping 31.6 percent in July, the Commerce Department reported. The decline was the largest in the past 18 months. New starts for single-family homes the heart of the home-construction industry declined a modest 2.4 percent. Farmers are losing patience with the Reagan administration's economic policy, leaders of a dozen state farm bureaus told Agriculture Secretary John Block.

In a meeting described as blunt, they gave Block a list of six policy goals, including proposals to pay farmers to idle some of their cropland in 1983 and to increase farm exports. Negotiators worked to avert a strike by about 26,000 freight train engineers that could shut down the nation's freight rail system. Railway and labor negotiators resumed talks that collapsed Wednesday, and worked under government supervision to beat a strike deadline of 9:01 p.m. Tucson time today. In Arizona Lockheed Co.

says that if it gets a $33.8 million contract to refit more than 100 McDonnell-Douglas DC-8 jetliners with new fan-jet engines, it would like to do the work at Phoenix-Litchfield Airport. A spokesman said the three-year private project would mean 500 jobs. Capex a Phoenix-based computer software firm, announced that it has eliminated 30 of 260 jobs after an Aug. 31 merger with Computer Associates International, of Jericho, N.Y. Security Savings and Loan Association closed its 25 offices at 1 p.m.

for a party. A spokeswoman said employees from Security and Greater Arizona Savings and Loan, which merged with Security last month, were gathering in Casa Grande to eat, dance and get BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) A research team's process using solar energy to produce hydrogen gas for fuel might be a step in the right direction, but it's too inefficient to provide any hope of solving the world's energy problems, scientists said yesterday. A three-member University of California team, headed by chemistry Professor Gabor A. Somorjai, developed a technique to split water molecules to produce a steady flow of hydrogen gas.

The process uses some of the Earth's most abundant resources, sunlight and iron oxide, or rust. A laboratory model smaller than a dime can produce a steady flow of hydrogen for eight hours without slowing down, Somorjai said. "There are ways of making hydrogen by photoelectrical, chemical methods," said Dr. Adam Keller, a solution to mankind's energy problems." A successful, cost-effective photochemical process to produce hydrogen gas could solve the world's energy problems, and it could revolutionize the manufacture of synthetic fuels, fertilizers and plastics, scientists have said. The Somorjai model lets sunlight shine on two tiny disks of iron oxide submersed in water containing a solution of sodium sulphate.

One disk is treated with a small amount of silicon and the other is treated with magnesium. When the sun shines on them, it creates a steady flow of electricity along a wire between the disks. The electrons cause hydrogen gas to bubble out of the water at the disk containing magnesium. Oxygen collects at the disk containing silicon. Chemical engineers stress that State aid urged for copper towns By Howard Fischer The Arizona Daily Star PARADISE VALLEY The leaders of Arizona's cities voted unani- mously yesterday to seek state aid for communities hard-hit by the copper industry's problems.

But a top legislative leader virtually rejected the chance of outright grants, although he held out the possibility that long-term loans might be approved. The request for aid, proposed by representatives from Clifton, Globe, Miami, San Luis and Winslow, was approved by members of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns at their annual convention. House Majority Leader Burton S. Barr, R-Phoenix, said lawmakers already are working with Gila and Greenlee counties to find ways to help them. He said the cities should join in the talks.

Barr said, however, that the state also is suffering financially from the copper layoffs. Since this fiscal year's budget was adopted, state agencies have had to trim $68 million in expenses and still face more cuts. The Legislature would consider "some sort of a loan situation with a long-term payback," Barr said, adding that mining communities might thus continue operations till the mines reopen. League members also approved a proposal to include the Legislature in the same Open Meetings Law provisions that other levels of government have to face, and asked Congress to allow communities to continue to grant cable-TV monopolies despite possible antitrust violations. Blue chips fall as some firms in takeovers gain NEW YORK (AP) Stock prices lapsed into a broad decline yesterday, but some issues involved in takeover battles or negotiations chalked up strong gains.

The Dow Jones average of 30 industrials fell 10.86 to 916.94, reducing its gain for the week to 10.12 points. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange slowed to 63.95 million shares from 78.90 million Thursday. Martin Marietta jumped 8 to 46 and led the active list on turnover of Stocks almost 2.5 million shares, while Ben-dix fell 3Vi to 54yg. Crum Forster, which has said it is engaged in preliminary merger talks, climbed 3 to 44, also in active trading. Meanwhile, sellers set their sights on blue-chip stocks that have been particularly strong since the beginning of the market's late-summer rally at mid-August.

Among the Dow 30, Eastman Kodak dropped 1 to 84Vi; Alcoa 1 to 273; and Merck 3i4to77V4. Foxboro Co. dropped 2y8 to 32. The company, which has a product line of more than 1,000 electronic, pneumatic and mechanical instruments, announced that it would close for five days in December. Declines outnumbered advances by more than 2-1 on the Big Board, and the exchange's composite index dropped 0.65 to 70.35.

