The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1911-12-26
REPORT ON STATE
POTASH RESOURCES


vey has just issued short report, by
Hoyt s. Gale, on the progress of the
work of deep drilling for potash which
is being carried on in Carson sink, Ne
vada, near the town of Fallon. While
no discovery of potash salts is an
nounced by the survey, Mr.. Gales re-
port is a distinct and valuable contri-
button to the discussion of potash, set
ting forth clearly the broad, basic
reasons which lead the geologists to
the belief that they will find, sooner or
later, in some one of these desert
basins commercial deposits of soluble
potash such as constitute the great
Stassfurt beds in Germany.
Last winter congress appropriated
$4,000 to enable the geological sur
vey to prosecute search for potash,
the money becoming available July /.
An APPROPRIATION of $12,500 was also
made to the bureau of soils for a like
purpose, and it was mutually agreed
that the two appropriations should be
administered in the spirit of .co-opera-
tion, with an avoidance of duplication
in work and territory.
Five Sources of Potash.
In a summary of the occurrence Of
potash in the United States, pub
lished by the survey last winter, five
general sources were mentioned-(D
igneous rocks, (2) marls, (3) alunite,
az salines and (5) organic sources, in
cluding wood ashes, beetsugar mo-
lasses and residue, wool scourings and
seaweed or kelp. The geological survey
has confined its activities to work on
mineral saline deposits and is devoting
large part of its appropriation to the
project of drilling for possible deposits
of burned salts.
Wyoming's Possibilities.
The first field work under the new
appropriation was done in southern
Wyoming, in the geologic formations
termed the cred Beds,' which are
known to be rich in salines, suggesting
for many reasons the possibility OF
carrying deposits of the Stassfurt
type. considerable amount of study
had already been devoted to this area
and accordingly the data relating to
the Wyoming salines were collected ano
reviewed and this work was followed
by field examinations. These investi
cations indicated that the assumption
of the existence of beds of potash
salts in the Laramie Basin in southern
Wyoming is logical, but the data al
hand, which were fairly complete
proved to be chiefly of negative char
acter so far as revealing any unusual
amounts of potash is concerned.
Realizing on Early Survey Work.
Extension of the study of the Grea
Basin desert region revealed this al
the most promising area for the sur
vey's first drilling operations. Thi
conclusion was based largely on th'
early geologic work of G. K. Gilber
and r. C. RUSSELL who, in survey mon
ographs I and XI, describe in scien
tifc detail the prehistoric Lakes Bon
neville and Lahontan. These ancien
lakes were, in a former geologic age
enormous bodies of water, many time
the area of Lake Superior, and Mr.
Gale states that no more convincin,
reason can be advanced for the belle,
that immense quantities of saline ma
tcrial must be included in the st 'at.
of the Great Basin than that set fortl
in the philosophic writings of thes'
eminent biologists. His report con
tains direct quotations from thes'
monographs, describing in detail thu
origin and structure of the old lak'
beds, and he adds that there exists il
these treatises, representing field in
vestigations in the early eighties, ;
wealth of maturely digested data OF
which to base the proposed plan o.
operations in 1911 From the study o.
these reports with their excellent map
| i was concluded that the most promis
ing test of the hypothesis of possible
buried salines in concentrated form
would be somewhere in the low por
tions of either Lathontan or the Bon
neville basin. The Lahontan bash
was chosen because that lake is known
to have never overflowed. The drill
site is in section 30, township 21 north
range 80 east. in Nevada.
A copy of Mr.. Gale g report may b
obtained on application to the Directo
of the United States Geological Sur
vey, Washington, D. G.
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