Passport Potash received permits from the Arizona Oil and Gas Conservation Commission to drill 8 exploratory coreholes on the Twin Buttes Ranch property near Holbrook to evaluate the potash potential. AZGS issued the permits on behalf of the Commission. In 2008, AZGS released a report showing that vast potash resources may underlie the area. [right, credit Passport Potash]
Meanwhile Mesa Uranium announced that "it has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Passport Potash ("PPI") on the Holbrook Potash project. The project consists of Arizona State Land Department exploration leases covering 1,950 acres and is 100% wholly-owned by Mesa."
Mesa Uranium says it "explores and develops lithium, uranium and potash properties in the western United States. Mesa's Green Energy Lithium Project in Utah contains lithium values as high as 1,700 ppm, 8% potash, 19% magnesium chloride, 0.6% bromine and 0.12% boron. - ."
Update (7-18-10): the permits are posted on the AZOGCC website.
MLA posts: I received this inquiry/comment from Randy in Utah, who ran into a problem posting it:
ReplyDelete"I was wondering if cores and/or cuttings from the project will stay with the company, or will they be deposited with the AZGS?
Also, is any of the land to be cored part of the Petrified Forest National Park boundary expansion? I think at least part of this ranch is in the boundary expansion if memory serves me correctly."
Here's my response:
The cores are the property of the exploration company although we request that they give us a slab or the entire core once they are done. There are two recent cores that are in commercial labs for analysis, and the company plans on donating them to AZGS when that work is done. So we could get those cores in the near future. We are clearing out space in our core room for about 60 boxes of core.
The 8 core holes just permitted appear to be all on private lands of the Twin Buttes Ranch, within the expanded boundaries of the Park. The permits are posted at the Arizona Oil & Gas Conservation Commission website - #992 through #999 - http://www.azogcc.az.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=51&Itemid=59