Show 3 1 I J J I II I I I j I II j 1 I 1 01 0 t I vU v d lJ a L ro l 1 CORE DRILLING RIG at the Tosco Sand Wash Project Project Pro Pro- shaft pilot hole site The air drilling rig hit a substantial amount of water at about th the foot 1700 A briefing tour of the Tosco Corporation of Los Angeles Calif Sand Wash Project 35 miles south of Vernal was held Monday by officials of Tosco Of particular interest is the core drilling for the first shaft pilot hole into the oil shale deposit which is in its second week of operation CORK OIlE mULLING DRILLING will provide the necessary data needed in preparation cor for drilling the first shaft of about 8 feet in diameter and 2400 feet deep explained R R. R Glenn Vawter vice president and head of the Tosco oil shale shalet division The shaft will be used 1 HJ t ying shale for for- muttons fons and actually drilling vertical drifts into areas where oil shale sn mining could be feasible Tosco holds leases encompassing acres of Utah state lands in Uintah County Some acres of these leases have been incorporated in a Unit Agreement and Cooperative Plan of Development approved by the state and Tosco Besides Mr Vawter other Tosco officials in the tour Monday londay included Robert B. B Crookston manager of mining Al W W. W manager resource development and Tom Siebert public information Hon officer all from Los Angeles From Vernal Tosco personnel included Joe Merino Vernal office manager and George Cozart engineer TilE PILOT SHAFT FT core drilling is taking place in about the lower middle section of the largest block of the Tosco leases south of the plots and the air meteorological monitoring station that has been in operation for over a year south and east of Ouray Prior to commercialization of the Sand Wash Plan Area considerable development work will be required Earl Early work will include continued exploration ex of the geology and hydrology through core drilling performance of a preliminary engineering and mining study environmental inventory Continued on Page 16 level White foam is produced as the water is pumped I from the well at of about gallons a 1 minute Tosco conduct shale properties tour r 1 1 t Ti Jt I II I I I i t j r 0 j I f 1 CORE SAMPLES are checked over by a group visiting the Tosco Sand Wash Project Project Pro Pro- core drilling operation The samples have depths marked on them Monday afternoon the deepest sample displayed was at the 1728 foot mark The samples will be studied to determine the amount of oil shale contained and t distance of each formation I 1 TOSCO CORPORATION officials from Los Angeles who flew to Vernal and then conducted a briefing tour of the Sand Wash Project core drilling are left to right R. R Glenn Vawter Vice President head of the oil shale division Tom Siebert public information Al W. W manager resource development and Robert B. B Crookston manager of mining Joe Merino Tosco's Vernal office manager organized the tour Tosco T oseo tour four Continued prom From l Page age 11 1 performance of baseline air and water monitoring preparation of environmental analyses and assessment of the socioeconomic consequences Inthe in inthe inthe the area which would result from commercialization Once the early development work is successfully completed the project could be moved into a commercialization pre stage in in which such activities as prototype mining and detailed engineering and planning would be accomplished After receipt of approval of all appropriate governmental agencies in including in eluding those requiring an l' l Environmental Impact statement the final engineering and planning could 1 Ix started Construction of the me facilities could be completed within about four years thereafter hereafter IN TOTAl IOTA I IT IS expected that all ill the activities required ul III development and commercialization commercialization commercialization com com- of the leases as described above will take seven Reven to eight years yeal's to ac However at this time lime timea limea a great deal of uncertainty exists as to the time required to obtain Federal approval of essential permits because of the environmental considerations involved and there are other uncertainties as well Consequently Consequently Consequently Con Con- a rigid schedule today is not possible The Sand Wash Plan Area can he developed in the most timely manner by use of conventional underground mining and surface retorting using the Tosco II process These technologies have been developed to the point of commercialization by Tosco and the Colony venture The mining zone of commercial interest in the Sand Wash area is the Mahogany Zone of the Parachute Creek Member of the Green River Formation which is the same geological section which underlies the property being developed by Colony Therefore the Tosco technologies which have been developed for Colony can be applied to the Utah properties Commercialization will require the construction of surface facilities on and near the plan area Surface area will wiIl likely be he utilized for mine shafts shaHs P Ps S sia L. L g SP-S SP 4 ji s I is t 5 gl TJ a S V jt i. i Al t ii s S lE-S as S dds y j Le t r leer k 4 ti t F i Y I r j I rt of I JI I. I r fI SPENT OIL SHALE plant experimental plot explained by Joe Merino About 1000 plants were planted here about one and one half years ago Plants were placed in solid spent shale and in areas with up to three feet of regular ground cover over the spent shale Irrigated and non-irrigated non plots are also compared I i Rt ae Y r r e il Yah t AIR METEOROLOGICAL monitoring station has been set up by Tosco to study the in nth the air 5 near patterns future in the Sand Wash Project area Air quality studies will be made and associated facilities process plant facilities spent shale disposal water storage reservoir and transportation and utility corridors Extensive engineering and environmental investigations need to be conducted before precise sites for lor these facilities can be established TilE MINING operation now contemplated will extract oil shale from the Mahogany 1 Zone by underground room and pillar mining Other mining techniques will be investigated however and the final choice will be made after detailed study The current plan calls for ultimately mining shale on four or five blocks to produce about tons per calendar day For use in the final design of the mine development of a pilot mine may be employed to gain gaina a full understanding of the actual underground conditions that will be encountered |