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Show WATER FOR UTAH . . . Potassium ... Potash, the chloride of potassium, is the principal source of this plant food element constituent of fertilizer. Potassium- bearing resources in Utah, including potash, are very large. They include the brines of the Salduro Marsh in Tooele County. These are mixtures of potassium, sodium, magnesium salts, which upon solar evaporation provide a mixed salt containing roughly two- thirds common salt and one- third potash, which Is further refined into the constituent salts. The reserves of the basin in which these brines are located have been estimated at over 50,000,000 tons of potash content. In Grand County, near Thompson, at great depth are beds of sylvite and carnallite - mixed magnesium and potassium chlorides - the reserves of which it is thought may exceed the famous Strassfurt deposits of Germany. Alunite deposits near Marys- vale, Utah, have been considered during the past decade or so as a Joint source of alumina and potash. Although substantial, they are not large enough to provide a long- term source of either of these important industrial materials. Production of potassium salts in Utah in recent years has been primarily from the Salduro Marsh at the plant of Bonneville, Limited. This operation has provided roughly 15% of the Nation's total 1947 output. ( See Map 18 - Flow of Potash - page 72.) The full- scale utilization of Utah's potash reserves depends on their integration into the State's potential full scale fertilizer operations. However, there is need for technological research on the mining of carnallites, and the development of markets for the magnesium compounds, which are associated with the potash of both the brines of Salduro Marsh and of the Grand County carnallites. ... Sulphur... Sulphur, in the form of sulphuric acid, is an important raw material for the production of commercial fertilizer, principally superphosphates. The Garfield Smelter of the American Smelting and Refining Company treats sulphur gases resulting from the smelting of nonferrous metals ores so as to produce 6,000 tons of sulphuric acid per month. This production capacity is being increased to 9,000 tons per month. The Garfield plant, together with a similar though smaller plant at Anaconda, Montana, and several plants in California, are the sources of sulphuric acid in the Western States. Consideration is currently being given to similar production at other western smelters at Tacoma, Washington, and Kellogg, Idaho. Markets for sulphuric acid, created by the growth of western chemical industries, may require substantial expansion of this productive capacity. In this respect, Utah's sulphur- bearing minerals - including pyrite, as well as complex nonferrous metal ores - are in tremendous quantity and could furnish a large base for expansion. . . . Carbon . . . Carbon is a requisite to fertilizer manufacture, both as a source of fuel and as a chemical element. In the latter form, as coke, it is essential for the production of elemental phosphorus, either in the electric or blast furnace. It is the base for synthetic ammonia production. Utah's carbon resources are enormous, and its present coke production is of major extent. . . . Electric Power . . . Although electric power is essential for the operation of machinery in the mining, beneficia- tion and processing of all fertilizer materials, its greatest importance is in the production of elemental phosphorus and synthetic ammonia. For example, a plant for the production of 15,000 tons per year of elemental phosphorus consumes 190,000,000 kilowatt- hours. The manufacture of 18,000 tons of synthetic ammonia requires about 28,000,000 kilowatt- hours per year. As pointed out previously, one of the retarding factors in the full development of the West's phosphate deposits has been the lack of low- cost abundant electric power in reasonable proximity to the deposits. The availability of such supplies in Utah, through the exploitation of its water resources, will make it certain that the fertilizer industry in the State can expand to its rightful magnitude. [ 71] |
