Mineral Resources of the 

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area, 

Washakie County, Wyoming

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Chapter C

Mineral Resources of the 

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area, 

Washakie County, Wyoming

By JOHN D. PEPER, RANDALL H. HILL, and 

DOLORES M. KULIK 

U.S. Geological Survey

CARL L ALMQUIST 

U.S. Bureau of Mines

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1756

MINERAL RESOURCES OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS NORTHERN WYOMING
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

DONALD PAUL MODEL, Secretary

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Dallas L. Peck, Director

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1988

For sale by the

Books and Open-File Reports Section

U.S. Geological Survey

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Any use of trade names in this report is for descriptive purposes only and does 

not imply endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of 

Mines.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mineral resources of the Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area, Washakie 

County, Wyoming.

(Mineral resources of wilderness study areas northern Wyoming ; ch. C) 

(U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1756)

Bibliography: p.

Supt. of Docs, no.: I 19.3:1756

1. Mines and mineral resources Wyoming Honeycombs 

Wilderness. 2. Honeycombs Wilderness (Wyo.) I. Peper, John 

D. II. Series. III. Series: U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1756-C. 

QE75.B9 no. 1756-C 557.3 S [553'.09787'34] 88-600317 

[TN24.W8]
STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS 

Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Study Areas

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (PublkrLaw 94-579, October 21, 

1976) requires the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines to conduct mineral 

surveys on certain areas to determine the mineral values, if any, that may be present. Results 

must be made available to the public and be submitted to the President and the Congress. 

This report presents the results of a mineral survey of the Honeycombs (WY-010-221) 

Wilderness Study Area, Washakie County, Wyoming.

CONTENTS

Summary Cl

Abstract Cl 

Character and setting Cl 

Mineral and energy resources Cl 

Introduction C3

Location, access, and physiography C3 

Procedures and sources of data C3 

Appraisal of identified resources C5 

Mining activity C5 

Mineral appraisal C5 

Coal C5 

Titanium C5 

Summary C7

Assessment of potential for undiscovered resources C7 

Geology C7 

Geochemistry C9

Sample media and analytical methods C9 

Sample preparation and analysis C9 

Results of analyses Cll 

Geophysics Cll

Energy and mineral resources C12 

Oil and gas C12 

Coal CIS

Industrial minerals C15 

Uranium C15 

Metals CIS

Geothermal resources C16 

References cited C16 

Appendix C19

FIGURES

1-7. Maps of the Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area showing:

1. Mineral resource potential C2

2. Location C4

3. Known Geologic Structures, oil and gas drill holes, and lands under 

lease for oil and gas C6

4. U.S. Bureau of Mines sample localities, lands under coal-lease 

application, and coal mines C8

5. Bedrock geology CIO

6. Complete Bouguer gravity anomaly and generalized structure C13

7. Residual intensity magnetic anomaly and generalized structure C14

Contents
TABLES

1. Coal analyses for as-received samples from the Honeycombs Wilderness Study 

Area and adjacent coal lease application area W-77322 C5

2. Selected analytical data for U.S. Bureau of Mines stream-sediment samples 

from the Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area C5

VI Contents
MINERAL RESOURCES OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS-NORTHERN WYOMING

Mineral Resources of the 

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area, 

Washakie County, Wyoming

EyJohn D. Peper, Randall H. Hill, and

Dolores M. Kulik

U.S. Geological Survey

Carl L Almquist 

U.S. Bureau of Mines

SUMMARY 

Abstract

The Honeycombs (WY-010-221) Wilderness Study 

Area, in Washakie County, Wyo., has no identified mineral or 

energy resources. There is moderate resource potential for 

undiscovered oil and gas, for undiscovered subsurface coal 

in the northeastern and southeastern parts of the study area, 

and for the industrial commodities sand and gravel, mudstone, and sandstone along the western and northern edges 

of the study area (fig. 1). The entire wilderness study area has 

low resource potential for undiscovered uranium and no 

known resource potential for any undiscovered metals or 

for geothermal energy, based on existing data. The potential 

for subsurface titanium placers is unknown.

Character and Setting

The Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area is about 15 

mi (miles) east-southeast of Worland, Wyo., the nearest 

major town. The smaller town of Ten Sleep lies about 8 mi to 

the east-northeast. Badlands, with pseudokarst depressions 

called "honeycombs," in the upland heads of numerous 

gulleys characterize the central and western parts of the 

study area; benchlands of terrace-gravel remnants and 

canyon-incised tablelands characterize some of the eastern 

part of the study area. In the semiarid climate of the study 

area, vegetation, consisting of grasses and shrubs, is 

common in the valleys and sparse in the uplands. Elevations

Manuscript approved for publication June 21, 1988.

range between 4,800 and 5,600 ft (feet) above sea level. The 

study area lies in the southeastern part of the Bighorn Basin, 

mostly within the margin of outcrop of Tertiary strata (see 

geologic time chart in Appendix for explanation of rock 

ages). Rocks of the Fort Union Formation and remnants of 

the Willwood Formation dip gently west in an area of arcuate 

strike that is concave to the west. The Tensleep fault lies to 

the north of the study area, and the Bud Kimball anticline lies 

6 mi east of the study area. The lower part of the Fort Union 

is sandy and contains lenticular channel sandstones and 

mudstones, and lenticular coal beds. Upper parts of the Fort 

Union Formation and the Willwood remnants consist largely 

of fine-grained clastic rocks. The Fort Union unconformably 

overlies the Upper Cretaceous Lance Formation, which in 

turn overlies a succession of Mesozoic and Paleozoic 

sedimentary rocks that is very thick here because the study 

area is near the axis of the Bighorn Basin. Surficial deposits 

include older fluvial boulder and pebble gravels in benchlands, fan remnants, and terraces at elevations of 

4,900-5,100 ft, and some dune-sand veneer in the extreme 

eastern part of the study area, as well as recent sand and 

gravel in terraces and as active alluvium in streams.

Mineral and Energy Resources

The only significant mineral-related activity in the 

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area has been exploration 

for oil and gas. Twenty post-FLPMA (Federal Land Policy and 

Management Act of 1976) leases cover 6,018 acres, and five 

pre-FLPMA leases cover an additional 2,244 acres (U.S.

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area C1
44°00'

107°37'30"

43°52'30" 

APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY 

OF THE HONEYCOMBS 

WILDERNESS STUDY 

AREA (WY-010-221

WILD HORSE 

BUTTE +

M/C

L/C

N/D 

U/A

R. 90 W. R. 89 W.

Figure 1 (above and facing page). 

County, Wyoming.

Mineral resource potential of the Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area, Washakie

Bureau of Land Management, 1986) of the study area. Three 

test wells were drilled in the study area; two were dry holes 

and one had a show of oil. The southeastern boundary of the 

Cottonwood Creek oil field, a known Geologic Structure of 

the BLM (U.S. Bureau of Land Management), is 2 mi

northwest of the study area. The northwestern edge of the 

Bud Kimball oil field (a Known Geologic Structure), which 

includes a plugged and abandoned well, is near the southeastern boundary. Geologic evidence suggests that there is 

moderate resource potential for undiscovered oil and

C2 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Northern Wyoming
U/A

A 

B

C 

D

EXPLANATION

Geologic terrane having moderate mineral resource potential for coal, with certainty level B

Geologic terrane having moderate mineral resource potential for sand and gravel, mudstone, and sandstone, with 

certainty level C

Geologic terrane having moderate resource potential for oil 

and gas, with certainty level C Applies to entire 

study area

Geologic terrane having low mineral resource potential for 

uranium, with certainty level C Applies to entire 

study area

Geologic terrane having no mineral resource potential for 

any metals other than uranium and subsurface titanium, nor for geothermal energy, with certainty level 

D Applies to entire study area

Geologic terrane having unknown potential for subsurface 

titanium, with certainty level A Applies to entire 

study area

Certainty levels 

Available data are not adequate to determine the level of

mineral potential 

Available information suggests the level of mineral

resource potential 

Available information gives a good indication of the level

of mineral resource potential

Available information clearly defines the level of mineral 

resource potential

gas underneath the study area in: (1) small stratigraphic traps 

possibly related to facies changes within the Lower Permian 

Phosphoria or Park City Formations; (2) small fractureinduced porosity traps related to movement on the Tensleep 

fault and ancillary faults; and (3) possible domal traps in the 

Tensleep Sandstone. Data are insufficient to identify and 

pinpoint the location of specific economic accumulations of 

oil and gas.

