In the midst of the barren desert in Utah, is a collection of startling beautiful electric-blue ponds, creating a strange, otherwordly landscape.

You would not want to take a dip in these waters though as they are actually potash (salts that contain potassium) evaporation ponds, looked after by Intrepid Potash, the United States’ largest producer of potassium chloride.

Aerial view of the potash evaporation ponds, which contribute to the US’ largest supply of potassium chloride

As the sun evaporates the water in the pond, crystals of potassium and salt are left behind, which are gathered for production of the odourless chemical.

Brine is drawn out of the mines to the surface and fed to the colourful pools, where the evaporation process begins.

The difference in the shades of blue is related to the amount of water that has evaporated.

The potash source comes from the Paradox Basin, which has been there for an estimated 300 million years and sits 3,000 feet below the ground

Cobalt blue dye is added to the water to aid in the absorption of sunlight and evaporation and gives it the striking blue colour

The crystals are scraped from the ponds by machines producing around 700 and 1,000 tons of potash per day from the mine