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USFS Road 711, historically (mown as Ifammond Trail, follows the course of the Dry Fork. A <br />short mad will be constructed as part of this exploration plan to the 1.5 acre shaft pad from USFS <br />Road 711. <br />Geoloav <br />The proposed Deer Creek exploration application area lies along the soudreastem edge of the <br />Piceance Basin within the Somerset Coal Field, occurring on the Somerset U.S.G.S. 7 I/2 <br />minute quadrangle map. <br />Initial geological work in this area was done by W. T, Lee (1912) who reported his findings in <br />"Coal Fields of Grand Mesa and the West Elk Mountains, Colorado" (USGS Bulletin 510). Later <br />in 1948, Vard H. Johnson published a USGS map of the Paonia Coal Field incorporating drill <br />hole data generated through a USGS and U.S. Bureau of Mines drilling program. The following <br />year Johnson further described the geology of the Minnesota Creek area in USBM Technical <br />Paper 721. More recently, in 1989, C.R Dumnrd compiled a coal resources map of the region <br />(USGS Map C-115). In progress from the Colorado Geological Survey is report on the coal <br />resources of the Somerset Quadrangle (CGS OFR 48-x. <br />The general stratigraphy of the area consists of members of the Mesa Verde Formation of the <br />Upper Cretaceous System underlying the Wasatch Formation of Tertiary Age (see Figure 2). The <br />Barren Member of the Mesa Verde formation crops out lowest in the exploration area with the <br />overlying Ohio Creek member exposed along many of the steeper slopes. Above the Mesa Verde, <br />rocks of the Wasatch Formation are exposed. Capping most of the higher terrains are colluvial <br />deposits. The Upper and Lower Coal Members of the Mesa Verde Formation are, the major wal- <br />bearing units in the area. The A (King), B (Somerset), and C (Bear} coal beds of the Lower Coai <br />Member and the D (Oliver), E (Hawks nest), and the F-Seam coal beads of the Upper Coal <br />Member have all been Honed within the North Fork Valley. The extent of these coal beds beneath <br />the exploration area is only marginally defined. <br />The strata in the Deer Creek area dip generally at 4 degrees to the north and northeast- Steeper <br />dips are assumed to occur in the proximity of the Mt. Gunnison laccolith although the extent of <br />folding is unknown at this time. <br />Water Resources <br />The town of Paonia, situated about 11 miles west of the exploration area, averages around 15 <br />inches of precipitation annually. Given that precipitation increases as elevation increases, the <br />annual precipitation of the Dry Fork area would be expected to be somewhat higher. An <br />estimated 75% of the annual precipitation occurs during late winter and early spring, mostly as <br />snowfall. June, July, and August are often the driest months. <br />3 <br />