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BUREAU OF MINES STUDIES Reservoir Site Examinations The following reservoir site examinations have been completed, and detailed reports submitted to the Bureau of Reclamation, by the Bureau of Mines: 1. Bridge Canyon Arizona 2. Marble Canyon Arizona 3. Maxwell Reservoir Arizona 4. River Mountains Arizona 5. Senator Wash California 6. River mountain Nevada The following reservoir sites are scheduled for examination in order to define possible mineral resources involvement: 1. Buttes Arizona 2. Charleston Arizona 3. Hooker New Mexico 4. Lower Gunlock Utah 5. Virgin City Utah The area to be involved in the Central Arizona Aqueduct System will also be examined by the Bureau of Mines. Canal-Lining Research Promising results have been obtained in the laboratory phase of canal-lining research now nearing completion at the Salt Lake City Metallurgy Research Center of the Bureau of Mines. It the technique developed proves as successful in field tests as in the laboratory, it can be applied at many places in the Lower Colorado River Basin with appreciable savings in first cost and annual charges. Primary objective of the research, sponsored by the Missouri River Basin Project, was to find a low-cost means of reducing canal leakage and consequent waste of water and land. Bureau technicians attacked the problem through mineralogical and chemical channels. They found that adding certain salts to either coarse-or fine-grained materials containing some clay would reduce percolation rates sharply and make the mixtures relatively impervious. Many water-soluble salts were tried as sealants in controlled laboratory tests, and among the most effective was sodium carbonate. In permeability tests under both freezing and thawing conditions, the sodium-carbonate treatment also proved reasonably durable. Moreover, the method is relatively inexpensive: costs of sodium carbonate and its application are estimated at 1-1/2 to 2 cents per square yard each, or a total of 3 to 4 cents per square yard treated. -15-Epson Perfection 4870 Photo, 400 dpi, 8 bit, 14,487,552 byte