POTASH RESOURCE POTENTIAL IN ALBU-GHARIS SALTERN, WESTERN IRAQ

S. Al-Bassam, Khaldoun

	POTASH RESOURCE POTENTIAL IN ALBU-GHARIS SALTERN, WESTERN IRAQ
Iraqi Bulletin of Geology and Mining
Article 1, Volume 8, Issue 1, 2012, Pages 1-17
Author
Khaldoun S. Al-Bassam
Abstract
An exploration survey has been carried out in Albu-Gharis Saltern, western Iraq to followup previously mentioned relatively high K concentrations in the salt and in the brine. The present work is based on field observations, sampling, mineralogical and chemical analyses of salt crust, brine and sediments. The results showed that all salt samples analyzed by X-ray diffraction contained sylvite (KCl) with halite as the dominant constituent. The older (dust-contaminated) salt crust contained 1.63% KCl and the recent (freshly precipitated) crust contained 3.52% KCl, whereas the brine contained 1.3% KCl with 330 gm/l salinity. The major salt constituent is NaCl, making about 83% of total salts in the crust and about 30% in the brine. Compared to average K content in seawater (0.39 gm/l) and in the Arabian Gulf water (0.5 gm/l), the Albu-Gharis Saltern may be considered a potential potash resource in Iraq. KCl may be produced from the bitter solution left after NaCl precipitation from the brine. The Albu-Gharis brine is lower (one third) in potash concentration, but comparable in salinity to the Dead Sea, which contains 4.4% KCl and 315 gm/l salinity. However, the Dead Sea is highly different in other chemical constituents.

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