Show S 0 athe THE GEOLOGY OF MARYSVALE i S FORTHE FOR THE MINING REVIEW BY MARCUS E JONES JONE A M I 1 I 1 4 if the groundwork of the marysvale Marys vale region I 1 is carboniferous quartzite over which in some localities lies an ad area of limestone of the same acre age this quartzite area so far as exposed covers an area of ten miles in length and probably three miles in width as the crow hies flies though it is much greater as we follow the slopes this area is overlaid at clea creek canyon by tertiary beds of a much later age it is obscured on the south by eruptive hows flows and is known to have more or less cretaceous beds overlying 11 it at least as far north as fremont pass which is probably at least thirty miles in an air line south of belknap which we shall take as the center oi of the region re t ion under consideration there is some reason to believe that the uplift had begun t before the cretaceous age age 11 as there are no evidences of cretaceous for mation at marysvale Marys vale and so probably there was a low range of carboniferous rocks rising t above the sea at that time and possibly eve during durin the in the tertiary age there was a very in marked uplift of this area of ancient rocks caused by the breaking out of volcanic agencies the great fault which then existed on the western side s was supplemented by another on the eastern side which is now the sevier valley and thus the rocks of the carboniferous age broke away from those forming the present mountain and sank beneath the present level of the valley the same thing had previously happened on the west so that now we have an island of carboniferous rocks standing alone with abrupt eastern and western sides when the first of these great reat slips occurred on the west there burst out a series of volcanoes along the fault the most stupendous one being mt alt belknap this volcano poured out ini immense quantities of molten rock and gradually built itself up to about feet above the sea its over overflows flowe covering the whole marys vale region to a depth of at least 2000 feet filling up the canyons then existing and overflowing the highest peaks there is is no doubt that the disturbances of this period caused many fissures in the great carboniferous island and that there were many intrusions of eruptive dykes and consequent of the older rocks but of these we know but little because of their being so deeply covered with eruptive rocks from what has been said it will be seen that there was thus formed a great contact line of the most irregular kind which follows tile the former surface of 0 f the country before it was covered with eruptive rock this produces all sorts of strikes and dips but is always bounded by eruptive rock above and ky by lime or quartzite below and so can be followed with ease it is first seen over in clear creek canyon rather low down and follows the contour of the hills but irregularly over to the copper belt mine thence down into bullion canyon near war nok s claim thence up the canyon to about a nile mile above bridal veil fall thence down on the south side of the canyon past packards mine the cascade and even the webster and the tate mines thence it swings around up the great escarpment above the deer trail everal thousand feet thence almost due west on the eastern side of cottonwood canyon to a spot about three miles above the crystal mine where it crosses the canyon and comes back east just under the crystal boarding house and goes a m arle le beyond when it follows th next canyon back up and so op cn around to the south it also covers the tip of the monte del rey key while this great eruptive mass was hot considerable considers con sidera ble mineral settled along the contact and doubtless collected in good bodies in the depressions but everywhere there is a well defined vein of quartz carrying 11 lead silver and gold with a stain of copper which varies so far as known from a few inches to six feet thick in places this contact has yielded sensational sat zat ional values but so far no mine has yet happened to strike at the bottom of any of the depressions where the great values should be found this vein has not been formed by the settling 11 of molten mineral but by the ordinary process of water action leaching out the minerals while hot from the overlying rhyolite or eruptive rock as I 1 have called it so far the crystal mine has exploited this vein much more than any other mine in the region and all its work was formerly done on this vein 4 at some later period and long after the rhyolite had cooled the volcanic agencies were again specially active and split the whole formation from top to bottom including both the stratified rock and rhyolite intruding great porphyry dikes the largest of these dykes being the one which goes through the country from tb the e crystal and even farther south through the webster and probably to the copper belt and beyond other fissures probably of the same age but going in a different direction are the wedge dalton and the ones at gold mountain some have porphyry dykes in them and others do not at a still later period the great sevier valley fault was formed by the breaking away of the carboniferous rocks at the deer trail escarpment and their falling down far below the present level of the valley at marys marysvale vale thus forming the depression in which all the towns are now located from salina to near panguitch at the same time new volcanoes burst out along 0 this new fault and overflowed the country but not to any great extent these formed the sevier canyon below marys calep vale the alum beds and the hot springs it at joseph