Show nonmetallic NON METALLIC MINERALS salt the waters of the great salt lake are furnishing yearly about tons oi or salt supplying most of the states west w est of the missouri river th the e saturated brine of this great body of salt water r contains ont ains an almost unlimited supply of this mineral so essential to the human life there has recently been explored a most important salt deposit in the form of an immense salt bed in the great american desert about miles west of salt lake city and fifteen miles east of the utah nevada state line the western pacific railroad has built its track directly through rough th these beds this salt covers an area of sixty square miles the deposit varies in depth from six inches to seven feet or more in places where poles were set it is almost perfectly white and absolutely free from dirt rubbish or growth of any nature providing the deposit only averages one foot thick the amount of salt to the square mile will amount to more than one milli million oil tons or sixty millions of tons in the whole deposit the united states congress by provisions of the enabling act for utah gave to the university of utah all saline lands of the state notwithstanding this fact prospectors have staked out their daims claims over the deposit and are contesting their rights in the courts the supreme court of utah during the past week gave its decision in favor of the state university but the case may not be finally disposed of until the united states supreme court gives its decision with this immense deposit of pure mineral as an asset the university will be well provided for coal there are four extensive coal fields being operated at present in the state of utah these include the book cliffs cliff s the weber river and the san pete and the iron county fields the utah fuel company operating all the mines of the book cliffs field produced in 1907 near tons of coal their product is of excellent quality remarkably mar kably homogeneous with low ash and sulphur content the coal from the sunny side mine burns to a superior grade of coke which is used in lorge quantities by the large smelting smelling sm elting plants of the state hydrocarbons the asphalt deposits of eastern utah are world famous for their extent and purity the principal minerals consist of uinta hite and maltha besides a variety of lime stones sandstones and uintah ite or the gilsonite of commerce commer cd is the most important it occurs in true veins cutting the sedimentary rocks of the region in extent and purity these deposits far surpass any other recorded occurrence the limitations of the present paper will not allow of but passing mention of other mineral deposits of great promise in the state these include deposits of fire clay gypsum phosphate rock sulphur antimony limestone cement rock petroleum building and ornamental stone uranium vanadium and radium mirle minerals rals that up to date have been but partially developed iron ore but a description though brief of mineral deposits would be incomplete without mention of her enormous iron ore deposits one out of a number of occurrences will be referred to the deposit in iron county in southern utah occurs as ia EL mountain of ore fifteen miles long by three thred miles wide hundred of acres of this mountain of ore will require no stripping and in greater part will respond readily to the steam shovel analyses of numerous samples by united states geological survey officials sho show wavera averages es of from fifty nine to sixty sixt five per cent metallic iron |