UTAH MINING HISTORY

Utah’s Diversity and Wealth of Resources:

• Where they are.

• How they came to be.

PATTERNS CAUSES and EFFECTS

Genevieve Atwood, Ph.D. August 22, 2018

MG EN 2200

L

Elements currently or formerly extracted or refined in Utah

From Frank Brown, 2016

GROUP

IA

PERIODIC TABLE OF THE ELEMENTS

18 VUIA

Cl 1 1.0079 2 4,0026

0

c2

Lr.l

H GROUP NU M B ERS GROUP NUMBERS He

(1985) (1986)mi.<"

c..

HYDROGEN

2 l!A I UP AC RECOM M END ATION C'l-lEMI CAL ABS T RA CT SERVl CE 13 mA 14 IVA 15 VA 16 VIA 17 VHA J:jlilll.!M_

3 6,94 1 4 9.0122 13 5 10.811 1 6 12.0111 7 14.007 8 15.999 9 18.998 10 20.180

2 Li Be ATOMIC NUMBER - 5 10,811 RE L AT I V E ATO MJC MASS ( 1) B C N 0 F Ne

LITl::l.lill,L BER'l'.LLIUM SYMB OL - - B B ORON CARBON NITROGEN OXYGEN FLUORINE NEON

11 22.990 12 24.305 BORON - ELEMENT NAME 13 26.982 14 28.086 15 ; 974 1 16 32.065 17 35.453 18 39,948

3 Na Mg r--------: vme ------:-::-1 Al Si s Cl Ar

F

SODIUM MAGNESIUM 3 ma 4 IVB 5 VB 6 VIIB 7 vrna 8 9 10 11 IB 12 m:1 ALUMINIUM SILICON PHOSPHORUS SULPHUR CHLORINE ARGON

19 39 .098 4 0.078 21 44.956 22 47,867 23 50.942 24 51.996 25 54.938 26 55.845 27 58.933 28 58.693 29 63.546 30 65,38 31 69.723 32 72.6' 33 74.922 34 78.96 35 79.904 36 83.798

I

4 K Ca Sc Ti Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr

eoTA,SSJUM. CA\.C[UM SCANDIUM TITAN.Jl./.M L IUM CHROMIUM MANGANESE IRO COBALT NICKEL tQPPE Zil'lC sl\L [UM GiaRMA lU! ARSENIC Sf:LE;_ II.JM. BROMINE KRYP TON

37 85.468 38 87,62 39 88,906 40 91.224 41 92.906 14 2 95.96 43 (98) 44 101 ,07 45 102,91 46 106.42 47 107.87 48 112.41 49 114.82 50 118,71 51 121.76 52 127.60 53 126.90 54 131.29

5 Rb Sr y Zr Nb Mo 'Ir Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe

RUBIDIUM STRONTIUM YTTRIUM 710r'0MII IU NIOIBM OLYBDENl.!f, TECHNETIUM RUTHENIUM RHODIUM PALLADIUM SILVER CADMIUM INDIUM TIN ANTIMONY TELLURIUM IODINE XENON

55 132.911 6 137.33 57-7 1 72 178.49 73 180.95 74 183.84 75 186.21 76 190.23 77 192.22 78 195.08 17 9 1 96.9 7 80 200.59 81 204.38 82 207.2 83 208.98 84 (209) 85 (210) 86 (222)

6 Cs Ba La-Lu Hf Ta w Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn

Lanth anide

CAESIUM BARIUM HAFNIUM TANTALUM TUNGSTEN RHENIUM OSMIUM IRIDIUM PLATINUM GOLD MERCURY THALLIUM LEAQ BISMUTH POLONIUM ASTATINE RADON

87 (223)

89-103 104 (267) 105 (268 ) 106 (271) 107 (272 ) 1 08 (277) 109 (276) 110 (281 ) 111 (280) 112 (285) 113 (, .. ) 114 (287) 115 (.. ,) 116 (291) 117, (, . ) 118, ( . ,)

