Show EMINENT GEOLOGIST VISITS MARYSVALE prof marcus jones makes report on great potash deposits prof marcus E jones a w well known state geologist has been making a study of the alunite deposits near marysvale Marys vale acquiring familiarity i and increased knowledge of the d deposits by close observation and personal inspection it is prof jones belief that the potash is leached beached out from the over hanging rhyolite an all eruptive rock and therefore is liable to be co ex with the eru erupt stives ives that belong to the mt alt belknap series of such rocks in other words it is likely to exist from north of clear cle r creek to the sevier and cove creek and south at least as far as fifteen miles south of marysvale Marys vale the alunite may maybe be expected in any fissure over this range and in any kind of rock for this reason the veins veins will not go down any depth and will get narrower and leaner as depth is reached but the larger arger deposits are so wide that there will be many thousands of tons of the stuff really available the great deposit lies in the crystal spar fissure seventeen years ago I 1 worked the crystal spar fissure and found it a solid mass of spar twenty five feet thick carrying little value in the precious metals all I 1 that time it had no other value no now the same vein extends into the custer group reaching a width of twenty feet in one place this means an enormous amount of material unless it is replaced by bv other spar than alunite alunite is a double sulphate of potassium and aluminum containing at least twice as much aluminum as potash the aluminum making the spar insoluble in water which Aa has prevented the material from being beisig dissipated as would be the case with the very soluble potash alone now this material contains two viable metals in such form that they can be easily obtained in any state desired the only available aluminum grefor ore or the extraction of that metal is bauxite which is not common but the alunite contains it int in large quan quantity tit y in such a state that by proper treatment it can be obtained in a high state of purity and free from silica by roasting the ille crude ore the sulphuric acid is driven off and like smelter fumes becomes a menace to vegetation but this th S acid must be saved to recover the aluminum and can cali be saved very cheaply by well known methods and the mother liquid or chamber acid as it falls can be allowed to flow upon the spent residue after leaching out the potash sulphate sui phate with hot water and it will take up the aluminum as sulp sulphate bate and therefore free it from silica it can then be precipitated for the extraction of the metal this should more than treble the value of the deposits the method of treatment at present used at marysvale Marys vale I 1 do not think best adapted to the alunite but by some modifications in the he wayah f more economical handling and perfection of mechanical details can be made effective aga again i n I 1 think that the air of secrecy and mystery is not calculated to give g i ve confidence to the scientific public for there is nothing secret or mysterious about the handling of alunite as it is one of the simplest and best known things in industrial chemistry in this same region fegion there are deposits of various materials and metals that enill ill be useful in the arts the largest deposit of sulphur is at cove creek just over the way there are very extensive beds of pumice near by there are enormous beds of gypsum at salina and on oil loss creek there are immense deposits of rock salt at salina there are extensive beds of phosphates along the sevier Sevi erand and san sanpete pete the greatest coal beds in the state are just over the head of salina canyon the great beds of radium are hardly two hours ride farther down on the desert by rail ther therease eare are considerable deposits of manganese and iron near by and yet they are arc all idle for lack of a little snap and energy on oil the part of the people the great water power at the head of the colorado greater than the niagara river still runs to waste for lack of demand there is money enough wasted every day in smelter fumes |