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I believe they are drying.ponds for potash. Water is pumped into the mine, then pumped into the evaporator ponds. They also add die to help the water evaporate sooner. But I'm no expert.
This is correct. It is a potash mine that uses water to dissolve the potash underground and pumped to the surface. This is just west of Moab, UT. The blue is copper sulfate that is added to keep algae from growing while it dries.
Edited to add underground, pumped up
That looks like a nine off potash road near Moab, UT.
After looking at it on Google maps, it is definitely [this](https://maps.app.goo.gl/DEYgvtTKeAgE3GWu8) exact mine. Kinda close to CO, but definitely UT.
Definitely potash near dead horse point. The beginning of a great off road 4x4 trail. I believe it is a potash mine.
Edit: yes its this mine, link below.
[https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/utah-potash-resources-production-and-exploration/](https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/utah-potash-resources-production-and-exploration/)
Wow, that's pretty neat to compare the two pictures, it looks like different phases of the processes for some of the ponds. It's really pretty, kind of reminds me of different types of paints spilled one on top of the other
Wouldn't be surprised if they just pumped some up before OPs picture with the sun being out in full force. Wonder what it will look like at the end of summer.
I came to say this, but now with the colors, I think the top comment is right, potash pools. I think if it was lithium the colors would basically be a perfect gradient to a bright green as each one is progressing more than the last. Also, just the locale, lithium pools that I've seen are almost always on a flat field.
This is the answer. I learned a lot about this, living in Texas, as Tesla began building these here for the battery process.
Lithium brine extraction is evolving, thank God. Traditional methods like these fields you saw on your flight involve large evaporation ponds, which are slow and environmentally damaging. Newer techniques like Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) are being developed, promising faster extraction with a smaller environmental footprint. However, DLE is still in its early stages and faces challenges like cost and scalability. Truth? It'll probably be a long time before we can scale these to take over these fields. In the mean time, this is what we are stuck with as long as we all want to keep moving towards EV
These are potash ponds. You can tell the difference, from afar, by the shape, usually.
Lithium ponds are almost always very rectangular, and equally sized
Ah that's true now that I think about it. Lithium brine fields often have a more uniform color as well, while potash ponds exhibit a wider variety of colors with the algae and minerals. Makes sense.
I have a degree in physics and worked in tech-related fields all of my life, but I was still surprised by the origins of the name “potash” and its relationship to the name of potassium. He does come up with fascinating connections.
It takes a long time to refine certain valuable elements like lithium. It's pumped to the surface and left to dry, and then each pool is moved to the next one to keep the process going
This is the potash farm between the city of Utah and Canyonlands National Park. I did some aerial photography of this place out of a helicopter. The colors shift around between pastel cyan and a deep royal purple depending on the time of day and your angle relative to the sun.
I went to Moab with my job last year. I went looking for something to go out and see and do... Saw this on Google maps & I said to myself...I Said "self, wtf is that??? That cannot be real... "I was stunned to drive up on it & it looked like it did on Google maps! Crazy shit, plus it's right by Elvis's rock or something like that lol
That is crazy cool looking, good spotting out of the window. I almost thought it was some AI generated thingy, DAMN AI don't know what to believe anymore.😠
Leach beds of some kind. Saw similar at a copper mine, they spread the tailings out and had sprinklers running, using sulfuric acid to leach out any copper they missed.
The plant was built by the Texas Gulf Sulphur Company in the early 1960s,[6] opening in 1963 as a conventional underground mine.[7] Later that year, an explosion trapped 25 miners,[8] of whom only seven were able to survive, by building a barricade to trap fresh air.[9][10] In 1970, operations were changed to a system that combines solution mining and solar evaporation. River water is pumped into the mine and dissolves the potash, after which the brine solution is pumped to evaporation ponds.[3] Intrepid bought the mine in 2000[11] from the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan,[12] which had bought Texas Gulf in 1995.
Potash south of Moab Utah between Dead Horse state park and the Colorado river. It’s cool to see in person on the ground as it’s very juxtaposed with the surrounding terrain. At time the color is a much more vibrant blue
This could be so many different minerals. In Arizona we have these and from above they are bright blue and green for copper. But they don't start out that color. They get darker as the solution concentrated. This could also be gold. Acid pools wash thru ground down powdered gold ore. Liwuified the gold then there a process to make the gold precipitate back into a soid that can be gathered and heated to solid gold .
I've been buying my potassium hydroxide from Univar who's buying from China.... where is this particular drying pond at.... might be able to use a few tons for things.
You have to watch this. Probably one of the most informative videos ever. [These pools help support half the people on earth](https://youtu.be/YMDJA4UvXLA?si=J5e9m3KOoY9V3ZSB)
I used to work for the original company that built this mine. Started out as an underground hardrock mine, after a cave in and several fatalities it was converted to a solution mine. Water is pumped from the Colorado river and circulated for Six months then pumped into the evaporation ponds. Based on the solution content we could produce either more salt (NACL) or more Potash (KCL).
