Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-08-18 | Page 37 | Will Work Blair Marsh for Potash

WILL WORK BLAIR MARSHJOR POTASH Goldfield Man Receives Permit From Secretary of Interior. John W. Crane, a Goldfiold man, has received from the first assistant: secretary secre-tary of the interior a. permit giving him the right to prospect for potash in the Blair salt marsh, jdistrict in this county. This permit is given under an act of congress approved Ootober 2, 1JU7, providing pro-viding for tho issuance of prospecting permits per-mits for a period not to exceed two years, for the prospecting of lands for potash. Under, the form of figrgement issued by the government., worl'-mist start within ninely days. after the. .ranting .rant-ing of the permit, and Crane stated that he has ample finances to thoroughly prospect the ground and he will start work well Inside tho ninety-day period allowed. The Plalr marsh lies twenty-five miles off Goldfield, and, according to Crane, last month an expert and "four men, representing Nebraska in'teres-ts holding hold-ing an option on a large acreage owned by Goldfiold men,, prospected the marsh and rrported favorably,, but abandoned the project owing to the impossibility of securing delivery of machinery at present. pres-ent. Crane states that there are big possibilities possi-bilities in the marsh, which, he says, analysis has shown to contain from 10 to U per cent potash, yncl claims that this is a larger penmen taLre than is contained In the material being worked either at Scries lake or in the Nebraska fields. 1 le says the deposits occur in brine, tho same as at Starles lak and that he plans to work the ground through pumping pump-ing and evaporation. According to Crane, the Blair marsh was tho bod of: a prehistoric lake. Mrain-age Mrain-age from the surround ing country, om-n om-n iuing potash, llowlng into it. In his opinion, as the waters receded, the saline convents ;iccuniu!atcd in tho nmrsh. and. sinkiiv to the bottom, were enriched i continuallv through drainage water. In his application for a permit, .Crane ' staic that hr in lends to explore the ! marh with a snrtng-polc drilling machine for holes less than lOQ.fo-et and without1 c-islng and i o use a Keystone drilling ! machine for holes over 100 feet and less : than 4 no Vct. with easing. Ci-ane tats th;t he has oo voted somo virtof ftflWi of the past ei:ht years to n',oncrtinc tho marsh, that he e familiar with the work of other prospectors, ard tint he is ronlideii: of making ;t success 'of'tnc venture. GoUlhcM Tm-une.