Show ea OF U mg FOH ani U NE bew SOURCE OF 01 POTASH IS NOW BEING DEVELOPED WITH PROMISE OF GREAT SUCCESS DEPOSIT 15 RICH AND EXILIN SIVE thomas gillan is the original locator of which i ik nw nov becoming Beco so 0 valuable an important deposit of aluni tc which has but recently been ed near Mary marydale sale is now being doi dei eloped with so favorable a showing that it promises to afford one surce of the much desired clas clams of materials commonly re referred ferrea to under the term potash federal N this locality in march and november of the present year the marysa lie ile alunite deposits ire described in a re yort rort by B S butler and hoyt S gale is isred as an advance chapter of contributions to economic geology 1911 which v nil ill soon be reidy for distribution this report maa ma he be hid bi application to thi the director united states gi alog cal wishing ton D C As is shown in this report while the deposit furnishes material of character well adapted for utilization the quantity thus far re revel veiled led is insufficient to supply the whole eniti d states with potash hova however ever it is favorably located to compete with foreign potash in up plying the nelds needs of the western westi rn ardi although a large ein of pink spar in the hills southwest of mar marys s vale had long been known to prospectors and had bad been repeat repeatedly edil located for the sake of small value valoe said to lie fouad feu id tn inobe abe sill aou roc rocks ks of the spar it was riot not until 1910 1930 that the true nature of the pink spar was discovered and on january 1 1911 the claims that had been allowed to lapse i ere relocated for the sake of the newly recognized deposit thomas gillan of richfield had sent specimens to the united states slates assay office at salt lalie lake it in NoNe tuber 1910 and these had been forwarded to an eastern chemist who is said to havo have recognized the real value of jhb material the mineral alunite al unitt otherwise known as aa alum stone is a hydrous sul eul of aluminum and potassium containing 38 6 peri percent cent of sulphur trioxide 37 per cent per tent cent potash and 13 per cent of water samples of the marysvale Marys Mary vale evale rock have been analyzed by W T schaller in the geological survey atory and tho the results have shown a very close approximation to the theoretical composition of the mineral as quoted above in the united states alunite is ie known at several places in colorado it also occurs at tres cerritos mariposa Ua county cal associated with the gold cold orea area at goldfield nov NOT and in the Cactus range cast of goldfield at the arabit hole sulphur mines near house nov nev at alunite near las lai vegar NOT nev in tho morenci and bisbee districts arn ariz and in the frisco district beaver bounty utah in some of these places it is supposed d to have been produced by the alteration te of potash feld spara epars which have hava been acted on by acid solutions aola tiona it if the alterations are the tha result remit of 0 de Fc wen ending dinc acid solutions derived derive dl from the oxidation of pyrite the resulting deposit will not presumably extend below the surgical BUt sur fical zone zona of 0 oxidation tnt laut if they have been due dua to ascending acid solutions of volcanic or ar other origin they may be ba expected to extend to greater depths the deposit is situated near the head ot cottonwood canyon about 7 miles in a course due dua southwest of Mary evale it Is in located in an ani near tee ec 16 T 28 S R 4 W and so BO far is as known la is covered by mining claim locations the deposit is found high in ill the tha range outcropping out cropping near the treat of a ridge that leads from the main divide at an elevation of ap p abely feet above eta ta leeland extends down to about feet the lower end being about fret above abot the railroad at Mary marydale sale the tha at Mary evale in ia a somewhat uncommon occurrence occar renee in this wintry it consists of a large larea and very tery regular vein apparently a true assure filling as the mineral al agurs in uniformly banded I 1 structure without eiden e of deplace ment of other sub substances on any considerable sid erable acile the alunite here is mass nc ic and is a found both in bodies of compact e artlia or granular texture and in clear crystalline masses var ing in color from white to a decided pink the ein has t t northwest southeast course hie bis been traced by prospecting pros pELting ting for d distance of about feet along the outcrop and is known to outcrop in the extension of the same lourse course a hilf a mile or more ben belond ond the prospected ground it ap patently stands acarl nearly vei vertical in pirt but toward the southern extension the outcrop appears to be in to the southwest at a steep angle anale the wall rocks are a volcanic flow chilli forms the greater part of the range the ize of the tein and apparent purity of the ira terill are 3 its mot unusual features Accor accordine diniz to a number of measurements made from the present incomplete developments there is ib in one place at leist 20 feet ot of bol oid id il al unite in the I 1 birger irger vein and 6 feet more in a parallel vein bome 23 25 feet away with considerable quin quantities of rock and alternating purer alun te and siliceous wall reek rcck inter ening this low grade rock may possibly extend beyond that shown in tile the present apts other measurements made reveal less thickness but in each ease case it is doubtful whether the trenches that have been lug ing expose all the alunite blat may be present A conse conservative native estimate maa ma be h had ad by as assuming aming an average width of 10 feet in the principal veir vei neglecting other veins and a total length of deposit at the present time as about feet the eurlace area of the outcrop is probably greater than square feet the rock weighs approximately pounds to the cubic foot so eo that an acre of ground underlain to the depan of I 1 foot would contain about short tons of alunite the area at present p besent estimated for this deposit is somewhat less lesa than an acre screand and if it averages only 10 feet in width it would contain approximately tons tona of the rock for each feet of depth so long as ae the deposit maintains its eur bur face dimensions and quality estimating the recoverable potash at 10 per cent of this thia ore each feet in depth would yield tons thus loo feet of this vein expressed com COBB ally represents perhaps only a 11 sixth of the annual imports import of potash salts among other W T adds the following to the report of the anal yoca of the Uary svala rock the water and that portion of the aa rolp hurie acid combined arith the are driven off by ig ignation naton so BO that about one third of the remaining remain inc reis idue 66 55 6 per cent of the original material is im soluble potassium sulphate and two thirds insoluble aluminium oxide it teems seems therefore that little dt di dimalto malty should be eric centered in establishing a practical process for the reduction of alunite by which potash may be obtained as the sulphate eul phate one of its it most moat desirable commercial troma broms and ala inina in a form piram ably available for tte production of metallic aluminum the discovery to ie of especial value as indicating the conditions ons under which such decostia dep de ostia occur and tor for its effect in stimulating and directing the search for deposits of like character which may reasonably be expected elsewhere especially in this general region on the discovery of other such deposits depends the possie possibility of developing from material erial of una this character a home production prod action sufficient to meet a large larga part of the nations need for potash |