city and monroe and are of a very recent age at least in part for the hot springs attest it the Theol canic agencies auen t cies on the he t west did not holeva howe vB stop their action because of being of 01 older der age 1 in fact they were the last to stop if they have yet ended the sulphur beds fit at cove creek just which are still forming northwest are the of n driad volcano not yet dead vent of ta a taking the marysvale Marys vale region we find that the fhe veins all cluster as a whole 0 belknap many of them radiation radi atino atin around aroi evoi f lt the spokes of a wheel the best fille fillet ra I 1 it lik e seem to swing around the peak inor morelin e like rim of a wheel such auch the e a as s the sevier A laurie laur butler beek beck I 1 andle le etc ns on gold mo and the copper belt bully boy wede ul crystal in bullion and cotton cottonwood wood canami canyons M and the deer trail monte del rey pey quick MV silver and other adjoining lains claims belong the writers opinion to an a n entirely different 1 system and belong to the 6 great area t fault that formed last if this opinion lon be correct all al the many gash veins which start of the escarpment will pinch out as you bouw west and the great t ore bodies bodie s will gc appear as you sink on the con contact act if there is ore there as seems quite probable the writer cadee can see no other explanation for the origin of the quicksilver and deer trail ore bre bodies taking r the camps in order we find gold mountain on the northeast of belknap here all the mines are fissures in rby rhyolite olite and the works lie far above the und underlying underling erlina quartzite several thousand feet probably 4 so faras the writer has examined them they are without intruded dykes with the exception of the annie laurie vein the sevier vein has the largest droppings crop pings the ores are practically the same throughout quartz gangue carrying free gold and a little silver and iron with gold in combination of the individual mines the writer does not propose to speak in this article f east and southeast of the gold mountain district and across the river in rhyolite or in some cases in basalt are a number of iron veins vein with a quartz gangue carrying lead silver and gold and occasionally copper in bullion and cottonwood canyons near their mouths great bodies of quartzite and a little lime appear these go go up both canyons to an elevation of fe feet e t above the sea and from froin six to eight miles above their mouths these have the three systems of already spoken of on the east facing facin the valley are the deer trail quicksilver and possibly the monte del rey key at an elevation of feet and about six miles above marysvale Marys vale in bullion canyon is the flat contact in of the carboniferous and rhyolite rocks at atene the on which several claims are located same point the great porphyry dyke comes coin through from the crystal and intersects the contact in the webster near by is the cas ia cade which lies just below the corita contact et and which has gash veins in linie lime and quartzite two coming down from the contact about abou miles zo to the northeast and for far up on 01 the bill the is the copper belt in lime probably on OD laeb great porphyry dyke which forms the from far ra ster in the saini canyon and not and packard fac warnock the cascade are the and mines both in the lime and quartzite alpon far UP embracing the contact as well ivell 10 the mountain to the south and an d a at t least lea D alfont feet vertically above are the wedge beuge with etc etc all in rhyolite and most of them in intruded porphyry dykes there are atlease at least two sets of dykes there which intersect each other and at the intersections have given areat values value in it gold 11 rold both free and sylvanite or A all 11 the cla claims ains in linie lime and quartzite and all the contact claims have ores of lead silver copper and a little gold arold all the rhyolite claims in the whole region have goldana gold and silver ilver only mostly gold none of them are silver claims the claims along the great areat porphyry dyke such as the webster copper belt and crystal have either lead silver or eople copper predominating in cottonwood canyon which lies just south of bullion canyon is found the crystal mine at an elevation of feet above the sea on a bench which is the exposed top of the quartzite quartette over 1000 feet of work has been done on the flat contact which has opened up the vein well the workshops work shows the contact to have all sorts of dips and strikes on the same property much work has been done on oil the great porphyry dyke which cuts through both the stratified rock and the rhyolite ihyo thy lite olite this dyke is several hundred feet wide arid is yellow and stands nearly vertical on its eastern side is a great body of which has been exploited about feet in this also carries fluor spar manganese and iron the vein varies here from twenty feet to a few inches wide the ores have been mostly silver and lead here further up the canyon are several clabus located on the contact there is plenty of timber in this region for raining rain mining inc purposes and fuel there is an abundance abunda nc e of water power marysvale Marys vale is naturally one of the prettiest and healthiest places in all utah the soil is porous and t gravelly the water very pure and the ai air r dry and bracing the climate is the nearest to that of colorado springs colorado as that of any place I 1 kno know v the scenery is exceptionally fine the valley is a great place for ranches the elevation of the town is feet above the sea |