~ f./ , 

STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS ·I 

Mineral Resources of the 

Caney Creek Wilderness, 

Polk County, Arkansas 

By GEORGE E. ERICKSEN and SAM H. PATTERSON 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY and by MAYNARD L. DUNN, JR., and 

DONALD K. HARRISON, U.S. BUREAU OF MINES 

STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS- WILDERNESS AREAS 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1551 

An evaluation of the mineral potential 

of the area 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON: 1988 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

JAMES G. WATT, Secretary 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Dallas L. Peck, Director 

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data 

Main entry under title: 

Mineral resources of the Caney Creek Wilderness, Polk County, Arkansas. 

(Geological Survey bulletin; 1551) 

Bibliography: p. 

Supt. of Docs. no.: I 19.3:1551 

1. Mines and mineral resources-Arkansas-Caney 

Creek Wilderness. 2. Caney Creek Wilderness (Ark.) 

I. Ericksen, George Edward. II. Series. 

QU75.B9 no. 1551 557.3s [553'.09767'45] 83-8868 

[TN 24.A7] 

For sale by the Distribution Branch, U.S. Geological Survey, 

604 South Pickett Street, Alexandria, VA 22304 
STUDIES RELATED TO 

WILDERNESS AREAS 

In accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act 

(Public Law 88-577, September 3, 1964) and the Joint Conference Report on Senate Bill 4, 88th Congress, the U.S. 

Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines have been con- · 

ducting mineral surveys of wilderness and primitive areas. 

Studies and reports of all primitive areas have been completed. Areas officially designated as uwilderness, .. uwild," or 

ucanoe" when the Act was passed were incorporated into the 

National Wilderness Preservation System, and some of them 

are presently being studied. The Act provided that areas 

under consideration for Wilderness designation should be 

studied for suitability for incorporation into the Wilderness 

System. The mineral surveys constitute one aspect of the 

suitability studies. This report discusses the results of a 

mineral survey of the Caney Creek Wilderness, Arkansas, in 

the Ouachita National Forest. Caney Creek was established 

as a wilderness by Public Law 93-622, January 3, 1975. 

CONTENTS 

Summary---------·------

Introduction 

Page 

1 

3 

Previous investigations 6 

Present study 7 

Surface- and mineral-rights ownership---------------- 7 

Acknowledg,ments ----------- 9 

Geology 9 

Regional setting 9 

Stratigraphy--------------------------- 10 

Structure 13 

Metamorphism --------- 15 

Geochemical exploration 15 

Sampling and analytical techniques ---- 15 

Evaluation of sample data-------------- 17 

Mineral resources 27 

Exploration and mining in and near the Caney Creek Wilderness----- 27 

Description and resource potential of mineral deposits in the 

Caney Creek Wilderness------------------------ 34 

Metallic minerals---------------------- 34 

Manganese - 34 

Iron--- 36 

Base metals----------------------- 36 

Nonmetallic minerals- ------- 37 

Barite- 37 

Clay and shale--------- 38 

Gravel 38 

Novaculite 39 

Slate---- 39 

Tripoli------ 39 

Turquoise 39 

Conclusions-------------------------------- 40 

References cited 41 

ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

FIGURE 1. Map showing mineral resource potential of the Caney Creek 

Wilderness------------------------ 2 

2. Location of the Caney Creek Wilderness and its relation to regional 

geologic and geomorphologic features-------------- 4 

3. Gelogic map of the Caney Creek Wilderness ------------- 5 

v 
VI 

4. Map showing land status in the Caney Creek Wilderness----- 8 

5. Generalized section of Paleozoic rocks in the Caney Creek 

Wilderness 11 

6. Sections through East Hanna and Katy Mountains· 14 

7. Map showing geochemical sample localities, Caney Creek 

Wilderness---------------------- 16 

8. Histograms showing distribution of manganese, copper, cobalt, nickel, 

and barium in stream sediments in and near the Caney Creek 

Wilderness ---------- 20 

9-13. Maps showing: 

9. Distribution of manganese in geochemical samples 21 

10. Distribution of copper in geochemical samples 22 

11. Distribution of zinc in geochemical samples-------- 23 

12. Distribution of cobalt in geochemical samples ------- 24 

13. Distribution of nickel in geochemical samples------ 25 

14. Map showing prospects and mines in and near the Caney Creek 

Wilderness----------------------- 29 

TABLES 

Page 

TABLE 1. Semiquantiative spectrographic analyses for selected elements in 

geochemical samples from the Caney Creek Wilderness 18 

2. Prospects and mines in and near the Caney Creek Wilderness---- 30 

3. Analyses of manganese- and iron oxide-rich samples from prospects 

and mines in and near the Caney Creek Wilderness ------ 35 
STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS-WILDERNESS AREAS 

MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY 

CREEK WILDERNESS, POLK COUNTY, 

ARKANSAS 

By GEORGE E. ERICKSEN and SAM H. PATTERSON, 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, and MAYNARD L. DUNN, JR., and 

DoNALD K. HARRisoN, U.S. BUREAU oF MINEs 

SUMMARY 

The Caney Creek Wilderness lies within the west-central Arkansas manganese 

district of the southern Ouachita Mountains, a region containing many small deposits 

of metallic minerals and important resources of industrial minerals. Except for a small 

amount of manganese oxides, no mineral commodities are known to have been produced from the wilderness. Twenty-five manganese prospects (fig. 1), two tripoli prospects, and a manganese mill site were found within the wilderness. Neither these prospects nor other mineral occurrences in the wilderness are covered by patented mining 

claims. 

The wilderness is in a region of deformed Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, and the 

mineral deposts were either accumulated as part of the original sedimentary sequence 

or formed by subsequent metamorphism, hydrothermal vein formation, or supergene 

alteration during weathering. Six formations ranging in age from Ordovician to 

Mississippian crop out in the wilderness. From oldest to youngest these are Bigfork 

Chert, Polk Creek Shale, Blaylock Sandstone, Missouri Mountain Shale, Arkansas 

Novaculite, and Stanley Shale. Deformation at the end of the paleozoic caused intense 

folding of these rocks and transformed some of the shale to slate and sandstone to 

quartzite. 

Metallic and nonmetalic minerals in the wilderness include manganese and iron oxides, turquoise, novaculite, tripoli, shale, slate, and gravel. Barite, an important 

mineral commodity in the Ouachita Mountains, has not been found in the wilderness. 

Field investigations and sampling indicate that manganese oxides are widely 

distributed through the wilderness, but d~posits are too small to be mined profitably 

under present economic conditions. Undiscovered deposits undoubtedly exist in the 

Arkansas Novaculite within the wilderness (fig. 1), although it is unlikely that any are 

larger or higher in grade than those already known. Thin layers and small masses of 

iron oxides are associated with some of the manganese occurrences, but quantities are 

too small to be of value as iron ore. A small turquoise deposit, a short distance outside 

1 
Base from U.S. Geological 

1:62,500 Umpire, 1959 

R. 28 w. 

em 

X 

0 1 2 MILES 

FIGURE !.-Mineral resource potential map of the Caney Creek Wilderness. 

EXPLANATION 

Arkansas Novaculite-(Contains 

resources of novaculite and 

tripoli and scattered small, 

low-grade occurrences of 

manganese oxides) 

Manganese prospect 

t-:1 

m 

~ ;j 

~ 

~ t:EJ 

r:n 

;J 

~ Q 

~ to<: 

t:EJ 

~ 

~ 

~ 

I 

~ 
INTRODUCTION 3 

the southwestern boundary of the wilderness, was being mined in 1978. Two turquoise 

occurrences, significantly smaller and of poorer quality than at the mine, were found in 

the Caney Creek Wilderness during field investigations. The Arkansas Novaculite contains rock suitable for railroad ballast, road material, building stone, and whetstones; 

however, the amount of novaculite in the Ouachita Mountains is enormous, and that in 

the wilderness is of no particular value. Although deposits of tripoli, shale, gravel, and 

possibly slate occur in the wilderness, they are of little or no value because larger, more 

accessible deposits of equal or better-grade materials exist outside the area nearer to 

markets. Thin layers of barite, too small to be mined, have been found in the Stanley 

Shale near the wilderness. Although similar layers may occur in the area, geochemical 

sampling indicates that large, potentially exploitable barite deposits are not present. 

Nodules and thin layers of phosphate rock have been found in the Stanley Shale near 

the wilderness and may be present in it. However, the known occurrences of phosphate 

in the Stanley Shale are far too small to be minable. The wilderness does not contain 

resources of coal and oil or gas. It does not have any potential for geothermal energy. 

INTRODUCTION 

This report describes the results of a mineral resource survey of the 

Caney Creek Wilderness, Polk County, Arkansas. The survey was 

made jointly by personnel from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 

and the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) in the spring of 1978. The area, 

designated as a wilderness by Public Law 93-622, January 3, 1975, 

comprises 14,433 acres in the Ouachita National Forest in the 

Cossatot Mountains, which are a southern segment of the Ouachita 

Mountains of west-central Arkansas (fig. 2). The Caney Creek 

Wilderness is about 12 airline miles southeast ofMena, Ark., the seat 

of Polk County (fig. 2). The area is elongate in an east-west direction, 

being about 8 mi long and 3-3lh mi wide. Topographic map coverage 

is provided by the Umpire 15' quadrangle, scale 1:62,500, and by the 

DeQueen 30' quadrangle, scale 1:125,000, the base which Miser and 

Purdue (1929) used for their classic geologic map of the southwestern 

Ouachita Mountains. The U.S. Forest Service has prepared a user 

map of the wilderness, scale 1:31,680, that is an enlargement of the 

Umpire 15' quadrangle. 

The wilderness is accessible by State Route 375 from Mena and by 

State Route 246 from U.S. Highway 71, south ofMena. Except for the 

southern half of the western boundary, secondary roads encircle the 

area. The interior is accessible by a well-maintained trail along 

Caney Creek and an unmaintained trail that follows a former road up 

Short Creek for about 5 mi. 

The wilderness encompasses three prominent east-west ridgesPorter Mountain, Hanna Range, and Shadow Rock Mountain-and 

the intervening valleys of Caney and Short Creeks, which drain 

westward into the Cossatot River (fig. 3). Altitudes range from 940 ft 

at the confluence of Caney Creek and the Cossatot River to 2,330 ft at 
34° 

30' 

94° 

0 10 20 MILES 

I I I I I I I 

EXPLANATION 

k:}\j Cretaceous and younger rocks 

Stanley Shale and y9unger 

Paleozoic rocks 

Arkansas Novacuiite and 

older Paleozoic ro.cks 

FIGURE 2.-Location of the Caney Creek Wilderness and i~s relation to regional 

geologic and geomorphologic features. Modified from Flawn and others 

(1961, fig. 1). 

