LAND STATE BOARD MINERAL INVENTORY
Summary of Resources
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TRACT IDENTIFIER: 063-120 COUNTY: Kit Carson LOCATION: The Kit Carson County #120 State Land Tract is located in the southeast quadrant of Kit Carson County approximately 14.0 miles south-southeast of the town of Burlington. Interstate 70 and the Rock Island and Pacific Railroad lie 14.0 miles to the north of the parcel while U.S. Highway 385 lies 2.0 miles to the west. LEGAL DESCRIPTION: Location: T. 11 S., R. 45 W. Section: 36 Approximate total acreage: 640 QUADRANGLE NAME(S): Rock Creek
OVERVIEW OF GEOLOGY: Surfical deposits mapped on the Kit Carson County #120 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. Qe - Eolian Deposits (Holocene and Pleistocene) This unit is comprised of yellowishbrown, silty, loose, wind-blown, sand and occurs in sheets and dunes up to 100 feet thick/high. The bedrock geology of the Kit Carson #120 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 or locally opal. Non-consolidated fine gravel composed of rounded granitic, sedimentary, and clasts volcanic 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 and gas wells have been drilled on this tract. The closest well is of a mile to the west. Union Pacific Resources drilled the Kirchoffner #2 to a depth of 5 613 feet in the
Mississippian Warsaw formation. The well was completed in the Pennsylvanian Morrow formation with an initial rate of 1,723 Mcfd. This one well field, Pennypacker, produced 186.2 MMcf of 25% methane, 50% nitrogen, 3-5% Helium and the rest carbon dioxide and 353 barrels of oil by the end of 1998. 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: No sand and gravel pits are located within a 5.0 mile radius of the Kit Carson County #120 State Land Tract. The closest one lies 10.0 miles to the north-northwest of the property (see figure); the host is the Tertiary Ogallala Formation. Identified Sand and Gravel Resources: Bedrock gravel (To) covers approximately 500 acres of tract # 63-120. Assuming a mineable thickness of 15 feet, this represents 18.2 million tons (12.1 million cubic yards) of potentially useable resource. The quality of the resource has not been determined. Alluvial gravel (Qa) covers approximately 120 acres of tract # 63-120. Assuming a mineable thickness of 15 feet, this represents 4.4 million tons (2.9 million cubic y...