Description
This open file report is an introduction to the geology and mineral resources of Baca County along with an index map of tract locations, as well as maps of industrial and metallic mineral prospects, oil and gas test wells and oil field locations. The main body of the report is an evaluation of each individual tract, which includes text as well as corresponding topographic and geologic maps. Digital ZIP download. OF-03-12D
Four general categories of resources are included in this inventory:
- oil and gas
- coal
- metallic minerals
- industrial minerals and construction materials
Each individual tract evaluation includes:
- A bar graph which ranks each tract’s resource potential for each of the four mineral categories. An explanation of the categories may be found at the end of this introduction
- Tract identifier number, county name, and county location map
- Tract location on a 7-1/2-minute United States Geologic Survey topographic map
- Tract location on a United States Geologic Survey surface outcrop map
- Location as to section, township, and range and approximate acreage
- Overview of tract geology
- Specific assessment of the resource potential for the four resource categories
- References used in assessing tract potential
From the Introduction:
Baca County is located in the southeastern corner of Colorado along the border with Kansas and New Mexico. This evaluation of the mineral and mineral fuel resource potential was conducted for the nearly 91,085 acres of state mineral lands within the county. It was conducted as part of its long-term evaluation of approximately 4 million acres of state lands administered by the State Land Board. For evaluation purposes, the county was divided into 148 individual tracts that range from approximately 210 to 1,120 acres in size.
Oil and gas are the most economically significant resources in Baca County, with 11 fields producing in 2002. Baca County ranked 11th in cumulative gas production and 17th in cumulative oil production at the end of 1998. There are no known coal resources in the county. The only known metallic mineral occurrences in Baca County are located in the very southwestern part of the County in the Carrizo Creek district. Copper, gold, and silver mineralization is located in the basal sandstone of the Purgatoire Formation. Potential industrial mineral resources in Baca County include sand and gravel, sandstone, basalt, limestone, and gypsum.
