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Show II UTAH HOLDS INCALCULABLE WEALTH IN HYDRO-CARBON DEPOSITS B : j g i tA t ej ' ' GILSONITE, ELATERITE AND OTHER FORMS IN VAST QUANTITIES Ij sf H. L. 'A. Culmer Delivers Ad- j f! 'dress on Valuable Minerals I jM io University Students. I f IE following is a part of an address , 5$ I -by H. L. A. Culmor to tho etu- I ill I dents of tllo University of Utah. ' Sm A Vovoailisr 15. his subject being the I 8 hydro-carboiis of tho stale: J j The discussion this afternoon will i, 3 ncceiicnrlly touch only the- most 1m- ( J portant features, and I shall eliminate ! i tho question of our coals and touch j i lightly on the development. Huch us 8 ! It Ir, of our petroleum. It Is ns- ff phaltuni wo want to talk about, ard i i which you will probably have to ,j 8 study first. From the baso of Vlntah ,t R i range of mountains, whore It lnlcr- Bj hw the- Wasatch mountains almost fill at rlgh angles, the hydro-carbon ticldH I I j havo their northern limit, extending i B " aouth Into Grand county a distance 'in of 126 miles; extending from the Colo- ; ' Bt rado lino westward to tho crest of ; 't W the Wasatch mountalna. AH that t W region Is more or leaa Impregnated with tho hydro-carbona. There Is an J V indefinite variety of thes mlneruls. 3 H They pass from one condition Into an- B other tmpercoptlbly. But, after all. In wo can divide them Into scttr In such Ui a way that we can take up the ntudy ft Bff eepamtcly of each set and reach some i U coherent rosult. I would divide tho il K useful ones Into trllsonlto elaterltc. , H ozokerite, rock asphalt and maltha. It jGilsonite Is Pure. i Sjlfl Gllsonlte, known In the government . t Sff reports as Dlntalte. was so named by M Prof- w- p Blake In 1SS5. but tnaa- Wki much as he named It from hinall ! jfra peclmena and It was afterwards dl- C 'jla covered In great quantities by H. S. mm Gllson. the material took the name of am jrllaonile. At first Mr. Gllson scarcely BBfl realized tho Importance of It. It 9HI was diacoVerod by him ono evening JNI while campln? out In the open. Ho flU found that hln cnrnpllrc was close Wm to a bed of ants. Sitting there by tho mjH Arc. ho threw what he thoucht wcro IjBSt nomc specks of coal Into tho flro and hi watched to see if they would burn. I BH To his surprise, on taking somo of I wm the material out with a spoon, he I found that It melted and formed In Ml the bottom of tho spoon. Next morn- 1 119 Ing he undertook to Investigate and Ot found a vein of jrilsonito whlclj proved (Dj to bo our feet wide. It seemed to I I dip perpendicularly and subacquent I II) Investigation showel that It did so. HI All vlns of sllsonlto aro practically WjjB pcrpondlcular and all of thorn havo a HB utrlko from northwest to southeast. mm Thla strike varies only about 15 de- Hffl KT4ea. The altitude at which theso 3fH veins .ore found Is COOO to-700D feot; MH and the xcologlcal formation In tho ; IHH "Green River" of the Tertiary scries flH In the Soccno ngc. The lencth of a , an voln Fometlmes reaches to twelve or Mm fifteen .miles- The voln Ms n' dtfinlto Hi as a lead pencil mark on a pleco of mm Pper. This material comes almost .mm to the surfoco U' every. Instance- GU- ifm sohltc is absolutely puro 'hytlro-car- 09 1'on: SO per cent carbon. 10 per cent MB hydrofcen. 1 per cent -HUlplmr "unci cio HI nuh or dirt. A carload of It. If It ' mm were oarefullv mlriel-and dlatl'ledj BJ would not yield dirt to fill a thimble. HB It, Js. 100, par. .cent. pure. Tho govern- m ment roports it 03.9. dB Has"Many'Uses.' HI Gllsonlte has many imporiui-nt usea. MB Until it was discovered, the highest HH grado of aspnaltum came from tho HJ itCr east, whoro It vaa found In pieces HBB vashod oshoro eionpc ti'.o banks of tho UB Dead sea. It was worth 20 contn a. nH pound In "Npw York. The erapply was , fflmw not equal to tho demand. It was a J requirement particularly to Ihoso HJ companies that were malting high mmW grades of varnishing blacks, such as KJ those which go on carrlnges, typo- BH writers, bicyclcH. etc. Gilsnnlto Is, nn better thnn tho Asiatic asphajtum, Utah Ozokerite This pile of Utah ozokerite, produced by the American Ozokerite company, is today on its way to Austria. tho use of which han been known for thousands of years, but which Is rarely more than 80 per cent pure, b'orue of tho