Utah State Office
| Contacts: | Jenny Hammond | , 801-539-4061 |
BLM Utah Announces Potash Lease Sale Results
Out of four bidding entities, Peak Minerals Inc was the highest bidder on all 64 parcels offered at the April 5 Bureau of Land Management competitive potash lease sale. Peak Minerals bid $203.57 per acre on all 64 parcels totaling approximately 125,762 acres of potassium-rich brines to produce potash. The acres offered in the sale are geographically known as the Dry Sevier Lake bed.
Due to federal rules on the leasing of solid minerals, an entity in one state may lease no more than 96,000 acres. Therefore, Peak Minerals Inc will be required to relinquish parcels until they meet the 96,000-acre limit. The relinquished parcels will be offered to the second highest bidder on each individual parcel. The second highest bidder has the option to accept or reject the offer. The other bidders were Great Salt Lake Minerals Corp, Luke Kline and Mathews Eggers, and Bro Energy LLC.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2011, recreational and other activities on BLM-managed land contributed more than $130 billion to the U.S. economy and supported more than 600,000 American jobs. The Bureau is also one of a handful of agencies that collects more revenue than it spends. In FY 2012, nearly $5.7 billion will be generated on lands managed by the BLM, which operates on a $1.1 billion budget. The BLM's multiple-use mission is to sustain the health and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. The Bureau accomplishes this by managing such activities as outdoor recreation, livestock grazing, mineral development, and energy production, and by conserving natural, historical, cultural, and other resources on public lands.
Utah State Office 440 West 200 South, Suite 500 SLC, UT 84101-1345