7 Fr

l 88Ra'""

Ac-Lr IRill IO)[b) S>i IB3Ihl TIIl\il M[{t IO)!;;l illi CCIID illllll IFil 11J1Ul[!J) ILw UJUil 1LJDilCID

F RANCIUM RADIUM Actinide RUTHERFORDIUM DUBNIUM SEABORGIUM BOHRIUM HASSIUM MEITNERIUM DARMSTADTIUM ROENTGENIUM COPERNCI IUM UNUNTRIUM FLEROVIUM UNUNPENTIUM UVERMORIUM UNUNSEPTIUM UNUNOCTIUM

Cop yright © 2012 Eni Generailc

LANTHANIDE

(1) Pure Appl. Chem., 81, No. 11, 2131-2156 (2009)

89 (22 7)

Ac

ACTINIUM

Refative atomic masses are expressed ,vith Jive significan t figures. For clements that have no st 1ble nucl ides, the value enclosed in brackets indic ates the mass .numb er of the longesl~lived isotopeof the elt::menl. However three such elements (Th. Pa and U) do have a characteristic terres tri;1l isotopic composition..

and for these an atomic weig ht is tab u la ted.

ACTINIDE

103 (262 )

102 (259)

N@

NOBELIUM

101 (258)

M[cdl

MENDELEVIUM

100 (257 )

IFmm

FERMIUM

99 (252)

E

EINSTEINIUM

98 (251)

CCif

CALIFORNIUM

97 (24 7)

IB3&.

BERKELIUM

96 (247)

CCmm

CURIUM

95 (243)

Amm

AMERICIUM

94 (244)

:PDit

£L.UIQN.lJJM.

93 (237)

N]P)

NEPTUNIUM

92 238,03

I U IUM

91 231,04

Pa

PROTACTINIUM

90 232,04

Th

THORIUM

ILrr

LAWRENCIUM

The plan… appreciate how geology underpins Utah’s mining history

Recognize PATTERNS

Review CONCEPTS

• The rock cycle

• Tectonics

  
  

  Interpret how Utah’s past, determines Utah’s resources today.

  Geology is cumulative.

  
  

  Specifically:

• BINGHAM Copper Mine

• COAL of Book Cliffs

  

  
  

  By the end of this lecture, as you fall asleep tonight… and for your midterm… you should be able to explore questions such as:

• Why has Utah such great wealth of geologic resources?

  
  

• Bingham Copper Mine: what critical crucial geologic conditions made the Bingham mining district so rich?

  
  

• Utah’s coal deposits: what does it take to have awesome coal resources.

  
  

• What mineral / energy resources underpin the economies of: Utah’s Basin and Range physiographic province… Rocky Mountain Physiographic Province… Colorado Plateau Province? …. And why?

  
  

• What are the four processes of the rock cycle? What minerals / energy resources of Utah are associated with each of those four processes of the rock cycle (sedimentation; lithification; metamorphism; melting

  /crystallization).

  

  

  For the next three slides… of the maps you have,

  
  

  Discuss PATTERNS

  Evidence…

  Diversity of Resources Abundance of Resources.

  
  

  • Location

    
    

    • Size

      
      

      • Shape

      
      

      • Contiguity

      

      Spr ing 1 98 3

      
      

      Fig ur e 4.

      METALLIFEROUS AREAS OF UTAH

      
      

      
      

      PRECIOUS ANO BASE MElALS (Go ld, Sil ver ,

      Copper, Le ad and Zinc )

      0 IRON

      ! :J = METALLIFERO US AR EA NAM E

      
      

      ARI ZON A

      
      

      R AD IOA CT I VE OCCURRENCES (Uro1nium 1

      Th o rium, includ ing Va nadiu m)

      M IS C ELLANEO US METALS (A nt imon y,

      Beryllium, 8 i$mu lh, Ma nga nese , Me rc ury, Mol ybdenum, Tungsten , e lc .)

