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<br />.. :., <br />""#j'JI\A <br />UU"~,-,;j <br /> <br />-. <br /> <br />floodplain deposits, to a high of .0188 grams of gold on a terrace near Radium. The gold was in <br />very fine flakes, and difficult to recover. <br /> <br />In a brief discussion in a USGS geologic map in the area (Kremmling quadrangle), a report of a <br />single fin'e (0.1 mm) gold flake was found in an old prospect in a quartz vein in Precambrian <br />rocks in the Gore Range near the SRMA. Below this prospect, minor gold placer activity was <br />reported as occurring at Canyon Creek during the mid 1960s. There is no record of mining claim <br />locations for either of these locales. This placer is of very limited extent, and appears to have <br />been worked in several different periods, each time abandoned with no notable production. <br /> <br />There are no nearby gold lode mining claims, no coarse placer gold, and no other likely sources <br />for the metal near the SRMA. Placer gold values (in $/ cubic yard) range from 0 to 23 cents per <br />yard. The most recent economic analysis on placer gold in the region states that a minimum <br />mining cost of $5.53 per yard existed in 1996 on the Colorado River near the Colorado-Utah <br />border. The gold values within the proposed SRMA clearly fall well below any reasonable <br />economic threshold, and no gold exists in an economically valuable mineral deposit within the <br />proposed SRMA boundary. <br /> <br />Uranium: Considerable uranium mining activity occurred near Kremmling in the late 1950s <br />through 1960s period. The US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) explored for uranium by <br />drilling in the Tertiary sediments east and north of Kremmling in the 1950s. Trenching and <br />exploration by private firms also occurred in the area during this period. Most of this activity <br />was centered on poorly consolidated sandstones and soil deposits that either contained carbon <br />material or had some mineral spring activity in association with it. This combination occurs in <br />the Tertiary Troublesome and Middle Park Formations in Middle Park. Only uneconomic, low <br />grade deposits were discovered. No mining on any commercial scale, or production ever <br />occurred from this area. <br /> <br />A single uranium mine opening lies within the proposed SRMA area, southeast of Kremmling on <br />private land above Gore Canyon. This opening lies in Mesozoic sedimentary rocks, and is <br />reported to contain minor veinlets of uranium minerals. No record of any production exists from <br />this prospect. <br /> <br />After the early 1980s the Federal government removed price supports and purchasing agreements <br />for uranium minerals, and the uranium mineral markets have been very depressed. Very little <br />. demand or interest has occurred in the uranium metals market in the U.S. since that date. All <br />uranium mining claims in the Kremmling and SRMA area were abandoned by 1981 (Phillips <br />Uranium), or 1986 (Sunoco Energy Co.). There has been no uranium exploration or mining <br />activity in the area over the last 15 years or more. Uranium is thought to be of no economic <br />value within the SRMA. <br /> <br />Environmental Consequences of Proposed Action: <br />Management Prescription # I (Boundary Adjustment): Modifying the boundary of the SRMA <br />would have minimal impact to salable; leasable or locatable minerals. In the proposed SRMA <br />expansion area, a changing emphasis to recreation associated with the SRMA designation, may <br />result in more emphasis being placed on recreation and less on development. <br /> <br />24 <br />