~ 

~ 

~ 

~ en 

~ l:r:J 

en 

0 

~ 

~ 0 

~ l:r:J 

to< 

0 

~ l:r:J 

p:: 

~ I:' 

l:r:J 

~ ~ 
Base from U.S. Geological Survey, 

1:62,500 Umpire, 1959 

0 1 2 MILES 

EXPLANATION 

~ j ~ Stanley Shale 

Q., 

Q., 

U5 

(f) 

U5 

(f) 

~ I 

oz 

~~ ll DMal z 

Arkansas Novaculite 

~{I Sbmj Blaylock Sandstone and 

Missouri Mountain Shale 

U5 

g~{l Obpl o::k:l 

O> 

Bigfork Chert and 

Polk Creek Shale 

Contact 

_____1l__ Fault-0, downthrown side; 

U U, upthrown side 

(a} (b) >'fo }<90 Strike and dip of beds-

(c},.. (a, normal; b, vertical; c, /J65 overturned) 

--+--Anticline-Simple or composite; 

upright to overturned 

--t-- Syncline-Simple or composite; 

upright to overturned 

FIGURE 3.-Geologic map of the Caney Creek Wilderness. After Miser and Purdue 

(1929), modified according to Haley and others ( 1976) and to photogeologic 

mapping and field observations of the present study. 

~ 0 

c::: 

(') 

t-3 

s 

z 

Ot 
6 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK WIT..DERNESS 

Tall Peak just outside the eastern boundary of the area. The crests of 

the three principal ridges slope gently westward, from elevations of 

2,000-2,300 ft in the east to 1,500-1,700 ft in the west. The highest 

peaks in the wilderness, East Hanna and Buckeye Mountains, are 

about 2,290 and 2,320 ft in altitude, respectively. Relief between the 

major streams and ridge crests is generally 500-600 ft . . 

Topography and drainage are controlled by the westerly trending, 

ridge-forming fold structures typical of this part of the Ouachita 

Mountains (fig. 3). The valleys of Caney and Short Creeks have been 

cut into the relatively unresistant Stanley Shale exposed in the 

centers of tightly folded synclines. The three major ridges are formed 

by the resistant Arkansas Novaculite at the syncline margins and in 

intervening anticlines~ Sugar Creek, near the northern boundary, 

has been cut into relatively unresistant sandstone and shale in the 

core of an anticline. 

Vegetation is typical of an eastern oak-hickory-pine forest. Stands 

are dominated by either hardwoods or softwoods; hardwoods occur 

principally on shaded northern slopes. Severe climatic and drainage 

conditions on ridge crests have limited vegetation to grasses, briars, 

and shrubby trees. 

PREVIOUS INVESTIGATIONS 

Many published reports describe the geology and mineral resources 

of the Ouachita Mountains, but few contain specific information 

about the area included in the Caney Creek Wilderness. Miser and 

Purdue (1929) described the geology and presented a geologic map, 

scale 1:125,000, of the DeQueen and Caddo Gap quadrangles. The 

wilderness is in the northern part of the DeQueen quadrangle, and 

the geologic map (fig. 3) is a modified version of the Miser-Purdue 

map. Owen (1860) first mentioned the geologic features in Polk County. Griswold (1892) reported on the first systematic study of geology 

in the region and presented the first geologic map of the Ouachita 

Mountains. His report includes geologic cross sections through East 

Hanna Mountain and Tall Peak. Comstock (1888) first mentioned 

manganese in southern Polk county, and Penrose (1891) and Miser 

(1917) described many manganese deposits of the area, including 

some of those in the wilderness. Penrose (1892) described the iron 

deposits. Jones (1948) and Scull (1958) described barite deposits outside but near the wilderness. Griswold (1892) described the distribution and characteristics of the Arkansas Novaculite, which crops out 

widely in and near the wilderness, and discussed its use in the manufacture of whetstones. Sumary reports about mineral deposits of Polk 

County (Branner and others, 1940) and of Arkansas (Stroud and 
INTRODUCTION 7 

other, 1969) include information about deposits in and near the 

wilderness. 

PRESENT STUDY 

Field study by personnel of the USGS during a 10-day period in 

March-April 1978 consisted of a reconnaissance geochemical survey, 

field checking of previous geologic mapping, and brief inspections of 

prospects and mineral occurrences in and near the wilderness. A total 

of 114 geochemical samples of stream sediment, soil, rock, and 

manganese. ore were collected from within and near the area. These 

samples were analyzed by semiquantitative spectrographic methods 

in the USGS laboratories in Denver, Colo. Visits to mines and prospects outside the wilderness were made to gain an idea of the general 

features and habitat of mineral deposits in the southern Ouachita 

Mountains and to assist in evaluating the geochemical data and the 

relatively poorly exposed mineral occurrences in the wilderness. 

The investigations by personnel of the USBM included a search of 

courthouse records of mining claims in the wilderness and the location and examination of mines and prospects in and near it. Twentyfive manganese prospects and two tripoli prospects were examined in 

the wilderness. Workings consist mainly of pits, trenches, and 

sidehill cuts; five short adits were found. Several other mines and prospects for manganese, tripoli, barite, and turquoise, all within 3 mi of 

the wilderness, also were examined and sampled. Samples for 

chemical and spectrographic analyses were collected from most of the 

manganese deposits. In each case, an effort was made to select the 

highest-grade material available, excluding visible impurities and 

wall rock. Samples of shale, tripoli, and barite were collected where 

exposed in prospects and along roads and streams. All samples believed to contain appreciable quantities of maganese or iron were analyzed for eight elements by atomic absorption. Semiquantitative spectrographic analyses were made of other samples, principally for the 

detection of detrimental impurities or anomalous elements. These 

analyses were performed by the USBM, Reno Metallurgy Research 

Center, Reno, Nev. Ceramic properties of four shale samples were 

evaluated by the USBM, Tuscaloosa Metallurgy Research Center, 

Tuscaloosa, Ala. 

SURFACE AND MINERAL-RIGHTS OWNERSHIP 

The U.S. Forest Service owns all surface and mineral rights in the 

wilderness. Most of the area, 13,495 acres, is in the public domain; 

the remaining 938 acres are acquired lands. Distribution of acquired 

lands is shown in figure 4. 
R. 30 W 

1 

r 

3401 > 12( 25 ,-

13 

·~ 

·\ 

24 

34° 

22' 

30'' 

- 25 

36 

6 5 

7 8 

18 17 

19 20 

30 29 

31 32 

R. 29 W. 94°05' R. 28 w 

T 

4 3 2 1 6 5 

I 

/_A ~ 

9 10 11 I IL--f" 

~ 8 

12 

~ 'p 

15 14 13 18 ~ 17 

[L 

21 22 23 24 ( ~ ~20 ~ 

28 27 26 25 

~ 29 

I 2ZZ 

33 34 35 36 31 32 

I 

0 1 2 MILES 

FIGURE 4.-Land status, Caney Creek WildemeBB. 

--

LEGEND D Public Domain 

~ Acquired Lands 

CD 

I 

gj 

I 

~ 

i 

n 

~ 

I 

I 

FJ 
GEOLOGY 9 

Examination of Polk County records revealed that at least 2,000 

claims had been filed in the area of Caney Creek Wilderness as of 

March 31, 1978. None of these have b~een patented. Earliest claim 

records are nonexistent, having been de~~troyed by courthouse fires in 

1878 and 1883. Most descriptions are vague, and many claims apparently overlapped. Statements of assessment work are similarly 

confusing, and only a few corner monurnents were found during the 

investigation. As of July 1979, only one claim in Polk County had 

entered final patent procedure and according to the U.S. Forest Service, will probably be patented. The claiin is on a tripoli deposit in the 

NW 114, SE 114, sec. 26, T. 4 S., R. 29 W., just south of the wilderness. 

ACKNOWLEDGMI:NTS 

Appreciation is extended to several pE!ople who contributed to the 

investigation. Terry Grotbo assisted in the USGS field study, and 

Elwin L. Mosier made the spectrographic: analyses of the geochemical 

samples collected during this study. John. F. Lewis furnished information about the small turquoise mine at the southwestern corner of the 

wilderness. Lynn A. Burton, mining engineer, and Ferryl C. Gale, 

geologist, Milchem, Inc., guided USGS personnel on a visit to the 

company-owned barite deposit near Fancy Hill, Ark. Jack Roehm, the 

former owner and discoverer of the barite deposit, accompanied the 

group on this visit. Norman F. Williams, State Geologist of Arkansas; 

Benjamin F. Clardy, Arkansas GeoloiJ~cal Survey; and Boyd R. 

Haley, USGS, furnished information about recent geologic mapping 

in the vicinity of the wilderness. Barney Sherrer, District Ranger, 

and AI Tanner, Resource Assistant, U.S. Forest Service, Mena, Ark., 

furnished maps and information about the area. In addition, the 

following individuals who provided infortnation and assistance to the 

USBM personnel are acknowledged: Lenard Aleshire, a local prospector who provided information about mineral deposits and production; 

Raymond Stroud, former USBM State Liaison Officer; Ronald Konig, 

Professor, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville; Edward W. Read and 

Donald Williams, geologists, U.S. Forest Service; and Charles Stone, 

geologist, Arkansas Geological Survey. Paul T. Behum and Peter C. 

Mory, geologists, USBM, assisted·in the field investigation. 

GEOLOGY 

REGIONAL SETTING 

The Cossatot Mountains, in which the Caney Creek Wilderness is 

located, consist of a complexly folded and faulted sequence of marine 
10 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK Wll.DERNESS 

sedimentary rocks of Paleozoic age. These mountains are at the 

southern margin of the Broken Bow-Benton uplift (fig. 2). South of the 

Cossatot Mountains is the dissected Athens Plateau, a southwardsloping monocline with many minor fold corrugations. The Paleozoic 

rocks of the region, as mapped by Miser and Purdue (1929), range 

from Cambrian to Pennsylvanian in age and have an aggregate 

thickness of 21,720-26,875 ft. In the Cossatot Mountains, the 

Palezoic rocks have been tightly folded and are steeply inclined to 

vertical or even overturned. 

The investigations of the USGS were directed primarily toward geochemical exploration and secondarily toward confirming previous 

mapping. Consequently, the discussions of stratigraphy, structure, 

and metamorphism are, except as noted, excerpted from Miser and 

Purdue (1929). 

STRATIGRAPHY 

The Paleozoic sequence exposed in the wilderness comprises six formations of Ordovician to Mississippian age, which from oldest to 

youngest are Bigfork Chert, Polk Creek Shale, Blaylock Sandstone, 

Missouri Mountain Shale, Arkansas Novaculite, and Stanley Shale 

(fig. 5). Miser and Purdue (1929) estimated the aggregate maximum 

thickness of these formations to be about 9,500 ft in the DeQueen and 

Caddo Gap quadrangles. In the vicinity of the Caney Creek 

Wilderness the aggregate thickness is 8,000-9,000 ft (fig. 5). The 

Arkansas Novaculite and the Stanley Shale were of particular interest in this study of the wilderness because at many places in 

western Arkansas these formations contain economic mineral 

deposits, chiefly manganese-oxide and tripoli deposits in the Arkansas Novaculite and bedded barite in the Stanley Shale. 

