LAND STATE BOARD MINERAL INVENTORY
Summary of Resources
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TRACT IDENTIFIER: 063-15 COUNTY: Kit Carson LOCATION: The Kit Carson County #15 State Land Tract is located in the northeast quadrant of Kit Carson County approximately 18.5 miles north-northwest of the town of Burlington. Interstate 70 and the Rock Island and Pacific Railroad lie 18.5 miles to the south of the parcel while U.S. Highway 385 lies 5.5 miles to the east. LEGAL DESCRIPTION: Location: T. 5 S., R. 45 W. Section: 36 Approximate total acreage: 160 QUADRANGLE NAME(S): Idalia SE
OVERVIEW OF GEOLOGY: Surfical deposits mapped on the Kit Carson County #15 State Land Tract include the following (Sharps, 1980): Qa - Alluvium (Holocene) This unit is comprised of silt, sand, and gravel deposits of two ages in modern day stream channels and floodplains and generally ranges from 0 to 43 feet thick. The oldest deposit is the Piney Creek Alluvium, it consists of dark-yellowish-brown or grayish-orange, clayey to fine sandy, wellstratified silt exceeding 30 feet in thickness. The younger deposit is the PostPiney Creek Alluvium; it consists of five feet of loose, stratified, yellowish-gray, sand that is underlain by sandy gravel generally free of silt and clay; grain size averages 0.25 inches and reaches a maximum of 4 inches in diameter. Clasts are composed of quartz, feldspar, granite, gneiss, pegmatite, and chert. Thickness is locally up to 200 feet in the channel of the South Platte River approximately 55 miles northwest of the countys northwest corner. Quaternary alluvium in Kit Carson County appears to be of resource quality in the South Fork of the Republican, River, the Airikaree River, and Sand Creek but is of dubious value in smaller drainages due to the low volume of clasts and high clay and silt content. The bedrock geology of the Kit Carson #15 State Land Tract consists of the following (Sharps, 1980): To Ogallala Formation (Miocene) Although the various components comprising the Ogallala Formation over Kit Carson County are constant, their mixture is variable and dependent on geography. In the countys northwestern corner the formation consists of approximately 42 per cent fine gravel and conglomerate, calcareous in part, and minor limestone, marl, and clay. Subsequently, it grades southeastward towards the east-central part of the county near Burlington to 80 per cent sand and calcareous sandstone, 13 per cent fine gravel, calcareous in part, and minor limestone and clay. As in Yuma County to the north, mortar beds characterize the unit and are comprised of grayish-orange-pink, pebbly, sand and silt firmly cemented by calcium carbonate locally or opal. Non-consolidated fine gravel composed of rounded granitic, sedimentary, and volcanic clasts is abundant and has resource value as road metal. Beds of silver-gray, biotite-rich, volcanic ash and semi-consolidated ashy sand and silt beds observed elsewhere may also be present. Thickness of the formation in Kit Carson County ranges from approximately 17 to 350 feet. OIL AND GAS RESOURCES: No oil or gas wells have been drilled on this State Land tract. One well, the J-W Operating Companys Langendoerfer #1, was drilled in the SW of Section 6, T. 6 S. R. 44 W. The well was drilled to a depth of 1,700 feet to test the Smoky Hill Member of the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation in 1981. The well was a dry hole and was plugged and abandoned.
The essential elements for oil and gas do exist in the area, but geological control is insufficient to determine a local trap. COAL RESOURCES: This tract contains no coal resources. METALLIC MINERAL RESOURCES: This tract contains no metallic mineral resources. INDUSTRIAL MINERALS AND CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS RESOURCES: Four sand and gravel pits are located within a 5.0 mile radius of the Kit Carson County #15 State Land Tract. The closest of these lies 1.0 miles to the southeast of the property (see figure): the host is the Tertiary Ogallala Formation. Identified Sand and Gravel Resources: Bedrock gravel (To) covers approximately 100 acres of tract # 63-015. Assuming a mineable thickness of 15 feet, this represents 3.6 million tons (2.4 million cubic yards) of potentially useable resource. The quality of the resource has not been determined. Alluvial gravel (Qa) covers ap...