Mineral Resources of the Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak Wilderness Study Areas, Millard County, Utah
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Mineral Resources of the Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak Wilderness Study Areas, Millard County, Utah U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1749-A 1 I ~. - ^/ ' UTAH 1 *?r5$5?>#"C^*1 - Jk * Chapter A Mineral Resources of the Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak Wilderness Study Areas, Millard County, Utah By DAVID A. LINDSEY, DAVID R. ZIMBELMAN, DAVID L CAMPBELL, JOSEPH S. DUVAL, KENNETH L COOK, MELVIN H. PODWYSOCKI, DAVID W. BRICKEY, and ROBERTA. YAMBRICK U.S. Geological Survey STEVEN E. TUFTIN U.S. Bureau of Mines U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1749 MINERAL RESOURCES OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS WEST-CENTRAL UTAH DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MANUEL LUJAN, JR., Secretary U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L Peck, Director Any use of trade names in this report is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey or the U.S. Bureau of Mines. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1989 For sale by the Books and Open-File Reports Section U.S. Geological Survey Federal Center Box 25425 Denver, CO 80225 Library of Congress Cataloglng-in-Publication Data Mineral resources of the Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak wilderness study areas, Millard County, Utah. (Mineral resources of wilderness study areas West-central Utah ; ch. A) (U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1749-A) Bibliography: p. Supt. of Docs, no.: I 19.3:1749-A 1. Mines and mineral resources Utah Swasey Mountain Wilderness. 2. Mines and mineral resources Utah Howell Peak Wilderness. 3. Swasey Mountain Wilderness (Utah) 4. Howell Peak Wilderness (Utah) I. Lindsey, David A. II. Series. III. Series: Geological Survey bulletin ; 1749-A. QE75.B9 no. 1749-A 557.3 S [553'.09792'45] 88-600472 [TN24.U8] STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Study Areas 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 Swasey Mountain (UT-050-061) and Howell Peak (UT-050-077) Wilderness Study Areas, Millard County, Utah. CONTENTS Abstract Al Summary Al Introduction A3 Investigations by the U.S. Bureau of Mines A3 Investigations by the U.S. Geological Survey A5 Appraisal of identified resources A5 Mining and leasing activity A5 Oil and gas A6 Appraisal of sites examined A6 Jasperoid occurrence A6 Quartz veins and fault zones A6 Limestone A7 Quartzite A7 Placers A7 Sand and gravel A7 Fossils A7 Conclusions and recommendations A8 Assessment of potential for undiscovered resources A8 Geology A8 Geologic setting and structure A8 Description of rocks A9 Geochemistry A9 Methods A9 Results of study A10 Geophysics A12 Gravity A12 Seismic studies A13 Aeromagnetics A15 Radiometrics A15 Remote sensing A15 Mineral and energy resource potential A17 Base and precious metals A17 High-purity limestone and dolomite A18 Oil and gas A19 Geothermal energy and coal A19 Recommendations for further work A19 References cited A20 Appendix A23 PLATE [Plate is in pocket] 1. Map showing mineral resource potential, identified resources, geology, geochemical sample localities, mining data, and Landsat anomalies in the Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak Wilderness Study Areas Contents FIGURES 1-6. Maps of the Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak Wilderness Study Areas showing: 1. Location A2 2. Mineral resource potential A4 3. Oil and gas leases and lease applications A6 4. Stream-sediment sample sites, drainage basins, and anomalous elements in heavy-mineral concentrates All 5. Complete Bouguer gravity anomaly A14 6. Aeromagnetics A16 TABLES 1. Anomalous concentrations of selected elements in nonmagnetic heavy-mineral concentrates of stream-sediment samples, Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak Wilderness Study Areas A10 2. Anomalous concentrations of selected elements in rock samples, Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak Wilderness Study Areas A12 3. Anomalous areas determined from Landsat Thematic Mapper data north of the Swasey Mountain Wilderness Study Area A17 VI Contents MINERAL RESOURCES OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS-WEST-CENTRAL UTAH Mineral Resources of the Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak Wilderness Study Areas, Millard County, Utah By David A. Lindsey, David R. Zimbelman, David L Campbell, Joseph S. Duval, Kenneth L. Cook, Melvin H. Podwysocki, David W. Brickey, and Robert A. Yambrick U.S. Geological Survey Steven E. Tuftin U.S. Bureau of Mines ABSTRACT both study areas. The potential for undiscovered resources of geothermal energy is low in both areas. There is no potential The Swasey Mountain (UT-050-061) and Howell Peak for undiscovered resources of coal. (UT-050-077) Wilderness Study Areas are in the northern House Range, Millard County, Utah. The Swasey Mountain SUMMARY Wilderness Study