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<br />,. I (I' ,-' e. ') <br />'J U........ '.' <br /> <br />intrusions. The EI k Mountains are composed mostly of folded and <br />faulted sedimentary rocks, I n the western part of the region, <br />several thousand-feet-thick beds of sedimentary rocks, chiefly of <br />the Paleozoic and Mesozoic ages, rest on the Precambrian basement. <br />In the southern part of the region, the San Juan Mountains consist <br />chiefly of volcanic rocks. The basin's geology is illustrated in <br />figure 2-2. <br /> <br />Mineral Resources <br /> <br />The eastern mountains rimming the region, particularly in the <br />southeast, lie partly in the Colorado mineral belt (see figure 2-3), <br />Large amounts of precious and base metals, as well as significant <br />amounts of uranium, tungsten, manganese, molybdenum, iron, and <br />titanium, have been produced in the Gunnison River basin, <br /> <br />.' <br /> <br />Records of the Grand Junction office of the Department of Energy <br />(formerly the Energy Research and Development Administration) <br />show that as of January 1, 1977, 10 properties within the region <br />have produced 414,500 tons (376,032 metric tons) of uranium ore <br />having an average grade of 0.27 percent U308, Considered to be <br />high grade, the ore contained 2,266,400 pounds (1,028 metric tons) <br />of uranium oxide. Nearly all of the ore was processed at a <br />Gunnison, Colorado, mill which operated from February 1958 to <br />Apri I 1962 with a capacity of 200 tons (191 metric tons) of ore per <br />day. <br /> <br />Energy Resources <br /> <br />'. <br /> <br />Coal, oil, and gas are the primary fossil fuels found in the region. <br />In addition, there are a number of both thermal and hydropower <br />electric generation facilities. Although there are some geothermal <br /> <br />11 <br />