Companies taking minerals from the Great Salt Lake are supposed to pay Utah royalties. The state hasn’t collected the proper amount in years.
As mandated by the Legislature, money earned from extraction on the lake funds various projects across the lake, like removing invasive species, restoring vegetation and resolving land management issues. “ is indeed valuable,” de Freitas added, “and valuable beyond just putting money in the pockets of extractors.”Mining companies have paid different royalty rates for the same minerals for years, and the division has inconsistently tracked and verified those payments, the audit found.
Barnes said that some of the mineral contracts that still govern extraction on the Great Salt Lake date back to the 1960s. There were also discrepancies in when the division charged extractors. A mineral’s value typically increases throughout the mineral development process, from extraction to final product.