Results of USGS oil-shale core drilling in the eastern Uinta Basin; Red Wash-1 drill hole

Abstract

Two oil-shale core holes were drilled in the eastern Uinta Basin, Utah by the US Geological Survey during the fall and winter of 1981-1982. These holes were drilled for the purpose of oil-shale resource evaluation in the presumed depositional center of the rich oil-shale sequence in the basin. The drilling operations were contracted by the US Geological Survey to Connors Drilling, Inc. of Lakewood, Colorado, and the field descriptions of the cuttings and core were done by Ameraldo Resources, Inc. of Denver, Colorado, with revisions by the US Geological Survey. Geophysical logging was done by BPB, Inc. of Grand Junction, Colorado, and the Fischer assay analysis of the core was performed by Dickinson Laboratories, Inc. of El Paso, Texas. The water quality data were made available by Walt Holmes and Mike Enright of the US Geological Survey in Salt Lake City, Utah. Future work with the core material from the Red Wash-1 (RW-1) drill hole includes analysis of a composite standard sample of oil shale from the Mahogany oil-shale zone (which, in this hole, includes material from 2600.0 feet deep to 2733.0 feet deep) for major, minor, and trace elements by the US Geological Survey. The core material is storedmore » at the US Geological Survey core storage facility in Arvada, Colorado. 3 figures, 1 table.« less