Ore Deposits in the Sawtooth Quadrangle, Blaine and Custer Counties, Idaho
ORE DEPOSITS IN THE SAWTOOTH QUADRANGLE, BLAINE AND CUSTER COUNTIES, IDAHO. By JOSEPH B. UMPLEBY. INTRODUCTION. This report embodies the results of a rapid reconnaissance of the mining districts in the Sawtooth quadrangle, in Blaine and Ouster counties, Idaho. The exceptionally rough topography, the wide distribution of the ore deposits over about 868 square miles, and the short period (12 days) available for the work made the data col lected extremely fragmentary. As the information obtained is fuller than any that appears in the literature, however, it is desirable to place it on record. The principal sources of published information are scattered statements under the heading "Alturas County" in the reports of the Bureau of the Mint.1 Later reports-by the Director of the Mint do not contain information concerning the mines, and before the United States Geological Survey commenced to collect such information the principal mines of the region had ceased to be producers. GEOGRAPHY. The Sawtooth quadrangle is a high, mountainous area with sum mits at elevations of 9,500 to 10,000 feet above sea level and includes . the divides between three large drainage basins. Its southwestern part is drained by the headwaters of Boise River, its east-central and southeastern parts by Wood River and its tributaries, and its northern part by Salmon River. (See fig. 57 and PL III.) The Saw tooth Mountains run sinuously across the quadrangle a little north of its center. From the Salmon River side they rise abruptly from a broad valley floor, 7,000 feet in elevation, to heights of 9,000 or 10,000 feet, and here and there a peak rises 1,000 feet higher.
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