Area includes 34,376 acres, and the Howell Peak Wilderness Study Area includes 14,800 acres that were The Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak Wilderness evaluated for this report. The House Range is about 40 mi Study Areas are accessible from the Dome Canyon road, (miles) west of the city of Delta (fig. 1). A mineral resource which passes between the study areas in the House Range study of the areas was completed in 1987 by the U.S. (fig. 2). The Howell Peak Wilderness Study Area is also Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines. No mineral accessible from the Marjum Pass road, which passes south production has been recorded for either the Swasey of the study area. Dirt roads and jeep trails extend along the Mountain or the Howell Peak Wilderness Study Areas. Oil foot of the House Range in Tule Valley on the western side and gas leases cover most of both study areas. Inferred and Whirlwind Valley on the eastern side of the study areas. subeconomic resources in both study areas are high-purity On the western sides of the study areas, picturesque cliffs limestone, quartzite, and sand and gravel. Fossils, especially rise from the floor of Tule Valley. Long slopes covered by trilobites, of interest to collectors are also present in both pihon and juniper dip gently east to meet Whirlwind Valley. In areas. The northern part of the Swasey Mountain Wilderness the study areas, most of the crest of the House Range Study Area has moderate potential for undiscovered reaches 7,500-8,500 ft (feet) in elevation. Swasey Peak is the resources of lead, zinc, copper, molybdenum, silver, and highest point at 9,669 ft in elevation; Howell Peak is 8,348 ft gold, including disseminated gold deposits. The in elevation. southwestern part of the Swasey Mountain Wilderness Study The Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak Wilderness Area and the western part of the Howell Peak Wilderness Study Areas are composed mostly of Cambrian (see Study Area have moderate potential for resources of these geologic time chart in Appendix) sedimentary rocks. These metals. Potential for undiscovered deposits of high-purity rocks are tilted east by a major range-bounding fault that limestone and dolomite and for oil and gas is moderate for extends along the western side of the House Range. No comparable fault is evident on the eastern side of the range. The entire section of Paleozoic rocks in the House Range, and perhaps a thick section of Precambrian sedimentary Manuscript approved for publication, October 28, 1988. rocks in the subsurface, rests on low-angle faults as Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak Wilderness Study Areas A1 40° 113°30' 11 3°00' 112°30' 00' GREAT SALT LAKE DESERT FISH SPRINGS Dugway Proving Ground NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Callao TOOELE CO JUAB CO BLACK ROCK HILLS SEVIER DESERT BASIN JUAB CO / _ ILLARD CO 39° APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY OF 30' _ SWASEY MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS STUDY AREA Dome Canyon Pass APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY OF HOWELL PEAK WILDERNESS STUDY AREA CRICKET 39° MOUNTAINS 00' 10 15 20 MILES I I I Figure 1. Index map showing location of the Swasey Mountain and Howell Peak Wilderness Study Areas, Utah. interpreted from a deep seismic profile of western Utah. The immediately northwest of the Swasey Mountain Wilderness faults are interpreted tentatively as having moved as thrusts Study Area. Conglomerate and tuffaceous sandstone of during Mesozoic mountain-building, and as low-angle exten- Oligocene or younger age crop out along the eastern side of sional faults during Cenozoic basin-range faulting. The low- the Swasey Mountain Wilderness Study Area and east of the angle faults and the rocks overlying them form a gentle arch Howell Peak Wilderness Study Area. beneath the study areas. There are approximately 1,900 acres of placer claims The bottom of the exposed Cambrian section consists and 1,400 acres of lode claims in the Swasey Mountain of about 2,000 ft of quartzite. The quartzite is overlain by shale and thick beds of carbonate rock famous for their Wilderness Study Area; no mines or prospect pits were well-preserved trilobite fossils. Small plugs and dikes of observed. Assays by the U.S. Bureau of Mines showed igneous rock intrude faults northwest of the Swasey anomalously high concentrations of arsenic, mercury, Mountain Wilderness Study Area, but no intrusive igneous antimony, and thallium in jasperoids northwest of the Swasey rocks have been identified within either study area. The plugs Mountain Wilderness Study Area; no resources could be and dikes crop out east of the position of an aeromagnetic identified with only surface sampling data. anomaly interpreted to be caused by a buried intrusion; they Approximately 1,000 acres of placer claims and 500 may represent apophyses of the intrusion. These features are acres of lode claims are in the Howell Peak Wilderness Study all outside the northern boundary of the Swasey Mountain Area.