The Bigfork Chert, the oldest formation exposed in the wilderness, 

is of Ordovician age, and is underlain by the Womble Shale, also of 

Ordovician age, and overlain by the Polk Creek Shale. On the 

geologic map (fig. 3), the Bigfork and the Polk Creek are combined as 

a single map unit. The formations are exposed only in the nose of an 

anticline in the eastern part of the wilderness between Buckeye 

Mountain and Tall Peak, and along Sugar Creek near the· northern 

boundary of .the area (fig. 3). Miser and Purdue (1929) estimated the 

Bigfork to be about 700 ft thick, and they described it as consisting of 

gray to black chert containing small amounts of interbedded black 

shale and limestone (fig. 5). The chert occurs in even-bedded layers 

3-6 in thick but in places is as much as 3 ft thick; some is finely 

laminated, and some contains finely, disseminated grains of calcite 

and pyrite. The chert is intensely jointed, and quartz veinlets in 
System 

c 

'i.i "'

Formation Section 

Stanley Shale 

Hatton tuff lentil 

GEOLOGY 11 

Thickness in 

feet 

30 

Character of rocks 

Mainly shale, with much sandstone and some tuff and 

conglomerate. Shale fissile, bluish black and black in fresh 

exposures along streams, green, yellow, or brown in more 

weath•·red exposures along roads. Sandstone hard, tough, 

compact, quartzitic, fine grained, greenish or bluish gray. Tuff 

massive, homogeneous, dark gray with a greenish tinge; contains 

large grains of feldspar. Conglomerate near base is composed of 

novawlite pebbles in dense siliceous matrix. 

Massive gray novaculite 

Thin-bedded dark novaculite and black shale 

Massive white novaculite 

Hard light to dark gray sandstone and dark shale 

~ Bigfork Chert Gray to black even-bedded, much fractured chert, some black 

.._0=--"----------'~~~~~~!._:..::.:.__L_shale, a11d a little black siliceous limestone. 

FIGURE 5.-Generalized section of Paleozoic rocks in the Caney Creek Wilderness. 

From Miser and Purdue (1929, pl. 4). Thicknesses are for region of the 

wilderness and are approximate only; e1~timated from cross sections and formation descriptions in Miser and Purdue (1929). 

joints are numerous. According to Miser and Purdue (1929), the interbedded shale, which occurs throughout the formation, is black, carbonaceous, and siliceous; it forms layers ranging from less than an 

inch to several feet in thickness. Thin lenses and layers of black, 

siliceous limestone occur in the upper and lower parts of the Bigfork. 

The formation has been assigned to the Ordovician on the basis of a 

sparse graptolite fauna (Miser and Purdue, 1929). 

Miser and Purdue (1929) reported the Polk Creek Shale as having 

an average thickness of about 100 ft in the Cossatot Mountains. They 

found the formation to consist of black, carbonaceous, fissile shale 

containing a few interbeds of black chert and quartzitic sandstone. A 
12 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK WILDERNESS 

layer of black oolitic limestone as much as 2 ft thick occurs in the formation along Sugar Creek. The formation contains abundant graptolites that show it to be of late Ordovician age. 

In the wilderness, the Blaylock Sandstone crops out in the centers 

of anticlines along Porter Mountain, Hanna Range, and Sugar Creek. 

On the geologic map (fig. 3), the Blaylock is combined with the overlying Missouri Mountain Shale as a single map unit. Miser and Purdue 

(1929) reported the Blaylock as being as much as 1,500 ft thick and as 

consisting of variable amounts of sandstone and shale. Cross sections 

by Miser and Purdue show the Blaylock to be between 500 and 1,000 

ft thick in the wilderness. The shale is described as being buff in color 

and resembling the overlying Missouri Mountain Shale, whereas the 

sandstone is light to dark gray, fine grained, laminated, and quartzitic. Sandstone beds are 1-6 in thick but at places are as much as 3 ft 

thick. Along Sugar Creek, the base of the formation is marked by a 2-

to 4-ft layer of conglomerate, which Miser and Purdue (1929) cited as 

evidence for an unconformity between the Blaylock and the underlying Polk Creek Shale. Sparse graptolites from the Blaylock were 

dated as Silurian. 

The Missouri Mountain Shale, formerly the Missouri Mountain 

Slate (Miser and Purdue, 1929), also is exposed in the centers of the 

anticlines along Porter Mountain, Hanna Range, and Sugar Creek 

(fig.3). Miser and Purdue (1929) reported the Missouri Mountain to be 

50-300 ft thick, and to judge from their description of the formation 

and cross sections, it is 200-300 ft thick in the vicinity of the Caney 

Creek Wilderness. They described the formation as consisting of red 

slate marked by green patches and streaks; 3 to 5 in layers of sandstone and quartzite are present near the base and top. At some places, 

the base was found to be marked by a layer of chert pebble conglomerate as much as 15 in thick or by a few feet of green slate. Miser 

and Purdue (1929) suggested that this basal conglomerate indicates 

an unconformity between the Missouri Mountain and the underlying 

Blaylock. Fossils were not found in the Missouri Mountain, and a 

Silurian age was assigned on the basis of lithology and stratigraphic 

position. 

The Arkansas Novaculite consists of the following three lithologic 

units having an aggregate thickness of about 900 ft (Miser and Purdue, 1929): (1) lower unit, generally 150-300 ft thick, the most conspicuous part of the formation, consisting of massive white novaculite 

in beds 2-10 ft thick, (2) middle unit of dense, dark-gray to black 

novaculite and interbedded shale, which has a minimum thickness of 

about 75ft at East Hanna Mountain in the Caney Creek Wilderness, 

increasing to 525 ft at West Hanna Mountain about 1 km west of the 

wilderness, and (3) upper unit of massive, finely laminated, 

calcareous, gray novaculite 20-125 ft thick. The only fossils that 
GEOLOGY 13 

Miser and Purdue (1929) found in the formation were silicified wood 

and conodonts. These authors assigned a Devonian age to the formation, but Hass (1951) redefined the age as Devonian and Mississippian, with the boundary between the two systems falling within the 

middle unit of the formation. 

The Stanley Shale crops out in the centers of the major synclines in 

the wilderness (fig. 3). It is the thickest of the Paleozoic formations in 

southwestern Arkansas, being about 6,000 ft thick in the Caddo Gap 

quadrangle (Miser and Purdue, 1929). Only the lower part of the formation is exposed in the wilderness. Mis1er and Purdue (1929) described the Stanley as consisting chiefly of bluish-gray to black shale with 

many interbeds of dark, quartzitic sandstone as much as 18 ft thick. 

The rocks of the formation weather rE!adily, and the dark-colored 

shale and sandstone, upon weathering, take on hues of green, yellow, 

and brown. Miser and Purdue (1929) found at places a unit of novaculite pebble conglomerate as much as 15ft thick at the base of the 

formation and a similar, though less wid~espread, conglomerate in the 

overlying shale 20-75 ft above the base. They reported sporadic 

layers of volcanic tuff in the lower part of the formation, of which the 

Hatton Tuff Lentil (fig. 5) is thickest and most persistent. At Gillham 

Springs, near the southwestern corner of the wilderness, the Hatton 

is about 30 ft thick (Miser and Purdue, 1929). All the tuff units are 

reported to consist of dark greenish-gray material resembling a porphyritic igneous rock containing abundant grains of feldspar that 

weather readily to white kaolin, giving the rock a spotted appearance. Fossils in the Stanley Shale consist of plant fragments, 

sponge spicules, radiolarians, and conodonts (Flawn and others, 

1961). The Stanley has been classified a13 being of Mississippian age 

(Miser and Honess, 1927; Miser and Purdue, 1929). 

Miser and Purdue (1929) found black phosphate rock in the lower 

part of the Stanley Shale in the Cross Mountains 10-20 mi westsouthwest of the wilderness (fig. 2). This phosphate rock is described 

as occurring in widely separated layers and lenses as much as 1-112 in 

thick, and as nodules. These authors also reported nodules of 

phosphate rock at Gillham Springs, near the southwest corner of the 

wilderness, which they assumed occurre!d in the middle part of the 

formation. The quantity of phosphate rock at these localities is apparently too small to be of economic value, and larger quantities of 

potentially exploitable phosphate rock have not been found elsewhere 

in the Stanley Shale. 

STRUCTURE 

The stratfied rocks of the Ouachita Mountains were intensely 

deformed during late Paleozoic orogeny, which culminated here in 
14 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK WILDERNESS 

FIGURE 6.-Sections through East Hanna and Katy Mountains. (Obf, Bigfork Chert; 

Ope, Polk Creek Shale; Sb, Blaylock Sandstone; Sm, Missouri Mountain 

Shale; MDa, Arkansas Novaculite; and Ms, Stanley Shale). Modified from 

Miser and Purdue (1929, pl. 16); approximate scale 1:41,000 and altitude 

above mean sea level in feet. 

Middle Pennsylvanian time (Miser and Purdue, 1929). This deformation produced many westward-trending tightly folded anticlines and 

synclines that make up the compound Ouachita anticline, which is 

the major structural unit of the Broken Bow-Benton uplift (fig. 2). The 

Ouachita anticline comprises several subsidiary anticlinoria, of 

which one, the Cossatot anticline, is the structural unit of the 

Cossatot Mountain (Miser and Purdue, 1929). The Caney Creek 

Wilderness is on the southern limb of the Cossatot anticline, of which 

the axis of greatest uplift is along Sugar Creek near the northern 

boundary of the wilderness. 

The several anticlines and synclines in the wilderness trend approximately east-west and are tight folds having steeply dipping to 

vertical and overturned strata on their limbs (fig. 3). These folds are 

all of similar height and generally less than a mile in width. They 

tend to be asymmetrical and overturned to the south. Major folds may 

also be composite as shown by the anticlines at East Hanna and Katy 

Mountains (fig. 6). 
GEOCHEMICAL EXPLORATION 15 

Faults are less conspicuous than fold~1 in the Ouachita Mountains, 

and the importance or incidence of faults in the development of the 

Ouachita structural pattern is uncertain. Miser and Purdue (1929) 

mapped relatively few faults and assi~rned faulting to a subsidiary 

role. In contrast, the latest geologic Inap of Arkansas (Haley and 

others, 1976) shows many faults in the Ouachita Mountains, based on 

the assumption that thrust faulting played a major role in the deformation. This geologic map shows several faults within the 

wilderness, all of which are more or less parallel to the folds. The present investigation verified the presence of only one of these faults, the 

high-angle reverse fault in the ridge north of Short Creek (fig. 3). 

Other faults might be present, but more detailed mapping would be 

required to identify them. 

METAMORPHISM 

Regional metamorphism during deformation in the Ouachita 

Mountains caused hardening of shale units and transformation of 

some shale to slate and sandstone to qUlartzite. Of the rocks exposed 

in the wilderness, those most affected were shale units in the Polk 

Creek, the Missouri Mountain, and the Arkansas Novaculite, which 

were transformed to slate (Miser and Purdue, 1929). Shale units in 

the overlying Stanley Shale are reported to have been locally 

transformed to slate, but in general, the rocks in this formation were 

less affected by metamorphism than were those in the underlying formations. Flawn and others (1961) sug·gested that the pre-Stanley 

Paleozoic formations were more intenst~ly metamorphosed than the 

Stanley and post-Stanley formations bej:ause they were more deeply 

buried at the time of deformation. 

