Show gilsonite may be major insulation material of 55 gilsonite Gilsoul te with the worlds major r corn commercial mercial deposits in uintah V basin in plays a big part in the acono economic m ic welfare of vernal and uinta county the largess operations of this hydrocarbon hydro carbon are just 55 miles southeast of vernal in uintah county at bonanza where the american gilsonite co employs around 10 men G S ziegler co at a nearby camp also has bag a substantial payroll over tons of the material are shipped out annually although gilsonite has been used in the past principally lor for paints varnishes batteries etc it is now becoming a vital product for the manufacture of insulation tests have also been under way at bonanza for the use of gilsonite for coking the coking tests are proving very satisfactory it is understood and from all indications ustah county may receive another major industry in the processing of gilsonite for high grade coke estimates say that men will be required for a new process A 1000 ton lant per day would cost from six ix ta 0 ten million dollars with coong towers 60 feet high for development work alone it would require a million dollars it is estimated batches from the pilot plant have been shipped to a number of aluminum plants and have proved very desirable as high grade coke with the use of the gilsonite coke the aluminum plants are able to make a higher grade of product the gilsonite coke is free f r e e from sulphur present in other types of coke A byproduct by product of the process 1 gas g as oil which is easily converted into 69 octane gasoline this gasoline could be put through the nearby salt lake pipe line about the year 1885 it is reported some cattlemen in the vicinity of fort duchesne noticed some black aliste glistening r ing particles in an ant hiu hill and further investigation led to finding large amounts immediately beneath the grass roots this was first supposed to be coal but upon burning it gave oft off dense clouds of smoke a characteristic asphalt odor and instead of reducing to ashes it melted and ran in a stream like heavy molasses upon cooling it appeared to regain its original form and if anything became even more glossy and black the vein was later traced tor for some three miles running northwest and southeast to the east ward of fort duchesne and within the uintah indian reservation the country was swarming with none too friendly indians resenting the presence of these white prospectors and there was no way in which a title could be secured several years later a piece of ground called the strip w was a a withdrawn from the reservation and the st louis gilsonite company commenced operations at the old st louis mine afterwards the country was investigated by prof W P blake and the name uintah ite was given the substance but by this time it was locally called gilsonite for samuel H gilson its discoverer and has been ever since the gilsonite was first hauled by teams to price over poor mountain dodds mr baxter when searching for a shorter and better road himself discovered the vein which now bears his name and is south of myton the barbette Ba riette mine was opened on this jiin tern and reached a depth of feet when an explosion in 1906 stopped work other veins were discovered but phenomenal finds were reported to the east and south of white river on the uncompahgre resena res tiou mining hag has often been done in veins as narrow ag as 18 ancher but at bonanza the vein reached a width of eight feet the big bonanza 14 feet and the cowboy 18 feet one of these veins extended across ss the state stat g line into bio rio bianco blanco county colorado the bonanza and colorado districts became the center of much mining activity but output was restricted stricter ed on account of poor transportation afla por tation tion facilities to overcome this t the he uintah railway was constructed ted from mack colorado to dragon and the dragon vein was developed on an extensive scale long before this the tein vein at fort Duch duchesne esue had passed into the hands of the barber asphalt company of philadelphia and it was this company which constructed the uintah railway following a disastrous explosion at dragon in 1908 plans were made for mining elsewhere and in 1910 the center of mining activity was moved to rainbow then later to bonanza A new use has been found for solid carbon dioxide better known as dry ice newly engaged gals can tell by touching their kingto ring to the stuff if the diamonds in it are real if so the stones will squeak |