STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS Depository RECEIVED AUG181981 No.1111, EAK IW, URVEY BULLETIN 1491 Mineral Resources of the * Lone Peak Wilderness Study Area, Utah and Salt Lake Counties, Utah By CALVIN S. BROMFIELD, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY and LOWELL L. PATTEN, U.S. BUREAU OF MINES With a section on INTERPRETATION OF AEROMAGNETIC DATA By DON R. MABEY, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY STUDIES RELATED TO WI LD E R N E SS STU D Y ARE A GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1491 An evaluation of the mineral potential of the area UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1981 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR JAMES G. WATT, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Doyle G. Frederick, Acting Director Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data , Bromfield, Calvin Stanton, 1923- " Mineral resources of the Lone Peak wilderness study area, Utah and Salt Lake Counties, Utah. ^ (Studies related to wilderness study areas) ' (Geological Survey Bulletin 1491) V Bibliography: p. 97 Supt.ofDocs.no.: I 2.3:1491 ^j 1. Mines and mineral resources-Utah-Lone Peak Wilderness Area. I. Patten, Lowell L., joint author. II. Mabey, Don R., 1927- joint author. HI. Title. IV. Series. 'V» V. Series: United States Geological Survey Bulletin 1491. QE75.B9 no. 1491 [TN24.U8] . 557.3s \ For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS In accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act (Public Law 88-577, September 3, 1964) and the Joint Conference Report on Senate Bill 4, 88th Congress, the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines have been con­ ducting mineral surveys of wilderness and primitive areas. Studies and reports of all primitive areas have been completed. Areas officially designated as "wilderness," "wild," or "canoe" when the Act was passed were incorporated into the National Wilderness Preservation System, and some of them are presently being studied. The Act provided that areas under consideration for wilderness designation should be studied for suitability for. incorporation into the Wilderness System. The mineral surveys constitute one aspect of the suitability studies. This report discusses the results of a mineral survey of some national forest lands in the Lone Peak study area, Utah, that are being considered for wilderness designation. The area studied is in the central Wasatch Range, southeast of Salt Lake City. * CONTENTS \ Page Summary........................................... ................................................................................ 1 « Introduction........................................................................................................................ 2 Previous investigations .......................................................................................... 6 Present investigations ............................................................................................ 7 Acknowledgments .................................................................................................... 7 ' Geology, by Calvin S. Bromfield, U.S. Geological Survey ...................................... 8 ^ Sedimentary rocks .................................................. ........ ................................ 10 Precambrian rocks............................................................................................ 10 Paleozoic rocks .................................................................................................. 14 Tertiary rocks .................................................................................................... 15 r Quaternary surficial deposits....................................................................'.... 17 Tertiary igneous rocks ............................................................................................ 17 Porphyritic quartz monzonite of the Little Cottonwood stock...................................................................................... 17 ( Quartz monzonite of White Pine Fork ...................................................... 19 Diorite of Bells Canyon .................................................................................. 21 Dikes...................................................................................................................... 21 Structure ...................................................................................................................... 22 Folding........................................................................................ 23 JT Faulting..-.............-..........-..--...-.....-....-...........-..... .......................... 24 Deer Creek fault and Charleston-Nebo thrust................................ 24 Faulting south of Deer Creek fault .................................................... 24 Faulting north of Deer Creek fault .................................................... 25 "H Jointing ................................................................................................................ 25 Aeromagnetic survey, by Don R. Mabey, U.S. Geological Survey.................. 27 Mineral resources by Calvin S. Bromfield, U.S. Geological Survey .............. 29 ^^ Mineral setting ......................................................................................................... 29 Methods of evaluation ............................................................................................ 31 ^. Sampling and analytical program..... .................................................. 32 Unaltered rocks.......................................................................................... 32 f Altered and mineralized rocks and veins ........................................ 32 Stream sediments...................................................................................... 33 _" ' Geochemical patterns .............................................................................................. 34 Economic geology and appraisal of areas........................................................ 46 *' White Pine Fork area ...................................................................................... 46 Rock alteration and molybdenite mineralization.......................... 43 *^ Alpine mining district .................................................................................... 52 Y) Silver Lake mining district.......................................................... 54 Hogum Fork-Bells Canyon area. ............................................................ 58 Dry Creek Canyon area.................................................................................. 59 Box Elder-American Fork Canyon area .................................................. 61 4fc Coal, oil, and gas potential.................................................................................... 62 Other resources.......................................................................................................... 63 ^ v >, VI CONTENTS Page Mining claims, prospects, and mineral deposits, by Lowell L. Patten, U.S. Bureau of Mines .......................................................................................... gg White Pine Fork (locality A).................................................................................. 64 Mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon (locality B).......................................... gg Alpine mining district (locality C)...................................................................... -72 Upper Box Elder Canyon (locality D)................................................................ gQ Deer Creek (locality E)............................................................................................ gQ Silver Lake (locality F)............................................................................................ g^ Upper Major Evans Gulch (locality G)................................~............................ 93 Merril Flat (locality H)............................................................................................ 94 Talus samples ............................................................................................................ gg Conclusions ........................................................................................................................ gg References cited.................................................................................................................. 97 Index ...................................................................................................................... 115 ILLUSTRATIONS [Plates are in pocket] Page PLATE 1. Geologic map and cross section of the Lone Peak wilderness study area, Utah. 2. Map of sample localities, mines or prospects, and mining claims, and aeromagnetic map, Lone Peak wilderness study area, Utah. FIGURE 1. Index map showing location of Lone Peak wilderness study area, Utah .......................................................................................... 3 2. Drawing of exploration party of the historic Fortieth Parallel Survey, Bells Canyon about 1869 .............................................. 5 3. Map showing relation of Lone Peak wilderness study area to some major tectonic features of the central Wasatch Range .................................................................................................... 9 4. Chart showing comparison and correlation of Mississippian and Pennsylvanian sections north and south of Deer Creek Fault .....................................................................................................