The new has intermingled with the old by way of a name change for a major supplier of rock salt for the cattle industry and salt used during the winters on Utah's highways.
The Redmond Clay & Salt Co. Inc. has changed its name to Redmond Minerals Inc. It is located in the community of that name in northern Sevier County.Original founders of the firm, LaMar and Milo Bosshardt, said the name was changed to emphasize the products.
"These are not just generic salt and clay but unique minerals with special qualities," LaMar Boss-hardt said. "In each of the applications of salt it performs differently than other salt, so we have decided not to call it regular salt."
They said laboratory tests show that the salt does not damage metal, cement or vegetation and that it has less alkaline content than lake salt. It has been termed "environmentally friendly."
The company sells road salt to several cities and counties as well as to the state.
Laboratory tests have shown that the red-colored de-icing product is also less corrosive than other road salt. Testing was done at an Ogden laboratory in 1994.
A controversy about the use of the Redmond salt erupted with the Utah Department of Transportation in October of 1993 when the Division of Air Quality said the salt was a source of air pollution along the Wasatch Front.
The problem hinged on an interpretation of "evaporative salt" and the amount of particulates emitted into the air by road sanding and salting. But evaporative salt was interpreted to include only white salt from the Great Salt Lake, so continued use of the Redmond salt by the state was authorized.
The company's claims that the salt penetrates deeper and longer than conventional white salt and takes 30 percent less to achieve the same de-icing effect as white salt was supported by Analco Labs, according to the Bosshardts. Provo officials and those who had used the red salt at Weber State University in Ogden also concurred at the time with the lab findings.
The Bosshardts said livestock ranchers report their animals are hesitant to eat other salt after using Redmond salt and that the health of the animals is improved.
And sweet table salt? One might think so from the letters the company has received about that product. Officials said they have had people ask how much sugar has been mixed with the salt. That doesn't happen, however, but people do claim to use less of it than regular salt and customers say it doesn't cause water retention or high blood pressure, owners said.
The Bosshardts added that they wanted to use those claims in advertising but the Federal Drug Administration wouldn't allow it unless the company spends $10 million in proving the customer claims in a laboratory.
The clay operation is also somewhat unique because it performs differently than other clays. The company processes bentonite. It seals ponds from leakage and has other uses.
On the lighter side, and because of the former name of Redmond Clay & Salt Co. Inc., people have often asked, "Is there salt in the clay or clay in the salt?"
The answer is neither because the two products are processed entirely separately and at different facilities.
The salt comes from mines a few miles northwest of the town of Redmond and the clay plant is near the east boundary of the community.
The company has been in business for 35 years, and the Bosshardts say they hope it will be around for at least that many more. "Our goal is to have customer service as unique as the products we sell," they added.