Exploration and mining for coal near the study area 

include a pending application for lease at the northern 

boundary of the study area, four historic underground mines 

east of the study area, and coal seams east of the study area 

discovered by a BLM reconnaissance drilling program. Fort 

Union coals were tested and are considered to be too thin 

and too impure for consideration as an economic resource. 

Some cleaner, thicker Mesozoic coa! may lie within 30-50 ft 

of the ground surface near the eastern edges of the study 

area, but it may increase in depth to thousands of feet below 

the western part of the study area. The resource potential for 

undiscovered subsurface coal resources in the northeastern 

and southeastern parts of the study area is moderate.

The lower part of the Fort Union Formation may contain 

uranium deposits of the roll-front type. Geochemical 

sampling and analysis failed to identify significant uranium 

concentrations, however, and the study area is considered to 

have low mineral resource potential for uranium. Geologic 

and geochemical data suggest no mineral resource potential 

for resources of any other metals in the study area. Although 

there are mechanical lag concentrations of barite, zircon, 

rutile, and some ilmenorutile in active stream alluvium in the 

study area, they are too sparse to constitute potential 

resources. The geologic environment of the study area 

suggests a moderate potential for undiscovered resources of

sand and gravel, mudstone, and sandstone. The sandstone 

is considered undesirable for use as dimension stone. There 

is no resource potential for geothermal energy in the study 

area. The potential for subsurface placer deposits of titanium 

is unknown.

INTRODUCTION

Location, Access, and Physiography

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. 

Bureau of Mines (USBM) studied the mineral resources 

of 20,740 acres of the Honeycombs (WY-010-221) 

Wilderness Study Area in Washakie County, northcentral Wyoming, at the request of the BLM. In this 

report the area studied is referred to as the "wilderness 

study area" or "study area."

The study area is about 15 mi east-southeast of 

Worland and about 8 mi west-southwest of Ten Sleep 

(fig. 2). The eastern side of the study area is reached via 

a gravel road, Blue Bank load, which extends south from 

U.S. Highway 16 east of Worland. Blue Bank road 

borders the study area on the northeast. Unimproved 

roads and jeep trails that lead south and west reach the 

southeastern and northern parts of the study area. The 

western part of the study area is reached by a gravel road, 

Mobile road, which extends from Banjo Flats southeast 

of Worland to near the confluence of Cabin and East 

Forks of Nowater Creek From this confluence, unimproved gravel roads and jeep trails lead northeast and 

southeast to the western parts of the study area. Travel in 

the study area is mostly via rough jeep trail or on foot.

"The Honeycombs" is the name given locally to the 

steep, irregular badlands topography developed on the 

weakly indurated, variably erodable mudstone, siltstone, 

and sandstone of the gently west and northwest dipping 

Tertiary Fort Union and Willwood Formations. Small 

depressions are so abundant near the heads of the 

numerous small gulleys as to result in a pseudokarst 

topography in some upland areas. Badlands in the 

western and southern parts of the study area range from 

4,400 to 5,500 ft above sea level. These are drained 

generally westward by Cabin Fork and Hawks Nest Fork, 

tributaries to East Fork of Nowater Creek. Benchlands 

and tablelands at about 4,900-5,200 ft in elevation on the 

eastern and northeastern perimeter of the study area are 

drained northward by tributaries to Big Cottonwood 

Creek or northeastward by tributaries to Little 

Cottonwood Creek or Bud Kimball Creek.

Procedures and Sources of Data

This report presents an evaluation of the mineral 

endowment (identified resources and mineral resource 

potential) of the study area and is the combined result of

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area C3
108° 107°45 107°30'

44°00'

43°45'

APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY OF 

HONEYCOMBS WILDERNESS

Improved road 

 Unimproved road

Figure 2. Location of the Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area, Washakie County, Wyoming.

several separate studies by the USBM and the USGS. 

Identified resources are classified according to the 

system of the U.S. Bureau of Mines and U.S. Geological 

Survey (1980), which is shown in the Appendix of this 

report. Identified resources are studied by the USBM. 

Mineral resource potential is the likelihood of 

occurrence of undiscovered metals and nonmetals, 

industrial rocks and minerals, and of undiscovered 

energy sources (coal, oil, gas, oil shale, and geothermal 

energy). It is classified according to the system of Goudarzi (1984) and is shown in the Appendix. Undiscovered 

resources are studied by the USGS.

The USBM investigation included reviews of 

literature, land-status records, and BLM files, after 

which two USBM geologists conducted a 3-day field 

examination of the study area on foot, by four-wheeldrive vehicle, and by helicopter. Five stream-sediment 

samples were collected from dry drainages (fig. 3) to 

investigate a reported geochemical titanium anomaly 

(U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1986, p. 45). These 

samples were analyzed by inductively coupled plasmaatomic emission spectrometry for 33 elements at the 

USBM Reno Research Center, Reno, Nev. Two coal 

outcrop samples were collected and submitted to Core

Laboratories, Inc., Denver, Colo., for proximate and 

ultimate analysis. Complete analytical results are 

available for public inspection at the USBM Intermountain Field Operations Center, Denver Federal Center, 

Denver, Colo.

The USGS collected field data and rock and soil 

samples for geochemical analysis along foot traverses 

through the study area in June 1986. In September 1986 

a detailed stratigraphic section was measured from the 

top of the Lance Formation through the base of the 

Willwood Formation along Little Cottonwood Creek and 

its headwater tributaries west of Green Bug Reservoir. 

Stream-sediment samples and additional rock samples 

for geochemical analysis were collected by helicopter 

from predetermined sites in the major stream basins. A 

reconnaissance geologic map at 1:24,000 scale was 

compiled by photogeologic techniques from the field 

data. This map and a measured section (J.D. Peper and 

R.H. Hill, unpub. data, 1986) augment earlier mapping 

(scale about 1:200,000) and descriptions of Tertiary 

rocks in the southeastern Bighorn Basin by Bown (1975) 

and provided detailed stratigraphic and lithologic control 

for choosing and evaluating the geochemical sample 

sites.

C4 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Northern Wyoming
Acknowledgments. Personnel at the BLM Worland District Office, especially Roger Inmann, Area 

Manager, and Philip R. Bigsby, Geologist, generously 

provided information about road access and location, 

helped secure additional aerial photographic coverage of 

the study area, and freely contributed their information 

about the geology of the study area. They provided 

background information on mineral and oil and gas 

leases, as well as discussed specific aspects of some rock 

units in the field.

APPRAISAL OF IDENTIFIED RESOURCES

By Carl L. Almquist 

U.S. Bureau of Mines

Mining Activity

Coal was mined on a small scale, primarily for local 

use by ranchers, at four sites within 2 mi of the study 

area: the Cottonwood Creek mine and Bud Kimball 

Draw mine, and two sites at the northern end of Big 

Cedar Ridge (fig. 4). There are no reliable figures, but 

total production for all of these sites probably did not 

exceed 1,000 short tons of coal. All are currently idle, but 

the Cottonwood Creek mine site is under application for 

lease (Federal coal lease application W-77322). No 

mines, prospects, or mining claims are in the study area.

