Potash at Intrepid-Wendover is produced through solar evaporation of naturally occurring brines collected from the sedimentary basin adjacent to the processing facility via brine collection ditches and extraction wells. The potash content of the collected brine is concentrated by solar evaporation to the point that solids are precipitated and can be collected. Harvested solid salts are hauled to the processing facility, where they are dried, sized, and stored for shipment. Potash, MRS, NaCl, and MgCl are shipped by both truck and railvia I-80 and the UPRR.
Brines from the shallow-brine aquifer, drained by gravity, are gathered by a system of collection ditches, which are approximately 20 to 30 ft deep by 9 to 40 ft wide. The total collection ditch system covers a length of 117 miles and annually collects 3.4 billion gallons of brine from the shallow-brine aquifer. Brines pumped from the deep-brine aquifer are used to augment the shallow brine to the collection system.
Collected brines are pumped into a primary pond, and solar energy is utilized to heat the ponded brine so that evaporation may proceed. As the brine is concentrated to a point just short of potash precipitation in the primary pond, the brine is then transferred into a harvest pond for selective precipitation of the potash crude salt.
As water evaporation continues in the harvest pond, sylvinite, a physical mixture of NaCl and KCl, is precipitated to the pond floor until the brine ........
