Wilson Mesa Mining District, Grand County, Utah, USAi

Regional Level Types
Wilson Mesa Mining District	Mining District
Grand County	County
Utah	State
USA	Country

The Wilson Mesa district is a part of the Moab U mining area and is located about 11 mi east of Moab in Grand County. The first claims in the district were recorded in 1907 for placer gold, but only a trivial amount of gold was recovered. The district became a small U-V producer and the Valley View mine was the largest producer. Total district metal production at modern metal prices is estimated at $223,000. The U-V deposits were small underground mining operations developed by adits.
Wilson Mesa is in the Paradox Basin on the Colorado Plateau. The district is on the northwest flank of the La Sal Mountain Oligocene (about 27 Ma), calc-alkaline laccolithic complex and the rocks in the district dip to the west. All the U-V production in the district has come from tabular, sandstone-hosted U deposits in the Upper Jurassic Salt Wash Member of the Morrison Formation (UGSG Model 30c). As with many other Salt Wash-hosted districts, the thickest sandstone channels typically host the largest deposits and the orebodies are associated with gray and brown reduced zones and accumulations of carbonaceous trash. The orebodies are shallow and oxidized, and the principal ore minerals are carnotite, vanadium mica, and tyuyamunite. The production average grades are 0.29% U308 and 1.5% V2O5 (Doelling, 1969, 1974).
Wilson Mesa also encompasses a few very small placer gold (USGS Model 39a) prospects/mines on an elevated alluvial bench on the extreme west side of the district (Johnson, 1973; Lane, 1989).