      

      Sp ring 1983

      
      

      Figure 5.

      ENERGY FUELS OF UTAH

      (exclusive of uranium)

      
      

      
      

      • OILFIELD

      
      

      ARIZO NA

      • GASFIELD 0 PRINCIPAL OIL SHALE - TAR SAND AREA

        • PRINCIPAL COAL AREA 0 PRINCIPAL GEOTHERMAL AREA

      

      

      

      “MINABLE” coal reserves Coal RESOURCES… minable or not

      

      
      

      
      

      Spring 7983

      

      Utah Geological Surve

      
      

      Figure 6.

      NON-METALLIC MINERAL RE SOU R CES OF UTAH

      
      

      

      

      r

      I

      I

      

      II ••

      ■

      "

      

      

      -- II

      
      

      

      CLAYS

      BARITE, ALUN ITE, FLUOR Sl'Ai;t, SULFUR

      GYPSUM ANO A NHYDR IT E

      
      

      SALINES {brin es, sail , potash and oth<'rS)

      
      

      ARIZON A

      
      

      PHOSPH ATE

      
      

      LIMESTONE AND DOLOMI TE, CALCI TE, OOLIH , CEMENT RO CK

      

      

      The plan… appreciate how geology underpins Utah’s mining history

      
      

      Recognize PATTERNS

      
      

      Review CONCEPTS

• The rock cycle

• Tectonics

  
  

  Interpret how Utah’s past, determines Utah’s resources today.

  
  

  Specifically:

• BINGHAM Copper Mine

• COAL of Book Cliffs

The Rock Cycle…

4 products 4 processes.

Image: Bowen, used with permission

file:///E:/AAAActiveSyncASUSDDrive/ESE-ColleenBliss- RockSite/final/rockcycle.html

TECTONICS… Dynamic Earth (image source USGS)

So what?

The rock record tells the story of past environments And past geologic environments determine today’s geologic resources.

Superposition ...

In a series of layered rocks, the unit that has been laid across another unit... is... (older or younger?) than the unit it is on.

CROSS-SECTION

Schmeatic diagram east - west across the Salt Lake Valley

D

Superposition... younger on older

Cross-cutting relationships

That which cuts something else is

A (older than? younger than)

that which is cut?

FAULT B CUTS BLOCK A

Therefore... lai1dforms tend to be younger (usually much much younger) than the bedrock they are made of.

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CANYON B DISSECTING PLATEAU A

Most layers of sediments are laid down in approximately horizontal layers, and, therefore, the layers of most sedimentary bedrock sequences are horizontal.

BEFORE

TILTING

1

The timing (age) of TILTING of layers of bedrock is

AFTER they became bedrock and

BEFORE now.

AFTER

TILTING

Cross-section View

(from the side)

"ORIGINAL HORIZONTALITY"

R:!!ihk t!:it- to h: 1 ms, by ltlU.·r

o ldt::H t o· younges.t

H

i 1

r

§

EXERCISE: Stratigraphic rele tio ns.11ips, Grand Canyon, Al.,

Cirril·,J ld' lt-·ri-: , IT1- u r:-1';1ei' s,

West East

Earth Science Education 30 North U Street. SIC. UT 8-4. l 03

Utah’s geologic wealth is due to Utah’s geologic past. Utah’s three billion year rock record can be told as chapters…. we’ll skip the first two… and they take up about 70% of the record.

3

Limestone –

GREAT host rocks for mineralization Potential for oil and other hydrocarbons

4 4

Oquirrh Basin Limestone, shale, shaley limestone, limey shale Become great host rocks for mineralization.

Paradox Basin – salts Potash… waste isolation

5

SANDSTONE… rock Awesome reservoir for hydrocarbons

6

(Erosion to the west… bye bye earlier rock units.)

