The Phosphate mine you see on both sides of the road from this view point is developed through a series of tasks. The Topsoil (a 4" to 8" layer on the very top of the surface) is removed and kept for reclamation later. This exposes a layer of Carbonate and Shale (30' to 45' thick) which they call overburden. This layer isn't carrying enough minerals to mine by itself but is also kept for use in reclamation. Once this layer is removed the Ore layer is exposed.
The Ore layer is on average 17' to 20' thick and is very recognizable by its color. This is fed into a grinding mill, then grinded and piped into a process center which increases the Phosphate content from 20% average up to the 30% range. The slurry from this process is then piped into a underground pipe running all the way up to Rock Springs 96 miles away!
The Mines history starts with Harry Ratliffe in 1915 staked out almost 15,000 acres. In 1958 the deposit was developed by San Francisco Chemical, in the 60's by Stauffer Chemical, in the 80's by Chevron. In this century J.R. Simplot has purchased it and Simplot phosphates LLC now runs the operations
Most of this mines Phosphate is used in Fertilizer. The Fertilizer is then used in agricultural applications.
Phosphates are the naturally occurring form of Phosphorus. In the United States it's mined in Florida, Idaho, North and South Carolina, Montana, Tennessee, and Georgia. Over the world it's most commonly found in Egypt, Israel and Jordon.
Here it's found in a sedimentary rock from the Phosphoria formation. This formation is 15 million years of sediment building with some area's thickness at over 1000'. This formation covers a large area of the western United States. Its age ranges from 298 million years ago to 250 million years ago (The last period of the Paleozoic era).
Phosphate is highly sought after because of its use in agriculture with helping things grow all over the world. It's current supplies everyone has different rates of when we will run out, but the average is within a couple of centuries.
The uses for Phosphate would surprise you, it's used in Soft drinks, Pharmaceuticals, Textiles, Sugars and even in Jellies!
The following Material were used for Reference:
- Utahrails.net/industries
- U.S. Department of the Interior, Professional papers and Geological surveys
- Simplot.com
- www.pocatelloshops.com
- California Division of Mines and Geology
- Wikipedia
Logging Requirements: Please E-Mail me the answers, don't post any pictures of the site itself. /b>
1. Type in GC5DGVT Utah's Phosphate.
2. How many layers of Rock do you see across the highway? What colors are they from top to bottom?
3. What layer do you think the overburden is? The color?
4. What is your best guess as to the layer of Ore and what is the color?
5. Of the three main types of rocks (Metamorphic, Sedimentary and Igneous) what type is this Ore found in?