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stratigraphic cross-sections of these units are located in Figure G-10, and <br />are shown in Figures G-11, G-12, and G-13. It is the Boies Bed that is the <br />target of the proposed mining operation, hence only this bed will be <br />described in detail. <br />The Boies Bed (L-5A1 is positioned stratigraphically near the base of the <br />' L-5 oil shale zone. It is the thickest (up to 30 feet) and richest <br />nahcolite horizon in the Saline Zone. Compositionally, the Boies Bed <br />consists of two distinct facies: nahcolite and nahcolite halite. Only the <br />nahcolite facies is currently being considered for commercial exploitation. <br />Sufficient drilling has been done in the lease area to broadly define the <br />facies distributions of the Boies Bed. These data indicate that the Boies <br />Bed is composed primarily of halite with a minor amount of nahcolite in the <br />northern part of the lease area, while in the southern part it is mostly <br />granular nahcolite. Between the halite and nahcolite facies is a <br />"transition facies" where the Boies Bed is partly halite and partly <br />C• nahcolite. Only two core holes, MMC-IRI-11 and Skyline-1, have penetrated <br />the transition facies (Figure G-14). In each hole, the upper one-third of <br />the Boies Bed is white granular nahcolite with the remainder being coarsely <br />crystalline nahcolitic halite. Apparently, the transition from halite to <br />nahcolite occurs be~i by bed, rather than as a gradual replacement of the <br />entire horizon. <br />Core holes MMC-IRI-1, MMC-IRI-2, and MMC-IRI-3 penetrated the Boies Bed <br />nahcolite facies. In each hole, the Boies Bed is approximately 32 feet <br />thick. <br />Within the nahcolite facies, the Boies Bed is dominated by granular <br />nahcolite that generally is white, light-brown, or tan in color. Thin beds, <br />stringers, and laminae of dark brownish-black oil shale are common. The <br />thickest oil-shale interbed (2 to 4 feet) occurs near the base of the Boies <br />Bed, and makes a convenient stratigraphic marker for correlation purposes. <br />• <br />G-14 <br />