COAL

7

OIL SHALE

8

MINERALIZATION

Associated with impressive Igneous activity… intrusions

Extrusions Circulating waters.

9

WEST EAST

8 ,000 BINGHAM PIT 1 ,000

Note that the Curry Peak Fm beneath 3• 000

the thrust fault is younger than the

Butterfield Peaks Formation

Horizontal scale same as vertical scale

Figure 111 This west-east cross section through the Bingham mine is about 3.5 miles wide. The horizontal and vertical scales are the same. It shows two igneous intrusions, the 38-nullion -year-old Bingham quart z monzonite porphyry and the Bingham monzon.ite stock, that intruded into the predominantly quartzitic bedrock of the Pennsylvanian Bingham Mine Formation of the Oquirrh Mountain Group (figure BiJ1gham-2). T hese intrusions gradually worked their way upward through the sedinientary bedrock with very little offset or disruption of the Pennsylvanian strata, wh ic h had been previously folded and faulted during the la te Cretaceous Sevier orogeny 110 to 65 million years ago. The thrust fault near the bottom of the cross section, and the folds on the left side, were produced during that orogeny.

T his cross section is simplified from one in a 1991 guidebook of the Bingham distr ict prepared by Kennecott Utah Copper Corporation. The 1991 topography of the pit is shown as a solid line. Ea rl ie r topography and geology is dashed. T he dashed red line outlines the extent of ore-bearing rock that has been removed. Both sedinientary and igneous rocks contained low-grade copper-ore.

The geology portrayed on this cross section is known from a great many deep test holes that have been drilled throughout the mine area to assess the extent of the copper mineralization. These holes have encountered blobs of sedimentary rocks floating within the monzonite stock, as shown on the cross section. Knowledge of undergro und relatio ns hips is essential in determining how to profitably conti nue to mine at Bingham.

Hintze, 2005. Utah's Spectacular Geology and how it came to be, BYU Dept of Geology.

CRITICAL CRUCIAL FOR BINGHAM COPPER MINE TO BE THE WORLD-CLASS MlNE THAT IT IS.

Ut ah's chapter 4 - Broad Basins

limestone, shale, sandstones

Good host rock, meaning... will react with fluid later.

Compressional tectonics of dinosaur time - fracture rocks so fluids can circulate, later

Chapters Mineral-rich

intrusive and

associated processes.

Basin and range faulting,

range erodes, ore becomes accessible

COAL COUNRTY

Shallow sea

FIGURE 68 - Block diagram showing depositional environments of Late Cretaceous rocks in the foreland basin of eastern Utah.

Hintze, 1988. Geologic History of Utah.

Critical crucial conditions essential for Utah’s major minable COAL.

CHAPTER 6 – Scrunch and SWAMPS Lots and lots of accumulated vegetation

CHAPTER 6 -- Preservation and Burial CHAPTER 7 – Uplift but…. NOT eroded away!!

CHAPTER 9 – Erosion of the Colorado River basin… access.

By the end of this lecture, as you fall asleep tonight… and for your midterm… you should be able to explore questions such as:

• Why has Utah such great wealth of geologic resources?

  
  

• Bingham Copper Mine: what critical crucial geologic conditions made the Bingham mining district so rich?

  
  

• Utah’s coal deposits: discuss what it takes to have awesome coal resources.

  
  

• Why are Utah’s coal deposits from the age of dinosaurs not found in western Utah?

  
  

• What mineral / energy resources would you expect to find in Utah’s Basin and Range physiographic province… Rocky Mountain Physiographic Province… Colorado Plateau Province? …. And why?

  
  

• What are some of Utah’s mineral / energy resources associated with the four processes of the rock cycle discussed in class (sedimentation; lithification; metamorphism; melting /crystallization).

Thank you, Louie, for teaching this course…

And… to you fine students… consider a career in natural resources… Diversity has many forms. I've learned from this course. I expect you will too.