Geochemical and geostatistical evaluation, Arkansas Canyon Planning Unit, Fremont and Custer Counties, Colorado

A mineral assessment of the Arkansas Canyon Planning Unit was undertaken by Barringer Resources Inc., under the terms of contract YA-553-CTO-100 with the Bureau of Land Management, Colorado State Office. The study was based on a geochemical-geostatistical survey in which 700 stream sediment samples were collected and analyzed for 25 elements. Geochemical results were interpreted by statistical processing which included factor, discriminant, multiple regression and characteristic analysis.

The major deposit types evaluated were massive sulfide-base metal, sedimentary and magmatic uranium, thorium vein, magmatic segregation, and carbonatite related deposits. Results of the single element data and multivariate geostatistical analysis indicate that limited potential exists for base metal mineralization near the Horseshoe, El Plomo, and Green Mountain Mines. Thirty areas are considered to be anomalous with regard to one or more of the geochemical parameters evaluated during this study. The evaluation of carbonatite related mineralization was restricted due to the lack of geochemical data specific to this environment.