La Sal Mtns

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La Sal Mtns

Postby Cochetopa » Sat Dec 22, 2012 8:26 am

Hi,
Does anyone have info or experience with the La Sal mountains (Manti La Sal Natl Forest) in SE Utah w/resp to gold/mining/prospecting/geology? The reason I ask is a friend of mine here in SW Colorado thinks they are the cat's pajamas as an overlooked region for gold. Most everything I have read indicates SE Utah is uranium territory with sedimentary geology, not gold intrusions country. Thanks for any help.
Cochetopa
"Yet it isn't the gold that I'm wanting
So much as just finding the gold.",
The Spell of the Yukon, Robert W. Service
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Re: La Sal Mtns

Postby golden optimist » Sat Dec 22, 2012 8:56 am

I don't know about that area but being a uranium area might not mean much. The San Miguel river near Naturita is a uranium area and has nice gold.

Leonard
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Re: La Sal Mtns

Postby Cochetopa » Sun Dec 23, 2012 7:05 am

Leonard,
Thanks for your help.
"Yet it isn't the gold that I'm wanting
So much as just finding the gold.",
The Spell of the Yukon, Robert W. Service
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Re: La Sal Mtns

Postby Cochetopa » Wed Dec 26, 2012 7:30 am

Hi,

Here’s how my search for info on Utah mountains turned out.

First, I had the names of the mountains wrong. I was actually interested in the Abajo mountains, which are south of the La Sal mtns. (But, they’re part of the Manti La Sal Natl Forest.) I did some Internet searches and found this USGS paper #453, “Geology of the Abajo Mountains Area, San Juan County, Utah”, by I.J. Witkind. Gold and silver deposits are discussed in pages 101-103. I’m not a geologist, so the paper technicals are beyond my understanding for a great deal, but I now get the general idea behind what caused the SE Utah mountains to appear, what are they made out of, any gold, and so on.

I’m posting my results just in case any one else is interested in a prospecting trip to SE Utah.

Best,
Jim
"Yet it isn't the gold that I'm wanting
So much as just finding the gold.",
The Spell of the Yukon, Robert W. Service
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Re: La Sal Mtns

Postby h20prospector » Wed Dec 26, 2012 8:19 am

Wouldn't mind the venture. How long are you thinking of being there?

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Re: La Sal Mtns

Postby nebraskadad » Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:24 pm

Cochetopa,

I did find a geo map of the area:

http://geology.utah.gov/maps/geomap/non ... /abajo.pdf

There are some areas of quaternary deposits, my read of the pages in question discuss ore body in situ, not eluvium. You'd want to look at the geo-map and look for the quanternary areas. it does have a robust geologic makeup, from the syncline/anticlines and domes, natural gas/oil are likely present, and as mentioned in the report, it is a coal/uranium bearing area.
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Re: La Sal Mtns

Postby Cochetopa » Fri Dec 28, 2012 7:22 am

Fantastic map. Thank you. It'll help when I can get away.
"Yet it isn't the gold that I'm wanting
So much as just finding the gold.",
The Spell of the Yukon, Robert W. Service
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