Results of core drilling for uranium-bearing carbonaceous shale and lignite in the Goose Creek district, Cassia County, Idaho

Abstract

Thirteen core holes, totaling 2,023 feet, were drilled during the fall of 1953 to explore the grade and extent of uranium-bearing beds of carbonaceous shale and lignite in the east-central part of the Goose Creek district, Cassia County, Idaho. The beds tested are interbedded with volcanic ash, bentonite, greenish-gray shale, sandstone, and conglomerate in two fairly well defined zones in the lower part of the Salt Lake formation of lower Pliocene age. Nine holes penetrated carbonaceous shale beds in the Barrett zone, and one hole penetrated carbonaceous shale and lignite beds in zone B, 160 feet stratigraphically below the Barrett zone. The highest concentration of uranium found by drilling is 0.10 percent in the upper part of a 4-foot bed of carbonaceous shale and lignite in zone B. The grade of carbonaceous shale beds in the Barrett zone ranges from 0.044 percent to less than 0.003 percent uranium. Inferred reserves in the district are estimated to be 790,000 tons in beds 1 foot or more thick containing an average of 0.014 percent or 120 tons of uranium.