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MOAB — Besides the stunning red rock and challenging hikes, Moab provides Utahns and Americans with another service they may not be as familiar with — potash.
Produced in potash mines throughout the country, and in Moab, this potassium-containing salt is used in fertilizer to help food grow.
According to NASA, potash forms after inland seas or lakes dry up. When the water evaporates, it leaves potassium salt behind. Sediment then buries the deposits, and they become potash ore. Moab's potash ore mine is about 3,900 feet below the surface, with ore that began forming more than 300 million years ago.
Moab's mine has a complicated system of pumping water underground to reach the potash ore, which dissolves it into a brine. The brine is pumped into caverns, where it continues to dissolve. After time, a high concentration of brine is pumped to the surface and into an evaporation pond. While evaporating, usually about a 300-day process, the potash crystallizes. Since dark water absorbs more sunlight and heat — speeding the crystallizing process — the water is dyed dark blue. The potash is then sent to a facility to be separated.
NASA reported that the U.S. produced 970,000 metric tons of potash in 2013, which is a mere 2 percent of global production. Eighty-five percent was used by the fertilizer industry, and the chemical industry used the rest.
