Results of core drilling for uranium-bearing lignites in the Bar H area, Slim Buttes, Harding County, South Dakota

Abstract

Core drilling in the Bar H area, Slim Buttes, Har ding County, South Dakota, under a contract with the B. H. Mott Drilling Co. , Huntington, West Virginia,, was resumed June 12, 1952 after a 6-month'recess during the winter and was completed July 18, 1952. The drilling was undertaken to obtain information on the distribution and extent of the uranium-bearing lignite beds along the southeast edge of the Bar H area. Eight holes totalling 885 feet were drilled and 52 feet of lignite core submitted for study and analysis. The report includes detailed lithologic descriptions of the lignite cores, Bureau of Mines coal analyses, semi-quantitative spectrographic analyses, and the results of 100 chemical analyses for uranium. The drilling showed that the thicker, more persistent lignite beds exposed in the -northern part of the Bar H area were removed by erosion prior to the deposition of the overlying. White River formation in the southeastern part of the area. The beds penetrated by drilling were not of sufficient thickness or uranium content to add to the previously known