Selected mining districts of Utah, by Carl L. Ege, 59 p., ISBN 1-55791-726-4, 6/05, MP-05-5 $11.49 Discusses some of the most productive districts for metal production in the state of Utah. Districts described include Gold Hill (Clifton), Spor Mountain, Bingham (West Mountain), Ophir, Mercur (Camp Floyd), Tintic, Mountain Lake (includes Big Cottonwood, Little Cottonwood, American Fork), Park City, San Francisco, Iron Springs, Silver Reef (Harrisburg), and uranium districts (White Canyon, and Lisbon Valley). Each district’s description includes location, production, history, geology, mineralogy, and current/future operations.

Utah gold: history, placers, and recreational regulations by C.M. Wilkerson, 9 p., 8/97, Public Information Series 50 $1.00
Known gold deposits in Utah have been worked heavily in the past 100 years. This publication examines the history of gold discoveries in Utah, reveals the locations of known gold placers (sand or gravel deposits containing concentrations of gold), describes Fool's Gold, and outlines recreational gold panning and dredging regulations in the state.

Gold placers in Utah, compiled by UGMS staff, 1966, 29p. Photocopy $4.00 C-47

Special issue on Utah (reprint of Rocks & Minerals Utah Special) 62 p., 1994 PI-26 $3.50
This colorful magazine has several articles on gold mining areas of Utah including Park City, the Tintic District, and Bingham copper mine.

Geology, ore deposits and history of the Big Cottonwood mining district, Salt Lake County, Utah, by L.P. James, 1979, 98 p., 4 pl. B-114 $8.50
Three types of mineral deposits occur in this district. Quartz veins with native gold, silver, copper sulfides and tungsten cut older Precambrian amphibolite in the Little Willow area. The veins appear genetically related to the nearby Little Cottonwood stock, but the metals may have come from a quartz-sericite schist unit. Skarn deposits, or calc-silicate-magnetite bodies in carbonate rocks at intrusive contacts, show highly variable copper, gold, lead, zinc and tungsten contents and have yielded at most a few thousand tons to date. The third type of deposits, fissure veins in later Precambrian and Paleozoic quartzites and associated bedded replacement bodies in carbonate rocks, contain lead, silver, copper, zinc and gold in sulfide, sulfo-salt and secondary oxide minerals, plus manganese carbonates and oxides.

Provisional geologic map of the Gold Hill quadrangle, Tooele County, Utah, by J.P. Robinson with a plate of the mines, prospects and workings of the Gold Hill quadrangle, by H.M. Messenger, H.H. Doelling, B.T. Tripp, and M.E. Jensen; 19 p., 3 pl., 1:24,000, 1993 $7.00 M-140
The map covers the main part of the Gold Hill mining district.

Geochemical reconnaissance at Mercur, Utah (Tooele County), by G.W. Lenzi, 1973, 16 p. Photocopy $1.50 SS-43
Gold prospecting in the Basin and Range Province has been renewed since the discovery of the Carlin gold deposit near Carlin, NV in 1961. Among several low-grade gold deposits mineralogically similar to Carlin is the abandoned deposit at Mercur, Utah. A geochemical reconnaissance was conducted in the abandoned Camp Floyd (Mercur) mining district in the south Oquirrh Mountains of Utah to determine the average amount of gold and silver remaining in the district and to locate possible prospects. More than $25 million in metal value, mostly from gold mining, has been produced.

Gold prospecting in Utah, by M.R. Smith, 2 p. (reprinted from Survey Notes, August 1981) FREE MP-87-8
This two-page flyer is a short history of gold and its deposition, and an introductory guide to prospecting.

Characteristics of acid-sulfate alteration in the Marysvale-Pioche mineral belt: a guide to gold mineralization, by A.J.B. Thompson, 29p., April 1991 $5.50 MP91-2
The zones of extensive acid-sulfate alteration in the Marysvale-Pioche mineral belt have been of interest to explorationists for many years, most recently for their precious metal potential. Based on recent field work, existing information and advances in the understanding of alunite formation of these occurrences have been characterized and assessed. These acid-sulfate occurrences were investigated and assessed for their relative gold potential. Work included mapping, geochemistry, petrography and literature review.

Field guide to geologic excursions in Utah and adjacent areas of Nevada, Idaho, and Wyoming, edited by J.R. Wilson, 481 p., April 1992 $16.95 MP92-3
Several papers in this field guide are on gold, including the Oquirrh Mountain deposits, Barneys Canyon, and Mercur.

