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Show Potash Production at Cane Creek Hit Record 80,000 Tons Record production at the Cane Creek solar evaporation complex of Texasgulf, Inc. contributed to quarterly net earnings of nearly $25 million for the world-wide mining company. The third quarter report issued this week stated that a record 80,000 tons of solar evaporated salt, averaging about 21 per cent K20, were harvested during September and the plant turned out over 23,000 tons of high quality potash product. Experimental work is in progress to increase solar evaporation by the use of sprays and dyes and to harvest more efficiently, it was reported. report-ed. Tests are also underway to mine potash by solution mining in areas not associated with the large cavity at Cane Creek created by ten years of conventional underground mining operations. Texasgulf over the years has acquired other properties in Southeastern Utah, principally at the Seven Mile area, where potash deposits are known to exist. Drilling of those sites has proven the deposits. Currently, all production has come from the old underground under-ground mine, however, and evaporated at the ponds just southwest of the mine and mill at Cane Creek, where the salt is driven by slurry line to the mill for processing. Domestic potash sales are listed as poor, although the sales drop has not contributed to a corresponding drop in the price. High dealer inventories have been attributed with the decline of sales. Production of potash at the Allan Potash Mines in Saskatchewan, Saskat-chewan, in which Texasgulf has a 40 per cent interest, is showing slow but steady improvement. Changes in management have been made and increased productivity in both the mine and the mill is expected. Plans are to bring the production rate up to the full capacity of 1.5 million tons annually in 1976. Labor problems, high personnel turnover, difficult underground under-ground conditions and the problems with equipment maintenance have all plagued the operation. What the company terms as "exhorbi-tant "exhorbi-tant provincial taxes," have further restricted profits. Many former Moab employees employ-ees of Texasgulf are involved in the development of its soda ash properties near Green River, Wyoming, where construction con-struction of mine and surface processing facilities for the production of soda ash from the company's large trona reserves continues on schedule. sched-ule. Production should begin in the third quarter of 1976 at the rate of 1 million tons of product per year to be increased later to 2 million tons. The second mine shaft was completed to a depth of 1,550 feet at the end of September, and construction of surface processing facilities is over 43 per cent complete. Preliminary mine production is continuing from the upper of two flatlying trona beds which are 1,370 and 1,420 feet below the surface. More than 6 miles of underground under-ground development entries have been driven. Work underground also includes four 800-ton storage bins and a maintenance shop-warehouse. Texasgulf is building homes in the community of Green River to help provide needed housing hous-ing for employees there. : . .7 .v.v. -f,,,,,,'s:,,r,fli .rf-'Mii.L - i i--"'r r -n i -"-" .i f '-jatsSlwi? '-3$ ift.J! -r r - -' ft r i t I- t i i f f-tii -,v- if -i -i-vi -! iriiT"v.iin'T mni-ir --tin-i-ii -vr -i- Experimental work with sprays and dyes at Texasgulf's Cane Creek Mine near Moab, Utah, may further increase the efficient use of solar energy in the evaporation ponds. |