Mineral Appraisal

Mineral commodities of interest near the study 

area include coal and titanium. Coal deposits occur along 

the northern and eastern study-area boundaries in the 

Tertiary Fort Union Formation, in strata that dip gently 

to the west. Wyoming's largest titaniferous sandstone 

deposit, a consolidated paleobeach placer in the Mesaverde Formation exposed along Dugout Creek, is 3 mi 

southeast of the study area.

Coal

Information on the areal extent of the Fort Union 

Formation coal beds is lacking. In outcrop, they are very

Table 1. Coal analyses for as-received samples from the 

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area, Wyoming, and 

adjacent coal lease application area W-77322

[VM, volatile matter; FC, fked carbon; FU, average Fort Union 

Formation coal (Glass and others, 1975, p. 225). Values in percent, 

except Btu/lb]

Sample Moisture VM FC Ash Sulfur Btu/lb

lenticular. The 5.5-ft-thick bed mined in Bud Kimball 

Draw, for example, thins along strike to less than 1 ft 

within 0.25 mi of the mine. The average thickness of 

these coal beds, including partings, is about 5 ft (Woodruff, 1908). A 3.2-ft-thick coal bed exposed inside the 

northeastern boundary of the study area (fig. 4, sample 

loc. 3) contains 8 in. (inches) of solid coal when partings 

are subtracted (Wood and others, 1983, p. 31), which is 

too thin for consideration as a resource. In 1984, the 

BLM drilled four holes near the study area, but they did 

not investigate coal-bed geometry.

Two outcrop samples collected by the USBM (fig. 

4, sample Iocs. 1, 3) had an average as-received heat 

value of 6,436 Btu/lb (Btu per pound) (table 1), but they 

rank subbituminous C (between 8,300 and 9,500 Btu/lb) 

according to calorific values on a moist, mineral-matterfree basis (American Society for Testing and Materials, 

1980, Standard D 388-77). In the Bighorn Basin, Fort 

Union Formation coals rank subbituminous A or B 

(between 10,500 and 11,500 Btu/lb or 9,500 and 10,500 

Btu/lb, respectively), having an average as-received heat 

value of 10,150 Btu/lb (Glass and others, 1975, p. 225).

An exploratory drill hole on the western boundary 

of the study area reached coal at depths of 2,690 ft and 

3,270 ft in the Mesaverde Formation. Accurate 

thicknesses and qualitative data for these coal beds are 

not available. In other Bighorn Basin coal fields, 4- to 6-ft 

thicknesses are typical, and the rank, with one exception, 

is subbituminous A or B. The average heat value of these 

coals, as received, is 10,560 Btu/lb (Glass and others, 

1975, p. 225).

Titanium

The possibility that titaniferous sandstone deposits 

may exist in the study area (U.S. Bureau of Land 

Management, 1986, p. 45) was investigated by the 

USBM. Five stream-sediment samples (fig. 4, sample 

Iocs. 2 and 4-7; table 2) had a mean titanium content of 

0.3 percent, the same as for 47 geochemical samples from 

the vicinity on record at the BLM Worland district office. 

This titanium content is equivalent to 0.5 percent TiO2 , 

which is not anomalously high. The TiO2 content of 

average soil ranges from 0.5-1.5 percent (Miller, 1957 

P- 31).

Table 2. Selected analytical data for U.S. Bureau of Mines 

stream-sediment samples from the Honeycombs Wilderness 

Study Area, Wyoming

[Detection limits: Ti and Fe, 5 ppm (parts per million) (0.0005 

percent); Zr, 20 ppm]

1

3

FU

17.01

17.66

14.3

33.83

35.24

34.8

21.82

26.37

42.2

27.34

20.73

9.8

0.77

.42

.6

6,187

6,684

10,150

Sample No.

Ti (percent)

Fe ^percent)

Zr (ppm)

2

0.26

.94

120

4

0.21

1.3

95

5

0.31

1.7

120

6

0.41

1.4

130

7

0.42

1.6

130

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area C5
44°00'

107°37'30"

43°52'30" ~

APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY

OF THE HONEYCOMBS 

WILDERNESS STUDY AREA

EXPLANATION

Known Geologic Structure 

Oil and gas lease areas

Producing oil well

Dry hole

Dry hole with show of oil

C6 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Northern Wyoming
The draft wilderness environmental impact 

statement for the Washakie Resource Area refers to 

anomalous Mesaverde sample results that show 

geochemical similarities with titaniferous deposits to the 

southeast (U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1986, 

p. 45). The Mesaverde Formation is not exposed inside 

the study area, but it is present at depth. Drilling logs 

show this formation to be 500 ft below the surface near 

the eastern boundary and 2,200 ft below the surface near 

the western boundary.

Summary

No identified mineral resources were found in the 

wilderness study area. Coal exposed inside the boundary 

is too thin and contains too many impurities to be a 

resource. The lenticular coal beds mined at sites nearby 

cannot be projected into the study area, based on 

available data. Speculation that Mesaverde Formation 

titaniferous sandstone deposits may occur in the study 

area is not supported by geochemical or surface 

geological evidence.

ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL FOR 

UNDISCOVERED RESOURCES

By John D. Peper, Randall H. Hill, and

Dolores M. Kulik

U.S. Geological Survey

Geology

The Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area lies in 

the southeastern part of the Bighorn Basin, largely within 

the margin of outcrop of gently west dipping Tertiary 

strata (fig. 5). The Tertiary rocks, including the Fort 

Union Formation and the lower parts of the Willwood 

Formation in the general area, were described by Bown 

(1975).

The Fort Union rocks unconformably rest on the 

Upper Cretaceous Lance Formation along a contact that 

is broadly arcuate and concave to the west. This contact 

lies generally 0.1-1.5 mi east of the study area. Along the 

eastern boundary of the study area, Fort Union rocks dip 

3°-5° to the southwest, west, and northwest, progressively

Figure 3 (facing page). Known Geologic Structures, oil and 

gas drill holes, and lands under lease for oil and gas , in the 

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area, Wyoming. Lease and 

drill-hole information from U.S. Bureau of Land Management 

(1986).

southward along the boundary. These dips decrease to 

near zero in the central and western parts of the study 

area. The major nearby geologic structures include the 

Bud Kimball anticline (Bown, 1975), which strikes 

northwest and is about 6 mi east of the eastern boundary 

of the study area, and the Tensleep fault (Allison, 1983, 

1984; Love and others, 1978), an east-striking normal 

fault that was active in Laramide and post-Laramide 

time. It is 2 mi north of the study area.

A thick succession of Mesozoic and Paleozoic 

sedimentary rocks (Horn, 1963; Boberg, 1983, p. 12) 

underlies the Tertiary rocks. Many of these rocks are 

exposed east and south of the study area (Love and 

others, 1978). These buried strata include (from 

youngest to oldest): the Cretaceous Lance, Meeteetse, 

and Mesaverde Formations, Cody Shale, Frontier 

Formation, Mowry and Thermopolis Shales, and Cloverly Formation; the Jurassic Morrison, Sundance, and 

Gypsum Spring Formations; the Triassic Chugwater 

Formation including the Alcova Limestone Member and 

the Dinwoody Formation; the Permian Phosphoria and 

Park City Formations; the Pennsylvanian Tensleep 

Sandstone and Mississippian, Devonian, Ordovician, and 

Cambrian strata exist at even greater depths of more than 

10,000-12,000 ft.

The Upper Cretaceous Lance Formation is present 

only in the extreme northeastern corner of the study area, 

where it consists of thin, brown-weathering sheet 

sandstone, gray and yellow mudstone, bituminous gray 

shale, and coal. These beds dip locally as much as 24° to 

the southwest. Precise biostratigraphic control of the 

position of the Cretacous-Tertiary boundary has recently 

been described for rocks about 25 mi to the southwest of 

the study area, near Cedar Mountain (Hartman, 1986; 

Larsen, 1988) but has not been established in rocks near 

the study area, where the uppermost Cretaceous strata 

are mapped collectively as the Lance and Meeteetse 

Formations (Love and others, 1978).