buildings In Palestine and Egypt havo been roofed with 11 alnce earliest times. Tho remains of Babylon show they used II there. Tho mummies which havo been found after being hidden away for .1000 or 1000 years appear to have been wrapped In various forms of nsphatt-uin. nsphatt-uin. It Is the most enduring thing known: In fact, under proper conditions, condi-tions, it is Imporlahable. Gold Is lis only rival In that respoct. The Interiors In-teriors of mummy cnGes were often painted with nsphaltum. and now, after being hidden away for thousands thou-sands of years, they aro as bright as If the asphalt had been put on yesterday. yes-terday. . When pilsonitc was discovered In Utah it dlsn'accd th Itnopfun arid' Asiatic asphaltum, and Instead of our buying from thorn, forelprn countries. . now buy from us in great quantities. In 1010 it was reported that 30.000 tons "were shipped out. As a matter of fact., more than that was exported .frdrn the 'sthte. In lMl-1012 a rapid Increase In-crease took place, but I do not know the ocn'ct rttrures. This vnr probably SO.000 tons .will o out. The nrlec in tho onstcrn market in nbnut J27.S0 to J3U per top. This would make tho price nn It passes out of Utah about 520 per ton. ' thi tost being freleut charges, It has been estimated, and I think vcrv1 conscrvntlvflv. that wo havo.)n this 'slnr iV000 non inns of this materjal,rf ihe fli-ft cln?";. Twcn-tv Twcn-tv times 25.O0O.000 is Sf.00.000 000. It should 'bo.a lcsstm'to us carofully to cuard and pave to owners within our border whatever vaTunblo discoveries . wo find In Jtalc- Chernical Properties. GllRonlto Is ven" friable; fracturo concbnldal: tastelo.3S and odorless: Rneclflc sravltv of 1.1 anoroxlmate-W; anoroxlmate-W; wcUs Tapldlv: io wholly solublo. Irr bontine, gafnllnc. turpentine and pr-trnleum. and when dissolved readllv combines vrlth any other nolu-bl nolu-bl form of nsuhaltum. For the first few feet below the Mirfiico the vcln,s have been affected bv ovvr-n th yMponUft lias a different appearance from thftt bo-low. bo-low. It alfo has different charac-leristlcii. charac-leristlcii. It Is not so readily soluble. solu-ble. It is not so brilliant and ita fracturo Is puncillato aiul uboidal, but after going down six or eight foot tho vein becomeu "first class" find continues so. It lies botwocn walls of sandstone, and what is not Kllsonlto Ib sandstone. A few "horses" come Into tho vein, but not very frequently. The largest knowi vein Ik about twenty feet wide. How high It Is. no one knows, though tho vein seems to run right up from tho baso to the top of n. high mountain: but we won't know probably for many years tho depth of il. Trains of a number of cars can be run, loaded and backed out. It Is all pure, puro as distilled water. This deposit, tho Bonanza, crosses . Whllo" river going southeast and extends ex-tends a couple of miles Into Colorado, Other great veins along the eastern lino of the field are the Cowbov and Black Dragon. Tho material In theso eastern veins Is a little refractory. It hi apparently Just .13 hard and brilliant and friable, but not so easy to melt as tho smaller veins at Parietto. to tho westward; and uscm of gilaonlto in the eastern states, it they had opportunity to choose between be-tween the products of tho different gllsonlte deposits, would gladly take the output of tho western veins for tho reasons I havo mentioned. Transportation Problem. These mines, however, are not now ns valuable as tho others, because tho product would have to be transported trans-ported by wagon seventy-fivo or eighty miles from Parlelte to Price, tho nearest railway station. Nevertheless Never-theless a shaft has been sunk on tho vein at Parlcltc nearly 1000 feet; tho vein was lrjuch wider at tho bottom, than at the top. Tho principal uses of gllsonlte at present are for street and sidewalk paving. It has been used as a principal prin-cipal Ingredient In paving the streets of many important cities in tho United States- Including a long stretch on Michigan avenue, Chicago, from Thirty-ninth street to Fifty- . fifth street, whom tt Was ontlrelv Eucccesful under moat exacting requirements re-quirements Othor uses are: Asphalt filler for brick and wood block pavements: pave-ments: pipe coating was used to coat tho 72-lnch stool piDo lor Brooklyn. Brook-lyn. N. Y., aqueduct; waterproofing