Utah Admin. Code R652-21-200 - Definitions

(1) "Applicant" means any person submitting a Feasibility Application or Operations Application to the division.

(2) "Base Royalty Rate" means the royalty rate established, by the division, for a Great Salt Lake Element or Mineral before any Royalty Rate Reductions are applied.

(3) "Biota" means all plants, fungi, animals, protists, bacteria, and archaea in Great Salt Lake.

(4) "Bond" or "Bonding" means both full-cost bonding over sovereign lands, executed with the division, and reclamation bonding, executed with the Division of Oil, Gas & Mining.

(5) "Brine Depletion" means the volume of Brine Water consumed through processing and operations, calculated by subtracting the volume of Returned Water from the volume of Brine Water.

(6) "Brine Water" means water diverted from Great Salt Lake.

(7) "Chemistry" means the properties, composition, and structure of the elements and compounds, and interactions thereof, making up the waters, brines, and substrate of Great Salt Lake.

(8) "Commercial Viability" means the Applicant:

(a) provides proof of all pending or acquired water rights and related appropriations necessary for operations or a detailed plan demonstrating how the Applicant will acquire water rights necessary for operations once in receipt of an Operations Royalty Agreement;

(b) provides the requisite information to substantiate the efficacy and longevity of the technology selected for operations;

(c) provides the requisite information to substantiate an operation with a Life of Mine of at least 20 years;

(d) provides the requisite financial information to substantiate the Applicant is capable of fulfilling its royalty obligations for the proposed Life of Mine;

(e) has obtained any easements, permits, approvals, agreements, or other documents required for the entirety of operations for the Life of Mine;

(f) has the requisite Bonding in place for upland property and sovereign lands; and

(g) demonstrates the ability to produce, at commercial scale, a First Marketable Product, as defined by Rule R652-21.

(9) "Commercially Viable Technology" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection 65A-17-101(2).

(10) "Common Source of Supply" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection 65A-17-101(3).

(11) "Cooperative Agreement" means an agreement between two or more Operators to coordinate regarding the extraction of Great Salt Lake Elements and Minerals.

(12) "Correlative Right" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection 65A-17-101(4).

(13) "Emergency Trigger" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection 65A-17-101(5).

(14) "Emergent Technology" means a new technology or a new use, modification, or improvement of an existing technology that has not been deployed as an extractive method for mineral recovery on Great Salt Lake before May 3, 2023. For purposes of this definition, "Emergent Technologies" is synonymous with "Innovative Technologies."

(15) "Evaporative Technology" means a mineral operation that partially or wholly utilizes engineered evaporative processes at any stage of the extractive process to develop or extract a Great Salt Lake Element or Mineral from the waters, brines, or substrates of Great Salt Lake.

(16) "Externally Sourced Water" means water diverted from sources upland or above the Great Salt Lake Meander Line and used for processing and operations.

(17) "Feasibility Assessment" means the process, before the execution of an Operations Royalty Agreement with the division, for determining whether a Great Salt Lake Operator can demonstrate Commercial Viability and the proposed operation will have no Negative Impacts to Great Salt Lake Biota and Chemistry.

(18) "Final Royalty Rate" means the royalty established in the Operations Royalty Agreement, by the division, after applying all relevant and proven Royalty Rate Reductions. The Final Royalty Rate shall be a Variable-Rate Royalty.

(19) "First Marketable Product" means the form of a Great Salt Lake Element or Mineral, as determined by the division, to which the Base Royalty Rate attaches.

(20) "Great Salt Lake Element or Mineral" means:

(a) a rare earth element;

(b) a trace element or mineral; or

(c) a chemical compound that includes a rare earth element or trace element or mineral.

(21) "Great Salt Lake Meander Line" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection 65A-17-101(7).

(22) "Great Salt Lake Mineral Resource" means any Great Salt Lake Element or Mineral that can be produced in Paying Quantities.

