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Show June The Western Mineral Surrey, Salt Lake City, Utah 2 LOOKING AHEAD Ounces-Pounds-Ton- POTASH s The unit of weight of metals is usually determined by their value and availability. The rarer and the more valuable the metal, the By George S. Benson smaller the unit of weight For exCALM MAN OF LABOR ample, the weight of platinum and WASHINGTON Secretary of gold is generaly expressed in Labor Martin P, Durkin believes ounces, nickel and copper in that labor and management pounds, and iron and steel in tons. should not look to the government to resolve their disputes. Our goal in America, he said to me, column with the background and should be greater cooperation be- thinking of the key people in the tween labor and management Eisenhower administration. I told through free colective bargaining, him of the effort being made with govemmet being used only through the College Freeas an aid in mediation and con- dom ForumsHarding to bring about betciliation when all else has failed. ter relations, The new Secretary of Labor and asked him in his what opinion d has a conception of further we could do in this vitally what is meant by the terms co- important objective. Of course, operation and when all else has he said, a constant striving for As a journeyman pipe mutual failed. and trust is fitter he came up through the essential.understanding Great improvement is ranks of union labor, and for being made. As a matter of fact, 20 years served as president of we seldom see newspaper sfbries the United Association of Journey- reporting on harmonious men and Apprentices of the relations, yet thouPlumbing and Pipe Fitting In- sands of industries, big and little, dustry. In his union, coopera- carry on colective bargaining year tion meant a willingness to go in and year out without a hitch. far beyond the point at which so The conflicts are dramatized, and many colective bargaining efforts yet they affect only a small perstall and government interven- centage of the total work force. tion seems to be the only, last Under his administration the resort. Department of Labor will seek to A LABOR COUNCIL its reesarch and statisSince it seems to me to be a improve tical facilities serving the pub4 plan that could be used in almost lie, labor and management It any situation, will be the bsic I asked Mr. Durkin to explain the social operated within which philosophy governs extra collective bargaining ef- the Eisenhower administration. fort made in the plumbing ifus-trTHE CHALLENGE In the beginning, we barThe challenge to us in Amergain with employers as any other ica today, Secretary Durkin conunion does, When he said. some phase of the negotiation tends, is to increase our invenbreaks down and we hit what tions; to stimulate scientific proghigher the seems to be an immovable dead- ress, and to raise still well-beinof standards physical lock, each side then prepares a written statement of its conten- Likewise, too, the challenge which tions and its arguments,, and the faces America today is to mainwhole thing is given over to our tain and improve its spiritual valLabor Council. Its decision is ac- ues. This is the path of hope and of success. In the face of our cepted as binding by both sides. The Labor Council is a group enemy, we must not look backof people, jointly appointed, who ward at our shortcomings, but we reside outside the area of the dis- must look ahead to our goals. rose on poverty of pute and can weigh the conten- Communism ' and poverty of spirit tions and arguments dispassion- materials is only common sense, thereately, neutrally, objectively. The It to expand our production of significant thing is that often fore, when one side or the other is wealth and increase our belief in God. writing up its statement to be subCommon sense is one of Martin mitted to the Council, it finds its own stand so vulnerable to com- Durkins chief assets. Another is his faith. These have been basic promise that it decides to relent and thus an agreement is reached ingredients in the building of without use of the Council. This America. As Secretary of Labor, is significant because it shows that Mr. Durkin, at 59, has one of the when both sides make a truly ser- most important posts in our govHis mature calmness, bar- ernment. ious effort at tohis can personal inclination toward reusually get gaining they of There are specting and trusting his fellow exceptions, gether. course." man, and his profound faith in the UNDERSTANDING AND TRUST basic principles of the AmerThe interview with Secretary ican way of life combine to mSke Durkin was another of the series for good leadership in our nato acquaint the readers of our tions capital. labor-manageme- nt hard-heade- labor-manageme- uabor-manageme- nt y. g. - give-and-ta- ke Mining Equipment & Disposal Sale The following Equipment to be sold: Universal Trammer, With ME Motor Mucking Machine Mine Rail 6240 Lbs. No. 12 Station Wagon Drive Willys-Jee- p Vent Tubing 124nch (Approx. Feet) lJ2-IncPipe 1951 4-Wh- eel 4-0- h Marine Cable Etc. Bids Accepted Until 5 p.m. June 26 , 1963 For information Circular Call Salt Lake City, Utah 83, OR WRITE Kentucky-Uta- h Mining Co. Box 2045, Salt Lake City, Utah nt . . . (Continued from Page 1) that make a trip through northwestern Utah stand out as an unforgettable page of an individuals diary of memories. Even the individual who soaks up the atmosphere of the region, however, is amazed to learn that some of the food he eats owes its existance to this same sprawling area; surprised, upon investigation, to find that natures bounty, the power of sunshine, the ingenuity of man, and the work capacity of modem machinery that he has seen as dots on the landscape, have teamed together to write a most intriguing part in the history of the1 states glistening wonder- land. edge. Below the surface are clay flats which were developed during the time Lake Boneville was an enormous body of water. As the lake water evaporated, a residual brine was left which cod-tailarge amounts of salt and relatively minor amounts of potash. These clay flats directly beneath the salt deposits are of blocky, fisured composition. At 14 feet or more below the surface the clay becomes impervious, Thus it is the fisured area that is worked by the Bonneville people in collecting brine for their canal system. Since these ditches are dug to a depth of 14 feet with draglines and ditch digging machines, they bottom in the impervious material and it is possible to obtain drainage of the brine from the full depth of the fissured material. The canal network terminates at three primary pumping sta8,000 tions where Diesel-powere-d pumps deliver