GEOCHEMICAL EXPI.ORATION 

SAMPLING AND ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES 

Geochemical sampling in the Caney Creek Wilderness (fig. 7) was 

undertaken as a means of determining patterns of anomalous metal 

values that might indicate heretofore unknown mineral deposits. The 

sampling and analytical techniques used were designed to obtain the 

maximum information possible in a reconnaissance survey of this 

type. The majority of geochemical samples (78) were of stream 

sediments, which result from the weathe!ring of rocks in the area and 

therefore reflect the metal content of both the rocks and any mineral 

deposits in them. Ideally, mineral depoE:its that are undergoing erosion impart anomalously high metal values to the stream sediments 

that distinguish them from normal or background values of the erosion products of the enclosing rocks. Stream sediment samples consisted of 68 bulk samples, of which only the minus 80-mesh fraction 
34° 

25' 

R.30W R. 29 w. 94°05' R. 28 w. 

Base from U.S. Ge9logical Survey, o 1 2 MILES 

1:62,500 Umpire, 1959 

FIGURE 7.-Geochemical sample localities, Caney CreekWildemess. 

EXPLANATION 

56• Sample locality and number 

..... 

= 

I 

~ 

i 

I:I=J 

00 

~ 

~ n 

~ 

~ ~ 

; 

~ 
GEOCHEMICAL EXPLORATION 17 

was analyzed, and 10 panned concentrates. Analyses of the fine fractions of the stream sediments (and other unconsolidated materials 

such as soil) provide information not only about the metals present in 

mineral and rock fragments, but also about metals dissolved in surface and ground waters that were absorbed by silt- and clay-size particles. Analyses of the panned conc1~ntrates provide information 

about the distribution of metals in the heavy-mineral fraction of the 

stream sediments. Twenty-one rock samples, eight manganese-ore 

samples, and a sample of barite also "\1\~ere collected and analyzed to 

determine background metal values of the various rock units in the 

area and anomalous metal values of known mineral occurrences 

within and near the area. _Six soil san1ples were collected and the 

minus 80-mesh fraction analyzed. 

During the geochemical study, attention was focused on the search 

for manganese and barite deposits, which are the major types of 

deposits that have been prospected and mined in the west-central 

Arkansas manganese district. In addition to collecting streamsediment samples that might show anomalous concentrations of 

manganese and barium, the stream beds were searched for pebbles 

and fragments of manganese oxides and barite for the purpose of 

gaining additional information reJ~arding deposits of these 

substances. 

The geochemical samples were analyzed by six-step semiquantitative spectrographic analysis for the following 31 elements: Fe, 

Mg, Ca, Ti, Mn, Ag, As, Au, B, Ba, Be, Hi,Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, La, Mo, Nb, 

Ni, Ph, Sb, Sc, Sn, Sr, Th, V, W, Y, Zn, a1t1d Zr. Besides manganese, only Cu, Zn, Co, and Ni, which are known to occur in anomalous 

amounts in the manganese deposits, show unusual concentrations in 

the stream sediments (table 1). 

EVALUATION OF SAM:PLE DATA 

Interpretations of the geochemical s.ample data from the Caney 

Creek Wilderness in this report differ slightly from those of Wagner 

and others (1978) for the entire west-<:entral Arkansas manganese 

district. These authors based their study on 46 samples of stream 

sediments, from which aqua regia ettrads of the minus 95-mesh fraction were analyzed. They determined anomalous values for 

manganese by log-probability plots, a method used by Lepeltier 

(1969), and established a threshold value or minimum anomalous 

value of 1,900 ppm Mn. About 75 percent of our samples show values 

of 2,000 ppm or more Mn, and 44 perce11t contain 5,000 ppm or more 

Mn (fig. 8). A minimum anomalous value of 5,000 ppm was found to 

be more meaningful for interpretation of the sample data. Wagner 

and others (1978) stated that Fe, Cu, Zn,, Co, Ni, and Ba in the stream 
18 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK Wll..DERNESS 

TABLE !.-Semiquantitative spectrographic analyses for selected elements in 

geochemical samples from the Caney Creek Wilderness 

[Analyses shown are for samples containing 5,000 ppm or more manganese. Analyses by Elwin L. Mosier, USGS, 

Denver, Colo.] 

Sample Mn Cu Zn1 Co Ni Ba 

No. (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) (ppm) 

Stream sediments ( < 80-mesh) 

7 >5000 1000 500 700 700 700 

17 5000 200 200 70 100 1000 

18 5000 200 200 100 100 1000 

21 >5000 100 N 50 100 700 

22 >5000 100 200 100 150 700 

24 >5000 150 200 70 150 700 

28 >5000 70 N 100 150 700 

35 >5000 100 N 50 70 700 

39 >5000 70 300 70 150 700 

40 >5000 70 300 50 100 700 

43 >5000 70 700 70 150 500 

45 5000 50 N 30 100 500 

47 5000 50 N 50 100 300 

49 >5000 50 N 50 100 500 

56 >5000 200 1000 70 300 700 

62 >5000 100 200 70 100 500 

64 >5000 150 300 100 150 500 

69 >5000 100 200 70 150 500 

70 >5000 200 300 200 150 700 

72 >5000 100 300 70 150 500 

73 --- 5000 100 200 30 100 500 

88 5000 300 N 100 100 700 

92 5000 100 N 100 100 500 

94 >5000 100 N 70 100 500 

95 >5000 100 200 50 200 500 

97 >5000 150 N 70 150 500 

101--- >5000 500 N 500 200 500 

103--- 5000 200 N 50 100 700 

105--- >5000 70 N 100 100 300 

107---- 5000 200 N 50 100 500 

Panned concentrates of stream sediments 

68 5000 100 N 50 100 1000 

91 >10000 100 N 70 70 1000 

93 >10000 200 N 70 150 700 

96 7000 70 N 50 100 700 

98 10000 100 N 70 100 3000 

100-- >10000 200 N 100 150 1500 

108-- 5000 70 N 70 100 700 

126---- 10000 100 N 50 100 700 

Selected samples from manganese prospects 

32 >5000 200 300 700 150 1500 

33 >5000 200 500 100 200 700 

57 >5000 15000 3000 2000 2000 700 

61 >5000 300 1500 500 500 1500 

121-- >5000 15000 5000 >2000 5000 1000 

'N indicates that the Zn content is bel!)w the limit of detectability, which is 500 ppm for panned concentrates arld 

200 ppm for the other sample types shown. 
GEOCHEMICAL EXPLORATION 19 

sediments show a uniform increase with ]~n. According to the sample 

data of the present study, Cu, Zn, Co, and Ni show a general though 

nonuniform increase with Mn (table 1), but Ba shows little relation to 

Mn. The analyses show that most of th•~ stream sediments contain 

3-5 percent Fe, and that only about half the samples highest in Fe 

contain 5,000 ppm or more Mn. 

The histograms (fig.8) show the proble:m of attempting to identify 

by statistical methods minimum anomalous values for Mn, Cu, Co, 

and Ni in stream sediments collected in this study. A histogram for 

Zn was not made because most of the Zn values of stream sediments 

are below the limit of detectability. The normal or background frequency distribution of these elements in unmineralized rocks and 

stream sediments resulting from erosion of such rocks would be expected to be log-normal, and histograms such as those shown in figure 

8, in which the analyses in parts per million are shown on a 

logarithmic scale, should be symmetrical. A log-probability plot of 

these same data would be a straight line .. In a region where the erosion products of mineral deposits are sufficiently abundant to be 

detected in the stream sediments, given the limitations of the 

analytical method, the resulting histogram would be asymmetrical, 

showing a tailing off of higher values or even a second high value 

maximum that clearly distinguishes the erosion products of the 

mineral deposits from those of the enclosing rocks. Similarly, mineral 

deposits are reflected in log-probability plots by a change in the slope 

of the straight line that indicates the backlground value of the country 

rock. In figure 8, the asymmetrical Mn histogram is due to the 

widespread manganese oxide occurrenees in the Caney Creek 

Wilderness and to the large number of sanr1ples containing more than 

5,000 ppm Mn, which is the highest value that could be estimated by 

the semiquantitative spectographic method used in making these 

analyses. A minimum anomalous value for Mn cannot be determined 

by inspection of this histogram or by inspection of a log-probability 

plot of the same data. Because of the close! association of Cu, Co, and 

Ni with Mn, it is not possible to sel•~ct meaningful minimum 

anomalous values for these elements by inspection of the histograms 

or by inspection of log-probability plots of these same data. 

Anomalous values selected from figure 8, which are indicated by the 

tailing off of values at the right sides of the histograms, would give 

minimum values somewhat higher than those that we have selected. 

Anomalous values for Mn, Cu, Zn, Co, and Ni in the stream 

sediments were selected by trial and error to establish meaningful 

distributions on the geochemical maps (figs. 9-13) relative to known 

and potential distribution of manganese! oxides in the Arkansas 

Novaculite. A lower limit for anomalous Mn values in stream 

sediments (fig. 9) was set at 5,000 ppm becaLuse such a value indicates 
20 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK WILDERNESS 

Sl 20 

I 

0 15 

l 

z 10 

251-

., 20 If 

o151-

.8 

§ 

z 10-

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ppmMn " 

I I I [1 ~ ~ ~ § ppmBa ~ 

g g R § ~ ~ ~ g ~ ~ 

ppmCu 

., 20 

-! 

~ 0 15 

~ £ 10 

FIGURE B.-Histograms showing the distribution of Mn, Cu, Co, Ni, and Ba in stream 

sediments (minus 80-mesh) in and near the Caney Creek WilderneBB. 
34° 

25' 

' . Hanna 

Ran96 

Porter 

94°05' 

creek 

~---- .. .., ~ ~"--._ j 

------ ~ ':-i' c;>-~ 

'-----1~--~ ' 

Creek 

~ 

\ 

\..,...-, 

East Hanna '-------------- £\, 

Mo.intain ~ £ ~ 

I 

I 

q ~~~...,- --.......______.. ', Mountain ' 

\ t ? 7I: __ ,,-....... ,.(_') \---- ~ ---- ------ -~ f-Tall Peak • -

WILDERNESS 1-;J-l---l---, ( ~ ----,,,. 

BOUNDARY , J : j j / 

ar--... --- ~ 9 

I ~ - - .... 1 y----

0 1 2 MILES 

EXPLANATION 

Stream-sediment samples 

(minus so-mesh fraction) 

0 <5,000 ppm Mn 

• 5,000 ppm or more Mn 

Manganese oxide samples 

& 5,000 ppm or more Mn 

FIGURE 9.-Distribution of manganese in geochemical samples, Caney Creek 

Wilderness. 

