Commissioner v. Portland Cement Co. of Utah

This case concerns the depletion deduction taken under § 611 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, 26 U. S. C. § 611, by a company that mines and manufactures Portland cement. The question presented is whether the company’s “first marketable product,” for the purpose of determining gross income from mining by the proportionate profits method, is cement, whether sold in bulk or in bags, or only cement sold in bulk.

I

Respondent, Portland Cement Co. of Utah, is an integrated miner-manufacturer. It mines argillaceous limestone rock, known in the trade as cement rock, and it manufactures the rock…