State of Washington ALBERT D. ROSELLINI, Governor Department of Conservation EARL COE, Director DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY MARSHALL T. HUNTTING, Supervisor Bulletin No. 4 9 SALINE LAKE DEPOSITS IN WASHINGTON By W. A. G. BENNETT STAT• PRINTING P'L/\NT. OLYMPIA, WASH. 19112 FOREWORD Because large tonnages of sodium sulfate are consumed in the paper and paperboard and other industries in the Pacific Northwest, there has been a continuing interest in developing natural sources of this material here. As a result of requests received in this office for information on Wash- ington deposits of sodium sulfate, sodium carbonate, epsomite, and other salts, the Division of Mines and Geology in the winter of 1944 started field examinations of the saline-lake deposits of the State. The field work was completed in 1945, analyses were made of samples of salts and brines, maps of the principal deposits were drafted, and tonnages were calculated for the salts in these deposits. Dr. W. A. G. Bennett, who was in charge of the work, wrote his report on the so Ii ne-lake deposits of Washington soon after completion of the survey, but, because of slackening of interest in local sources of these salts, the manuscript was not finally prepared for publication until early in 1962. In the intervening years many requests for information on our saline-lake deposits have been filled by releasing the manuscript data to those who have asked for it. The continuing inquiries and the inconvenience and cost of reproducing the requested sections of the report were influential in the decision to publish the report at the present time. Just when the manuscript was ready for submission to the printer, the Area Redevelopment Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce announced a Technical Assistance Project to determine the feasibility of producing sodium sulfate and other salts from deposits on the Colville Indian Reservation in Okanogan County. All the relevant data. in this report have been released to the investigators for the Area Redevelopment Administration, and it is expected that their survey wil I add materially to the knowledge about many of our saline-lake deposits reported in this bulletin. Marshal I T. Huntting, Supervisor Division of Mines and Geology Olympia, Washington August 1, 1962 iii ' CONTENTS Page Foreword----·--------------------------------------------------------------------- iii Introduction~--------------------·------~----------------------------------------- 1 location and climatic features ----------------------------------------------- l Purpose and scope of the report ---------------------------------------------- l History and production ------------------------------------------------------- l Earlier i nvesti gati ons -------------------------------------------------------- 2 Methods of field work ---------------------------------------------------·---- 4 Acknowledgments----------------------------------------------------------- 5 Regional geologic setting and distribution ---------------------------------------------- 7 Deposits--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Genera I features ------------------------------------------------------------ 7 Permanent crystal----------------------------------------------------------- 8 Intermittent crysta I ---------------------------------------------------------- 10 Lake muds ----------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Minero logy ---------------------------------------------------------------- 11 Origin -------------------------------------------------------------------- 14 Reserves------------------------------------------------------------------- 17 Sodium carbonate lakes------------------------------------------------------ 19 Grant County ------------------------------------------------------ 19 Carbonate lake--------------------------------------------- 19 Location, size, and access -------------------------- 19 Topography and geology ----------------------------- 19 History and production ------------------------------- 20 The salts ------------------------------------------- 21 Logs of holes --------------------------------------- 26 Tonnage estimate ----------------------------------- 29 Soap Lake ------------------------------------------------- 30 Location, size, and access --------------------------- 30 Topography and geology ----------------------------- 30 History -------------------------------------------- 32 The salts ------------------------------------------- 32 Tonnage estimate ----------------------------------- 33 Mitchel I lake ---------------------------------------------- 35 location, size, and access --------------------------- 35 Topography and geology ----------------------------- 37 History and production ------------------------------- 37 The sa Its ------------------------------------------- 37 Tonnage estimate ----------------------------------- 38 Other lakes in Grant County --------------------------------- 40 Lenore Lake---------------------------------------- 40 Black Lake----------------------------------------- 40 Moses Lake ---------------------------------------- 40 Tucker lake---------------------------------------- 42 Okanogan County--------------------------------------------------- 42 Omak Lake ------------------------------------------------ 42 location, size, and access --------------------------- 42 Topography and geology ----------------------------- 44 The salts ------------------------------------------- 45 Tonnage estimate ------------------------------------ 47 Rimrock Lake ---------------------------------------------- 47 V CONTENTS Deposits-continued Sodium su Ifate lakes -------------------------------------------------------­ 49 Grant County ------------------------------------------------------ 49 Sulphate Lake---------------------------------------------- 49 Location, size, and access --------------------------­ 49 Topography and geology ----------------------------­ 51 Hi story and production ------------------------------- 51 The sa I ts ------------------------------------------­ 51 Logs of holes --------------------------------------- 53 Tonnage estimate ----------------------------------- 54 Okanogan County--------------------------------------------------- 54 Salt or Soap Lake ------------------------------------------- 54 Location, size, and access --------------------------­ 54 Topography and geology ----------------------------- 55 The salh ------------------------------------------- 55 Tonnage estimate ----------------------------------- 56 B-J Lake -------------------------------------------------- 58 Location, size, and access --------------------------- 58 Topography and geology ----------------------------- 58 The salh ------------------------------------- ----- 58 Tonnage estimate ----------------------------------- 60 Virginia Lake ---------------------------------------------- 62 Location, size, and access --------------------------­ 62 Topography and geology ----------------------------­ 62 History and production ------------------------------- 62 The salh ------------------------------------------- 62 Tonnage estimate ----------------------------------- 64 Lake 32 --------------------------------------------------- 64 Location, size, and access --------------------------- 64 Topography and geology ----------------------------­ 64 Hi story and production ------------------------------- 66 The salh ------------------------------------------­ 66 Stevens Lake----------------------------------------------- 68 Lawson Lake------------------------------------------------ 69 Location, size, and access --------------------------­ 69 Topography and geology ----------------------------- 69 Development--------------------------------------- 71 The salh ------------------------------------------ 71 Morris Lake ------------------------------------------------ 74 Location, size, and access --------------------------­ 74 Topography and geology ----------------------------- 74 Development--------------------------------------­ 74 The salts ------------------------------------------- 74 Hauan Lake------------------------------------------------ 77 Location, size, and access --------------------------­ 77 Topography and geology------------------------------ 77 History and development ----------------------------- 78 The sa I ts ------------------------------------------- 78 Tonnage estimate ----------------------------------- 79 Deposit No. 13 --------------------------------------------- 82 Location, size, and access --------------------------­ 82 Topography and geology ----------------------------- 82 The salts ------------------------------------------ 82 Tonnage estimate ----------------------------------- 85 vi CONTENTS Deposits-continued Sodium sulfate lakes-continued Okanogan County-continued Murray Lake ----------------------------------------------- 85 Location, size, and access --------------------------­ 85 Topogrophy and geology------------------------------ 85 Development --------------------------------------­ 87 The salts ---------------------------------- -------- 87 Tonnage estimate ----------------------------------- 88 Deposit No. 16 --------------------------------------------- 88 Location, size, and access --------------------------­ 88 Tonnage estimate ----------------------------------- 91 Potterson Lake ---------------------------------------------­ 91 Cook Lake------------------------------------------------­ 94 Penley Lake------------------------------------------------