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Show The Uintah Basin Has Its Share Of Mineral Wealth, But Transportation Liitills lis Utilization by Robert A. Ferron, Assistant Superintendent Raven Mining Co. of Utah The Uintah Basin is unique in possesisng a number of unusual un-usual mineral substances found no other place in the world, as well as considerable deposits of many of the more common minerals. min-erals. Chief among these in point of developed production are the hydrocarbons and related bitu-mins, bitu-mins, but the Basin also contains commercially valuable deposits of coal, phosphates, bentonite, asphalts and oil shales. In addition it contains iron, copper and placer gold which are potentially valuable provided more effective recovery methods are discovered or greater concentrations con-centrations are located. The Uintah Basin, due to its comparatively recent history, has not even yet had the full scope of its mineral supply thoroughly explored and platted and it may be that the future will expose mineral wealth not known at this time. The purpose of this article is not to prognosticate future developments, de-velopments, except incidently, but rather, to compose a breif history of Uintah Basin mining coupled with some information on the individual characteristics rt fhnco minerals nnrl Ihpir USPS. Since they show a long history of continuous mining and are indigenous to the Uintah Basin area alone, the Utah hydrocarbons hydrocar-bons will receive first consideration. consider-ation. These consist of Gilsonite, technically Uintahite, and Elater-ite, Elater-ite, or Wurtzelite, of which Gilsonite Gil-sonite is of prime 'importance ard Elatcrite is very secondary. . Local legend has it that Gilsonite Gil-sonite was first discovered, named nam-ed and reported. by Samuel Gil-son, Gil-son, early pioneer of the Basin, who thought he had discovered a deposit of . coal in close proximity prox-imity to the newly established Ft. Duchesne. On attempting to burn it, however, he found that it melted rather than being consumed. con-sumed. After making a few crude experiments, he succeeded in interesting in-teresting eastern capital who exploited ex-ploited it. First mining of Gilsonite was during the final decade of the last century. An interesting sidelight side-light is that the notorious 'striD' near, what is now Gusher, was first 'thrown open under special act of Congress for the mining of Gilsonite. Gilsonite -is a black, lustrous material which breaks in a con-choidal con-choidal or shell-like fracture and is just a little heavier than water. wa-ter. :lt is an organic compound, ; meaning that it is composed of the remains of what were once living- organisms. It is readily -soluable in most petroleum products pro-ducts and is extremely brittle and ; friable. Its melting 'point ranges from about 235 degrees F. to 410 degrees F. Gilsonite was undoubtedly formed in the bottom of a mar- 'ine lake, probably ancient Lake Uinta, during the time known geologically as the Eocene age of the Tertiery period As the various animal and plant life which inhabited the lake died, they sank to the bottom and were buried by succeeding layers of silt .and sedimentation which, in turn, were covered by further deposits of organic matter, the enormous heat and pressure keeping the incumbent oils in a liquid state. Certain diastrophic movement, or mountain making activity, possibly the same that caused the upthrust of Little Mountain, caused stress cracks to be formed in the valley floor. These cracks in due time filled with the as-phaltic as-phaltic mass, which was probably prob-ably in a plastic form. This cooled, cool-ed, and Gilsonite was formed. Gilsonite has a variety of uses, chief among which are paints, varnishes, lacquers, japans, printing print-ing and rotogravure inks, storage stor-age battery boxes, and as a filler in linoleums and ' mouldings. It has also been used with some success as a catylist in road building. The Gilsonite fissures range in width from a few inches to about 20 feet and sometimes extend for many miles through the ter rain. Their actual depth has not yet been determined, the deepest deep-est shaft having been sunk only to a depth of about 1400 feet. It is assumed by most geologists geolo-gists that the fissure cracks extend ex-tend to the top of the Wasatch, the lowest Eocene formation in this area, which would be about 4000 feet in the Roosevelt vicinity vicin-ity and somewhat less in the East Uintah County fields. Production of Gilsonite remained re-mained fairly constant at about 30,000 short tons for a number of years. The entrance of a major ma-jor oil company into the field has, however, increased the tonnage ton-nage considerably; 1946 figures showing in excess of 70,000 tons mined with a market valuation of about $2,000,000. Wurtzelite, which is sold under the trade name of Elaterite, is very similar to Gilsonite in appearance ap-pearance but, structurally, is quite different, being much harder hard-er than Gilsonite and not nearly so brittle. It is characterized by its relative inf usability and is insoluable. It must be refluxed under extreme heat and converted convert-ed into Kapak, which is the trade name for refined Elaterite, hpfnrp it ran bp DUt to use. Elaterite is found in fissure veins similar to those in which Gilsonite is found but the veins are much smaller in all dimensions, dimen-sions, ranging from 2 to 20 inches in width, from 20 to 150 feet in height and seldom over a few hundred, feet in length. Since these veins have a very definite top and bottom, it is not difficult to ascertain the total amount of available ore, probably prob-ably not more than 20,000 tons. For this reason, it would not be particularly expedient to develop devel-op a large market as the supply would be quickly exhausted. Elaterite was mined in considerable con-siderable quantities when first opened near the turn of the century cen-tury but operations, have progressively pro-gressively decreased over the years so that now total production produc-tion rarely exceeds 100 tons a year. i The principle uses of this product pro-duct include watemroofine and marine paints, electric insulation and moulded