Information Only - Waste Isolation Pilot Plant - U.S. Department of ...

VII-2
boundary of the WIPP enclave, and there will nc be no need to build an entirely new
potash mine and plant facility. Previous ~valuators assumed that such a new facility
would be required. The'sults indicated the following tonnages could be mined
profitably:
4th ore zone: 72.4 million tons (6.0 ft mining height, > 6.25 % Kp as langbeinite)
of which 18.0 million tons lie within and 54.4 million tOlE outside of
WIPP;
10th ore zone: 107.8 million tons (4.5 ft mining height, > 12.25% Kp as
sylvite) of which 30.6 million tons lie within and 77.2 million tons outside
ofWIPP.
FORMULATION OF THE DRILL-HOLE DATABASE
Drill holes available for use in reserve calculations. In 1976 Sandia National
Laboratories (SNL) in cooperation with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) drilled 21
potash-evaluation holes w:thin and immediately adjacent to the current WIPP Site.
Complete records of these 21 holes have been reported by Jones (1978). In addition, 18
potaSh-evaluation drill holes (seven within the current site ane 12 immediately adjacent to
the site) were drilled by private companies which submitted records of assayed intervals
to the USGS Conservation Division (subsequentl)'~tn.nsfertedto the BLM). Copies of
these records were obtained from the BLM Carlsbad Resource Area Office. One additional
hole, ABC No.8, drilled as part of an earlier WlPP Site evaluation, was cored and
assayed for potash. The hole lies just northeast of the WIPP boundary. These 40 holes
provided the database for potash reserve calculations.
A complete listing of the 40 holes used in the reserve calculation is given in Table 1
and their locations are shown on Plate 1.
Brief history of drill holes that constituteJbe database. In 1978 the USGS
performed the first potash-reserve smdy at WIP.P (John et al., 1978): IIfthat report, the
assay results of 37 of the 40 holes were given. The records of three industry drilled
holes, 1-377, 1-456, and 1-457, were obtained from the BLM. The assay records of these
three holes became available to the public after the Department of Energy (DOE) bought
out the lease holdings ofIMe Fertilizers, Inc.
Special note is made of hole 0-123 that is at the eastern edge of sec. 34 in the
southeast corner of the WIPP Site. This hole was drilled to a depth of 1880 ft, deep
enough to penetrate all the are zones. but no assay records were provided to the BLM.
The company that drilled the hole in 1953 (Duval Sulphur ;j Potash) apparently thought
the core revealed no commer~lal potash. This hole was eh:..,,;]8ted from our database. It
had little effect on resourc', :;alculation.
Information Only