Mineral Resources of the Blitzen River Wilderness Study Area, Harney County, Oregon
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Mineral Resources of the Blitzen River Wilderness Study Area, Harney County, Oregon U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1740-D AVAILABILITY OF BOOKS AND MAPS OF THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Instructions on ordering publications of the U.S. Geological Survey, along with prices of the last offerings, are given in the cur rent-year issues of the monthly catalog "New Publications of the U.S. Geological Survey." Prices of available U.S. Geological Sur vey publications released prior to the current year are listed in the most recent annual "Price and Availability List." Publications that are listed in various U.S. Geological Survey catalogs (see back inside cover) but not listed in the most recent annual "Price and Availability List" are no longer available. 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Dl), the second sentence should read: At the request of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted field studies of 22,650 acres of the Blitzen River Wilderness Study Area. Chapter D Mineral Resources of the Blitzen River Wilderness Study Area, Harney County, Oregon By DEAN B. VANDER MEULEN, ANDREW GRISCOM, and HARLEY D. KING U.S. Geological Survey PHILLIP R. MOYLE U.S. Bureau of Mines U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1740 MINERAL RESOURCES OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS: STEENS MOUNTAIN-RINCON REGION, OREGON DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR DONALD PAUL MODEL, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director Any use of trade names and trademarks in this publication is for descriptive purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1988 For sale by the Books and Open-File Reports Section U.S. Geological Survey Federal Center, Box 25425 Denver, CO 80225 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mineral resources of the Blitzen River Wilderness Study Area, Harney County, Oregon. (Mineral resources of wilderness study areas Steens Mountain-Rincon region, Oregon ; ch. D) (U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1740) Bibliography: p. Supt. of Docs, no.: I 19.3:1740-0 1. Mines and mineral resources Oregon Blitzen River Wilderness. 2. Blitzen River Wilderness (Or.) I. Vander Meulen, Dean B. II. Series. III. Series: U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1740-D. QE75.B9 no. 1740-D 557.3 s 88-600265 UN24.07] [553'.09795'95] STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS Bureau of Land Management Study Area The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (Public Law 94-579, October 21, 1976) requires the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines to conduct mineral surveys on certain areas to determine the mineral values, if any, that may be present. Results must be made available to the public and be submitted to the President and the Congress. This report presents the results of a mineral survey of part of the Blitzen River Wilderness Study Area (OR-002-086E), Harney County, Oregon. CONTENTS Summary Dl Abstract Dl Character and setting Dl Identified resources Dl Mineral resource potential Dl Introduction D3 Area description D3 Previous and present investigations D3 Appraisal of identified resources D3 History and production D3 Mines, prospects, claims, and mineralized areas D5 Appraisal of mineral resources D5 Assessment of mineral resource potential D5 Geology D5 Geochemical studies D6 Geophysical studies D7 Mineral resource assessment D7 References cited D8 Appendixes Definition of levels of mineral resource potential and certainty of assessment D12 Resource/reserve classification D13 Geologic time chart D14 FIGURES 1. Index map showing location of Blitzen River Wilderness Study Area, Harney County, Oregon D2 2. Map showing generalized geology and mineral resource potential of Blitzen River Wilderness Study Area, Harney County, Oregon D4 Contents Mineral Resources of the Blitzen River Wilderness Study Area, Harney County, Oregon By Dean B. Vander Meulen, Andrew Griscom, and Harley D. King U.S. Geological Survey Phillip R. Moyle U.S. Bureau of Mines SUMMARY gentle west-tilted plateau that ends abruptly at Callow Rim along the east edge of Callow Valley. Ten miles east of the Abstract study area the upper slope rises more than 3,100 ft to the crest of Steens Mountain, 9,670 ft above sea level. Several The Blitzen River Wilderness Study Area (OR-002-086E) northwest-flowing rivers and creeks have cut deep gorges is located along the western slope of Steens Mountain in into the plateau (fig.l). The Donner und Blitzen River is southeastern Oregon. At the request of the U.S. Bureau of the largest river in the region and collects most of the tribu Land Management, the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. tary drainage on the west side of Steens Mountain. The Bureau of Mines conducted field studies of 21,658 acres of the Blitzen River Wilderness Study Area. In this report, the river flows north through the western part of the study area area studied is referred to as the "wilderness study area," or into the Blitzen Valley (fig. 1). simply the "study area." Fieldwork was conducted by the The oldest rocks exposed in the study area are basalt U.S. Geological Survey during 1986 and 1987 and by the flows of middle Miocene age (11.2 to 16.6 million years U.S. Bureau of Mines during 1986 to evaluate the identified before present, Ma; see appendixes for geologic time mineral resources (known) and the mineral resource potential (undiscovered) of the study area. chart). The basalt flows that underlie the entire study area No mineral resources were identified in the study area. are overlain in the northern part by late Miocene rhyolite However, the study indicates moderate potential for geother- ash-flow tuff and basalt flows. mal energy resources along northwest-trending fault zones in the western part of the study area. The study area has no Identified Resources potential for oil and gas resources. No mines, claims, prospects, or mineralized zones Character and Setting were found, and no mineral or energy resources or occur rences were identified wilhin or adjacent to the study area. The Blitzen River Wilderness Study Area is located along the west slope of Steens Mountain (fig. 1), 55 mi Mineral Resource Potential south of Burns, Oreg., and 35 mi northwest of Fields, Oreg. The study area ranges in elevation from 4,200 ft where the Hot springs issue from a northwest-trending fault zone Donner und Blitzen River enters Blitzen Valley to 6,500 ft 2 to 5 mi north of the study area. This same fault zone above sea level along the easternmost boundary. West of extends southeasl ihrough ihe western part of the study the study area, the lower slope of Steens Mountain forms a area. Areas along the fault zone and parallel fault zones have moderate potential for geothermal energy resources.