A comprehensive geochemical and stratigraphic study of Cretaceous coal-bearing strata in Utah and western Colorado was performed to evaluate geologic trends in REE-enrichment, as well as elucidate enrichment mechanisms. Preliminary portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analyses (n = 5659) was combined with Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) analyses (n = 135) on particularly REE-enriched samples. Sampling and analyses from active and historic mines as well as nearby cores and outcrops were performed with an emphasis on sedimentary, stratigraphic, geographic, and mining context.

Last modified

• 12/19/2023

Creator

• Birgenheier, Lauren
• Fausett, Peyton
• Gall, Ryan
• Fernandez, Diego
• Giebel, Andrew
• Vanden Berg, Michael D.
• Morris, Emma
• Wilcock, Laura
• Coe, Haley
• Free, Michael

Contributors

• Hoskins, Brittney
• Ashurst-McGee, Logan
• Bailey, Nick

Subject

• economic geology
• core analysis
• critical minerals
• coal resources
• nonmetallic mineral resources
• sedimentology
• stratigraphy

Language

• English

Identifier

• https://www.doi.org/10.7278/S50d-08s4-3d7j

Keyword

• critical minerals
• Cretaceous period
• Mesaverde Group
• rare earth elements
• energy transition
• Ferron Sandstone
• Blackhawk Formation
• Uinta region
• coal

Date created

• 2022-05-23 to 2023-08-18

Location

• Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
• Uinta Basin, Utah, United States
• Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado, United States

Resource type

• Dataset

Source

• USGS Thesaurus

License

• Public Domain – This data is free of copyright restrictions (e.g. government sponsored data).