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Show Bear River Gun Club Bay bathing beaches, and ( 3) the southern shores of the lake. Natural gas has often been encountered while drilling shallow water wells on the Bear River Delta. A water well drilled by the Bear River Gun Club was converted to gas production and provided natural gas for private use for many years until the well blew out. When attempts were made to plug the well, the gas flow cut away from the well bore and blew out through the soil. It took several days to control the flow which was estimated to be as large as a million cubic feet a day. There has never been any attempt to commercially exploit the gas resource from the delta. Oolites Oolitic sands are an unusual sediment type found in and around GSL at numerous locations. They are rounded, light- colored carbonate grains and range in shape from nearly spherical to cylindrical. Their surfaces are usually smooth, like a miniature pearl. The size of oolites ranges from 0.015 to 1.5 millimeters, with the average size being about 0.31 millimeters. The chemical composition of the outer shell consists mainly of calcium carbonate, though some calcium- magnesium carbonate ( dolomite) is also present. The nucleus or central core is usually a mineral fragment or a brine- shrimp fecal pellet. Some of the areas in which oolites are found include: ( 1) the west side of Stansbury Island in Stansbury Bay and the north end of the island extending northward past Badger Island, where beds up to 18 feet thick have been measured; ( 2) around Antelope Island, and especially in the area of the Bridger Oolites have been used by Magcorp ( and their facilities' prior owners) to neutralize the acidic gases produced during the processing of magnesium chloride brines into magnesium metal, and to produce calcium chloride which is used in the brine- desulfation process and as an industrial chemical. Oolites are also used as flux in mining operations and could also be used in most applications where limestone is used. Small amounts of oolitic sand are used in drying flowers. Quartzite Since about 1996 quartzite has been quarried near the southwest end of Stansbury Island by McFarland Hullinger Company. The quartzite is sold to KUC for flux to assist copper smelting at Kennecott's Salt Lake Valley facility. Mineral Industry Overview Salt extraction is one of Utah's oldest industries and salt has been harvested from the waters of GSL for over 100 years ( Miller, 1949). In addition, magnesium metal, chlorine and potassium salts are harvested through extraction processes. These newer industries began in the 1970s. Currently, all major ions contained in the lake water are extracted by solar evaporation in large pond systems ( Trimmer, 1998). There are currently six companies in the GSL minerals industry. These include IMC Kalium Ogden Corp., Magcorp, Cargill Salt, Morton Salt, IMC Salt and North Shore Limited. ( See Figures 4 and 8.) In 1997, existing aggregate data from DWRi indicate that in excess of 31 billion 121 |