Characterization of argillic alteration and K/Ar dating of illite at the Mercur gold mine, Utah: further evidence for a Mesozoic age of gold mineralization, by P.N. Wilson and W.T. Parry, 26 p., April 1993 $5.00 MP93-5
This study determined that illite mineralogy was the only consistent aspect of argillically altered rock samples from the Carrie Steele and Lulu Graben fault zones. The heterogeneity suggests that fluid composition was variable and/or there are superimposed hydrothermal events. Results provide further evidence for a Mesozoic age of the gold mineralization.

Large mine permits in Utah 2008, 3 p., 1 pl. approx. scale 1" = 14 mi, 2008, OFR-515 $6.00
Small mine permits in Utah 2005, 7 p., 1 pl., approx. scale 1:750,000, 2005, OFR-405 $5.00
These two maps show the location, operators, and commodity of operating mines in Utah.

Geochemical characteristics of hydrothermally altered black shales of the southern Oquirrh Mountains and relationships to Mercur-type gold deposits, by P.N. Wilson and W.T. Parry, 64 p., 1989 $5.60 OFR-161
Alteration of the Manning Canyon and Long Trail Shales in the southern Oquirrh Mountains has resulted in (1) oxidation of organic matter and pyrite; (2) replacement by phyllosilicates; (3) silicification; (4) porphyroblast growth; (5) fossil replacement by phyllosilicates; (6) phyllosilicate veins of various combinations of illite, chlorite, pyrophyllite, kaolinite, and Fe-oxides; (7) depletion of organic carbon, calcium carbonate, alkali and alkaline earth metals; and (8) enrichment of aluminum and hydrogen. This alteration has been accompanied by formation of an unusually type of illite, termed pseudo-illite, which is anomalously low in K20 and Na20, and is probably enriched in bound water. Whether this hydrothermal system was responsible for the ore-grade gold mineralization at Mercur, Sunshine, and West Dip is still not certain.

Mines and prospects containing gold in Utah, by M.A. Shubat, B.T. Tripp, C.E. Bishop, and R.E. Blackett, 28 p., 2 pl., 1:750,000, February 1992 $8.50 OFR-207
This report contains information on 730 inactive mines and prospects producing or containing gold. Locations, production and reserve data are given for the 6 actives mines. Two state-wide maps show mines and prospects that produced gold as (a) a primary product and (b) as a byproduct. Tables in the text list mine or prospect, commodities present, size of mine, and any known production data.

Gold occurrence in the Cretaceous Mancos Shale, eastern Utah, by Gordon Marlatt, 21 p., February 1991 $1.80 CR91-5
The Cretaceous Mancos Shale of eastern Utah covers several thousand square miles. It is a thick, homogenous, organic-rich shale, and like many black shales is enriched in metals. Persistent rumors of high-grade gold mineralization throughout the entire section have been reported for many years. This report is an effort to evaluate these reports and to try to establish whether gold exists in commercially extractable quantities.

Skarn occurrences in Utah and the potential for associated gold mineralization, by Julia E. Reid, 29 p., plus 20 p. appendix, August 1991 $4.25 CR91-13
A total of 34 of the 146 skarn occurrences in Utah contain greater than 0.01 opt (0.34 ppm) gold and are classified as gold-bearing. Skarns in which gold is a primary or secondary commodity occur in the Bingham and Gold Hill mining districts. The presence of gold in minor to ore-grade concentrations in numerous Utah skarns favors additional discoveries of gold in the skarn environment. Copper skarns and tungsten or tungsten-bearing skarns associated with Tertiary intrusions are especially prospective. Some exploration guides are proposed. Skarns constitute an important category of mineral deposits and are classified based on the dominant economic metal they contain. The five major classes of skarn deposits are iron, tungsten, copper, zinc-lead, and tin.

Utah Gold Prospectors Club; Phillip J. Yadanza, President, 3654 South 6355 West, West Valley City, UT 84128, 801.965.1662, utgopr2000@aol.com. Club meets each third Tuesday at Murray High School, Murray, UT from 7:00 pm.

Northern Utah Prospectors Association, P.O. Box 13301, Ogden, UT, 84412; Curt Wood, President, (801) 753-6418. Alan Meyer alan.meyer@m.k12.ut.us

Contact the Utah Division of Water Rights, 1594 West North Temple, P.O. Box 146300, Salt Lake City, UT 84114-6300, (801) 538-7240; website: http://waterrights.utah.gov for updated stream prospecting regulations, permits, and open stream listing; under present laws, you apply there for a state-wide permit.