The lithology and stratigraphy of the Tertiary 

rocks, the Fort Union Formation and the overlying 

Willwood Formation, were described for an area that 

includes the study area and extends to the south and west 

of it (Bown, 1975). Details of the biostratigraphic 

zonation, lateral facies changes within and paleogeographic reconstruction of deposition of these Paleocene 

and lower Eocene rocks were summarized in later work 

(Wing and Bown, 1985). The general structural 

framework for deposition of the Tertiary rocks has been 

described by Parker and Jones (1983). The name 

"Polecat Bench Formation" (Jepson, 1940) has been 

used to refer to rocks otherwise considered Fort Union 

Formation in the southern part of the Bighorn Basin 

(Bown, 1975; Hartmann, 1986; Glass and others, 1975). 

At the base of the Fort Union Formation, in and just east 

of the study area, are white crossbedded channel

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area C7
107°37'30"

APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY

OF THE HONEYCOMBS 

WILDERNESS STUDY AREA

43°52'30" -

EXPLANATION

Sample locality Showing sample number

Locality of reported anomalous mineralization From

U.S. Bureau of Land Management sample data

Coal mine 

Abandoned coal mine

Coal lease application area

C8 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Northern Wyoming
sandstones that are as much as 10-30 ft thick. As noted 

earlier by Bown (1975), lower and middle parts of the 

formation (mapped for this study as unit Tfus, fig. 5) are 

characterized by an abundance of sheet and channel 

sandstones that intertongue laterally with fine-clastic 

rocks, including lenticular lignitic shale and coal beds. 

The upper part of the formation (unit Tfum, fig. 5) 

consists predominantly of fine-clastic rocks, chiefly drabolive-gray to drab-yellow siltstone and mudstone. 

Persistent zones, 1-2 ft thick, of ferruginous concretions, 

thin sandstone, rare thin bituminous shale, and rare thin 

coal beds, are also present. In a stratigraphic section 

measured from exposures in the upper reach of 

Cottonwood Creek (J.D. Peper, unpub. data, 1986), the 

lower part of the Fort Union is about 430 ft thick, and the 

upper part is about 760 ft thick.

The Willwood Formation consists predominantly 

of fine-clastic rocks such as siltstone, mudstone, and 

shale, and rare thin sandstone beds. Some thick lenses 

(6-10 ft) of polymictic pebble-conglomerate are present 

in the upper 70 ft of the Willwood at North Butte. Two 

thick (15-20 ft), persistent intervals of intensely red 

siltstone and mudstone identify the lower part and base 

of the Willwood Formation in the central part of the 

study area; higher parts of the formation contain olivedrab or yellow-tan siltstone. In the western part of the 

study area, thinner pale-red mudstone, about 20-30 ft 

lower in stratigraphic position than the thick, intensely 

red siltstone to the east, marks the base of the Willwood 

Formation. About 350 ft of Willwood are exposed at 

North Butte.

Surficial deposits (not shown on fig. 5) in the 

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area include Pliocene 

and Pleistocene(?) pebble and cobble gravel in older fan 

and terrace remnants, minor Pleistocene(?) fine sand 

and silt in dune veneer, and thin deposits of older and 

recent alluvium, silt, sand, and pebble gravel in the broad 

lowland reaches of modern intermittent streams. Except 

for local minor mudflows, upland areas are largely free of 

any appreciable thickness of surficial deposits. A veneer 

8-10 ft thick of older terrace gravel covers the area along 

Blue Bank road in the northeastern part of the study 

area, as well as some benchlands at elevations of 

4,900-5,000 ft there. A veneer of fan gravel, now in 

remnants, was spread northeastward from an apical point 

east of North Butte, at elevations of 5,100-4,950 ft. 

Additional remnants of this fan occur just inside the 

southeastern boundary of the study area. Dune veneer,

Figure 4 (facing page). U.S. Bureau of Mines sample 

localities, lands under coal-lease application, and coal mines 

in and near the Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area, Wyoming. From Almquist (1987).

less than 15 ft thick, of light-olive-tan silt and fine sand 

blankets the very northeastern corner of the study area 

for about 0.25 mi southward along Blue Bank road.

Geochemistry

Sample Media and Analytical Methods

Stream sediments were selected as the primary 

sample medium as they were ultimately derived from a 

composite of rock and soil exposed in the drainage basin 

upstream from the sampled sites. Chemical analyses of 

these stream sediments provide data useful in identifying 

those basins that contain unusually high concentrations 

of elements that may be related to mineral occurrences. 

In addition, studies have shown that heavy-mineral 

concentrates derived from stream sediments are a useful 

sample medium in arid-semiarid environments or in 

areas of rugged topography, where mechanical erosion 

predominates over chemical erosion (Overstreet and 

Marsh, 1981; Bugrov and Shalaby, 1975). Thirty-five 

minus-80-mesh-fraction stream-sediment samples were 

collected from active alluvium, and 35 heavy-mineral 

panned concentrate samples were derived from stream 

sediments.

Two-hundred and six rock samples were collected 

by ridge traverses across the strike of rocks throughout 

the study area. Sample localities were spaced to provide 

general lithologic and areal representation of rock units. 

The rock samples consisted mostly of chips taken across 

a measured thickness (generally 6 ft) of layering or 

bedding, as well as grab samples of individual rock types. 

The samples include and represent all rock types in the 

area, although the number of samples per lithologic type 

was slightly biased toward tabular sandstone beds and 

their cemented caps. In addition, 29 fresh and unaltered 

rock samples were collected to represent the rocks 

exposed near the stream-sediment sample sites. The 

actual areal extent of influence of the geochemical 

information provided by a specific sample is not known; 

the sampling program was designed only to provide some 

general information on the geochemical nature of the 

rock units present.

Sample Preparation and Analysis

The dry stream-sediment samples were sieved 

through 80-mesh (0.17-millimeter) stainless-steel sieves. 

The minus-80-mesh material was retained for analysis 

and pulverized with ceramic plates to at least minus-100 

mesh prior to analysis.

To produce the heavy-mineral concentrate, bulk 

stream sediment from active alluvium was initially sieved 

through a 10-mesh (2.0-millimeter) screen. ApproxiHoneycombs Wilderness Study Area C9
44° 107°37'30

APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY ,,! 

OF THE HONEYCOMBS 

WILDERNESS STUDY 

AREA

R. 90 W. R. 89 W. 

3 4 MILES

Figure 5 (above and facing page). Generalized geologic map of the Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area, 

Wyoming. Surficial deposits not shown. Base from U.S. Geological Survey Nowater Creek quadrangle, 1979, 

scale 1:100,000. Geology mapped by J.D. Peper, 1986.

mately 10-15 pounds of the minus-10-mesh sediment organic materials, and fine silt and clay. The panned 

were panned to remove most of the quartz, feldspar, concentrate was then separated into light and heavy

C10 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Northern Wyoming
CORRELATION OF MAP UNITS

Tw

Tfum 

Tfus 

Klm

Eocene

and 

Paleocene

Upper Cretaceous

LIST OF MAP UNITS

Willwood Formation (Eocene) 

Fort Union Formation (Paleocene)

Mudstone member

Sandstone member

Lance and Meeteetse Formations, 

undivided (Upper Cretaceous)

> TERTIARY

CRETACEOUS

Contact Approximately located 

Strike and dip of inclined bedding 

Horizontal bedding

fractions using bromoform (heavy liquid of specific 

gravity 2.86). The light fraction was discarded. The 

material of specific gravity greater than 2.8 was further 

separated into three fractions (highly magnetic, weakly 

magnetic, and nonmagnetic) using a modified Frantz 

isodynamic separator. The nonmagnetic fraction was 

hand ground and saved for analysis. These procedures 

produce a sample that may contain ore-forming and 

ore-related minerals such as pyrite, galena, cassiterite, 

sphalerite, chalcopyrite, stibnite, free gold, barite, and 

scheelite. The selective concentration of minerals may 

permit the chemical determination of some elements not 

easily detected in bulk stream-sediment samples.