~ 0 

n 

g; 

~ f: 

l:EJ 

~ 

~ z 

~ 

..... 
94°05' 

v~l.iga,. c,.ee\t 

~--~ •' _:.~----,o '------. . C1 ~o~-.,; I .._., <>"""<> , .~ ,, 

'-~1 ~----- ~----•L--' \ \..,...-, Shan \ 

e ~ "'C~r:eelr o.' ..... 

...... J - ~ \ 

cP,.,--~ " 6 

1 

Hanna Ren East Hanna ~ : 9e + . 

Mountaon q 

~~~~ - ----~ ' ', ------ {)../- - .- "' .... -......... ... ,.,_ _ ... 

• c<.~TaiiPeak --- . Pooteo lllountaon ,. ____ , 

. 

\---r---~ ~ --r---~--F-1 :_ --~--- l J --- I r 

1 

t 

WILDERNESS a[___ J-,J BOUNDARY _j----

0 1 2 MILES 

EXPLANATION 

Stream-sediment samples 

(minus 80-mesh fraction) 

o 100 ppm or less Cu 

• >100ppmCu 

Manganese oxide samples 

0. <300 ppm Cu 

.& 300 ppm or more Cu 

FIGURE 10.-Distribution of copper in geochemical samples, Caney Creek Wilderness. 

:g 

I 

~ 

i 

l;I;J 

fiJ 

~ 

~ 

§ 

~ 

l;I;J 

~ 

~ 

~ 

! 

m 
34° 

25' 

94°05' 

i -~--v-~o Su!lar creek 

~'"<--~ ... - ------ I ·-- . ' ----· - .. , <'-" -- I • ~ <>--o 

'-1~ ' ------ ... I ____ 1 '-J "" I \ 

Sho, , __ ' .,atot) • ~ ' ,..\, 

~~- na ~ ' 

Han " 6 : • na llang0 East+Hanna ~ 

1 

Mountam I 

\. 

~ ~ _____,_, ~ ', 

Porte' Mou""''" (1--r.ii;... ,..--...... • ,::-:_., 

-------... ) ----........... 

\ ---~ ------ I J I 

1 

----t ·-; I I 

\ 

9 t r '7-- --- ---: ( WILDERNESS ~ ( ___ , ~-,J BOUNDARY 1-6 '----~- _? 

0 1 2 MILES 

FIGURE 11.-Distribution of zinc in geochemical samples, Caney Creek Wilderness. 

EXPLANATION 

Stream-sediment samples 

(minus 80-mesh fraction) 

o <200ppm Zn 

• 200 ppm or more Zn 

Manganese oxide samples 

t:> <1000 ppm Zn 

A 1000 ppm or more Zn 

~ 

8 

;j 

fS 

Q 

~ l:IJ 

~ 

s 

~ z 

to:) 

Ct.) 
34° 

25' 

Hanna 

Ran96 

• 

94°05' 

or ... o- -o; '-"'""' o- --o· 

------ ~----•:..-..1 \ 

' .... -', 

A', East+Ha~na \ r-------_ : 

Mountaon • q 6 

Porter ', --··-•n {1--Tall Peak ,,. - ',.!-:..,.., ' I _ ---- I --- I . \---r-? rr-c--.. ~-)--l) --- ---~ ,----........ t ,.. 

WILDERNESS BOUNDARY af---_?---- ~--,J 

0 1 2 MILES 

EXPLANATION 

Stream-sediment samples 

(minus 80-mesh fraction) 

o <100 ppm Co 

._ 100 ppm or more Co 

Manganese oxide samples 

A <500 ppm Co 

& 500 ppm or more Co 

FIGURE 12.-Distribution of cobalt in geochemical samples, Caney Creek Wilderness. 

~ 

I 

~ 

I 

t.zJ 

C'll 

~ 

~ n 

§ 

~ ~ 

; 

m 
34° 

25' 

94°05' 

Hanna 

Range 

Porter 

~ ' ..... 

1:1 ' 6 

I 

~(,, -~~ ,.,"-............. ::-=-~ ---- k • 

Mountain '1- Tall Pe• 

\----t-----=:,---,.--/ ---~ : _J l ;'----r '-----,. 

1 ) I 'I ~ )> '-;o --'{--- l ~ WILDERNESS a --,.--- J--J BOUNDARY ~----

0 1 2 MILES 

I I I 

EXPLANATION 

Stream-sediment samples 

(minus 80-mesh fraction) 

o <150 ppm Ni 

• 150 ppm or more Ni 

Msnganese oxide samples 

t:::. <500 ppm Ni 

..& 500 ppm or more Ni 

FIGURE 13.-Distribution of nickel in geochemical samples, Caney Creek Wilderness. 

~ g 

gj 

fS 

0 

~ l:EJ 

!>d 

~ 

t'"l 

~ 

~ 

~ 

01 
26 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK WTI..DERNESS 

the presence of anomalous Mn in small tributaries of the main 

streams in which erosion products of the Arkansas Novaculite are 

particualrly abundant. Anomalous values for Cu (150 ppm or more), 

Zn (200 ppm or more), Co (100 ppm or more), and Ni ( > 100 ppm) (figs. 

10-13) were selected to be compatible with the distribution of 

anomalous values for Mn. The barium content of the stream 

sediments shows a narrow range of relatively low values (table 1) 

which are within range of the background values for the Stanley 

Shale of the Caddo Gap and DeQueen quadrangles (Brobst and Ward, 

1965). 

Most of the stream-sediment samples (minus 80-mesh) having 

anomalous values (5,000 ppm or more) of Mn (fig. 9) were collected at 

the mouths of small intermittent tributaries of Sugar, Short, and 

Caney Creeks. These tributaries have been cut into the ridge-forming 

Arkansas Novaculite and consequently the stream courses contain 

the erosion products of the novaculite and of the manganese oxide occurrences in the novaculite. Pebbles enriched in manganese oxides 

were found in several of the tributary streambeds, and a systematic 

search would probably reveal similar pebbles in many other 

tributaries as well as in the main streams. The fewer anomalous 

values for Mn in the main streams are no doubt due to the greater 

dilution of sediment by the erosion products from formations that do 

not contain manganese deposits. Panned concentrates of stream 

sediments were taken at several localities to compare with the minus 

80-mesh fraction from the same locality. Significantly greater Mn 

values are present in the panned concentrates than in the fine fractions, indicating that Mn occurs mainly in oxide grains rather than 

as absorbed ions on silt and clay particles. 

Anomalous values for Cu, Zn, Co, and Ni are associated with 

stream sediments that contain anomalous amounts of Mn, and they 

reflect the presence of deposits of manganese oxides in the Arkansas 

Novaculite, which also tend to be anomalously high in these elements 

(table 1). The distribution of samples showing anomalous values for 

these elements are shown in figures 10-13, which may be compared 

with the distribution of anomalous values for manganese shown in 

figure 9. As can be observed in these figures and table 1, the relative 

amounts of Cu, Zn, Co, and Ni are variable, and all are not 

anomalously high in all samples high in Mn. A few of the stream 

sediments containing less than 5000 ppm Mn show low anomalous 

values for either Cu (150) ppm), Zn (200 ppm), Co (100 pm), or Ni (150 

ppm). These are random anomalous values that would be expected to 

occur in a suite of geochemical samples, and do not necessarily indicate an anomalous source such as a mineral deposit. 

The stream-sediment samples (minus 80-mesh fraction) from the 
MINERAL RESOURCES 27 

wilderness show nearly uniform background values for barium, chiefly in the range of 500-700 ppm (table 1), which, as was previously 

mentioned, are background values for the Stanley Shale as determined by Brobst and Ward (1965). No barite pebbles or fragments were 

found in streams, but this may not be significant because barite 

fragments, being softer than other minerals in the sediment, would 

be rapidly destroyed by stream action. In addition, the density of 

barite causes fragments, even near a deposit, to work their way down 

into the streambed rather than remaining at the surface (D. A. Brobst, 

oral commun., 1980). Two of the panned concentrates from upper 

Caney Creek (samples 98 and 100, fig. 7, table 1), which are high in 

Mn, showed the highest values of 3,000 and 1,500 ppm Ba, respectively. These apparently anomalous samples might reflect the presence of 

local barite beds in the nearby Stanley Shale, but because of their exceptionally high Mn contents, it is believed to be more likely that the 

high barium reflects the presence of the barium-rich manganeseoxide mineral psilomelane. In contrast, two panned concentrates 

from a stream in the Fancy Hill barite district, collected during this 

study, contain 3,000 ppm and >5,000 ppm Ba, respectively, and only 

700 ppm Mn. These values are believed to reflect the presence of the 

nearby barite deposits. 

Rock and soil samples from the wilderness do not contain any 

unusual concentrations of metals, and these materials are not considered further. 

MINERAL RESOURCES 

The mineral resources of the Caney Creek Wilderness and nearby 

areas include metallic mineral deposits containing oxides of 

manganese and iron, sulfides of lead, zinc, copper and antimony, and 

native copper. Turquoise, a copper phosphate mineral used as a 

semiprecious gem stone, occurs in and near the area. Industrial 

mineral resources include barite, novaculite, tripoli, clay and shale, 

gravel, and slate. Of these mineral commodities, only manganese oxide has been produced from deposits within the wilderness. 

EXPLORATION AND MINING IN AND NEAR 

THE CANEY CREEK WILDERNESS 

Exploration for manganese and other minerals in Polk County apparently commenced in the mid-1800's, but the first significant work 

was done by the Arkansas Development Company in 1888-1889 

(Penrose, 1891). The Company opened many manganese prospects in 

the region, including several in the area now within the Caney Creek 

Wilderness. Total production apparently was small, and none was 
28 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK WILDERNESS 

recorded in the 19th century for the area now included in the 

wilderness. The other manganese production recorded for Polk County was during World Wars I and II and the U.S. Government stockpile 

purchase program in the 1950's. Production during World Wars I and 

II was small, but during the stockpile purchase program more than 

7,000 tons of ore and concentrates valued at nearly $750,000 were 

produced from Polk County (Stroud and others, 1969). 

Mines near the wilderness that produced manganese ore include 

the following. 1) Sugarstick Mine, about 1/4 mi northwest of the 

wilderness aocality 2, fig. 14), was worked in 1921, 1942, and 1952, 

yielding 18 carloads of ore (Stroud and others, 1969), (2) Lost Hatchet 

Mine, 5 mi east-northeast of the wilderness, produced at least 4,000 

tons of concentrates between 1955 and 1959; an estimated 50,000 

·tons of submarginal ore remained after mining ceased (Brown, 1955; 

Stroud, 1959), (3) Coon Creek Mine, about 5 mi east of the wilderness, 

was operated in 1942 and during the period from 1956 to 1959, producing at least 1,500 tons of manganese concentrate; as much as 

40,000 tons of submarginal ore containing 5-10 percent manganese is 

reported to remain on this property (Stroud, 1959). 

Several manganese mills, now dismantled, were located near the 

wilderness; but according to Brown (1955) and Stroud (1959), all the 

mill feed came from mines outside the area now designated as Caney 

Creek Wilderness. A mill on Short Creek, within the wilderness, was 

erected by A. B. Pickell to process ore from prospects1 4 and 5 (fig. 14) 

(C. M. Boos, 1952, unpublished report, U.S. Bureau of Mines). No 

records concerning the production of this mill were found, and it is 

not known whether ore from the prospects was actually treated. The 

records also are unclear as to whether construction of the mill was 

completed. 

Most of the manganese prospects in the Caney Creek Wilderness 

are between Buckeye Mountain and Tall Peak, and this area has the 

longest history of activity. The Arkansas Development Company 

workings on the lower north slope of Tall Peak during the period from 

1887 to 1889 were described as consisting of two short adits, ofwhich 

one, called the Pointed Rock tunnel, was about 100 ft long (Penrose, 

1891). Penrose also noted several prospect workings on Buckeye 

