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1st U.S. tar sands mine set to open for business in Utah
Fuel Fix ^ | August 22, 2015 | Associated Press

Posted on 08/24/2015 5:18:20 AM PDT by thackney

BOOK CLIFFS, Utah (AP) — On a remote Utah ridge covered in sagebrush, pines and wild grasses, a Canadian company is about to embark on something never before done commercially in the United States: digging sticky, black, tar-soaked sand from the ground and extracting the petroleum.

The impending opening of the nation’s first tar sands mine has become another front in the battle across the West between preservationists and the energy industry.

U.S. Oil Sands has invested nearly $100 million over the last decade to acquire rights to about 50 square miles, obtain permits and develop what it says is a brand-new, non-toxic method of separating out the oil with the use of an orange-peel extract similar to what’s in citrus-scented household soaps and detergents.

(Excerpt) Read more at fuelfix.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Utah
KEYWORDS: energy; oil; oilsands
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excerpt for AP
1 posted on 08/24/2015 5:18:20 AM PDT by thackney
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To: thackney
http://www.usoilsandsinc.com/index.php/operations/extraction-process

US Oil Sands’ proprietary extraction process uniquely engages the use of a biodegradable, non-toxic solvent derived from citrus products. The result is that:

Only very low mechanical energy is required to mix the oil sands, water and solvent.

Elimination of the activation of the fine clay particles and resultant creation of the emulsion of water, clay and bitumen.

Reduction of suspended clay particles within the process water which eliminates the generation of liquid tailings
Elimination of middlings. Clean solids, water and bitumen phase separation do not require tailings ponds to settle a middlings phase.

All of the capital cost and operating expense associated with creating bitumen froth, froth treatment, middlings treatment and tailings pond management and reclamation is eliminated. The result is a highly capital efficient and operationally simple extraction process.

The process is outlined here:


2 posted on 08/24/2015 5:20:49 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

Good timing.


3 posted on 08/24/2015 5:21:01 AM PDT by x1stcav
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To: x1stcav

It has been in the works for a long time and will be a long term project, like the Canadian Oil Sands facilities.


4 posted on 08/24/2015 5:22:02 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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5 posted on 08/24/2015 5:23:09 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

I’m associated with mining industry and realize these projects involve long-term planning and commitment.

It’s just that sometimes I am overwhelmed with the need to be sarcastic and snarky.


6 posted on 08/24/2015 5:27:50 AM PDT by x1stcav
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To: thackney

...and like everything else in the O&G sector, the process will become more efficient, more productive and lower the costs dramatically....something wind, solar and other “green” energies cannot claim.


7 posted on 08/24/2015 5:28:54 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (Trump - He likes progressive taxes and criticizes Walker for not raising taxes in WI)
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To: thackney

Citrus?.....Well at least it will smell pretty!..............


8 posted on 08/24/2015 5:33:51 AM PDT by Red Badger (READ MY LIPS: NO MORE BUSHES!...............)
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To: thackney

Wow! It’s gonna be exciting to watch the enviros go über-wacky on this one!


9 posted on 08/24/2015 5:35:03 AM PDT by Hawthorn
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To: x1stcav

It does look like they need oil traded near $47 to break even.

http://www.usoilsandsinc.com/images/150327_-_Investor_Factsheet.pdf


10 posted on 08/24/2015 5:35:10 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

That’s my understanding, too. WTI around $46-47 and they’ll survive. Will the price ever get back there? Sure. One day.


11 posted on 08/24/2015 5:37:26 AM PDT by x1stcav
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To: thackney
is about to embark on something never before done commercially in the United States

Ok...I might give them the 'commercially' part, but I recall being part of the Boy Scouts of America Explorers, and working with Sohio back in the late 1970's at their research facility in Warrensville, Ohio. WE, were working on developing an oil extraction method for tar sands. The researchers at the time couldn't figure out how to break the bond between the sand and oil. Ahem, our young explorer team pointed them in the right direction by adding various solvents to the research samples we were provided.

12 posted on 08/24/2015 5:38:24 AM PDT by EBH (There's a sucker born every minute)
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To: EBH

Big difference for business between trying and succeeding...

Succeeding in business requires economics, not just technology.


13 posted on 08/24/2015 5:44:57 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

“Succeeding in business requires economics, not just technology.”

and sometimes those economics involve being lucky, when one’s economics depend upon the price of a commodity. US Oil Sands is a company that is just not plain lucky to have current prices and the current anti-oil government.

and the ‘Tar Sands Resistance Movement’ mentioned in article may as well call themselves ‘Anti-Growth Movement’.


14 posted on 08/24/2015 5:57:45 AM PDT by bestintxas (every time a RINO loses, a founding father gets his wings.)
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To: thackney

So they waited until crude oil is selling for under $50 a barrel...


15 posted on 08/24/2015 6:23:01 AM PDT by Redbob (Keep your hands off my great-great-grandfather's flag)
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To: Redbob

It has been in the works for years. Tough to predict today’s price in 2011.


16 posted on 08/24/2015 6:26:18 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

Isn’t tar sands oil extraction notoriously water intensive? This proposed location sure looks like a desert to me.


17 posted on 08/24/2015 6:39:14 AM PDT by Fractal Trader
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To: thackney

Just when they are all operating below break even in Canada, starting to curtail production, and killing capital expansion projects.


18 posted on 08/24/2015 6:48:30 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not, no explanation is possible)
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To: Fractal Trader

95% of the water is immediately recycled and reused in this process.

http://www.usoilsandsinc.com/index.php/operations/extraction-process


19 posted on 08/24/2015 6:48:33 AM PDT by thackney (life is fragile, handle with prayer)
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To: thackney

Citrus? Is this going to be a replay of corn? Will orange juice prices quadruple as we put oranges in our tanks?


20 posted on 08/24/2015 6:51:45 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom (For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not, no explanation is possible)
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