The Astons note that the sole requirement that they were unable to confirm was the presence of metal in the region. That deficit was resolved by a team of geologists assembled by Wm. Revell Phillips, a geologist, in 1998. They examined the region for deposits of ore and found that, no matter which of the major candidates for Bountiful was the actual site noted in the Book of Mormon, Lehi’s family would be within “a few kilometers of a usable deposit of good iron ore.”
In spite of these strong recommendations, Potter and Wellington suggest a different location. Although Jeffrey Chadwick disagrees with several aspects of their reconstructed trail and ultimately rejects their proposal, he finds their suggested harbor interesting. Their primary locational criterion was the presence of a harbor of sufficient depth to launch the ship on which Lehi’s family sailed to the New World. They considered that criterion primary, although the other indications of plenty also had to be met. They suggest: “There were only a handful of ports in Nephi’s time where large sailing ships were being built for sailing on open seas. Of these, it appears the Lord selected the port of Khor Rori in southern Oman as the place where he could build the ship to take the family to the promised land.”
The coast of Salalah appears to be the most logical location for Bountiful. Of the competing explanations for the exact location along the coast, I prefer the arguments for Khor Kharfot.