Rock samples were crushed and then pulverized to 

at least minus-100 mesh with ceramic plates prior to 

analysis.

All three sample media were analyzed for 31 

elements using a six-step semiquantitative emission spectrographic method (Grimes and Marranzino, 1968). Due 

to the limited amount of sample material, the nonmagnetic heavy-mineral concentrates were only analyzed 

spectrographically. The rock and minus-80-mesh streamsediment samples were also analyzed for arsenic, 

bismuth, cadmium, antimony, and zinc using inductively 

coupled argon plasma-atomic emission spectrography 

(Crock and others, 1987), and for uranium using fluorometric methods (O'Leary and Meier, 1986). A complete

listing of all analyses, elements and their lower limits of 

determination, sample locality map, and rock sample 

descriptions were assembled (Hill and Peper, unpub. 

data, 1986).

Results of Analyses

Threshold values, defined as the upper limit of 

normal background values, were determined for each 

element by inspection of element frequency-distribution 

histograms for all three sample media. A geochemical 

value higher than the threshold value is considered 

anomalous and worthy of scrutiny as a possible indication 

of important mineralization.

Geochemical values for the rock and minus-80- 

mesh stream-sediment samples are well within normal 

background values with the exception of six rock samples. 

Two rock samples contained arsenic values of 44 ppm 

and 17 ppm. Fluorapatite, as determined by X-ray 

diffraction analysis, is the most likely source of the 

arsenic (Palache and others, 1951), and it is not related to 

any mineralization. Three rock samples contained 

uranium values of 4.6 ppm, 7.4 ppm, and 11.0 ppm. The 

source of the uranium is not known; however, the areal 

extent of the uranium is very limited, as no other rock or 

stream-sediment samples contained above-threshold 

values. Only one rock sample contained detectable silver 

at a value of 0.5 ppm.

The nonmagnetic heavy-mineral concentrates 

contained high concentrations of barium (all samples 

contained 10,000 ppm or greater), zirconium (all samples 

contained greater than 2,000 ppm), and titanium (81 

percent of the samples contained 2 percent or greater). 

Barite, zircon, and rutile were identified as the major 

mineral constituents of the heavy-mineral concentrates 

by X-ray diffraction analysis. Ilmenorutile was detected 

by X-ray diffraction in one sample. The barite is considered to be authigenic cement in rock. Barite, zircon, 

and rutile are believed to be a product of mechanical 

weathering and erosion of rock, and, as accessory 

minerals, were concentrated in the active stream 

alluvium. These minerals were further concentrated by 

panning. The nominally high strontium values 

(700-2,000 ppm) may be related to the barite and in 

small part to another major constituent of the heavymineral concentrate, fluorapatite (as determined by Xray diffraction analysis (Palache and others, 1951)). The 

yttrium values (150-1,500 ppm) are also likely to be 

related to the fluorapatite (Palache and others, 1951) and 

to zircon. The source of detectable tin values in the 

heavy-mineral concentrate (20-3,000 ppm) is not known.

Geophysics

Gravity and magnetic studies were made as part of 

the mineral resource evaluation of the Honeycombs

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area C11
Wilderness Study Area. They provide information on the 

subsurface distribution of rock masses and on the 

structural framework. The gravity and magnetic data 

define only regional structural features (figs. 6 and 7).

The observed gravity data were obtained from files 

maintained by the Defense Mapping Agency of the U.S. 

Department of Defense (U.S. Defense Mapping Agency, 

Aerospace Center, 1974). Bouguer anomaly values were 

computed using the 1967 gravity formula (International 

Association of Geodesy, 1971) and a reduction density of 

2.67 grams per cubic centimeter. Mathematical formulas 

are in Cordell and others (1982). Terrain corrections 

were made by computer for a distance of 100 mi from the 

station using the method of Plouff (1977). A complete 

Bouguer anomaly gravity map was constructed from the 

data (fig. 6).

Magnetic data are from U.S. Department of 

Energy (1982). Flight lines were flown east-west at 2- to 

5-mi intervals at 400-ft elevation above the ground 

surface. A residual intensity magnetic map was constructed from the data (fig. 7).

The Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area lies 

astride a gradient between higher gravity values to the 

northeast, associated with crystalline rocks of the Big 

Horn uplift, and lower gravity values to the southwest, 

associated with sedimentary rocks of the Bighorn Basin. 

This gradient extends at least 70 mi to the northwest of 

the study area. It coincides generally with the exposed 

bounding thrust fault of the Bighorn uplift for about 35 

mi; this relationship suggests that the fault is present in 

the subsurface along the entire length of the gravity 

gradient. The anticlines in the southwestern part of the 

study area likely are the surface expressions of thrust 

faults that parallel the bounding thrust at depth. The 

gravity low in the southwestern part of the map area (fig. 

6) indicates that the structurally deepest part of the 

Bighorn Basin is offset to the southwest from the mapped 

axis of the basin as defined by well data (Ver Ploeg, 

1985). The moderately high gravity deflection (A, fig. 6) 

west of the study area suggests that high-density rocks 

(crystalline and (or) Paleozoic) are present in a buried 

thrust plate beneath sedimentary rocks of the basin at 

depths approaching 3 mi.

A magnetic high coincides with the gravity high and 

extends northeastward to an area where high magnetic 

values are associated with crystalline rocks of the 

Bighorn uplift. The magnetic low over the study area 

probably reflects a difference in magnetic susceptibility 

within the crystalline basement rocks, and the northeasttrending gradient probably only reflects the transition 

between areas of different susceptibility.

Energy and Mineral Resources

Oil and Gas

Geologic evidence suggests that there is a 

moderate resource potential, with certainty level C, for 

oil and gas in small traps in the subsurface of the 

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area. Extrapolation of 

data and interpretations from nearby structures and oil 

fields indicate that the subsurface of the study area is 

favorable for the migration and accumulation of oil in 

small traps related to: (1) possible facies changes within 

the Lower Permian Phosphoria or Park City Formations; 

(2) nodes of fracture-induced porosity related to faulting 

in subsurface rock in response to movements on the 

Tensleep fault; and (3) possible domal structures. Data 

are insufficient to identify and pinpoint the existence of 

specific economic accumulations of oil and gas in the 

subsurface rocks of the study area.

The Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area lies in 

the southeastern part of the Bighorn Basin near many 

fields (fig. 3) that produce oil and associated gas. The oil 

and gas potential of the study area was shown as 

moderate by Spencer and Powers (1982). In the general 

area, Permian limestone, where present in the 

subsurface, is the major producing reservoir, having both 

stratigraphic and structural traps. Pennsylvanian and 

Cretaceous sandstone is productive in some places. The 

Cottonwood Creek oil field (a Known Geologic 

Structure, fig. 3), whose southern border lies about 2 mi 

northwest of the study area, produced more than 31 

million barrels of oil. A much smaller amount was 

produced from the Bud Kimball oil field (a Known 

Geologic Structure, fig. 3) whose border lies within 500 ft 

of the southeastern boundary of the study area (U.S. 

Bureau of Land Management, 1986, p. 78 and map 16). 

The cited map also shows three test wells, two dry and 

one with a show of oil, within the study area. Otherwise 

the study area has not been extensively test drilled for oil 

and gas. Oil reservoirs in the nearby Cottonwood Creek 

oil field were earlier documented as being stratigraphic 

traps within carbonate facies referred to as part of the 

Lower Permian Phosphoria Formation by some and the 

Park City Formation by others, or fault traps in the 

Tensleep Sandstone (Pedry, 1975). More recently, Allison (1984) noted that both the overall pattern of fracture 

porosity, on subsidiary or associated faults, and the sites 

of the facies changes in the Phosphoria Formation may 

be controlled by ancillary block movements due to 

movements on the Tensleep fault. The Phosphoria 

Formation grades generally, from northwest to 

southeast, from limestone updip down into evaporite 

beds, and then into redbeds (Burke and Thomas, 1956).