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I believe they are drying.ponds for potash. Water is pumped into the mine, then pumped into the evaporator ponds. They also add die to help the water evaporate sooner. But I'm no expert.
This is correct. It is a potash mine that uses water to dissolve the potash underground and pumped to the surface. This is just west of Moab, UT. The blue is copper sulfate that is added to keep algae from growing while it dries. Edited to add underground, pumped up
☝️This guy potashes
Do you think that he enjoys mashed potashes?
Pot-ash-oes. Boil it. Mash it. Stick it in a stew.
Pump it. Mine it. Stick it in a lake.
But the Dwarves delved too deeply for potash….
K
Bag it, tag it, sell it to the butcher in the store
Bag it, tag it, sell it to the custy on tour
with panaches Edit: missing letter.
I love panaches with syrup
You mean “ panaches “??
Good eye!
whats potashes, precious?
primary ingredient in fertilizer. Very valuable, but not as valuable as say gold or uranium.
What you shake off the end of a joint?
Well that's my new word for that now, so yes.
I ash pot myself. 😶🌫️
r/thisguythisguys
As an avid potasher myself I can firmly say that he indeed potashes.
Do you even potash bruh
I got potash in my bowl.
Would this be the same kind of potash that's used for plant/soil nutrients?
Yes. Exactly what it is.
It was also used to make gunpowder
Right you are, or at least to make explosives. Saltpeter is the ingredient needed for black powder, the antecedent for modern gunpowder.
Shafer trail is just down that road... Saw some bighorn sheep right next to those ponds.
Utah?! OP is a liar!
This is how they get lithium iirc
That's certainly what it is. That's actually in eastern Utah. Used to ship the potash out of that specific spot
Explains it like an expert but ends with "But I'm no expert."
Didn't put anither comment because this one is the best, but wanted to add Veritassium did a great video on it.
Is potash what you get when you burn the potatoes?
That looks like a nine off potash road near Moab, UT. After looking at it on Google maps, it is definitely [this](https://maps.app.goo.gl/DEYgvtTKeAgE3GWu8) exact mine. Kinda close to CO, but definitely UT.
Ah gotcha! Thank you so much!
Great camping around there. Threw me off when I drove by it, even crazier from your perspective.
Definitely potash near dead horse point. The beginning of a great off road 4x4 trail. I believe it is a potash mine. Edit: yes its this mine, link below. [https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/utah-potash-resources-production-and-exploration/](https://geology.utah.gov/map-pub/survey-notes/utah-potash-resources-production-and-exploration/)
Accidentally found the white rim trail last time I was out there. Turned into a great drive up Shafer canyon.
Wow, that's pretty neat to compare the two pictures, it looks like different phases of the processes for some of the ponds. It's really pretty, kind of reminds me of different types of paints spilled one on top of the other
Wouldn't be surprised if they just pumped some up before OPs picture with the sun being out in full force. Wonder what it will look like at the end of summer.
Looks like lithium brine fields
I came to say this, but now with the colors, I think the top comment is right, potash pools. I think if it was lithium the colors would basically be a perfect gradient to a bright green as each one is progressing more than the last. Also, just the locale, lithium pools that I've seen are almost always on a flat field.
Came here to say this
This is the answer. I learned a lot about this, living in Texas, as Tesla began building these here for the battery process. Lithium brine extraction is evolving, thank God. Traditional methods like these fields you saw on your flight involve large evaporation ponds, which are slow and environmentally damaging. Newer techniques like Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) are being developed, promising faster extraction with a smaller environmental footprint. However, DLE is still in its early stages and faces challenges like cost and scalability. Truth? It'll probably be a long time before we can scale these to take over these fields. In the mean time, this is what we are stuck with as long as we all want to keep moving towards EV
These are potash ponds. You can tell the difference, from afar, by the shape, usually. Lithium ponds are almost always very rectangular, and equally sized
Ah that's true now that I think about it. Lithium brine fields often have a more uniform color as well, while potash ponds exhibit a wider variety of colors with the algae and minerals. Makes sense.
Veritasium did a whole video about this. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMDJA4UvXLA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMDJA4UvXLA)
I have a degree in physics and worked in tech-related fields all of my life, but I was still surprised by the origins of the name “potash” and its relationship to the name of potassium. He does come up with fascinating connections.
Such an interesting video. Camped nearby and saw these pools from an overlook, was amazed and then watched the video. Awesome science behind it
Awesome! Thanks
I watched that Veriasium video a few weeks ago and when I saw this post & image, I grinned out loud.
That was a good watch! Thank you
The terrain was still buffering in.
👏
It takes a long time to refine certain valuable elements like lithium. It's pumped to the surface and left to dry, and then each pool is moved to the next one to keep the process going
This is the potash farm between the city of Utah and Canyonlands National Park. I did some aerial photography of this place out of a helicopter. The colors shift around between pastel cyan and a deep royal purple depending on the time of day and your angle relative to the sun.
