Show the potash industry at marys vale contributed during the past two years a most important industry has been fairly launched at marysvale Marys vale utah and already that section of the state is beginning to feel the beneficial results of this new enterprise the possibilities and magnitude of which are almost beyond conjecture marysvale Marys vale has long been recognized as a section that was rich in its mineral deposits and mining has been in progress in the mountains back of the town for many years but it was not known until recently that the great deposits of seemingly pinkish spar up cottonwood canyon near the crest of etna peak was really an alunite ore carrying potash in commercial quality and quantity the discovery of the real character of this commodity therefore caused widespread attention and interest for nowhere in the united states is there to be found any known deposit of similar value and importance although but a short period has elapsed since the discovery of alunite near marys vale wonderful progress has already been made in the development of the deposits a reduction plant has been built a tramway installed and sulphate of potash has been manufactured in marketable quantities while in the near future aluminum in the pure state will constitute one of the chief products to be turned out by those interested in the alunite industry of utah two corporations have already made remarkable progress in the development and utilization of the marysvale Marys vale alunite min mines es the mineral products corporation and the florence mining company other companies have been formed with practically the same objects in view and during the pres 1 ent year wonderful activity will prevail ina in the mining of alunite and in its mallu manufacture facIE into potash aluminum and in other ter commodities of commercial value the mineral products corporation beginning ae operations last year was able to begin the manufacture of potash a few months ago after some delays in mill and JE aerial tramway installations while the florence company has tramway equipment in h contemplation the mineral products cor co horation po ration it is learned is preparing for th the building of another three and a half miles of tram in order to connect the present presen 1 tramway lower terminal with its reduction reductio 4 plant I 1 in an interview regarding the mineral products corporation and interesting fea tures pertaining to its operation howard F chappell president of the company says Z to produce aluminum the company has decided to build a plant for the production of the metal aluminum in utah but the exact size of the plant has not yet been determined che chem ests of tile the company are engaged in r research search work leading to the production of a refractory material that will withstand temperatures centigrade 0 de as high as 2500 degrees or about fahrenheit this refractory refract mate material ri al will be made from one of the by bp 74 prod products acts of the manufacture of sulphate hate of potash it has been produced and the pre ent research work is for the purpose of oj ki etal M producing it on a commercial basis surgical lurg ical engineers who have examined the product are of the opinion that it will vill reap re the present smelting smelling sm elting methods nieth potash plant nearing capacity althe the potash plant is gradually nearing r capacity of between twenty five and arty arty tons a day of a product that contains I 1 per cent sulphate of potash the com ny y has contracted for its output until lay y 1 1916 at the beginning of the euro an n war sulphate of potash was selling on ie basis of from 25 to 35 a ton depend g upon the purity and the tonnage con acted eted for the present quotation is a of a ton the plant of the company is situated x miles southwesterly from the rio rande ande terminal at marysvale Marys vale utah here lite ite a village grew up during last year the background is deer trail mountain immediately behind deer trail moun in n at a point about five miles west of e potash plant and at an altitude of more than an feet is a large deposit or series f great lenses shoots or chimneys having g a generally northwest southeast trend of alunite a pinkish white spar of singular crystallization from the ore bins near the large tunnel a line of towers supporting steel cables to which are attached scores of iron conveyors descends from the mountainside ta two and a half miles to the bottom of cottonwood canyon where other large ore bins have been constructed it is over this aerial tram that the alunite ore is conveyed down the steep mountainside thence over an easy grade by teams to the potash plant three and a half miles distant to the east from a point several hundred feet below the tunnel or close to where the arup tives form a contact with the east west quartzite a pinkish streak varying in width irom from seventy five to feet ascends the mountain face and assumes the form of a ridge then continues upward toward the northwest a distance of some feet A closer inspection reveals great lenses of pink spar thousands of tons of which as float attest the work of ages of erosion although prospectors had located and relocated the ground for thirty years it was not until A E custer a salt lake assayer and chemist after learning its component parts and being unable to classify it himself learned through a philadelphia concern that it was alunite the assays essays