railway bridges and passenger platforms: plat-forms: lining of reservoirs and tanks; Is acid proof: roofing papers and compounds; insulating compounds; com-pounds; rubber compounds: prevention preven-tion of electrolysis: coating sea wulls of brick and masonry; lubricants for heavy machinery. Elaterite, or Wurtzelite. The elatcrlto found in small quantities quan-tities In Khgland and elsewhere Is soft and springy, somewhat, resembling resem-bling caoutchouc, and henco is known as mineral rubber. The '..itrrile of Utah Is lough nnd hnrd to brca!:; bCMnes Kdmuwhat springy when heated; inlusnoscoH but does not . melt under candlo Jlame; resembles gllton'lte in npiiearane'e. but docs not crumble like tho latter; fracturo con- choldal; specific gravity 1.1; contains some acids; Is not soluble. For at lcns.t ten years' there havo como rumors ru-mors from all over tho Unltod Htatea that xome ono had found a solvent for it. but 1L Is probably not truo. Attention was first called to this" mineral by Dr. Henry WurLi, and tho Smithsonian institution gave it tho namo of wurtzelite: but tho namo claterltft bcaimc attached to It so generally that it will pr.obab)y continue con-tinue to be so called. Elatcrlto Is found In considerable quantities, but nothing like tha hugo . depcslts of gllsonlte. Tho veins strike In tli" t-ame directions, aro perpendicular perpen-dicular and begin to occur after passing westward out of tho gllsonlto region. They vary from a thin streak to a width of thrco feet, but rarely go down moro than 200 feet. They occur chiefly In the mountalna that run oast nnd west between Price river and Duchesne river, especially In Willow creek and Indian creek canyons. Although hundreds or thousands of dollars havo been spent In the development devel-opment of theso mines, and largo quantities havo boen shipped cast. I am still unconvinced . that this elatcrlto Is of much value. In tho absence ab-sence of a solvent it has been ground up and Incorporated Into certain varnishes; var-nishes; but it Is probable that It remains re-mains in mechanical suspension rather than in chemical union. Dr. Wurts told mo he thought he could dissolve it after much study, but that ho never hpd dono so. It can. however, how-ever, be smelted: and at n. loss of nearly f0 cent, tho pitch that runs off closely resembles an Inferior quality of gllsonlte in appearanco . and Is soluble In the usual solvents. But as better Kllsonltu Is much cheaper cheap-er to produce and can bo bought for a much lower price, t lie special valuo of elaterltc Is not clear. Howovcr, If. in your research, you hit upon a solvent that will develop, the elasticity of this mineral It will bo a valuable discovery and make your class famous. fa-mous. Ozokerite Most Valuable. This Is the most valuable of tho hydro-carbons. Tt Is mineral wax. and except for the Utah deposits is found only In Gallcla, Austria. There, at Boryslav, si city of 12,000 people depends de-pends on the Industry of wax mining for its support. Yet the Utah field is much larger, tho wax is of finer quality and tho quantity that can bo produced by development promises to bo much greater. The area known to contain ozokerite begins about two miles east of Col-ton, Col-ton, Utah county, on the lino of tho Denver & Rio Grnndo railway, and extends westward to about four miles west of Soldier Summit on that line, a total distance of about twelve m(les. The belt Is' about two miles 'wide. Thl6 whole area s impregnated impreg-nated with ozokerite, sometimes a mere trace, but In a number of places showing almost "perpendicular veins from n few Inches to ten feet In width. In other places the dip la as low as -15 degrees. But thpso Veins arc not all mineral wax. It does not lie clean in the vein Hire gllsonlte, but .runs in stroalta and kidneys of various ulzc and alwavs changing. Xow it shows abundantly in the faco of a drift, and a Tew feet farther in It is almost barren, only to become rich again with a Httlo more depth. The strlko of practically ;J1 the veins is nearly tho samo as cllsonlto, northwest to southeast, tho difference being that ozokerite Ih nearer north and south. Tho wax cannot bo sorted frbm the 'vein matter mat-ter with any succoss. so tho whole vein has .to be treated. If tho vein, as a whole, runs 5. per cent wax It Is very profitable. Somotlmes large