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Research about Sweetwater County, Wyoming

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Sweetwater County, Wyoming.

27 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1953

Mineralogy and geochemistry of a uraniferous coal from the Red Desert Area, Sweetwater County, Wyoming

A sample of subbituminous uraniferous coal from the Red Desert, Sweetwater County, Wyo., was studied mineralogically. The coal contains gypsum (6 percent), kaolinite (1 percent), quartz (0.3 percent), calcite (trace), and limonite (trace). This suite of minerals and the absence of pyrite show that the coal has been subjected to weathering and oxidation. No uranium minerals have been found; mechanical fractionation has indicated that the uranium is associated with the organic constituents of the coal. The minerals that have been isolated contain 0.0006 percent uranium, a content which is to be expected for nonuraniferous sedimentary rocks. The organic components of the coal contain approximately 0.002 percent uranium. On the basis of material balance calculations, the organic components carry 98 percent of the uranium in the coal. Fischer assays of this weathered coal from the Red Desert indicate a yield of 16.7 gallons of tar per ton on low-temperature retorting. In view of the large reserve of subbituminous coal in the Red Desert, its probable ease of mining, and its tar yield, it may be desirable to carry out further evaluation of the coal as a fuel or raw material for the manufacture of tar or chemicals. If economic factors permit utilization of the coal, the uranium, although present in small percentages, could be recovered as a byproduct.

Wyoming↗
USGS1953

Uranium-bearing coal in the Red Desert, Great Divide Basin, Sweetwater county, Wyoming

Uranium-bearing coal in the Wasatch formation occurs in a zone extending 30 miles north of U.S. Highway 30 and the Union Pacific Railroad at Wamsutter, Sweetwater County, Wyoming. The Wasatch formation intertongues with the Green River formation and the beds are nearly flat lying. Preliminary estimation of total reserves in the area indicates the presence of 610,000,000 tons of subbituminous coal containing 14,800 tons of uranium in beds more than 30 inches thich and overlain by less than 75 feet of overburden. The uranium content of the coal ash ranges from 0.010 percent to 0.020 percent throughout most the area included in the reserves. Locally, the uranium content ranges from 0.001 percent to 0.047 in the coal and 0.005 percent to 0.14 percent in the ash.

Wyoming↗
USGS1953

Airborne radioactivity survey of the Aspen Mountain area, Sweetwater county, Wyoming

The accompanying map shows the results of an airborne radioactivity survey covering 700 square miles in the Aspen Mountain area, Sweetwater county, Wyoming. The survey was made by the U.S. Geological Survey, October 22, 1952, as part of a cooperative program with the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. The survey was made with scintillation-detection equipment mounted in a Douglas DC-3 aircraft. Parallel traverse lines, spaced at quarter-mile intervals, were flown approximately 500 feet above the ground. Aerial photographs were used for pilot guidance, and the flight path of the aircraft was recorded by a gyro-stabilized, continuous-strip-film camera. The distance of the aircraft from the ground was measured with a continuously recording radio altimeter. At 500 feet above the ground, the width of the zone from which anomalous radioactivity is measured varies with the intensity of radiation of the source and, for strong sources, the width would be as much as 1,400 feet. Quarter-mile spacing of the flight paths of the aircraft should be adequate to detect anomalies from strong sources of radioactivity. However, small areas of considerable radioactivity midway between flight paths may not be noted. The approximate location of each radioactivity anomaly is shown on the accompanying map. The plotted position of an anomaly may be in error by as much as a quarter of a mile owing to errors in the available base maps up to several square miles in which it is impossible to find and plot recognizable landmarks. The radioactivity anomaly that is recorded by airborne measurements at 500 feet above the ground can be caused by: 1. A moderately large area in which the rocks and soils are slightly more radioactive than the rocks and soils of the surrounding area. 2. A smaller area in which the rocks and soils are considerably more radioactive than rocks and soils in the surrounding area. 3. A very small area in which to rocks and soils are much more radioactive than the rocks and soils of the surrounding area. Any particular anomaly, therefore, may represent either slightly greater-than-average radioactivity over an area of a few thousand square feet, or high radioactivity over an area of a few hundred square feet. The radioactivity anomalies shown on the accompanying map indicate localities of more-than-average radioactivity, and therefore, suggest areas in which uranium or thorium deposits are more likely to occur.

Wyoming↗
USGS1952

Results of exploration at Lost Creek schroeckingerite deposit, Sweetwater County, Wyoming

The U. S. Geological Survey, on behalf of the Atomic Energy Commission, from July 1951 to February 1952, explored the Lost Creek schroeckingerite deposit, Sweetwater County, Wyoming, by means of auger- drilling, trenching, and bucket-drilling. This report presents an estimate of the inferred ore reserves obtained during this exploration. The inferred reserves are presented under three schedules. Schedule A is the reserves calculated for the main schroeckingerite-bearing area; Schedule B is the reserves for the smaller schroeckingerite-bearing area to the north of the main area. The grade and tonnage estimates for both Schedule A and Schedule B are divided into two groups--data for selective mining, and data for bulk-mining. Schedule C presents reserve estimates for a semi- selective mining method and was calculated for four selected blocks in the western half of the main schroeckingerite-bearing area. The inferred reserves of schroeckingerite available for bulk-mining in the area of Schedule A are about 3,000,000 tons that contain 0.005 percent uranium, or about 140 tons of metallic uranium. By bulk-mining, 900,000 tons containing 0.005 percent uranium, or U£ tons of metallic uranium, are available in the area of Schedule B. The inferred reserves available for selective mining in the area of Schedule A are 100,000 tons of schroeckingerite deposits that contain 0.030 percent uranium, or 30 tons of metallic uranium. By selective mining, 35,000 tons of schroeckingerite deposits that contain the 0.030 percent uranium, or 10 tons of metallic uranium, are available in the area of Schedule Bo Semi- selective mining in the four areas of Schedule C will yield about 650,000 tons of rock containing O.008 percent uranium, or 50 tons of metallic uranium.

Wyoming↗
USGS1912

Potash-bearing rocks of the Leucite Hills, Sweetwater County, Wyoming

The purpose of the present paper is to give a brief description of the rocks in the Leucite Hills, Wyo., with an estimate of the amount of leucite-bearing rock available and of the approximate amount of potash that these rocks may yield as soon as a process is discovered by which the potash may be dissociated from the rock cheaply enough for commercial use.

Wyoming↗