showed the rock contained sulphuric abeld 38 per cent water 13 per cent potash 10 to 13 per cent and 35 to 37 per cent milling practice the crude alunite enters the mill at the west end and is passed through a gyratory crusher then through rolls and as almost a 4 powder the ore drops into storage bins prom from the bins the ore is fed into a nearly horizontal rotary kiln about seven feet in diameter feet long and lined with fire brick the movement of the pulverized ore in the kiln is met by a hot blast which enters from the east end and which expels the sulphur content at the west end where it ascends through a large stack it requires several hours for the ore to pass through the kiln it is then elevated to a steel storage bin from which it is drawn into a steel digester where it is mixed with water and subjected to heat until thoroughly cooked and the potash content dissolved out of the ore when it is drawn off into wood storage tanks from the storage tanks the potash solution and insoluble are pumped into a filter press where the separation of the potash and is completed the latter comprising about one third of the crude ore after passing through the crusher and rolls is carefully stored on a floor out in the open while the solution passes to other storage tanks the process of separating the sulphate of potash crystals from the water is most interesting three vacuum pans not unlike great funnels with a nest of steam pipes in each pan receive the solution from the storage tanks the exhaust steam from the entire plant which is horsepower is conveyed through asbestos covered pipes to the first vacuum pan where it passes through the nest within the pan the solution boils at degrees fahrenheit in an overheard pipe the steam passes to the second pan where boiling takes place at a temperature of degrees thence to the third pan where the boiling temperature is degrees excepting a slight amount of associated moisture the potash emerges from the pans 92 vz per cent pure the potash is then passed through a drier pulverized and is screened and sacked branded sego lily potash and is ready to relieve a part of the present potash famine in the united states the present mill is one complete unit of a larger plant to be built in the near future officers and directors the officers of the mineral products corporation are howard F chappell president charles H mcdowell president of the armour fertilizer company vice president sidney J jennings vice president of the united states smelting smelling Sm elting refining company vice president charles richter see sec detary treasurer with the following directors F J faulkner W I H 1 gelshenen carl F P hagedorn E C klipstein frederick leon and carl richter among the stockholders with national reputations may be mentioned john R wallace president of the westinghouse church kerr company and the engineer in charge during the initial work on the panama canal J ogden armour L C krauthoff Kia of new york P A valentine director of the national city bank of new york and F S peabody coal operator and financier of chicago the mohawk group the mohawk group of fourteen claims is located on the south fork of cottonwood cotton wood canyon and considerable work has been done in its development exploratory work exposing a fine deposit of alunite in the continuance of the development of this property a contract for feet of tunnel work has been let and this is expected to cut the vein exposed in shaft no 1 at a depth of about feet A large log cabin has been built by the owners of the mohawk the utah fertilizer chemical company which provides very comfortable quarters tor company employees from surface indications the alunite deposits on the companas comp anys property can be traced for a distance of nearly feet the strike of the vein being practically north and south development has not proceeded far enough as yet to determine its dip if a tunnel were to be driven at the lowest point on the property the vein if continuous and permanent would be tapped at a vertical depth of nearly 1000 feet the entire group is very heavily timbered the potash products company the potash products company owns a group of nine full sized claims on the south side of cottonwood canyon known as the potash group the company has just put the finishing touches on two fine cabins cellar powder magazine and other improvements prove ments in ten mile canyon at the south end of this property development work has proven the existence of a fine body of alunite that is over twenty feet in width this can be traced for a distance of over feet on the companas comp anys property at the present time a tunnel is being driven that should expose the deposit some feet below the surface the tunnel will probably be driven a distance of about feet A good wagon road has been built to the mouth of the tunnel the property of the company is favorably located both as to economy of operation and freighting assessment work on the snowflake claims which adjoins the mohawk on the north and south end lines gave very favorable indications of the continuation of the great mohawk vein this group has been bonded to the utah fertilizer chemical company the owners of the humming bird group have completed annual assessment work and most satisfactory results have been obtained in its performance the snowfall in the marysvale Marys vale region has been very heavy this winter which will insure an ample water supply for the coming year |