C12 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Northern Wyoming
108°00' 

44°15'

107°45' 107°30'

44°00'

43°45'

APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY 

* OF THE HONEYCOMBS 3

ILDERNESS STUDY AREA

EXPLANATION

 150 Complete Bouguer gravity anomaly contour Contour 

interval 5 milligals. Hachures indicate closed area of lower 

gravity values 

 Gravity station

A Gravity high discussed in text

-= Fault U, upthrown side; D, downthrown side

 4 I Anticline Showing direction and plunge of axis

Figure 6. Complete Bouguer gravity anomaly and generalized structure map of the Honeycombs Wilderness Study 

Area, Wyoming.

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area C13
107°45 107°30'

APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY 

OF THE HONEYCOMBS 

ILDERNESS STUDY AREA

\ \

EXPLANATION

 700 Aeromagnetic contour Contour interval 20 nanoteslas. 

Hachures indicate closed areas of lower magnetic intensity

 - Fault U, upthrown side; D, downthrown side

 t ^ Anticline Showing direction and plunge of axis

Figure 7. Residual intensity magnetic anomaly and generalized structure map of the Honeycombs Wilderness 

Study Area, Wyoming.

C14 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Northern Wyoming
The exact boundaries of these fades changes in the 

subsurface are not well established south of the 

Cottonwood Creek field. Reservoir characteristics 

indicate a favorable potential for domal accumulations of 

oil in the Tensleep Sandstone near and south of the 

Cottonwood Creek oil field (U.S. Bureau of Land 

Management, 1986).

Coal

Fort Union Formation coal beds are exposed 

within the study area and were investigated and tested 

(see the section on "Appraisal of Identified Resources"). 

They are considered to be too thin and too impure to be 

an economic resource at this writing. Coal beds in the 

Lance Formation just outside the study-area boundary 

dip beneath the area so that the thicker Mesozoic coals 

probably underlie northeastern and southeastern parts of 

the study area at depths of 50-500 ft. Therefore, these 

areas have a moderate resource potential with certainty 

level B for subsurface coal deposits. Mesozoic coal was 

mined about 1 mi east of the area, at Big Cedar Ridge.

Industrial Minerals

The mineral resource potential for sand and gravel, 

sandstone, and mudstone with industrial applications is 

moderate with level-C certainty along the western and 

northern edges of the study area. The geologic 

environment of the study area is favorable for the 

accumulation of local small deposits of poorly graded 

sand and gravel in flood-plain terraces, as active stream 

alluvium along larger streams, and as higher remnants of 

Pliocene and Pleistocene(?) terraces of boulder gravel 

near the eastern margins of the study area. This material, 

if washed, might be suitable locally for road base or other 

foundation structure when permeability is an important 

factor. Abundant deposits of well-graded, fine-grained 

mudstone of the Fort Union are present. These mudstone deposits might be locally suitable for dam core or 

other structures where low bearing strength and 

impermeability are not undesirable factors. Bloating 

characteristics of individual samples of mudstone should 

be determined before use. Most sandstones of the Fort 

Union in the study area are either too poorly indurated 

or contain too much ferruginous cement to be usable as 

dimension stone. Alternatively, they appear to have good 

splitting characteristics, are locally rippable, and could be 

used locally as flagstone, hearth stone, riprap, or cover, 

where bearing-strength requirements are minimal and 

eventual rust staining is esthetically acceptable.

Uranium

The geologic setting of the study area and 

geochemical data suggest low mineral resource potential 

with level-C certainty for uranium in near-surface rollfront or peneconcordant deposits in the study area. The 

lower part of the Fort Union Formation in the study area 

contains the lithologic association of lenticular channel 

sandstone, coal, and siltstone that hosts roll-front-type 

uranium deposits in strata of similar age in other Wyoming sedimentary basins. Rock and stream-sediment 

samples derived from the lower part of the Fort Union 

Formation in the study area contain only background 

concentrations of uranium (less than 1 ppm). Higher 

concentrations of 4.5 ppm and 11 ppm uranium in rock 

samples from isolated sites in the upper part of the 

formation do not indicate the presence of deposits. 

Uranium deposits of the roll-front type, though characteristic of parts of the Fort Union Formation in the 

Powder River basin, have not been reported in the 

Bighorn Basin (Harris, 1983). To the east of the study 

area, both the Packer deposit, a peneconcordant uranium 

deposit in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation in sec. 

21, T. 47 N., R. 89 W., and the Dugout Creek deposit, a 

paleobeach-placer thorium deposit in the Upper 

Cretaceous Mesaverde Formation in sec. 35, T. 46 N., R. 

89 W., lie on a north-trending strike belt of uranium and 

thorium deposits. These deposits and associated 

anomalously high radioactivity are along strike trends in 

Mesozoic strata about 3 mi east of the study area. These 

hosting strata are as much as several thousand feet under 

the surface of the study area. There are insufficient data 

to determine whether these strata are mineralized in the 

subsurface of the study area.

Metals

Available geologic and geochemical data suggest 

that there is no mineral resource potential for metals in 

the Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area, with a certainty 

level of D. The geologic environment is one of semiindurated, largely fine grained sedimentary strata with no 

known plutonic sources for metals or mineralizing fluids. 

Abundantly mineralized rock was not identified at the 

surface during field work. The source of a detectable 

silver value of 0.5 ppm in one sample is not known but is 

not thought to indicate extensive silver mineralization. 

Concentrations of barium, zirconium, and titanium in 

heavy-mineral fractions of panned-concentrate samples 

are high but not anomalous. These high concentrations 

are the result of concentration by panning as well as 

mechanical erosion and weathering in the active stream 

alluvium of barite, zircon, rutile and ilmenorutile, but 

these concentrations, though noted, do not constitute 

potential resources. Samples of bedrock otherwise show 

generally normal background values for other geochemically analyzed metals.

There has been speculation that the Tertiary rocks 

of the study area might contain titanium deposits. 

Titanium minerals in paleobeach placers in the MesaHoneycombs Wilderness Study Area C15
verde Formation, which is unconformably overlain by 

basal Fort Union rocks south of the study area, may have 

been eroded and spread westward by earliest Tertiary 

streams, only to be reconcentrated in clastic delta-front 

deposits in this part of the Bighorn Basin. However, 

several geochemical surveys (by the USGS, USBM, and 

BLM) yielded only background-level values. Titanium 

minerals could be reconcentrated at depth beneath the 

study area, but currently there are insufficient data to 

support or refute this possibility. The potential for 

titanium resources is unknown, with a certainty level of 

A, at depth beneath the study area. However, if resources 

are present, their development is unlikely in the foreseeable future due to the prospective costs of discovering 

and extracting them compared to surficial titanium 

resources elsewhere.

Geothermal Resources

There is no potential for geothermal resources in 

the study area, with certainty level D. No designated 

geothermal areas are near the study area, and no geothermal leases are in or adjacent to the study area. 

Within the thick section of sedimentary strata in the 

subsurface of the study area, no plutonic or volcanic 

sources of heat are known. Heat-generating basement 

sources such as highly radioactive granite have not been 

identified underneath the study area but would lie below 

the surface at depths approaching 3 mi.

REFERENCES CITED

Allison, M.L., 1983, Deformation styles along the Tensleep 

fault, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, in Boberg, W.W., ed., 

Geology of the Bighorn Basin: Wyoming Geological 

Association, 34th Annual Field Conference, Guidebook, 

p. 63-75.