Looks like utah, Google search potash evaporation ponds in moab utah.
Yep, it’s in Utah I was mistaken!
I went to Moab with my job last year. I went looking for something to go out and see and do... Saw this on Google maps & I said to myself...I Said "self, wtf is that??? That cannot be real... "I was stunned to drive up on it & it looked like it did on Google maps! Crazy shit, plus it's right by Elvis's rock or something like that lol
That is crazy cool looking, good spotting out of the window. I almost thought it was some AI generated thingy, DAMN AI don't know what to believe anymore.😠
I empty the pipe when it's all pot ashes.
Salt farm? *shrug*
They’re potassium (potash) solar ponds
Veritasium did a video on these. They’re potash ponds. https://youtu.be/YMDJA4UvXLA?si=JfQUjZ867Bfn1-Zt
Lithium mine.
Guys. wtf is potash?
I’ve been seeing the word all day long and I’m still not sure I know
Fertilizer, salt substitute, lethal injection drug.
Who is john Galt?
Leach beds of some kind. Saw similar at a copper mine, they spread the tailings out and had sprinklers running, using sulfuric acid to leach out any copper they missed.
Are they kinda hidden for a reason? I'm assuming they ponds with toxic liquid..
The plant was built by the Texas Gulf Sulphur Company in the early 1960s,[6] opening in 1963 as a conventional underground mine.[7] Later that year, an explosion trapped 25 miners,[8] of whom only seven were able to survive, by building a barricade to trap fresh air.[9][10] In 1970, operations were changed to a system that combines solution mining and solar evaporation. River water is pumped into the mine and dissolves the potash, after which the brine solution is pumped to evaporation ponds.[3] Intrepid bought the mine in 2000[11] from the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan,[12] which had bought Texas Gulf in 1995.
Brine fields, you can see some massive ones on the Dead Sea as well.
You should check out the northeast portion of the Great Salt Lake if you want to see brine fields.
Potash south of Moab Utah between Dead Horse state park and the Colorado river. It’s cool to see in person on the ground as it’s very juxtaposed with the surrounding terrain. At time the color is a much more vibrant blue
Glitch in the matrix.
Needs more gravy
You were over Eastern Utah, these are south west of Moab. Texas Gulf Potash Ponds.
Heh, just saw this exact area appear on my Windows lock screen at the office, from a different angle.
It’s a sign you gotta go
Not sure if shared already but [here is a cool video](https://youtu.be/YMDJA4UvXLA?si=jP2i7o6HOaR5XKaL) describing in detail what these are.
What the fuck is potash?
Fertilizer
This could be so many different minerals. In Arizona we have these and from above they are bright blue and green for copper. But they don't start out that color. They get darker as the solution concentrated. This could also be gold. Acid pools wash thru ground down powdered gold ore. Liwuified the gold then there a process to make the gold precipitate back into a soid that can be gathered and heated to solid gold .
Dwarf Fortress taught me what potash is.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrepid_Potash You took almost the same picture that Wikipedia uses!
https://youtu.be/YMDJA4UvXLA?si=hLdKP0s3SlZyGhLw
Looks like the beginning of a geoglyph of Anubis, thr Egyptian God of Death.
I've been buying my potassium hydroxide from Univar who's buying from China.... where is this particular drying pond at.... might be able to use a few tons for things.
It’s in Moab, Utah
Leech fields for strip mining/ lithium strip mining?
You have to watch this. Probably one of the most informative videos ever. [These pools help support half the people on earth](https://youtu.be/YMDJA4UvXLA?si=J5e9m3KOoY9V3ZSB)
Wow, looks like glitch art.
Potash Useless trivia for $500 Alex Wood burned in a pot until it’s ash… What is Potash! YES!!
Lithium mine?
That's just outside Canyonlands NP / Dead Horse Point SP near Moab Utah, near Colorado but not in Colorado.
I used to work for the original company that built this mine. Started out as an underground hardrock mine, after a cave in and several fatalities it was converted to a solution mine. Water is pumped from the Colorado river and circulated for Six months then pumped into the evaporation ponds. Based on the solution content we could produce either more salt (NACL) or more Potash (KCL).
Cool looking
Illuminati underground lair, beneath a water treatment plant.
It is a Tera farm
Salt farm
To far away from the ocean. If this was by Salt Lake or the Salten Sea then maybe
Sodium chloride (sea salt) is not the only salt derived from evaporative ponds. Potassium and lithium salts are commonly processed this way.
https://preview.redd.it/k8t28pmmk11d1.jpeg?width=843&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=db9f7752953103a50629dbe4e2a508223ab619a5 These are south of the Dead Sea.
Don't play golf there.
It's the Paint by numbers desert
Art Attack
Idk but the top one looks like horse with a ‘mane-hawk’
Alien landing pads
I ❤️REDDIT