Mountain and a spur locally known as Manganese Mountain. Some 

work in the Buckeye Mountain and Tall Peak prospects undoubtedly 

took place during both the World Wars, but most work apparently 

was in the 1950's in response to the stockpile purchase program. 

Penrose (1891) noted several manganese occurrences in the Short 

Creek valley but did not mention any workings. Aerial ~hotographs 

'The term "prospect" is used in this report for sites in the wilderness showing evidence of mineral exploration 

activities regardless of whether there was any actual production. 
34° 

22' 

30" 

R. 30W 

Base from U.S. Geological Survey, 

1:62,500 Umpire, 1959 

0 1 

FIGURE 14.-Prospects and mines in and near the Caney Creek Wilderness. Sample 

numbers shown refer to analyses in tables 2 and 3. 

EXPLANATION 

3 x Prospect pit or trench 

V Adit 

~ Mn Mine-(Mn, manganese; Tu, 

2 turquoise; Tr, tripoli) 

• 323 Sample locality-(manganese or 

iron oxide; no prospect pits) 

M Millsite 

Tu o Minerals occurrence-(Tu, 

turquoise; Py, pyrite) 

Note: Mines and prospects are 

listed in table 2: analyses of 

samples are shown in table 3 

e5 

z 

trj 

~ ~ 

trj 

Ul 

0 

c::: 

~ trj 

Ul 

~ 

U) 
30 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK WILDERNESS 

taken in the mid-1950's and courthouse records indicate that most activity along Short Creek was during the stockpile purchase program. 

Prospecting in this area was chiefly by shallow pits, but a few bulldozed cuts were opened in addition to two short adits (localities 7 and 10, 

fig. 14 and table 2). 

Other manganese prospects were reported by Penrose (1891) and 

shown on a geologic map by Miser and Purdue (1929) at several other 

places in the wilderness, and although none of these was found during 

the fieldwork in 1978, several unreported prospects were located. Two 

were short adits and the others were small pits. Other prospects are 

no doubt present in the area but were not found because of dense 

TABLE 2.-Prospects and mines in and near the Caney Creek Wilderness 

Map 

No. Sample Property or Description of Deposit 

(fig. 14) no. prospect name workings description 

1 301 Trench in bulldozer 8-in vein of crystalline 

cut barite in shale 

2 302,303 Sugarstick Mine Open stope 25 ft wide 

by 25ft high by 100 

ft long with adits to 

surface on two levels 

3 307 Several trenches over Mn oxide nodules in 

0.2 acre area residuum 

4 308 Pickell'' Open cut 25 ft wide 

by 25 ft high by 60 ft 

long 

5 309 Pickell• Sidehill cut, 20 ft 

high by 25 ft long 

6 NS Two shallow 

bulldozer No deposit 

cuts 

7 NS Two adits 5 ft long 

and 8ft long 

8 310 uMoody" Group Trench 7 ft deep and 

20ft long 

9 NS uMoody" Group Sidehill cut 15 ft high 

by 50ft long 

10---- 311 Manganese Adit 25 ft long Adit stopped 20ft 

Corp. of short of Mn- and 

Delaware Fe-oxide zone exposed 

at surface 

11-- 312 Manganese Sidehill cut 10 ft Fe staining and 

Corp. of high by 190 ft long impure Mn oxides in 

Delaware weathered sandstone 

12-- 316 Taylor and Open cut 30 ft wide 

Howell by 25 ft high by 50 ft 

long 

13-- NS Pit 6 ft deep by 10 ft 

long 
MINERAL :RESOURCES 31 

TABLE 2.-Prospects and mines in and neCJr.r the Caney Creek Wilderness-Continued 

Map 

No. Sample Property or Description of Deposit 

(fig. 14) no. prospect name workings description 

14--- NS Pit 3ft deep by 15ft 

long 

15---- NS Circular pit 3 ft by 

1-1/2 ft deep 

16--- NS Circular pit 5 ft by 2 

ft dleep 

17-- NS Adilt 22 ft long 

18--- 321 Op:m cut 20 ft wide 

by 20 ft high by 40 ft 

long 

19-- 322 Tre,nch 7 ft deep by 

13 :ft long 

20--- NS Tre,nch 20 ft deep by 

55 :ft long 

21--- NS Pit 1 ft deep by 4 ft 

lon;g 

22--- NS Pit 1 ft deep by 5 ft 

lon1g 

23--- NS Hawkins, Pit 7 ft deep by 24 ft Fe and Mn oxides 

Hughes, and lon1g filling fractures in 

Sullivan 112 shale 

24--- 326 Trench 6 ft deep by 8 

ft long 

25---- NS Four pits average 3 ft Mn oxide nodules in 

deep by 6 ft long soil, shale, and 

novaculite 

26---- NS William Four pits average 2 ft 

Robinson deep by 10 ft long 

27--- NS Broad pit 30 ft wide No deposit-apparenby :32ft long tly a borrow pit for 

by •l ft deep road material 

28-- 328 Luke Lawrence Trench 2 ft deep by 

114 18 ft long; caved adit 

29--- 330 Adit 6 ft long at end 

of 15ft trench 

30--- 332 Mac 115 Trench 1 ft deep by Decomposed upper 

9ft long novaculite-.ctripoli" 

31--- 333 Mac /14 Trench 1-112 ft deep Decomposed upper 

by ~!7 ft long novaculite-.ctripoli" 

32--- 334 Mac 112 Qpe,n cut 75 ft wide Decomposed upper 

(at face) by 120 ft long novaculite-.ctripoli" 

by fi8 ft high 

33---- 337 MacBride Shaft 40ft deep; adit Turquoise veins and 

110ft long nodules in novaculite 

'NS indicates that no sample was taken. 

•Property IlLames are taken from literature or assessment affidavits filed in Polk County courthouse. 

•Except as noted, all openings are in fractured Arkansas Novaculite displaying Mn and/or Fe oxides as staining, 

veinlets, podJ;, and veins. 

'There is di18puted ownership with Inland Mining Co. 0~. Boos, unpublished data, 1952). 

•Major worlt may have been performed by S. Christian (Lenard Aleshire, oral commun., 1978). 
32 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK WU.DERNESS 

forest cover and the difficulty of distinguishing old pits from soil 

disturbed during logging. 

The .total tonnage of manganese ore produced from the Caney Creek 

Wilderness is unavailable because no records were kept of the production from individual prospects. In addition, during the stockpile purchase program, manganese ore from the wilderness was mixed with 

ore from other localities in the west-central Arkansas manganese 

district. Lenard Aleshire (oral commun., 1978) reported that 

manganese ore was produced in the 1950's from two prospects on 

Buckeye Mountain. He and his brother removed about 80 tons of 

high-grade (>40 percent Mn) manganese oxide from one prospect 

(locality 18, fig. 14). He mentioned that hand-cobbed ore from another 

prospect (locality 20, fig. 14) was low in impurities and was used to 

upgrade ores from mines outside of the wilderness. It is likely that 

this ore was reported along with ore from those mines. One operator 

is reported to have produced 35 tons of high-grade ore from a prospect 

in the Short Creek valley (Brown, 1955). Lenard Aleshire, who at one 

time was employed at the General Services Adminstration shipping 

point in Mena, recalled that several truckloads of ore from Short 

Creek were delivered at Mena where it was mixed with ore from 

other mines. He stated that such blending was necessary because the 

copper content of Short Creek ores exceeded stockpile purchase 

'The USBM (DeHuff, 1965) published the specifications for stockpile pruchase of manganese as follows: National 

Stockpile Specification P-30-R, Manganese-Metallurgical, January 8, 1953, covered ore, nodules, and sinter 

"suitable for the manufacture of commercial grades of ferromanganese and special manganese alloys, and for the 

production of chemicals which do not require ore of high manganese dioxide content." The chemical requirements, 

for it and for the March 14, 1958 revision, P-30.R1, were essentially as follows: 

Percent by weight (dry basis) 

P-30-R' P-30.R11 P-30-R' P-30-R1• 

Manganese Minimum 46.00 46.00 40.00 44.00 

Iron Maximum 8.00 8.00 16.00 12.00 

Silica-plusalumina do 12.00 12.00 (') 15.00 

Phosphorus do .18 .18 .30 .24 

Copper do .25 

Copper-plus-lead· 

plus-zinc do .10 .20 1.00 .30 

'Any proposal could be rejected if its guaranteed chemical analysis on the weighted average basis were inferior. 

•Material purchased "shall conform" on a weighted average basis for each contract. 

'No proposals considered unless guaranteed chemical analysis on the weighted average basis is equal or better. 

•Each lot delivered "shall conform", a lot being "any quantity determined by the Government to require a 

separate chemical analysis report." 

'"No limit specified for material, which may be offered; however, material over 15 percent will be purchased in ex· 

ceptional cases only." 
MINERAL RESOURCES 33 

specifications1 and apparently was a major factor leading to the 

termination of mining on Short Creek. 

Barite, which is used mainly in heavy drilling muds vital to the production of petroleum and natural gas, is mined at several places in 

southwestern Arkansas. The principal barite deposits nearest. the 

wilderness are in the Hatfield and Fancy Hill districts, ~9 mi westnorthwest and 9 mi east, respectively, of the wilderness. The Hatfield 

district, long inactive, was explored by about 60 prospects, and an 

estimated 18 tons of barite was produced (Scull, 1958). The Fancy Hill 

district was active at the time of the field investigations, and the 

Baroid Division of NL Industries, Inc., produced a considerable tonnage ofbarie during the 1970's. Both districts have recently attracted 

the attention of several other companies. R. B. Stroud (oraJl commun., 

1979) reported that little activity was anticipated in the Hatfield 

district, but that one of these companies, Milchem, Inc., had outlined 

three major ore bodies in the Fancy Hill district. Milchem, Inc., plans 

development of an open-cut mine and construction of a m.ill. 

Tripoli deposits in the upper part of the Arkansas Nova<~ulite have 

been mined east of the Caney Creek Wilderness in Montgomery, 

Pike, and Garland Counties (Stroud and others, 1969). Several thousand tons of tripoli have been produced from an open cut 600 ft south 

of the wilderness (locality 32, fig. 14) (U.S. Forest Service, unpublished data, 1971). 

Slate has been produced intermittently from several open pits near 

the wilderness; the principal production came from deposits in T. 3 S., 

R. 28 and 29 W., about 4 mi north of the wilderness (Branner and 

others, 1940). Production of slate from Polk County for a 9-yr period 

(1931-1939) was reported to be 24,376 tons, having an estimated 

value of $168,790 (Branner and others, 1940). In the 1950's, a small 

quarry was operated in T. 4 S., R. 30 W., less than a mile west of the 

wilderness (Stroud and others, 1969). Quantity or value of production 

of slate from this deposit is not known. 

Clay and shale for brick and tile were mined near Mena, about 12 

mi northwest of the wilderness. Production between 1952 and 1955 

was an estimated 365,000 tons valued at $375,000 (Stroud and others, 

1969). After 1970, no production of clay or shale is recorded for Polk 

County (U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1971 .... 1977; U.S. Bureau of Mines, unpublished data). 

Small quantities of turquoise, native copper, sphalerite, galena, 

quartz crystal, stibnite, and cinnabar have also been mined within 25 

