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in the spring , national financial troubles and a 'rapidly <br /> • declining smelter industry in western Colorado led CF&I to <br /> the decision to close the mine permanently . A total of <br /> 1, 009 , 100 tons of high-grade coal had been produced . A few <br /> families returned on horseback to retrieve heirlooms and <br /> other valuables , but most of the homes and buildings remained <br /> as they were left . <br /> Until the Second World War , the Pueblo plant of <br /> CF&I was the only steel mill in the western United States . <br /> During the war , two additional mills were built to supply <br /> steel for the Pacific war effort. These were at Provo , Utah <br /> (now U. S . Steel ' s Geneva Works) and at Fontana, California <br /> (now Kaiser Steel ' s Fontana Plant) , not far from Los Angeles . <br /> Coking coal for these mills originally came from mines in <br /> the Price , Utah and Raton, New Mexico areas . However , coke <br /> made from these coals was just barely usable in the blast <br /> furnaces of the two plants , and very expensive higher quality <br /> coal from the East had to be imported and blended with the <br /> Utah and New Mexico coals to produce a satisfactory coke . <br /> Many companies immediately began searching the west for <br /> deposits of high-grade coking coal to replace the costly <br /> eastern product . <br /> The Coal Basin reserve was known, and was evaluated <br /> by many companies and one after another they turned elsewhere , <br /> convinced that no more coal would ever be mined there . The <br /> deposits were remote from transportation (the Crystal River <br /> • <br /> 9 <br />