rubber products. Elaterite is found in the marl-stone marl-stone shales of the Green River formation, a moderately rich oil shale member of the lower Tertiery Ter-tiery group. The veins are usually usual-ly found on the hillsides, high above the canyon floors. In addition to Gilsonite and Elaterite, there are a few other native hydrocarbons of no commercial' com-mercial' value such as Tabbyite which combines characteristics of both Gilsonite and Elaterite and Malthus which is a secretion secre-tion that exudes from the walls of hydrocarbon veins and some oil shale members. It has long been known that much of the Green River shale with which the Uintah Basin is abundantly covered, would produce pro-duce oil if subjected to destruc-1 tive distillation. This has never proven particularly feasible considering con-sidering the abundant yield of petroleum from the oil fields and the relative high cost of producing pro-ducing marketable oil from the shales. The anticipated world-wide shortage of petroleum may, however, in time, cause this to become an extremely valuable asset. It has been estimated that in Utah alone, there is sufficient oil shale to produce 20,000,000,-000 20,000,000,-000 barrels of crude oil. The Uintah Basin oilshale area extends from the headwaters of the Strawberry river to well beyond be-yond the Colorado line. The shales in Utah are unusually rich and rarely covered by a great deal of overburden. In addition ad-dition to the value of the shales as a producer of oil, the residual resi-dual material is rich in ammonium ammon-ium sulphate, commercially valuable val-uable as a fertilizer. Oil shale was mainly formed during the Green River Epoch of the Eocene Age and was created cre-ated by the gradual deposition of organic and inorganic materials, '".;;: ::;' .' '- ' . ' . .' i " ..' : -'-:'.' -: '.'. . , J r4'i vi-;iJ Ci;;' vv -r ' . . . ..-:. -.. The Pairette incline in Pleasant Valley, a major producer of Gilsonite. Number 15 shaft, another profitable Gilsonite "diggins" is shown in the background. bacterial action freeing the organic or-ganic oils. The Basin is also rich in native na-tive asphalt beds which were formed in a similar manner to the oil shales. This-is potentially valuable, but its ability to- compete com-pete in world markets is delimited de-limited by la"ck of suitable transportation. trans-portation. Phosphates, like hydrocarbons, are organic compounds which were formed in the bottom of an ancient lake. About 80 per cent of the production of this mineral goes into the manufacture of fertilizer. fer-tilizer. The Uintah Basin has commercial deposits of this material ma-terial but it has received practically practi-cally no exploitation. The Basin shows considerable coal deposits in the Red Creek, Vernal and Deep Creek areas. Sporadic attempts have been made to develop some of these deposits, but only in the Vernal tion ever been maintained. Again, transportation is probably prob-ably the initial cause of this lack of production. Bentonites are fine grained clays which have the unique property of swelling enormously enormous-ly when wet. High grade bentonite ben-tonite will absorb five times its weight in water and will swell to 15 times its dry bulk. Ben-tonite's Ben-tonite's chief value is in the production pro-duction of aquagel or oil well drilling muds and foundry and moulding sands. It has also been used successfully in arresting leaks in reservoirs. Bentonite occurs in strata beds ranging in size from very thin bedded lenses to beds of about four feet in thickness. There are extensive deposits of Bentonite in the Basin, but as this mineral is rather common throughout the United States, supplies have not been exploited. There is ho possible doubt that fhp Grprn T?ivpr i; a nntpntinllv valuable source of gold, provided some methods of recovery is devised. de-vised. At some point in the stream channel, the Green River picks up a supply of flower gold, but, so fine are the particles and so difficult are they to remove from the . suspension that no method has ever been developed which will economically process the mineral. A- great many legends have grown over the years concerning lost gold mines in the Uinta Mountains, but, until more positive posi-tive proof is shown of their ex-istance, ex-istance, they must be consigned to the realm of fantasy. There is an iron dyke of con- Y ''' ;' vY;YvY - ' . : .vYYY' '. ''-''' :: r ?",'-' -.'V' V''? i . ; :.'". ' . -:.a-X-'- 1 ? v', ; '.'. r.- 'vr,' -v,J1v:.-r.: .j ;4 r. i. , - . .; , -&:t,tt 7 . 'Vv-.- , ' .: ' .-J ; vr. :: ...v. ' :-rt 'Y..;Y ;' -:;YYv:-Y--:. Yw h-y.-. ' ' f:v ' a : :-Y- V.Yf hhb-l . - " - : y- Y?YVvM fY v.-v: Y--'.'- ----- :Y:Y-V5 t4t- -:V , ,: .-. : -,'Y-:-Yv-Y-vJ . , : : v.:. ,YY;:-::.v--:;.rY' KHi j :ir : XiC' " ' vT- V.'-;;tJ v:;'Yt:K3 ' .'-Y l.-Y"?--- -YY";ilj :5Yl;'YI l : :. YY'-::' V YYY-3 - ',: v ' r KY;;YY7YYY: Y - Y ; : r I Elatnte or Wurtzelite vein in Dry Canyon snowing t:ie small" dimensions di-mensions in which veins of this mineral are found. siderable proportions running , through the Uinta Mountains but due to its isolation, no development develop-ment may be expected until improved im-proved transportation becomes a reality. There has been a recent reawakening re-awakening of interest in the copper cop-per deposits north of Vernal. As yet, not a great deal is known as j to the extent or value of these deposits. Time and development alone will tell. A summation of the above would tend to prove that in mineral min-eral resources alone, the Uintah Basin has a great potential. It is unfortunate that this area suffers under a distinct disadvantage, viz. that of lacking adequate transportation to develop supplies sup-plies of the more universally located lo-cated minerals. It is not possible for such ores as coal, phosphates, bentonite and natural asphalt to compete in the open market against sup- i plies from other areas if they must be trucked to the railheads, reloaded into freight cars and shipped to markets. Until some remedial action is taken to secure rail transportation transporta-tion into the Uintah Basin, it is very unlikely that further development de-velopment of these ore bodies will be attempted. |