Nationwide turnover in NYSE-listed issues totaled 76.63 million shares. Standard Poor's index of 400 industrials lost 1.41 to 137.32, and 500-stock composite index was down 1.22 at 122.55. Th Atsoclatvd Prtt similar processes have failed because they are not cost-effective. "I've seen many claims like that before," said Bhupem Mehta, a chemical engineer with Electric Power Research Institute in Palo Alto, Calif. "It may sound good on paper, but to make it work and make it cost-effective is another thing." In acknowledging that problems remain, Somorjai said, "We have proved the principle is correct and shown that it works in practice.

Now we are improving its efficiency, and after that it is only a matter of straightforward engineering to bring it to practical use." Dr. Elton Cairns, head of the Energy and-Environment Division at Lawrence Laboratory here, said it is too soon to tell whether Somorjai's method will prove to be the cost-effective method the world needs. hotel in town," DuBois said. "The styles and standards of 1974 are different. Tucson is different." About $1.8 million $6,000 per room has been budgeted for the guest rooms.

The balance will be used in the rest of the hotel. DuBois said there are no plans to add rooms to the hotel. While it is physically possible, adding guest rooms would be difficult and financially impractical, he said. DuBois said the renovation would justify charging higher rates, but market conditions will dictate the price. The renovation is to be done by Huber Hunt Nichols Inc.

of Phoenix and won't disrupt the operation of the hotel. $1 million-plus spent in last year $3 million refurbishing chemist at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J. "At least 15 people are working in the field, but none of us is approaching anything cost-effective with respect to the current methods." Current sources of hydrogen range from the cheapest of fossil fuels, natural gas, to coal and nuclear power, Heller said. To be considered a "breakthrough," the production of hydrogen would have to have an efficiency greater than 5 percent, he said. "The amount of energy you get in the form of hydrogen compared to the amount of solar energy you put in is not very good.

It's about 0.05 percent," said Somorjai. But Heller praised Somorjai's work, saying, "The science behind it is exquisite, it's beautiful." He added, "It cannot be considered a schedules Associates of Phoenix call for complete renovation of the 8-year-old hotel's 300 rooms, redesigning and expansion of the lobby, and major modifications to the two restaurants. DuBois estimated that 5,000 square feet will be added to the lobby, and the roof is to be raised 10 feet to create a greenhouse effect. The rooms are designed with a residential look and will have all new furniture and fixtures. Only the toilets and bathtubs will remain, DuBois said.

The Plazatree coffee shop is to be gutted and will reopen with a new decqr that has yet to be decided, DuBois said. The Banyan Tree restaurant is to be more casual and will Most of the discussion at the council meeting focused on the absenteeism program in the -new accord, Fraser said. According to a UAW summary of the agreement released yesterday, Chrysler workers who are absent frequently -can be disciplined with five- to 3frday layoffs and even fired if absences continue. Rank-and-file voting could begin within a few days and could take 10 days to two weeks. Doubletree By Peggy Barnes The Arizona Dally Star The Doubletree Hotel says it is going on the offensive against new competition with a $3 million remodeling in addition to more than $1 million spent in the last year.

Construction is to begin Sept. 28 and be completed by the end of the year, said regional manager Timothy S. DuBois. The renovation also lays to rest a plan by Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance part owner of the Doubletree, to sell its interest. DuBois said the company is helping to finance the project and has no further plans to sell.

Plans drawn by Peter A. Lendrum production and maintenance workers at Chrysler voted 262.02-248.99 in favor of the tentative pact. Repre-. sentatives of workers in parts facilities voted 8-6 for the pact, while representatives of workers in engineering, technical, office and clerical jobs voted in favor of the pact by a 2-1 margin, he said. Fraser would not predict whether the agreement would be ratified by workers.

"I can't promise you victory, but I can promise the effort," he said. offer complete instead of just a-la-carte dinners. Within the last year the Doubletree has spent $500,000 remodeling the Banyan Tree and another $750,000 refurbishing the hotel ballrooms and upstairs meeting rooms. DuBois said the new project will enhance those improvements. Profits are down this year at the Doubletree, but DuBois declined to say how much.

He admitted that the renovation is in response to the opening of other new hotels. The Sheraton Conquistador Resort is to open in December in Oro Valley, and three hotels have opened near the airport. "It's an offensive positioning for the hotel. We want to be the leading If approved by union members, the contract, which offers resumption of cost-of-living protection and wage increases based on profits, would cover 43,200 employed U.S. autoworkers and some 40,000 others on indefinite layoff.

The tentative contract calls for a one-year agreement on wages and fringe benefits and a two-year pact on non-economic issues. It calls for a joint committee to chop $10 million out of Chrysler's more than $300 mil- UAW officials OK tentative pact with Chrysler lion health-care program and a joint program to curb absenteeism. The union also would keep its one voting seat on the board of directors. Fraser said the cost-of-living plan is identical to the plan workers have at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.

The tentative agreement is the first at Chrysler in three years that does not include concessions, Fraser said. SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (AP) United Auto Workers officials from Chrysler Corp. plants nationwide narrowly voted yesterday to recommend to workers a tentative contract that pegs pay increases to company profits and the cost of living. "It was a hell of a fight today and a long one," UAW President Douglas A.

Fraser said at a news conference after the vote. "I was happy to get by today." Fraser did not release total vote tallies but said representatives of.