miles of the wilderness. Neither the literature nor the field investigations and subsequent analyses of samples suggest the occurrence of 

commercial deposits of any of these minerals in Caney Creek 

Wilderness. 
34 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK Wll..DERNESS 

DESCiliPTION AND RESOURCE POTENTIAL OF MINERAL 

DEPOSITS IN THE CANEY CREEK WILDERNESS 

METALLIC MINERALS 

MANGANESE 

The manganese deposits in the Caney Creek area occur mainly at 

two stratigraphic horizons in the Arkansas Novaculite, one in the upper novaculite unit and the other near the top of the lower novaculite 

unit (Miser and Purdue, 1929). The manganese occurs as oxides in 

nodules, irregular masses, and short narrow veins in fractured and 

brecciated novaculite. The veins occur in zones ranging from a few 

feet to several tens of feet in length and from 1 in or less to about 3 ft 

in width. The high-grade manganese oxide masses are rarely more 

than a foot or two in maximum dimension. The manganese oxides are 

commonly concentrated along bedding planes and fractures or form 

cement or cavity filling in brecciated novaculite. The manganese 

minerals at most localities are intimately associated with iron oxides, 

and weathered outcrops tend to be heavily stained with these oxides. 

Manganese oxide minerals identified in recent work (Wagner and 

others, 1978) include cryptomelane, K(Mn+4, Mn+2) 8018; lithiophorite, 

(AI, Li) Mn +4 02(0H)2; pyrolusite, Mn02; and hausmannite, 

Mn+ M~ +ao,. 

The grade of the manganese oxide deposits in the Caney Creek 

Wilderness ranges broadly. Apparently the best-grade ore was produced in the Buckeye Mountain area (localities 18 and 20, fig. 14). 

Lenard Aleshire (oral commun., 1978) reported that the 80 tons produced from one of these prospects was more than 40 percent 

manganese and very low in metallic impurities. The sample collected 

from this prospect (sample 321, table 3) contains 38.5 percent Mn, and 

the average of four samples from Buckeye Mountain (316 and 

321-323) was 39.4 percent Mn. The Samples 328 and 330 (table 3) 

from the prospects in the vicinity of Tall Peak (localities 28 and 29, 

fig. 14) are either low in Mn (average 29.6 percent) or high in Fe, Cu, 

or Zn. These analyses probably are more or less typical of the Tall Peak 

deposits, and the low Mn value and high values for other metals 

would account for the lack of reported production in this vicinity. 

Samples of manganese oxide from Short Creek prospects (samples 

307-312, table 3) show that the material is not exceptionally high in 

Mn. Although one sample is 46.8 percent Mn, the average of the other 

five samples is only 29.6 percent. The significant percentages of Zn, 

Ni, and Co shown by the analyses are undesirable in manganese ore. 

The average of metal impurities for the six samples is: 0.5 percent Cu, 

0.3 percent Zn, 0.2 percent Ni, and 0.3 percent Co; a USGS 

geochemical sample (sample 57, table !)"contained 1.5 percent Cu, 0.3 
MINERAL RESOURCES 35 

TABLE 3.-Analyses of manganese- and iron-oxide-rich samples from prospects and 

mines in and near the Caney Creek Wilderness 

[All elements by means of atomic absorption methods except Si, by neutron activation; P, by X-ray fluorescence; 

S, by wet chemistry; and Ag, by fire assay. All samples contained less than 0.01 percent Pb. ND, not detected. 

Analyses made at USBM, Metallurgy Research Center, Reno, Nev.] 

Weight percent Oz/ton 

Sample No. Mn Fe Si p s Cu Zn Ni Co Li Ag 

302------- 42.5 5.6 0.4 0.2 0.06 0.30 0.16 0.17 0.1•i 0.08 0.2 

303-------- 30.5 2.5 .4 .2 .01 1.40 .20 .88 .84 .44 <.1 

307------- 29.5 .8 4.9 .2 .15 1.10 .27 .39 .2:3 .34 ND 

308------ 35.0 .4 .3 .2 .16 1.20 .49 .50 .1'7 .38 .1 

309-------- 46.8 5.0 .7 .5 .36 .08 .22 .03 .08 ND ND 

310--------- 32.5 2.9 7.4 .4 .16 .32 .16 .20 .7B .17 .3 

311-------- 33.5 .3 1.8 .2 .26 .35 .88 .58 .2f) .53 ND 

312------- 17.6 7.3 24.0 .3 .22 .04 .04 .02 .Of) ND .8 

313----- .1 43.4 7.6 1.3 .10 .02 .04 .01 ND ND .2 

315--------- .1 54.1 1.4 .6 .09 .03 .03 .01 .Oll ND ND 

316------ 41.0 8.0 3.4 .5 .10 .05 .16 .04 .00 .01 ND 

321-------- 38.5 11.6 2.7 .7 .03 .02 .06 .02 .1~~ .01 <.1 

322--------- 41.5 10.8 .9 .8 .03 .01 .03 .01 .10 ND .1 

323------- 36.5 1.3 13.6 .1 .12 .04 .05 .04 .11 ,01 .1 

325------- 9.0 15.6 21.7 .7 .10 .10 .11 .15 .12 .07 .3 

326-------- 18.0 22.5 11.5 1.0 .02 .02 .08 .04 .0~1 .01 <.1 

328-------- 28.8 18.5 5.3 1.0 .04 .02 .13 .02 .o~· ND .1 

330------ 31.0 .6 2.0 .1 .03 1.10 .39 .38 .50 .32 <.1 

percent Zn, 0.2 percent Ni, and 0.2 percent Co. Foley (1960) also found 

that manganese ore from one locality on Short Creek av,eraged 1.4 

percent Cu and additionally contained 0.02 oz of gold and 0.67 oz of 

silver per ton. One of the Short Creek samples taken during this investigation (sample 312, table 3) contained 0.8 oz of silver per ton. Six 

Short Creek samples contained an average of 0.2 oz silver per ton, 

whereas the silver content of all USBM samples from the wilderness 

average 0.1 oz per ton. No gold was detected in the samples. 

It is probable that additional small manganese deposits of the size 

and grade of some of those previously mined in and near the Caney 

Creek Wilderness are present in it. However, such undiscovered 

deposits are not likely to be larger than those already known. Lowgrade deposits of this size are virtually impossible to mine profitably 

under present-day mining costs. Therefore, the present evaluation of 

the manganese deposits in the Caney Creek Wilderness is E!ssentially 

the same as that expressed by Penrose (1891) for all deposits in 

southwestern Arkansas: 

"The aggregate amount of manganese in the region is undoubtedly large, but it is 

distributed over an extensive area, and in almost all places it is hopelessly scattered through the rock in small nests and seams. If these nests and seams were in 

sufficient quantities the rock might be crushed and the ore com:entrated by 
36 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK WILDERNESS 

washing, but the pockets containing them are too small to permit the expense of 

machinery." 

IR.ON 

Deposits of iron oxides and hydroxides (hematite and limonite) occur at many places in the Ouachita Mountains, but on the whole are 

smaller and less abundant than manganese deposits. Several claims 

for iron were filed in and near the Caney Creek Wilderness prior to 

publication of Penrose's (1892) report on the iron deposits of Arkansas. Branner and others (1940) listed four occurrences of iron oxides 

in the wilderness. The two richest samples collected in the present 

study (313 and 315, table 3), from deposits less than 10_ft in greatest 

dimension, contained an average of 48.7 percent Fe. Other than these 

samples, the highest Fe value obtained was 22.5 percent for sample 

326; other samples contained less than 20 percent Fe (table 3). 

Penrose (1892) reported that an analysis of a sample from the Arkansas Development Company's adit at Tall Peak showed only 16.22 percent Fe. Clearly, the iron deposits on which the early claims were filed are far too small and impure to be considered as iron ore, and highgrade iron deposits of sufficient size to be mined have not been found. 

There is no reason to believe that larger or higher grade deposits are 

present in the wilderness. 

BASE METALS 

The base metals copper, lead, and zinc, have been prospected near 

the Caney Creek Wilderness but have not been found within it. Small 

amounts of copper have been found in five prospects in the valleys of 

Macks Creek and its tributaries 4-5 mi north of the wilderness, and a 

little copper is reported to have been produced (Branner and others, 

1940). Native copper was identified at one of t,hese prospects, but 

most of the copper occurs as stains and veins of malachite, azurite, 

chrysocolla, and chalcopyrite along fractures in the Arkansas 

Novaculite (Stroud and others, 1969). The geochemical samples show 

only minimum anomalous values of Cu in association with 

anomalous Mn, and there is no reason to suspect the presence of 

minable copper deposits in the wilderness. 

Lead in the form of galena nodules, of which some are associated 

with quartz, pyrite, and the zinc mineral sphalerite, occurs in both 

the Missouri Mountain Shale (Branner and others, 1940) and the 

Stanley Shale (Stroud and others, 1969). The largest known deposit, 

located in SE 114, SE 114, Sec. 24, T. 1 S., R. 29 W., about 15 mi north 
MINERAL RESOURCES 37 

of the Caney Creek Wilderness, yielded 1,500 lb of galena in 1952 

(Stroud and others, 1969). Galena also occurs in the inactive Lehrock 

slate quarry 3 mi north of the wilderness. Lead and zinc occurrences 

have not been reported in the wilderness, and it is unlikely that 

minable deposits are present. 

Several hundred tons of antimony (Sb) were recovered from 

stibnite-bearing veins in the Stanley Shale in northern Sevier County, about 15 mi southwest of the Caney Creek Wilderness (Stroud and 

others, 1969). Veins of this type have not been reported in or near the 

wilderness, but a narrow pyrite vein in the Missouri Mountain 

Shale(?) in Sec. 6, T. 4 S., R. 29 W., near the wilderness boundary, was 

reported (Lenard Aleshire, oral commun., 1978) to contain antimony. 

Analysis of a sample from this vein showed less than 0.1 percent Sb, 

which is far below the grade of exploitable Shore. Other sulfide veins 

were not found in the wilderness during the field investigation, and 

no anomalous Sb values were detected in the stream sediment 

samples. 

NONMETALLIC MINERALS 

BARITE 

Two barite prospects are near the wilderness. One, a recent, 

shallow bulldozed trench in the N'\V 114, NW 114, SW 114, Sec. 32, T. 3 

S., R. 29 W., about 1-114 mi north of the northwestern corner of the 

wilderness, exposes a layer of bedded barite in Stanley Shale. The 

layer is less than 20 ft long and has a maximum thickness of about 8 

in. A sample of this material contains 81.4 percent BaS04 • The other, 

called the Cossatot River prospect by Jones (1948), is about 2-112 mi 

west of the wilderness. Jones reported the workings to consist of a pit 

and a short adit on a small lens of barite. This prospect was not found 

during the field investigation. 

The thin layer of barite in the new prospect near the wilderness is of 

sedimentary origin and therefore similar to the deposits in the Fancy 

Hill district. In contrast, barite in the Hatfield district occurs as veins 

in the Arkansas Novaculite and may be of hydrothermal origin. Such 

deposits were not found in or near the wilderness. 

Significant barite deposits should be readily detectable by the type 

of geochemical sampling carried out in this investigation. The fact 

