| Abstract |
Option II concerns mining and processing a nahcolite deposit in the Piceance Creek basin, Colorado, plus an underlying measure of oil shale containing about 25 percent nahcolite and 9 percent dawsonite to yield soda ash, alumina, and shale oil as principal products. Coke, sulfur, and ammonia are also byproducts. A two-level shaft mining operation, retorting, partial refining, and a minerals processing plant requires a capital investment of $605,947,700 in 1971 dollars to process 8,000 tons per calendar day of nahcolite ore and 60,000 tons of the mineral containing oil shale. An income of $268,283,000 requires $143,188,700 in annual expenditures including labor, materials, maintenance, taxes, insurance, overhead, and depreciation. The discounted cash flow rate of return is 17.20 percent based on a weighted average depreciation life of 13.99 years. (Author) |
