page_title: Great Salt Lake
section_title: Commerce
hierarchical_section_title: Great Salt Lake / Commerce
caption_attribution_description: English: Evaporation ponds on the Great Salt Lake west of Ogden, Utah, USA. This photo was taken in July 2006.
context_page_description: The Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt water lake in the Western Hemisphere, and the eighth-largest terminal lake in the world. In an average year the lake covers an area of approximately 1,700 square miles, but the lake's size fluctuates substantially due to its shallowness. For instance, in 1963 it reached its lowest recorded size at 950 square miles, but in 1988 the surface area was at the historic high of 3,300 square miles. In terms of surface area, it is the largest lake in the United States that is not part of the Great Lakes region.
  The lake is the largest remnant of Lake Bonneville, a prehistoric pluvial lake that once covered much of western Utah. The three major tributaries to the lake, the Jordan, Weber, and Bear rivers together deposit approximately 1.1 million tons of minerals in the lake each year. As it is endorheic, it has very high salinity and its mineral content is steadily increasing. Due to the high density resulting from its mineral content, swimming in the Great Salt Lake is similar to floating. Its shallow, warm waters cause frequent, sometimes heavy lake-effect snows from late fall through spring.
context_section_description: Great Salt Lake contributes an estimated $1.3 billion annually to Utah's economy, including $1.1 billion from industry (primarily mineral extraction), $136 million from recreation, and $57 million from the harvest of brine shrimp.
  Solar evaporation ponds at the edges of the lake produce salts and brine (water with high salt quantity). Minerals extracted from the lake include: sodium chloride (common salt), used in water softeners, salt lick blocks for livestock, and to melt ice on local roadways (food-grade salt is not produced from the lake, as it would require costly processing to ensure its purity); potassium sulfate, used as a commercial fertilizer; and magnesium-chloride brine, used in the production of magnesium metal, chlorine gas, and as a dust suppressant. US Magnesium operates a plant on the southwest shore of the lake, which produces 14% of the worldwide supply of magnesium, more than any other North American magnesium operation. Mineral-extraction companies operating on the lake pay royalties on their products to the State of Utah, which owns the lake.
  The harvest of brine shrimp cysts during fall and early winter has developed into a significant local industry, with the lake providing 35% to 45% of the worldwide supply of brine shrimp, and cysts selling for as high as $35 per pound ($77/kg). Brine shrimp were first harvested during the 1950s and sold as commercial fish food. In the 1970s the focus changed to their eggs, known as cysts, which were sold primarily outside the US as food for shrimp, prawns, and some fish. Today, these are mostly sold in East Asia and South America. The amount of cysts and the quality are affected by several factors, but salinity is most important. The cysts will hatch at 2 to 3% salinity, but the greatest productivity is at salinities above about 10%. If the salinity drops near 5% to 6%, the cysts will lose buoyancy and sink, making them more difficult to harvest.
  The lake's north arm contains deposits of oil, but it is of poor quality and it is not economically feasible to extract and purify it. As of 1993, approximately 3,000 barrels (480 m³) of crude oil had been produced from shallow wells along the shore. The oil field at Rozel Point produced an estimated 10,000 barrels (1,600 m³) of oil from 30 to 50 wells, but has been inactive since the mid-1980s. Oil seeps in the area had been known since the late 19th century, and attempts at production began in 1904. Industrial debris from this field remained in place near Spiral Jetty until a cleanup effort by the Division of Oil, Gas and Mining and the Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands was completed in December 2005.
caption: Solar evaporation ponds in the Northeast portion of the lake. Fremont Island is visible to the South (top of image)
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