Maps showing mines, quarries, and prospects, with analyses of samples, Gee Creek Wilderness, Polk and Monroe counties, Tennessee

This report is part of a series that assesses the mineral potential of the Gee Creek Wilderness (fig. 1). Other reports in the series describe the geology (Epstein, 1983a), geochemistry (Epstein, 1983b), and a summary interpretive report (Epstein, Gazdik, and Behum, 1983). 

During the recent U.S. Bureau of Mines field investigation, 21 samples were collected (fig. 2) and were submitted to the Bureau's Reno Metallurgy Research Center, Reno, Nev., for analysis. All samples were tested for 40 elements by semiquantitative spectrographic analyses. Additional testing by atomic absorption, neutron activation, and wet chemical techniques was performed for selected elements on some samples. Two shale samples were submitted to the Bureau of Mines, Tuscaloosa Metallurgy Research Center, Tuscaloosa, Ala., for the evaluation of ceramic properties.