pieces are found 05 per cent puro. Tin; blrcgest piece I ever saw was about the size of. a man and weighed 1 50 pounds. Extraction of Wax. Tho extraction of the wax from the vein n.atter U n comparatively simple and inexpensive process. The ore Is crushed to small sine and boiled In UiiiUr. rvd tho wax, being lighter than water, rises to tho surface sur-face and is skimmed off to cool In .pans containing ten pounds each. When cooled tho cakes aro ready for the enytern or foreign market. The demand is far greater than tho present supply, and the New York price averages about 20 cents a pound. Tho characteristics of ozokerite are that it Is a wax with a melting point from 160 to WO degrees F.ahre-helt, F.ahre-helt, as against 130 degrees for" paraffin paraf-fin wax; specific gravity about 0 02; fracture cOncholda!; odorless and tasteless; occurs dark bottlotfgrcen to dark brown and turning to nearly black on exposuro to air; plastli: without being soft: acid and alkali proof; can be bleached to pure white and then mado any color. Ozokerite has many uhcs. It in used in placet of beeswax., for high priced altar cuJidles, wax figures and dol's. waterproofing, Indurated paper, keg and barrel lining, lining of tanks used In the manufacture of tho most powerful acids, sealing wax. matches, shoo blacking, floor polish, waterproofing cartridges and lextilo fabrics, sole leather dressing, .lumber pencils, insulation. As an Insulator In-sulator It Is the moat perfect known, Edison giving it a resistance of 450.000,000 megohms, as agalntt 110.000,000 for paraffin. It la also lined In making phonographic records, and one of its largest uses Is In the manufacture of linen fabrics. Rock Asphalt. Rock anphalt ha been called In. the past bituminous sandstoiio, but the name rock asphalt soems to prevail, pre-vail, in thla HUto at leant. The difference dif-ference between asphaltum and bitumen bi-tumen is chiefly ono of condition. Aplmllum Is hard bitumen and bl-tumoii bl-tumoii Itf fjoft asphaltum- Tho 'fluid kliK!, mineral tar or maltha, change Into the solid by the loss of volatllo umttur in the case of giloonlto. and by a procefs of oxidization In tho cane of elftterlte. In some of the refractory kinds, uch as albertltc and grahamlte, the oxygenation is preceded or accompanied by a loss of hydrogen. It bas bon considered that If tho hydro-enrbon content of a vpeclmcn wore hard It would lis asphflltlo, and If fluid or viscous It would bit bituminous. bi-tuminous. At the head of tho right hand fork oft Tie Fork, a canyou IhdL coniftx Into Spanish Fork two miles weAt of Cloar Creek MaUon on th Denver Rio Grande, there ix a lurge devout oi nsp".Ui,- Hin.-rtonc, J in ho-iz-jnta' v 'ru f iwn o fyir feet tu I' ! r i". .TiM r : fr Tn i; f r"p r'P J,f- V j urp.ult lu 4:rarauJ ir.n tuc llnic- stono it is hard and tough, of a brown color and easily nolublo. This rock, with a proportion of gllsonlto and residuum, was used In tho first paving of Main street In this city, and in many cities throughout tho east. Including Buffalo Buf-falo and Chicago It can bo seen on Richards ,'itroct, this city, whero .It was laid twenty years ago and la still In fair condition. Tho deposit do-scribed do-scribed la the only ono of. Ita kind known In Utah. Bituminous Sandstone. Thero are. however, immense de- Eosila of bituminous sandstones eing called rock asphalt in various parts of tho hydrocarbon fields. Tho most westerly aro near Thistle, In Spanish Fork canyon. The ono to tho southeast of Thlstlo conslota of 400 acres of patented land, whoro tho North American Asphalt company mado the attempt twenty-two yearn ago to extract the bitumen from tho .rock 'by grinding the rock and.wash- lug out the bitumen with naphtha In closed tanks; but the venture was a failure, principally because tho oamo peoplta acquired tho gllsonlto deposits de-posits discovered about that lime and found It cheaper to yet their as-pha'lt as-pha'lt that way. On tho opposite 'sldo of tho canyon is a similar nnd somewhat richer deposit of smaller area. The rock from thla was laid without admixturo In this city in 1S96 on Second South between West Temple and First West.. It has had - no' repairs and la In good condition today. This deposit is now owned by Salt Lako City. A few miles farther cast thero 13 a largo bod in Dairy Fork canyon. Deposit in Uintah. Another great deposit is near Vernal, Ver-nal, out In tho gllsonlto country of Uintah county. It Is rich In bitumen bitu-men and of vast extent, but ho ro-mote ro-mote from any railroad that It cannot can-not be profitably worked. Othor largo deposits arc In the trlbutarlo3 of Whltmoro canyon, pear Sunny-sldo Sunny-sldo on tho Dcnvor & Rio Grande railway, and aro probably tho greatest great-est deposits of rock asphalt in tho world. In theso reefs, which Ho horizontally or nearly so, tho bitumen bitu-men Is said .to bo very evenly distributed. dis-tributed. 