 1984, Structural controls on a stratigraphic trap The 

Cottonwood Creek field, Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, in 

Goolsby, Jim, and others, eds., The Permian and Pennsylvanian geology of Wyoming: Wyoming Geological 

Association, 35th Annual Field Conference, Guidebook, 

p. 355-367.

Almquist, C.L., 1987, Mineral investigation of the Honeycombs 

Wilderness Study Area (WY-010-221), Washakie 

County, Wyoming: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open File 

Report MLA 20-87, 10 p.

American Society for Testing and Materials, 1980, Gaseous 

fuels; coal and coke; atmospheric analysis: Annual Book 

of ASTM Standards, pt. 26, 936 p.

Boberg, W.W., ed., 1983, Geology of the Bighorn Basin: 

Wyoming Geological Association, 33rd Annual Field 

Conference, Guidebook, 274 p.

Bown, T.M., 1975, Paleocene and Lower Eocene rocks in the 

Sand Creek-No Water Creek area, Washakie County, 

Wyoming: Wyoming Geological Association, 27th 

Annual Field Conference, Guidebook, p. 55-61.

Bugrov, V.A., and Shalaby, I.M., 1975, Geochemical 

prospecting in the eastern desert of Egypt, in Elliott, I.L., 

and Fletcher, W.K., eds., Geochemical exploration, 1974: 

Elsevier, p. 523-530.

Burke, C.A., and Thomas, H.D., 1956, The Goose Egg 

Formation (Permo-Triassic) of eastern Wyoming: 

Geological Survey of Wyoming Report of Investigations 

6, 21 p.

Cordell, Lindreth, Keller, G.R., and Hildenbrand, T.G., 1982, 

Complete Bouguer gravity anomaly map of the Rio 

Grande rift, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas: U.S. 

Geological Survey Geophysical Investigations Map 

GP-949, scale 1:1,000,000.

Crock, J.G., Briggs, P.H., Jackson, L.L., and Lichte, F.E., 1987, 

Analytical methods for the analysis of stream sediments 

and rocks from wilderness study areas: U.S. Geological 

Survey Open-File Report 87-84, 35 p.

Geodata International, 1980, Aerial radiometric and magnetic 

survey, Thermopolis National Topographic Map, Wyoming, Rocky Mountains, 1979: Report GJBX-64-80, 

includes microfiche, maps scale 1:500,000. Available 

from Books and Open-file Reports Section, U.S. 

Geological Survey, Federal Center, Box 25425, Denver, 

CO 80225.

Glass, G.B., Westervelt, Katherine, and Oviatt, C.G., 1975, 

Coal mining in the Bighorn of Wyoming, in Exum, F.A., 

and George, G.R., eds., Geology and mineral resources 

of the Bighorn Basin: Wyoming Geological Association 

Guidebook, 27th Annual Field Conference, p. 221-228.

Goudarzi, G.H., compiler, 1984, Guide to the preparation of 

mineral survey reports on public lands: U.S. Geological 

Survey Open-File Report 84-787, 42 p.

Grimes, D.J., and Marranzino, A.P., 1968, Direct-current arc 

and alternating-current spark emission spectrographic 

field methods for the semiquantitative analysis of 

geologic materials: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 591, 

6 p.

Harris, R.E., 1983, Uranium and thorium in the Bighorn Basin, 

in Boberg, W.W., ed., Geology of the Bighorn Basin: 

Wyoming Geological Association, 34th Annual Field 

Conference, Guidebook, p. 171-177.

Hartman, J.E., 1986, Paleontology and biostratigraphy of the 

lower part of Polecat Bench Formation, southern 

Bighorn Basin, Wyoming: University of Wyoming 

Contributions to Geology, v. 24, no. 1, p. 11-64.

Horn, G.H., 1963, Geology of the east Thermopolis area, Hot 

Springs and Washakie Counties, Wyoming: U.S. 

Geological Survey Oil and Gas Investigations Map 

OM-213, scale 1:48,000.

International Association of Geodesy, 1971, Geodetic 

Reference System, 1967: International Association of 

Geodesy Special Publication 3, 116 p.

Jepsen, G.L., 1940, Paleocene faunas of the Polecat Bench 

Formation, Park County, Wyoming, Part 1: American 

Philosophical Society Proceedings, v. 83, no. 2, 

p. 217-340.

Larsen, C.E., Hill, R.H., Kulik, D.M., Brown, M.K., and Scott, 

D.C., 1988, Mineral resources of the Cedar Mountain

C16 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Northern Wyoming
Wilderness Study Area, Washakie and Hot Springs 

Counties, Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 

1756-B.

Love, J.D., Christiansen, A.C., Earle, J.L., and Jones, R.W., 

1978, Preliminary geologic map of the Arminto I°x2° 

quadrangle, central Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 78-1089, 10 p., map scale 1:250,000.

Miller, J.A., 1957, Titanium, a materials survey: U.S. Bureau of 

Mines Information Circular 7791, 202 p.

O'Leary, R.M., and Meier, A.L., 1986, Analytical methods used 

in geochemical exploration, 1984: U.S. Geological Survey 

Circular 948, 48 p.

Overstreet, W.C., and Marsh, S.P., 1981, Some concepts and 

techniques in geochemical exploration, in Skinner, B.J., 

ed., Economic Geology Seventy-Fifth Anniversary 

Volume 1905-1980: Economic Geology Publishing 

Company, p. 775-805.

Palache, Charles, Berman, Harry, and Frondell, Clifford, 1951, 

The system of minerology of James Dwight Dana and 

Edward Salisbury Dana, Yale University, 1837-1892, v. 2 

(7th ed.): New York, Wiley, 1124 p.

Parker, S.E., and Jones, R.W., 1983, Influence of faulting on 

Upper Cretaceous-Lower Tertiary deposition, Bighorn 

Basin, Wyoming, in Boberg, W.W., ed., Geology of the 

Bighorn Basin: Wyoming Geological Association, 34th 

Annual Field Conference, Guidebook, p. 137-162.

Pedry, JJ., 1975, Tensleep fault trap, Cottonwood Creek field, 

Washakie County, Wyoming: Wyoming Geological 

Association, 27th Annual Field Conference, Guidebook, 

p. 211-220.

Plouff, Donald, 1977, Preliminary documentation for a FORTRAN program to compute gravity terrain corrections 

based on topography digitized on a geographic grid: U.S. 

Geological Survey Open-File Report 77-535, 45 p.

Spencer, C.W., and Powers, R.B., 1982 (1984), Petroleum 

potential of wilderness lands, Wyoming: U.S. Geological 

Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map 1-1547, 

scale 1:1,000,000, accompanied by U.S. Geological 

Survey Circular 902-M.

U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1986, Draft wilderness 

environmental impact statement for the Washakie 

Resource Area: Available from U.S. Bureau of Land 

Management, Worland District Office, P.O. Box 119, 

Worland, WY, 82401, 141 p.

U.S. Bureau of Mines and U.S. Geological Survey, 1980, 

Principles of a resource/reserve classification for 

minerals: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 831, 5 p.

U.S. Defense Mapping Agency, Aerospace Center, 1974, 

World Relative Gravity Reference Network, North 

America, Part 2: Defense Mapping Agency Aerospace 

Center Reference Publication 25, with supplement 

updating Gravity Standardization Net, 1971, 1,635 p.

Ver Ploeg, A.J., 1985, Tectonic map of the Bighorn Basin, 

Wyoming: Wyoming Geological Survey Open-File 

Report 85-11, scale 1:250,000.

Wing, S.L., and Bown, T.M., 1985, Fine-scale reconstruction of 

Late Paleocene-Early Eocene paleogeography in the 

Bighorn Basin of northern Wyoming, in Flores, R.M., 

and Kaplan, S.S., eds., Cenozoic paleogeography of the 

west-central United States: Denver, Colo., Rocky 

Mountain Section, Society of Economic Paleontologists 

and Mineralogists, p. 93-105.

