Notice of Expansion of the Lisbon Valley Known Potash Leasing Area, Utah

Potash is a trade name for potassium bearing minerals used mainly for fertilizer. Potash and certain other non-energy solid minerals found on Federal lands may be leased for development in either of two ways: (1) If it is unknown whether an area contains valuable potash deposits, an interested party may obtain a prospecting permit, which grants it the exclusive right to explore for potash, and, if a valuable deposit is found, that party may qualify for a noncompetitive lease; or (2) If the BLM has access to information which shows that valuable deposits of potash exist in an area, the area may be classified and designated a Known Potash Leasing Area (KPLA), where prospecting permits may not be issued, and any leasing must be done on a competitive basis. In 1960, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) established the Lisbon Valley KPLA, based on mineral land classification standards established in 1957. In 1983, under Secretarial Order 3087, the authority to designate KPLAs was transferred to the BLM. Recent advances in drilling technology have provided the capability to extract deep potash deposits using dissolution. Based on this new technology, the BLM approved new mineral land classification standards for the Utah portion of the Paradox Basin geologic province, which includes Lisbon Valley in 2009. The BLM Utah State Office used the new standards and the analysis of available drilling information to determine that the Lisbon Valley KPLA should be expanded to include deep solution-mineable potash deposits. Additional information regarding this KPLA expansion, including maps and the Potash Master Title Plats, are available in the Public Room of the BLM Utah State Office and at the following Web site: http://www.blm.gov/ut/st/en/prog/more/Land_Records.html. The lands included in the Lisbon Valley KPLA expansion, located in San Juan County, Utah, are described as follows: