Show ALUNITE NEAR MARYSVALE valuable deposit now being worked W with ith satisfactory results an important deposit of al unite alunite which has but recently been discovered near marys vale utah is now being developed with so favorable a showing that it promises to afford one source of the much desired class of materials commonly referred to under the term potash federal geologists visited this locality in march and november of the present year the marysvale Marys vale alunite deposits are described in a report by B S butler and hoyt S gale issued as an advance chapter of contributions to economic geology 1911 which will soon be ready for distribution this report may be had by application to the director united os geological survey washing OM air V 1 4 INA FN scene near mouth of cottonwood canyon ton D C As is shown in this report while the deposit furnishes material of character well adapted for utilization the quantity thus far revealed is insufficient to supply the whole united states with potash however it is favorably located to compete with foreign potash in supplying the needs of the western orchards although a large vein of pink spar in the hills southwest of marysvale Marys vale had long been known to prospectors and had been repeatedly located for the sake of small alli ferous values said to be found in the siliceous wall rocks of the spar it was not until 1910 that the true nature of the pink spar was discovered and on january 1 1911 the claims that had been allowed to lapse were relocated for the sake of the newly recognized deposit thomas gillan of richfield had sent specimens to the united states assay office at salt sait lake in november 1910 and these had had been forwarded to an eastern chemist who is sald said to have recognized i the real value 0 of the material the mineral alunite otherwise known as alum stone is a hydrous sulphate of aluminum and potassium containing 18 6 per cent of sulphur trioxide 37 per cent of 11 4 per cent of potash and 13 per cent of water samples of the marysvale Marys vale rock have been analyzed by W T schaller in the geological survey laboratory and the results have shown a very close tc the theoretical composition of the mineral as quoted above in the united states alunite is known at several places in colorado in the rosita hills custer county on calico peak near rico in the national belle mine near silverton and at cripple creek it occurs also at tres cerritos mariposa county cal associated with the gold ores at goldfield nev and in the cactus range east of goldfield at the rabbit hole sulphur mines near humboldt house nev at alunite near las vegas nev in the mo arenci and bisbee districts ariz and in the frisco district beaver county utah in some of these places it is supposed to have been produced by the alteration of potash feldspars feld spars which have been acted on by acid solutions if the alterations are the result of descending acid solutions derived from the oxidation of pyrite the resulting deposit will not presumably extend below the zone of oxidation but if they have been due to ascending acid solutions of volcanic or other original they may be expected to extend to greater depths the utah deposit is situated near the head of cottonwood canyon about seven miles in a course due southwest of marys vale piute diute county it is located in and near sec 16 T 28 S R 4 W and so far as now known is covered by mining claims locations cat ions Mary is the present terminus of a branch of the denver rio grande railroad the deposit is found high in the tushar range 0 out ut cropping t near the crest of a ridge that leads from the main divide at an elevation of approximately feet above sea level and extends down to about feet the lower end being about feet above the railroad at marysvale Marys vale extent of the vein the deposit at marysvale Marys vale is a somewhat uncommon occurrence in this country it consists of a large and very regular vein apparently a true fissure filling as the mineral alunite occurs in uniformly banded crystalline structure without evidence of replacement of other substances on any considerable scale the alunite here is massive and is found both in bodies of compact earthy or granular texture and in clear crystalline masses varying from white to a decided pink color the vein has a northwest south east course has been traced by prospecting for a distance of about feet along the outcrop and is known to outcrop in the extension of the same salme course half a mile or more beyond the prospected ground it apparently patently ly stands nearly vertical in part but toward the southern extension in the outcrop appears to be inclined to the southwest at a steep angle the wall rocks are a much portion of the volcanic flows which form the greater part of the tushar range the size of the vein and apparent purity of the material are probably its most unusual features according to a number of measurements ure ments made from the present incomplete developments there is in ones one place at least twenty feet of solid alunite in the larger vein and six feet more in a parallel vein some twenty five feet away with considerable quantities of alun itic rock and alternating purer alunite and siliceous wall rock intervening this low grade rock may possibly extend beyond that shown in the present pits other measurements made reveal less but in each case it is doubtful whether the trenches that have been dug expose all the alunite that may be present estimate of the potash content A conservative estimate may be had by assuming an average width of ten feet in the principal vein neglecting other veins and assuming a total proved length of deposit at the present time as about feet the surface area of the outcrop is probably greater than square feet the rock weighs approximately pounds to the cubic foot so that an acre of ground underlain to the depth of one foot would contain about short tons of alunite the area at present estimated for this deposit is somewhat less than an acre and if it averages only ten feet in width it would contain approximately tons of the rock for each feet of depth so long as the deposit maintains its surface dimensions and quality estimating the recoverable potash at 10 per cent of this ore each feet in depth would yield tons in terms of the theoretical KO thus feet of thi this svein vein expressed commercially represents perhaps only a sixth of the annual imports of potash salts among other observations W T schaller adds the following to the report of the analyses of the marysvale marys vale rock the water and that portion of the sulphuric acid combined with the are driven off by ignition so that about one third of the remaining residue per cent of the original material is soluble potassium sulphate and two thirds insoluble aluminum oxide it seems therefore that little difficulty should be encountered in establishing a practical process for the reduction of alunite by which potash may be obtained as the sulphate one of its most desirable commercial forms and in a form presumably available for the production of metallic aluminum the discovery is of especial value as indicating di the conditions under which such deposits occur and for its effect in stimulating and directing the search for deposits of like character which may reasonably be expected elsewhere especially in this general region on the discovery of other such deposits depends the possibility of developing from material of this character a home production sufficient to meet a large part of the nations need for potash |