Mineral resource potential of the Thousand Lakes Wilderness, Shasta County, California
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Geology topics
Publications and source records attributed to Edward L. McHugh.
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Under 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 the U.S. Bureau of Mines have been conducting mineral surveys of wilderness and primitive areas. 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 suitability studies. The act directs that the results of such surveys are to be made available to the public and be submitted to the President and the Congress. This report discusses the results of a mineral survey of the Mokelumne Wilderness, El Dorado National Forest, Amador, Calaveras and Alpine Counties, California and Caples Creek, Raymond Peak, and Tragedy-Elephants Back Roadless Areas, Alpine, Amador, Ca 1 aver as, and El Dorado Counties, California. The Mokelumne Wilderness was established by Public Law 88-577, September 3, 1964, the Roadless Areas were classified as further planning areas during the Second Roadless Area Review and Evaluation (RARE II) by the U.S. Forest Service, 1979.
Geological, geochemical, and geophysical evidence, together with a 'review of historical mining and prospecting activities, suggests that most of the Whitewater Wilderness Study Area has low potential for all types of mineral and energy resources- including precious and base metals, building stone and aggregate, fossil fuels, radioactive-mineral resources, and geothermal resources. One small area in the southern part of the study area shows evidence of gold and silver mineralization, and this locality has a low to moderate potential for the discovery of low-grade gold and silver resources.
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