# What's this chemical facility in the middle of Utah? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 9, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-chemical-facility-in-the-middle-of-utah/599041 "2011-10-09T00:42:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-chemical-facility-in-the-middle-of-utah/599041/1 "2011-10-09T00:42:07Z")
edit: Title should’ve really been “in the middle of nowhere in Utah”, since this wasn’t geographically in the middle of the state. I took [this picture](http://www.senorbeef.net/photos/IMG_12174.JPG)near the eastern border of Utah near I-70. I don’t remember how far off or what direction from the interstate this was. There was this lone little group of vats and silos and other assorted goodies in the middle of nowhere. Is it a super secret meth lab?!? Or what? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-chemical-facility-in-the-middle-of-utah/599041/2 "2011-10-09T02:03:02Z")
There are a lot of mines in Utah, and this is probably associated with one of them. One possibility is Uranium mining. There were some still-functioning uranium mines in Utah when I lived there many years ago, They mostly closed by 2000, but in recent years the price of uranium has gone up, making them economically viable again: > **[Uranium mining in Utah](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium_mining_in_Utah)** > > Uranium mining in Utah, a state of the United States, has a history going back more than 100 years. Uranium mining started as a byproduct of vanadium mining about 1900, became a byproduct of radium mining about 1910, then back to a byproduct of vanadium when the radium price fell in the 1920s. Utah saw a uranium boom in the late 1940s and early 1950s, but uranium mining declined in the 1980s. Since 2001 there has been a revival of interest in uranium mining, as a result of higher uranium price... That’s just one possibility. There are lots of random minerals out in the Utah/Colorado/Wyoming area. Here are a few of the re-opened Uranium mines: [http://www.wise-uranium.org/upusaut.html#GREENRMANCOS](http://www.wise-uranium.org/upusaut.html#GREENRMANCOS) [http://uraniumwatch.org/minesutah.htm](http://uraniumwatch.org/minesutah.htm) Here’s a list of non-uranium mines: [http://www.trainweb.org/utahrails/mining/utmines.html](http://www.trainweb.org/utahrails/mining/utmines.html) ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-chemical-facility-in-the-middle-of-utah/599041/3 "2011-10-09T04:58:02Z")
Holy shit, I found it in like 30 seconds out of pure dumb luck. I looked at eastern Utah near 70 and saw a black spot. Go to google maps and paste this into the search box: 39.195557, -109.090417 and look up to the left for the green arrow. I can’t find any info on it though, even on a topo map. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-chemical-facility-in-the-middle-of-utah/599041/4 "2011-10-09T05:09:00Z")
It looks like some sort of very small scale mineral recovery operation. The objects laying on their sides to the right and left of the picture are bone pile out of commision blending or maybe just storage silos. These often have a powered screw/auger up the middle and then they would dump from the bottom onto a conveyor belt or into another auger for product transport to other machines. The upright silos are for current storage and the machinery between the silos and the white building are most likley hammer mills for grinding and also screening equipment. The white building is a modular office for one or 2 operators. The berms and piles around the area are tailings and what looks like large bags sitting on top of the berm in the rear is finished product storage for the ground and screened product. Whatever that end product is, probably potash… ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2011, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-this-chemical-facility-in-the-middle-of-utah/599041/5 "2011-10-09T05:21:39Z")
This near me; I’ve driven by it a bunch of times. I’ve never actually seem anyone there. There is some low-grade coal and oil shale up there. It’s VERY small scale. It’s even possible that they are looking for fossils.