10 to 12 por cent. In South Willow creek, about twelvv, miles east of Colton, is a deposit about ten foot thick and a quarter of a mllo long. In places along this creek tho- bitumen huu exuded In tho form of maltha and hardened Into mineral pilch. A fow miles farther oast, in Emma's park, is still another bed that nometlmcs reaches thirty feet In thickness. The problems connected with the use of theso vast deposits for paving In Salt Lako and other cltloa are now actively before the public In connection therewith your researches may be of value. In Other Forms. Besides the principal nnd more Important Im-portant forms that I havo described, thero avc many deposits of hydrocarbon hydro-carbon found in this stato of moro or less valuo and Interest. In 6corea of places thero arc oozlngs of fluid ' asphaltum, called maltha, which hardens In cold weather and after long exposuro Into' pitch. If this material could bo found in largo quantities, It would bo cx-tromcly cx-tromcly valuable, but I know of none. In a branch of Indian canyon It exists ex-ists In considerable quantity and Is being used under tho name of tabbv- - lie. named after the Indian chief. Tzibby. Smaller exudations aro found in other canyons in that neighborhood. neigh-borhood. One of the most important maltha flows In the state is on the shore of tho Great Salt lake, near Pro mo n- . tory point, in Box Elder countv. When the water of tho lake is- at Its present height the flow Is very slow, although pieces' of pilch float to the surface and drift awav; but when the lako was lower theso springs were exposed, and under the heat of the sun tho asphaltum could bo seen flowing freely. Theso springs havo been developed but little, lit-tle, owing to the question or tltlo . over riparian rights and tho fear that the government would step in and take them if they proved valuable. Tho maltha io mlxod with sulphur, salt and a little cand, but Is undoubtedly un-doubtedly of great value. Albcrtfte and grahamlte arc found near tho Willow creole region, in small veins rarely wider than thrco Inches, and much larger veins are found along Grand rlvor south of Cisco. Theso aro forms of asphaltum asphal-tum that rcacmblo gllsonlto In up-pearanco up-pearanco and In (specific gravity, aro brilliantly black and beautiful to look upon, but they contain elements ele-ments rendering them Insoluble and useless. What theso aro would be a good problem for you to solve. Tt may bo that succinic, acid is ono of them, or formic acid, or both, or something else. Petroleum in Utah. I havo Gcurccly touched on the oubject of petroleum, although . It. ecenis to exist In several parts of Utnh: but the development has been limited. The principal field ?o far Is ono on San Juan river In tho southeastern corner of tho state, about thirty miles west of Bluff City. IToro a number of wells havo beon put down, many of which have yielded enough petroleum of -high grade to warrant further development: develop-ment: hut they are 1D0 miles from a mil way. and that 13- a feature that has done most to discourage work. Similar conditions prevail where oil has been found near VJrgln Cltv, Washington county. In the San Rafael Ra-fael swell, about twenty-llvo mlle3 west of Green Rlvor, conditions seem .to Indicate the presence of petroleum and como shallow wolla have been sunk with result Thero are places where oil comes up from Green river bed Itself. Water springs yielding, small quantities of oil aro found In many parts of tho gllsonlto field In eastern Utah. The geological and othor conditions existing ex-isting in the ozokerite flold near Colton. Utah county, seem to excol any others In . tho stnto as a probable prob-able petroleum district, and 'at present there Is a movement .to put down some test wells there. |