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Roger Day: <br />Back on the food - grade/bicarb issue, the core from the RS- 96 -20 -1 borehole was placed in a <br />lab autoclave for leach and crystallization testing under pressures and temperatures <br />anticipated within the cavity. Note, these conditions are different then White River's <br />experience. The first time we ended up leaching the core and precipitating yellow bicarb. <br />Yellow bicarb is not marketable. An alternative process was subsequently developed which <br />did produce the necessary pure white bicarb. The yellow bicarb resulted from an impurity <br />leached from the core. It co- crystallized with the bicarb making it impossible to remove by <br />washing. The result and the solution were surprising. The revised process will be developed <br />in the experimental project. <br />Jim Komatinsky: <br />Jerry, I just have a question about that matrix we talked about. I know some of the other <br />projects indicated that they were basically injecting steam and there will be some physical <br />rubblizing of this, mechanical rubblizing. The pressures going in there is not just dissolving <br />the nodules but will actually be some mechanical pressure and steam going in there, will <br />there be much with this process? <br />Jerry Daub: <br />This gets back again to the experimental nature where there are several potential <br />methodology to use. <br />An undercut may mechanically drive the process. A gas cap directs the barren or leaching <br />solutions toward the more soluble beds. Some of them do contain 65- weight- percent <br />nahcolite over a six -ft interval. In those, I would expect it to tend to rubblize more and <br />probably disassociate the material. But, they're not of the same order as some of the other <br />thicker beds. The ones that are more soluble, for instance, are in the R3 -A and in the <br />R3 Zones where you have a lot of nodules more closely spaced together. Part of the mining <br />theory is to be able to extend your well bore influence by exfoliation of some of the matrix <br />material to access some of the nodules and dissolve them. The majority of that 500- to 550 -ft <br />vertical sequence is going to be primarily matrix. But there are the Love Bed, the TI Bed and <br />the Greeno Bed that are richer that would probably tend to disassociate and rubblize easier. <br />Roger Day: <br />Rubblization experiments by Shell conducted placed a large, cubic -yard- sized, block of <br />nahcolitic oil shale in a big autoclave. Under cavity like temperature and pressure, it cracked <br />and broke exposing the nahcolite. But it did not come out decrepitated to where there was no <br />structure, instead it cracked and broke. <br />END OF TAPE 1 SIDE A <br />Jerry Daub: <br />Does anyone else have any questions or discussion on the proposed operation, what <br />AmerAlia is planning on doing, or the cavities and that type of thing? <br />Paul Daggett: <br />When you working at Horse Draw, Jerry, did you run into very many fractures at all in that <br />mine at any of the levels? <br />7 <br />