The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-07-06
GEOLOGY Of SOUTH
FORK COTTONWOOD
Former Tintic Miner Tells Why
the Section Holds Great
Promise.

Ono OF the most attractive sections OF
Utah now receiving attention In A min
Ing way is the South Fork OF the Big
Cottonwood canyon OF the Wasatch
range Of mountains, east of Salt Lake
City. H. Barney, for many years an
operator OF the Tintic and other Utah
camps, is now giving his time and at
ten1ion to this Big Cottonwood section.
and he has prepared n geological dcscrip-
ton Of tho camp which win be interesting
reading. This statement follows:
Beginning at the mouth OF South Fork
and going almost due south up the can
yoh. will see To the cast an abrupt
ridge caused by an, upheavaI benching
and exposed and standing like huge
marble stairs, In this terrific upheaval
II Is very apparent that resistance TO the
normal fault extends the entire length
OF South Fork and through the ridge and
down Superior gulch into Little Cotton
wood canyon, This uplift exposes to
view the edges OF a series OF sedimentary
or stratided rocks which are slightly
anttclined, the axis OF which is the east
head OF South Fork and Little Cotton
wood canyon, the trend being north and
south and pitching about 30 degrees to
the east.
Series of Rocks.
These rocks consist at the base of ex-
posure OF quartzlte for about 800 feet
then comes about 100 feet OF basaltIc
rock, on top Of which is twenty-five feet
nifty feet of shornblcnde schists and 600
feet OF lime rock, II Is In the above
described rocks that II is said the Colum-
bus Consolidated ore bodies are found;
also the Columbus Extension. The ores
of those properties arc said 10 form In
the quartzte with the trap rock In the
hanging wall The old Flagstaff and
Kennabeck ores arc also found In the
upper lines of these series. The ores Of
the Cardiff are found in the lower quartz
te west of the dolerlte. This ore Is
found In fault fssure caused by the
branching up movement. The ore from
all appearances has been dragged into
the assure at the time the laulting ac-
crucd. showing concusively that there
must have been a strong bedded deposit
broken nj the time of faultiDg.
Al the Cardiff the company has fol
lowed by tunnel the strike OF the main
fault line 400 feet. where It shows plain
ly that the edges Of the lower quartz
ties have been brought up i'm contact
with the edges Of the upper lines which
The west The writer has no doubt that
I'm the sedimentary rocks and near the
trap dixie that large bedded deposits OF
orc will be found.
Key to Drain Tunnel
Throughout the above series there are
which are usually very productive, es
pecially where they intersect the trap
dixie. Take, for instance, the old To-
ledo cross assure, which produced up
wards of a million dollars in the early
days OF Alta, the workings of which are
in and near the trap dixie. The above
series OF rock are easily traced from the
Columbus Consolidated in Alta through
the Columbus Extension, ReXall, Car
diff. Kennabeck. Tar Baby. East Car
Donate and the Bramberg brothers Con-
tention group OF claims. This group of
claims holds the key to a drain tunnel
site along the strike of this great and
long neglected mineral zone.
The general conditions at the Tar Baby
arc ideal for large ore bodies. having a
iifty-foot porphyry dixie cutting the
stratIhed rock at right angles and visible
for 2o00 feet. The writer understands
that IL is on this dixie that the Tar Baby
company intends running It's tunnel. II
so, there is not much doubt that the
days OF the old Toledo, Flagstaff and
Kennabecls will be repeated 10 the west
of this great fault
Erosion has played very active part.
Great blocks Of the upper lines have
been carried away, leaving bare the an
derlying quartzites, and this is found To
be so at the old Park City group, and
just north at the Brambcrg brothers
property the lines have been spared.
and again just north there Is slight
lateral fault, which fault, assisted by
erosons, are responsible for the exposure
of the Old Carbonate ore body, from
which so much ore shipped in the
early days OF the Cottonwoods. The Car
Donate ore bodies are bedded deposits in
the lime near the QuartZite lime contact,