By combining ancient techniques with advanced technologies, we annually produce salt, sulfate of potash (SOP) and magnesium chloride using the pond-based feedstock at our Great Salt Lake facility. Our 55,000-acre solar evaporation pond complex in Utah is one of only four in the world that can produce SOP from a naturally occurring brine source using solar evaporation.
Mineral-rich brine from the lake’s most remote areas is pumped into a series of shallow ponds where the sun naturally evaporates the water over a three-year span, leaving beds of naturally occurring crystallized minerals. The materials are then gathered, cleansed and processed to produce all-natural products.
The first mineral to precipitate from the brine is salt, which is packaged for consumer deicing, agricultural use or water conditioning. Salt may also be shipped in bulk for private and governmental agency deicing applications.
Next, a mineral feedstock capable of producing sulfate of potash (SOP) is deposited and must undergo additional processing to be ready for use. We harvest the SOP feedstock, crush it and feed it into our plant where it is mixed with brine to form a slurry. It is then agitated, cooled, crystallized, thickened and filtered to produce an intermediate product called schoenite. The schoenite is then converted to SOP in an equilibrium process where it is re-slurried with different brine, heated, crystallized as SOP, filtered and dried. It is then compacted and screened into our various grades of product. The SOP, sold under the name Protassium+®, improves the quality, yield and shelf life of high-value fruit, vegetable and tree nut crops. Protassium+ also offers a line of products approved for organic food production by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI).
The remaining liquid is primarily magnesium chloride, which can be used in numerous ways including roadway deicing, dust control and even as an early-stage plant nutrient for wheat crops and key ingredient in next-generation fire retardants.
The Ogden location has operated on the Great Salt Lake in Ogden, Utah, since 1968 and became part of the Compass Minerals family in 1993.
765 N. 10500 West
Ogden, Utah 84404
801.731.3100
