The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1912-04-18
FIND POTASH IN BORAX lake
Ancient Lake Bed in Mohave Desert
of California May Yield Mil
lions of Tons.

The two federal bureaus engaged the search for potash
the Bureau of Soils of the Department Of Agriculture and
the Geological Survey of the Department of the lnteroale
in receipt of promising Geographic from their field rep
resenatves potash deposit of apparently great import
has been discovered at BoaX Searess lake in the
northwestern Of San Bernardino county, California
lake playa is the last remaining pocket of once much
greater lake which has almost dried and its central deres
sion contains large body Of crystalline salts known to con
sist salt and suphate and carbonate OF soda with
smaller quantities of borax This salt body saturated with
brine and interested persons stimulated by the governmental
search for potash recently secured an analysis OF ola Sample
material from this brine The result being significant the
lake visited jointly by representatives OF the Geological
Survey and the Bureau of Soils who took brine samples from
six weels distributed the salt flat Analyses OF these
samples have been by the cooperative laboratory at the
Macay School of Mines at Reno Nevada and show an aver
age of CTS per cent of potassium oxide k2O IN solution e
average anty Of the brine 4382 grams OF sods per oo
cubic cenmeters Comparison of the results indicates that
the brnes are nearly uniform throughout the flat The prob
able Importance of the deposit due to the OF the
potassium salts in soluble form natural saturated BRINE
and under climatic and other conditions especially favorao
to its separation and recovery by solar evaporation Existing
data give reasonable that the brine saturated san
body least 60 feet thick and an area OF at least
square miles, Assuming the salt body to contain % per ce
by volume of the Brine the total amount OF potassium oSd
is estimated at over 900 short tons This estimate be
eved to be very conservative and the available tonnage may
we'll be expected to exceed 100000 TONS which would supply
the country the present rate OF consumption OF potash o
so years At any rate it appears that this locality constitutes
very important source of potash in probably readily avail
able commercial form.
Methods Of separating potash from brnes are now noel
investigation by the Bureau OF Soils.
Borax lake Searess lake is of the payas or
internationally wet and dry lakes throughout the ard
regions Of the west It lies between the Argus and Slate
ranges in the Mohave desert Of southern California Borax
lake the original Of the famous 20mue team borax
NINE the borax being hauled in great drawn by 20 to
% big mules the Southern Pacific railroad at Moave dis
lance Of 80 miles The lake or flat is about 10 miles long and
five miles wide and has received the drainage from the sur
rounding hills for many thousands of vast quantities OF
dissolved minerals being thus concentrated in It, The water
has been evaporated under the intense heat of the long hot
but the salts have remained that for most OF the
year. in fact often throughout the the bed glsteng
plain of white Salts in attempting to which under bra
zen sun men have lost their lives.
The mirage plays it's strange tricks here and at the dyest
places the traveller generally what appears to be broad