(23) "Great Salt Lake Natural Resources" means the Biota, water resources and water quality, the fishery and recreational resources, the wetlands and wildlife resources, and any other naturally occurring resource within the Great Salt Lake Meander Line.

(24) "Great Salt Lake Operator" or "Operator" means a person or business entity, qualified to do business in Utah pursuing the extraction of a Great Salt Lake Element or Mineral.

(25) "Healthy Physical and Ecological Condition" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection 65A-17-101(9).

(26) "Life of Mine" means the anticipated duration an Operator can produce a Great Salt Lake Element or Mineral in Paying Quantities.

(27) "Mitigation Water" means the water diverted from sources other than Great Salt Lake and delivered to Great Salt Lake to compensate for Brine Depletion. Mitigation Water may not include wastewater reuse.

(28) "Mitigation Plan" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection 65A-17-101(11).

(29) "Multiple Mineral Development Area" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection 65A-17-101(12).

(30) "Negative Impact" means a substantive and material adverse impact or disturbance in the singular or cumulative instance, caused or created by one or more Operator, to the Biota or Chemistry of Great Salt Lake, as determined by the division.

(31) "Non-Evaporative Technology" means a mineral operation that does not utilize evaporative processes at any stage of the extractive process to develop or extract a Great Salt Lake Element or Mineral from the waters, brines, or substrates of Great Salt Lake.

(32) "Operations Royalty Agreement" means an agreement entered into between an Operator and the division authorizing and governing the extraction of a Great Salt Lake Element or Mineral.

(33) "Operational Waste" means garbage, refuse, sludge, or other similar material, including solid, liquid, semi-solid, or contained gaseous material generated from the extraction or production of Great Salt Lake Elements or Minerals.

(34) "Paying Quantities" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection 65A-17-101(15).

(35) "Returned Water" means any water discharged into Great Salt Lake from operations relating to the extraction of Great Salt Lake Element or Minerals.

(36) "Royalty Rate Deduction" means the percent reduction, contained in Section R652-21-1004, for which an Operator may apply to lower the Base Royalty Rate.

(37) "Sale Price" means the market price to which any royalty attaches, at the point which any Great Salt Lake Element or Mineral is extracted and processed on Great Salt Lake, and is exclusive of any transportation, third-party processing, or other external costs.

(38) "Sampling Royalty Agreement" means a short-term agreement entered into between an Operator and the division, during the Feasibility Assessment, authorizing and governing the extraction of a fixed volume of Great Salt Lake water or brine.

(39) "Secondary Material" means existing tailings, discarded material, end-use products, or waste products produced from the evaporation and processing of Great Salt Lake brines. Products containing Great Salt Lake Elements or Minerals which remain held in suspension or in evaporation ponds are not within the meaning of this definition.

(40) "Secondary Recovery Process" means the process for recovering Great Salt Lake Elements or Minerals from Secondary Material.

(41) "Secondary Recovery Royalty Agreement" means an agreement entered into between an Operator and the division authorizing and governing the production of a First Marketable Product from a Secondary Recovery Process.

(42) "Self-Certification" means a representation by an Operator affirmatively stating the contents provided are correct, in compliance with the Unsworn Declaration Act, Section 78B-18a-101.

(43) "Total Water" means the sum of Externally Sourced Water and Brine Water.

(44) "Variable-Rate Royalty" means a royalty rate that adjusts depending on the value of the commodity being sold.

(45) "Waste" means the same as that term is defined in Subsection 65A-17-101(18).

(46) "Water Depletion" means the volume of Total Water consumed through processing and operations, calculated by subtracting the volume of Returned Water from the volume of Total Water.

(47) All other definitions in Sections 65A-6-4 and 65A-17-101 apply to Rule R652-21.

Notes

Utah Admin. Code R652-21-200

Adopted by Utah State Bulletin Number 2024-20, effective 10/8/2024