Great Divide Basin Uranium District

The Great Divide Basin Uranium District is a uranium mine located in Sweetwater county, Wyoming.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

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Site Name

Primary: Great Divide Basin Uranium District

Commodity

Primary: Uranium

Location

State: Wyoming
County: Sweetwater

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Year: 2010
Mined: 2544832.810 mt
Material type: 2,805,198 short tons ore

Deposit

Record Type: District
Operation Category: Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Not available

Comments

Comment (Development): MINOBRAS, 1976, p. 50, states: "Reportedly Union Oil Company has plans for developing a new mine in approximatetly se.c 16, T24N, R93W. Target for this exploration is apparently the sandstone and conflmoerate beds within the Battle Spring sFromation (Eocene)." This is very close to the location of the Sweetwater Mine and Mill that produced between 1,500,001 and 5,000,000 short tons of redox ore shown on MS-94.

Comment (Deposit): "The Lost Creek deposit (T26N, R94W, secs. 30-31, and T25N, R95w, sec. 1) [...] occurs within the Cyclone Rim fault zone. It contains the only known schroeckingerite deposit in Wyoming, consisting of bright yellow water-soluable round pelletal aggregates containing 27% U3O8. The mineral is also disseminated as flakes and in thin layers within shales, sandstones, clay and siltstones of the Wasatch and Green River Formations. Associated minerals are uraniferous coal, carbonate and gypsum. Mineralized beds are 2 to 3 feet thick, in contact with iron-stained sandstones. Production from these deposits, also known as the Golden Arrow Mine [see no. 3, pl. 17, p. 49] began in 1954 continuing intermittently until 1966. Grade of ores mine[d] was in the range of 0.013 to 0.25% U3O8." (MINOBRAS, 1976, p. 48, 50)

Comment (Geology): The basin "is unique in that, except for the northern portion, the basin is closed, structurally, and all drainage is interior, with streams and lakes being intermittent." "Within the basin lies a portion of the Red Desert. This area contains large low-grade uraniferous coal deposits [...]." (MINOBRAS, 1976, p. 48)

Comment (Development): As of 2010, contains 4 proposed uranium projects: West Alkali Creek (Bison Basin), Jab, Antelope, and Lost Creek (see MS-94).

Comment (Exploration): "In 1936, schroeckingerite was discovered at the Lost Creek deposit [...]. Subsequently, in 1945, uranium mienrals were found in carbonatceous shale and coal beds at Sourdough Butte (Sec. 35, T23N, R94W)."

Comment (Production): According to the values reported on MS-94 (Gregory and others, 2010), the 6 productive mines in the district produced a total of 2,805,198 tons of ore (not uranium). There is no mention of the ore grade, therefore total contained uranium can not be estimated.

Comment (Location): "District" is in four 2-degree quadrangles: Lander, Rock Springs, Rawlins, and Casper.

Comment (Location): Great Divide Basin shown on MS-94 as covering most of the NE quadrant of Sweetwater Co. Most of the prospects are in the eastern 1/3 of the "district". There are a few prospects (Pard, is one of them) in the extreme NW corner of the area.

Comment (Production): "Past production from [Great Divide Basin] area has come from the Lone Wolf Mine [see no. 1, pl. 17, p. 49] and from the State School Seciton Mine [no. 2, pl. 17, p. 49]." (MINOBRAS, 1976, p. 50). Gregory and others, 2010, MS-94 list the productive mines as Pard (in the extreme NW corner of the district) at 426 tons, Ogle (in Basin Basin) at 68,400 tons, Godlen Arrow (Lost Creek Shrockingerite) at 5 tons, Lone Wolf at 23 tons, Sweetwater at 2,736,120 tons, and School Section at 224 tons.

References

Reference (Deposit): Bailey, R.V., 1969, Uranium deposits in the Great Divide Basin-Crooks Gap area, Fremont and Sweetwater Counties, Wyoming, in Parker, R.B., ed., Wyoming Uranium Issue: Contributions to Geology, v. 8, no. 2, pt. 1, p. 105-120.
URL: rmg.geoscienceworld.org/content/8/2_Part_1/105.full.pdf

Reference (Deposit): MINOBRAS, 1976, Uranium Guidebook for Wyoming, p. 48-50.

Reference (Deposit): Gregory, R.W., Jones, R.W., and Cottingham, K.D., 2010, Uranium map for Wyoming: Wyoming State Geological Survey Map Series 94, scale 1:500,000.

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