the raw brine to the head of the evaporation pond system. As this brine is pumped out of the canals, additional brine drains back into them through the day fissures, keeping up the levd in the ditches. Because the evaporation ponds are constructed of clay and salt, the brine tends to seep back down through the fissured day and back into the colection system. To prevent this, the entire pond area has been sealed by trenching down the 14 feet tp uniform clay and filling this trench with a wall ns - A few miles from Wendover, Utah, at the western end of the salt flats, is the organization which has brough about this happy combination of elements. This organization is Bonneville, Ltd., whose mill annually produces approximately 75,000 tons of potash of about 95 per cent purity, the bulk of which is shipped to fertilizer mixing plants east of the Mississippi, where lies the greater portion of the potash market. Actually, the history of the exploitation of the brines in the Bonneville Salt Flats dates back to World War I, but to those who enjoy the romance of history the real story of potash production in this region goes back through many eons to Lake. Bonneville which at one time covered much of what is noy known as Utah. In the course of evaporation, old Lake Bonneville eventually faded the away. It has left as reminders Great Salt Lake and ' the Great Salt Lake Desert, of which the Bonneville Salt Fiats are an im, portant part. The scope of Bonneville, Ltd.s operations are enormous. The company controls 60,000 acres of salt flat and has 7,000 acres devoted to evaporation ponds in an area that extends one mile wide and ten miles long. From this vast domain, Bonneville, Ltd. produces its current output of 75,000 tons of potash year by extracting .the potash from a brine collected from day beds existing under the salt flats a Herculean operation involving many millions of tons of brine, since one ton of brine contains only. 15 to 20. cents worth of marketable potash. The brine is collected by a network of over 50 miles of main and lateral canals three feet wide and 14 feet deep. It is pumped from the canals into a series of evaporation ponds, where the concentration of salt is gradually increased. In the finishing ponds of the evaporation system, the salt evaporates to about two parts common salt to one part potash. It is then ready for the harvest and the material is hauled to the Bonneville, Ltd., mill where by a floatation process the potash is separated n from the salt, conveyed to a silo storage bin, and is eventually trucked two and one-ha- lf miles to a railroad siding for ship400-to- gaHon-per-minu- te day. Just Inside this wall a channel has been of water-impervio- us built which is kept full of brine. This brine is permitted to percolate down through the fissured day to solid material and back up to the bottom of the pond, thus maintaining a balance of pressure and preventing seepage loss. When the brine enters the 7,000 acres of evaporation ponds the sun takes over the job of evaporating the water. It is said that it would take the heat of of a ton of coal per acre, per day to evaporate as much water as Old Sol will evaporate for free. A normal season provides from 90 to 100 days of weather suitable for evaporation, and it is important to get quality brine rather than quantity; both these ends are served by carrying only three vto four inches of brine in the evap three-quarte- rs 19, 1953 oration system until the finishing ponds are reached. There the depth of the brine in the ponds is of little matter since a given amount of evaporation will drop a given amount of potash regardless of depth. When the brine has reached the proper concentration point in one pond it is lifted from the discharge end to the inlet of another pond by means of water elevators, motivated by Diesel engines which are capable of moving from 5,000 to 7,000 gallons per minute. Each two weeks, incidentally, these elevators have to be cleaned in order to remove crystallized salt. Light charges of dynamite and sledge hammers break the crystals from the flight blades and fluides. A bulldozer and dragline are used to reipove the salt from intake and discharge channels. With the ponds covering large acreages, and the layer of brine so shallow, a continuous breeze-e-ven if gentle can strip the brine from one side of the pond and pile it against the opposite bank. If this action continues for 24 hours, control of the brine is lost. To overcome the wind problem, baffle walls must be erected from precipitated sodium chloride salt with the aid of Diesel tractor-draw- n rippers and motor graders. These baffles carry the brine back and forth in the ponds several times before it reaches the discharge point. Normally the harvest of salt from the finishing ponds begins near the , end of the summer months, with a layer of from three of a foot of Salt to five-tentready for handling. At this stage, bulldozer-equippe-d Diesel tractors and motor graders are called on to scarify and windrow the material. A home designed loader, powered by an 80 hp Diesel engine, and pulled by a Diesel-powere- d tractor, is next in the sequence of events. This rig is capable of loading out twenty tons in It approximately 'Vi minutes. Loads out fiie material, which weighs one ton to the cubic yard, into a fleet of bottom-dum- p wagons, pulled by big rubber-tire- d tractors. These wagons, equipped with sideboards, carry load's of approximately 20 yards to the mill. The hauling distance varies greatly, from two to five miles, depend-hs Continued on Page 3 SEND A One Dollar Bill and receive sixteen (16) issues Western Mineral Survey By the year $2.50 2 years $4.00 ment At no time does the process, involve the surface salt that nature has so abundantly provided in the area; this surface salt contains virtually no potash. The first commercial potash production in the United States was started in the Bonneville area to supply a demand created by World War I. The syndicate now known as Bonneville, Ltd., was formed in 1935, and after several years of experimentation the operation began to reach quantity production about the time World War II conditions made the shortage of potash acute. By 1943 production had mounted to 23,000 tons as compared to the current 75,000-to- n , figure. The Boneville Salt Flats are covered with a layer of salt vary-- 1 ing from three feet to a feather.; You need no carton tops and we have no silver spoons to give away but we wHl give you mining and oil information that should be of interest and prove valuable to you. i DIG and SEND . . , with complete i Name and Address to WESTERN MINERAL SURVEY 224 East 1st South Street Salt Lake City, Utah |