Mineral Resources of the Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness Study Area, Malheur County, Oregon
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Mineral Resources of the Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness Study Area, Malheur County, Oregon U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1719-H 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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E-146, 701 C St. Maps For maps, address mail orders to U.S. Geological Survey, Map Distribution Maps Federal Center, Box 25286 Maps may be purchased over the counter at the U.S. Geologi Denver, CO 80225 cal Survey offices where books are sold (all addresses in above list) and at the following Geological Survey offices: Residents of Alaska may order maps from ROLLA, Missouri-1400 Independence Rd. Alaska Distribution Section, U.S. Geological Survey, DENVER, Colorado-Map Distribution, Bldg. 810, Federal New Federal Building - Box 12 Center 101 Twelfth Ave., Fairbanks, AK 99701 FAIRBANKS, Alaska-New Federal Bldg., 101 Twelfth Ave. Chapter H Mineral Resources of the Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness Study Area, Malheur County, Oregon By JAMES G. EVANS, ROBERT L. TURNER, DONALD PLOUFF, and DON L. SAWATZKY U.S. Geological Survey J. MITCHELL LINNE U.S. Bureau of Mines U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1 719 MINERAL RESOURCES OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS: OWYHEE RIVER REGION, IDAHO AND NEVADA 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 Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness Study Area, Maiheur County, Oregon (U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin ; 1719-H) Bibliography: p. Supt. of Docs. no. : I 19.3:1719-H 1. Mines and mineral resources Oregon Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness. 2. Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness (Or.) I. Evans, James George, 1938- II. Series QE75.B9 no. 1719-H 557.3 s 88-600061 [TN24.07] [553'.095'97] STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS Bureau of Land Management Wilderness 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 the Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness Study Area (OR-003-173), Malheur County, Oregon. CONTENTS Summary HI Abstract 1 Character and setting 1 Identified mineral resources 1 Mineral resource potential 1 Introduction 1 Area description 2 Previous and present investigations 3 Appraisal of mineral resources 3 Mining history 3 Mineral resources 3 Assessment of mineral resource potential 3 Geology 3 Geochemical studies 6 Geophysical studies 7 Mineral and energy resource potential 8 References 8 Appendixes Definition of levels of mineral resource potential and certainty of assessment 13 Resource/reserve classification 14 Geologic time chart 15 FIGURES 1. Index map showing location of Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness Study Area, Malheur County, Oregon H2 2. Map showing mineral resource potential and generalized geology of the Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness Study Area, Malheur County, Oregon 4 Contents V MINERAL RESOURCES OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS: OWYHEE RIVER REGION, IDAHO AND NEVADA Mineral Resources of the Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness Study Area, Malheur County, Oregon By James G. Evans, Robert L. Turner, Donald Plouff, and Don L. Sawatzky U.S. Geological Survey J. Mitchell Linne U.S. Bureau of Mines SUMMARY through Holocene age (fig. 2) (see appendixes for geologic time chart). The S wisher Mountain Tuff is the oldest and most abundant rock unit in the study area. Basalt overlies the Abstract S wisher Mountain Tuff and forms low, rounded buttes that are At the request of the Bureau of Land Management, the Upper probably remnants of shield volcanoes. One steep, arcuate West Little Owyhee Wilderness Study Area and adjacent areas, fault offsets basalt against Swisher Mountain Tuff in the totaling approximately 62,500 acres, were evaluated for mineral northern part of the study area. resources and mineral resource potential. Throughout this report, "wilderness study area" and "study area" refer to the 62,500 acres for which mineral surveys were requested. The Identified Mineral Resources U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted geological, geophysical, and geochemical surveys to assess the No identified mineral resources were classified in the study identified mineral resources (known) and mineral resource area. Although zeolite of the heulandite group was found in a potential (undiscovered) of the study area. Field work for this tuff bed, the volume of the tuff is too small for the occurrence report was carried out in 1984 and 1985. No mines, significant to constitute an identified resource. prospects, or mining claims are located inside the study area, and no mineral resources were identified. The western part of the study area has low potential for mercury and the central part has Mineral Resource Potential low potential for mercury and silver. The entire study area has low potential for oil and gas. The study area has no potential for The western part of the Upper West Little Owyhee Wilder geothermal resources. ness Study Area has low mineral resource potential for mer cury (fig. 2). The central part of the study area has a low potential for silver and mercury resources. These metals are Character and Setting associated with zones of possible weak epithermal alteration on the west flank of the Horse Hill basalt vent and the east The Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness Study Area is flank of the Summit 6518 basalt vent. The entire study area located on the Owyhee Plateau, 12 mi northeast of McDermitt, has low potential for oil and gas resources. The study area has Nevada (fig. 1). The area has a total relief of 1,450 ft and con no potential for geothermal resources. sists of broad flat areas and rolling hills cut by canyons incised to depths of 400 ft. The area is underlain by flat-lying vol canic, pyroclastic, and sedimentary rocks of middle Miocene INTRODUCTION This mineral survey was requested by the U.S. Bureau of Publication authorized by the Director, U.S. Geological Survey, March 15,1988. Land Management and is a joint effort by the U.S. Geological Mineral Resources of Upper West Little Owyhee Wilderness Study Area, Malheur County, Oregon H1 Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines. An introduction to the ogy as they apply to these surveys are discussed by Goudarzi wilderness review process, mineral survey methods, and agen (1984). See appendixes for definition of levels of mineral cy responsibilities is provided by Beikman and others (1983). resource potential, certainty of assessment, and classification The U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) evaluates identified of identified resources.