Wood, G.H., Jr., Kehn, T.M., Carter, M.D., and Culbertson, 

W.C., 1983, Coal resource classification system of the 

U.S. Geological Survey: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 

891, 65 p.

Woodruff, E.G., 1908, The coal fields in the southeastern part 

of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey 

Bulletin 381, p. 170-185.

Honeycombs Wilderness Study Area C17

APPENDIX
DEFINITION OF LEVELS OF MINERAL RESOURCE POTENTIAL 

AND CERTAINTY OF ASSESSMENT

Definitions of Mineral Resource Potential

LOW mineral resource potential is assigned to areas where geologic, geochemical, and geophysical characteristics define a geologic environment in which the existence of resources is unlikely. This broad 

category embraces areas with dispersed but insignificantly mineralized rock as well as areas with few 

or no indications of having been mineralized.

MODERATE mineral resource potential is assigned to areas where geologic, geochemical, and geophysical 

characteristics indicate a geologic environment favorable for resource occurrence, where interpretations 

of data indicate a reasonable likelihood of resource accumulation, and (or) where an application of 

mineral-deposit models indicates favorable ground for the specified type(s) of deposits.

HIGH mineral resource potential is assigned to areas where geologic, geochemical, and geophysical characteristics indicate a geologic environment favorable for resource occurrence, where interpretations of 

data indicate a high degree of likelihood for resource accumulation, where data support mineral-deposit 

models indicating presence of resources, and where evidence indicates that mineral concentration has 

taken place. Assignment of high resource potential to an area requires some positive knowledge that 

mineral-forming processes have been active in at least part of the area.

UNKNOWN mineral resource potential is assigned to areas where information is inadequate to assign low, 

moderate, or high levels of resource potential.

NO mineral resource potential is a category reserved for a specific type of resource in a well-defined 

area.

Levels of Certainty

U/A

UNKNOWN

POTENTIAL

H/B

HIGH POTENTIAL

M/B 

MODERATE POTENTIAL

L/B

LOW

POTENTIAL

H/C

HIGH POTENTIAL

M/C 

MODERATE POTENTIAL

L/C

LOW

POTENTIAL

H/D

HIGH POTENTIAL

M/D 

MODERATE POTENTIAL

L/D

LOW POTENTIAL

ISI/D

NO POTENTIAL

01

6CL

O

cc

O 

V)

IU 

DC

B C 

LEVEL OF CERTAINTY

A. Available information is not adequate for determination of the level of mineral resource potential.

B. Available information suggests the level of mineral resource potential.

C. Available information gives a good indication of the level of mineral resource potential.

D. Available information clearly defines the level of mineral resource potential.

Abstracted with minor modifications from:

Taylor, R. B., and Steven, T. A., 1983, Definition of mineral resource potential: Economic Geology,

v. 78, no. 6, p. 1268-1270. 

Taylor, R. B., Stoneman, R. J., and Marsh, S. P., 1984, An assessment of the mineral resource potential

of the San Isabel National Forest, south-central Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1638, p.

40-42. 

Goudarzi, G. H., compiler, 1984, Guide to preparation of mineral survey reports on public lands: U.S.

Geological Survey Open-File Report 84-0787, p. 7, 8.
RESOURCE/RESERVE CLASSIFICATION

IDENTIFIED RESOURCES

Demonstrated

Measured Indicated

Inferred

UNDISCOVERED RESOURCES

Probability Range

 (or) 

Hypothetical i Speculative

ECONOMIC

MARGINALLY 

ECONOMIC

SUBECONOMIC

1 

Reserves Inferred Reserves

1

Marginal Reserves

Demonstrated 

Subeconomic Resources

Inferred 

Marginal Reserves

Inferred

Subeconomic

Resources

Major elements of mineral resource classification, excluding reserve base and inferred reserve base. Modified from McKelvey,1972, Mineral 

resource estimates and public policy: American Scientist, v.60, p.32-40, and U.S. Bureau of Mines and U.S. Geological Survey, 1980, 

Principles of a resource/reserve classification for minerals: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 831, p.5.
GEOLOGIC TIME CHART 

Terms and boundary ages used in this report

EON

Phanerozoic

Proterozoic

Archean 

pre-Art

ERA

Cenozoic

Mesozoic

Paleozoic

Late Proterozoic

Middle Proterozoic

Early Proterozoic

Late Archean

Middle Archean

Early Archean 

:hean2

PERIOD

Quaternary

Neogene 

Subperiod

Tertiary 

Paleogene 

Subperiod

Cretaceous

Jurassic

Triassic

Permian

Pennsylvanian 

Carboniferous

Periods """" 

Mississippian

Devonian

Silurian

Ordovician

Cambrian

 3800? -

EPOCH

Holocene

Pleistocene

Pliocene

Miocene

Oligocene

Eocene

Paleocene

Late 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

Late

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

Late 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

 -

BOUNDARY AGE 

IN 

MILLION YEARS

-0.010

- 1.7

- 5

- 24

OQ

- 55

ca

- 96

1 «3O 

nrtrr

-A, 240

_ 1QA

-~ 330

- 3fifl

- 410

- 500 

- ~ 570'

- 900 

- 1600

- 2500

- 3000 

- 3400

1 Rocks older than 570m.y. also called Precambrian, a time term without specific rank.

2 Informal time term without specific rank.

*U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1988-0-673-047/86006
SELECTED SERIES OF U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PUBLICATIONS

Periodicals

Earthquakes & Volcanoes (issued bimonthly). 

Preliminary Determination of Epicenters (issued monthly).

Technical Books and Reports

Professional Papers are mainly comprehensive scientific reports of 

wide and lasting interest and importance to professional scientists and engineers. Included are reports on the results of resource studies and of 

topographic, hydrologic, and geologic investigations. They also include 

collections of related papers addressing different aspects of a single scientific topic.

Bulletins contain significant data and interpretations that are of lasting scientific interest but are generally more limited in scope or 

geographic coverage than Professional Papers. They include the results 

of resource studies and of geologic and topographic investigations; as well 

as collections of short papers related to a specific topic.

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investigations in all phases of hydrology, including hydrogeology, 

availability of water, quality of water, and use of water.

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topographic bases in 71/2- or 15-minute quadrangle formats (scales mainly 1:24,000 or 1:62,500) showing bedrock, surficial, or engineering geology. Maps generally include brief texts; some maps include structure 

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Geophysical Investigations Maps are on topographic or planimetric 

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Many maps include correlations with the geology.

Miscellaneous Investigations Series Maps are on planimetric or 

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which show geology as interpreted from aerial photographs. Series also 

includes maps of Mars and the Moon.

Coal Investigations Maps are geologic maps on topographic or 

planimetric bases at various scales showing bedrock or surficial geology, stratigraphy, and structural relations in certain coal-resource areas.

Oil and Gas Investigations Charts show stratigraphic information 

for certain oil and gas fields and other areas having petroleum potential.

Miscellaneous Field Studies Maps are multicolor or black-andwhite maps on topographic or planimetric bases on quadrangle or irregular areas at various scales. Pre-1971 maps show bedrock geology 

in relation to specific mining or mineral-deposit problems; post-1971 

maps are primarily black-and-white maps on various subjects such as 

environmental studies or wilderness mineral investigations.

Hydrologic Investigations Atlases are multicolored or black-andwhite maps on topographic or planimetric bases presenting a wide range 

of geohydrologic data of both regular and irregular areas; principal scale 

is 1:24,000 and regional studies are at 1:250,000 scale or smaller.

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Selected copies of a monthly catalog "New Publications of the U.S. 

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Note. Prices of Government publications listed in older catalogs, 

announcements, and publications may be incorrect. Therefore, the 

prices charged may differ from the prices in catalogs, announcements, 

and publications.
% ',; ./^ /