that the geochemical samples do not show anomalous barium values 

indicates that large barite deposits are not present in the wilderness. 

As has been pointed out (p. 27), the stream sediments from the 

wilderness have relatively uniform background values for barium 
38 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK Wll.DERNESS 

similar to those for the Stanley Shale. Barite has not been reported in 

the wilderness, and no barite pebbles or fragments were found during 

this investigation. 

CLAY AND SHALE 

Clay, shale, and related fine-grained rocks of possible industrial use 

occur in the Bigfork Chert, Missouri Mountain Shale, and Stanley 

Shale within the Caney Creek Wilderness. Stroud and others (1969) 

reported that Stanley Shale near the wilderness was found to be 

suitable for use in heavy clay products, and two of their samples had 

the firing properties needed for making stoneware. These authors 

reported that a slaty material from the Bigfork Chert a few miles 

north of the wilderness expanded during bloating tests and that it 

might be suitable for making lightweight aggregate. 

During the fieldwork, two samples from the Stanley Shale and one 

each from the Missouri Mountain and Polk Creek Shales were collected in the wilderness. These samples were evaluated for bloating 

properties and suitability for use in common brick and other structural clay products. None of the four samples has the bloating properties required for making lightweight aggregate. One sample of the 

Stanley Shale and the one from the Polk Creek Shale were unsuitable 

for use in strutural clay products. Because of a short firing range and 

high carbonate content, the second sample of Stanley Shale was 

evaluated as being a marginal material for making common building 

brick. The tests of the sample of Missouri Mountain Shale indicate 

that it is potentially usable in the manufacture of structural clay 

products. Although shales suitable for use in structural clay products 

occur within the wilderness, they have little or no value because very 

large resources of these materials occur elsewhere in southwestern 

Arkansas nearer to transportation facilities and markets. 

GilA VEL 

Small deposits of gravel occur along the Cossatot and Saline Rivers 

and Caney and Short Creeks. Branner and others (1940) listed one 

deposit on Caney Creek as containing an estimated 5,000 yd8 of gravel, 

consisting of pebbles and cobbles or boulders of hard, flinty novaculite 

of which only 60 percent are smaller than 2 in. Such a deposit has no 

value because of its small size and excessive quantities of cobbles and 

boulders. It is unlikely that better dep~sits occur in the wilderness~ 
MINERAL RESOURCES 39 

NOVACULITE 

Novaculite is a fine-grained, essentially pure silica ( +99 percent 

Si02) rock that is used for railroad· ballast, road material, building 

stone, and whetstones. Though very large resources of Arkansas 

Novaculite are present in the wilderness, they have little value 

because even larger resources are located outside the area and nearer 

to the markets. 

SLATE 

Slate occurs in three of the formations (Missouri Mountain, Polk 

Creek, and Stanley Shales) that crop out in the Caney Creek 

Wilderness. Although slate in the Missouri Mountain Shale has been 

mined at three localities in Polk County outside of the wilderness, 

none of the slate in this formation is of particularly high quality 

(Stroud and others, 1969), and the mines have been inactive since the 

1950's. Because no production of slate from the Polk Creek and 

Stanley Shales has been reported, it appears that the slate in these 

formations is of even lower quality. The slate resources of the Caney 

Creek Wilderness have little value because large quantities of higher 

quality slate occur at other localities nearer to potential markets. 

TlliPOLI 

Two tripoli deposits are known to occur in the Caney Creek 

Wilderness, one in Sec. 11, T. 4 S., R. 29 W. and the other in Sec. 25, 

T. 4 S., R. 29 W. (Branner and others, 1940). The latter deposit, an extension of the deposit in Sec. 26 (locality 32, fig, 14) currently in patent procedure (see p. 9), was recently prospected at two pla~es in the 

wilderness (localities 30 and 31, fig. 14) by shallow bulldozed'trenches. 

The quality of tripoli at these prospects appears to be the same as that 

mined at locality 32 (fig. 14) outside the wilderness (seep. 33). 

Several million tons of tripoli exist in developed deposits in the 

Ouachita Mountains outside the wilderness (U.S. Forest Service, unpublished data, 1971). Although of good quality, tripoli in the Caney 

Creek Wilderness has little potential because foreseeable demand 

could be supplied from the deposits elsewhere. 

TUR.QUOISE 

Turquoise, CuAle(POJiOH)8·5H20, has been mined at the McBride 

property on top of a ridge a short distance west of the southwest corner of the wilderness (locality 33, fig. 14). In March 1978, workings 
40 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK WILDERNESS 

consisted of a caved shaft on the ridge crest and an adit driven to intersect the turquoise zone about 30 ft lower. The total turquoise produced was probably not more than 600 lb. Most of the production was 

reportedly sold in southwestern states as semi-precious gem material. 

The turquoise occurs at two or three places on the McBride property 

as veins, fillings of irregular vugs, and impregnating material in 

weathered Arkansas Novaculite. The occurrences are small and the 

possibilities of finding larger or higher grade deposits in this area are 

poor. 

Turquoise veinlets in Arkansas Novaculite were found at two 

localities in the wilderness during the present study, one in Sec. 12, 

T. 4 S., R. 30 W. and the other in Sec. 30, T. 4 S., R. 28 W. (fig. 14). The 

veinlets are not more than a millimeter in maximum thickness and 

appear to be restricted to areas of limited extent. They do not contain 

commercial-grade turquoise. Turquoise may be present elsewhere in 

the wilderness, but it is not likely to be in deposits of commercial 

grade and size. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The Caney Creek Wilderness contains many small deposits of 

manganese oxides and large resources of novaculite, shale, slate, and 

tripoli. The manganese deposits are too small to be mined profitably 

at current costs. Milling problems are another factor detrimental to 

the manganese potential of the wilderness. Fine and Frommer (1956) 

subjected several ore samples from the region to a variety of mechanical concentration methods and found that in most cases the 

manganese oxides were too intimately mixed with fine-grained 

novaculite to beneficiate efficiently. However, according to the 

USBM, the manganese deposits, although not of value solely for their 

manganese content, may have potential if certain impurities (copper, 

nickel, cobalt, zinc, and silver) can be extracted as coproducts or 

byproducts. Novaculite, a source of natural whetstones, occurs widely 

in central and western Arkansas so that deposits in the wilderness 

are of little value. Shale suitable for the manufacture of brick and 

other structural clay products, of grades equal to or better than those 

in the wilderness, also are widespread in western Arkansas in areas 

nearer to markets. The slate in the wilderness is of poor quality and 

cannot compete with be~ter-quality slate outside the area. Goodquality tripoli many occur in the wilderness, but tripoli of equal or 

better quality in the Ouachita Mountains outside the wilderness is 

more than adequate for present and future demand. Two showings of 
REFERENCES CITED 41 

turquoise were found in the wilderness, but the turquoise appears to 

be of poor quality and the amounts present small. 

The Caney Creek Wilderness does not contain fossil fuels nor does it 

have a potential for geothermal energy. 

REFERENCES CITED 

Branner, G. C., and others, 1940, County mineral report 1, Polk County: Arkansas 

Geological Survey, 41 p. 

Brobst, D. A., and Ward, F. N., 1965, A turbidimetric test for barium and its geologic 

application in Arkansas: Economic Geology, v. 60, no. 5, p. 1020-1040. 

Brown, W. F., 1955, Report of reconnaissance on manganese deposits and 

developments in the Mena District, Polk County, Ark.: U.S. Bureau of Mines 

Open-File Rept., Bartlesville, Okla., 25p. 

Comstock, T. B., 1888, Report on preliminary examination of the geology of western 

central Arkansas: Arkansas Geological Survey Annual Report for 1888, v. 1, 320 p. 

DeHuff, G. L., 1965, Manganese, in Mineral facts and problems: U.S. Bureau of Mines 

Bull. 630, p. 553-572. 

Fine, M. M., and Frommer, D. W. 1956, A mineral-dressing study of manganese 

deposits of west-central Arkansas: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report of Investigation 

5262, 21p. 

Flawn, P. T., Goldstein, A., Jr., King, P. B., and Weaver, C. E., 1961, The Ouachita 

System: University of Texas Publication No. 6120, 401 p. 

Foley, L. L., 1960, Gold and silver in manganese ore, Polk County, Ark.: Economic 

Geology, v. 55, p. 1757. 

Griswold, L. S., 1892, Whetstones and the novaculites of Arkansas: Arkansas 

Geological Survey Annual Report for 1890, v. 3, 443 p. 

Haley, B. R., Glick, E. E., Bush, W. V., Clardy, B. F., Stone, C. G., Woodward, M. B., 

and Zackary, D. L., 1976, Geologic map of Arkansas: prepared cooperatively by 

Arkansas Geological Commission and U.S. Geological Survey, scale 1:500,000. 

Hass, W. H., 1951, Age of Arkansas Novaculite: American Association of Petroleum 

Geologists Bulletin, v. 35, p. 2526-2541. 

Jones, T. A., 1948, Barite deposits in the Ouachita Mountains, Montgomery, Polk, and 

Pike Counties, Arkansas: U.S. Bureau of Mines Report oflnvestigation4348, 15 p. 

Lepeltier, C., 1969, A simplified statistical treatment of geochemical data by graphieal 

representation: Economic Geology, v. 64, p. 538-550. 

Miser, H. D., 1917, Manganese deposits ofthe Caddo Gap and DeQueen quadrangles, 

Arkansas: U.S. Geological Survey Bull. 660-C, p. 59-122. 

Miser, H. D., and Honess, C. W., 1927, Age relationships of the carboniferous rocks of 

the Ouachita Mountains of Oklahoma and Arkansas: Oklahoma Geological 

Survey Bull. 44, 48 p. 

Miser, H. D., and Purdue, A. H., 1929, Geology of the DeQueen and Caddo Gap 

quadrangles, Arkansas: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 808, 195 p. 

Owen, D. D., 1860, Second report of a ·geological reconnaissance of the middle and 

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42 MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CANEY CREEK WILDERNESS 

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p. 63-74. 

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