Description
This open file report for Cheyenne county includes an introduction to the geology and mineral resources of the county along with an index map of tract locations, as well as maps of industrial mineral prospects and oil and gas test wells with oil field locations. Maps of metallic mineral prospects and coal resources are not applicable in this county. 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/PDF download. OF-01-07D
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:
Cheyenne County is located in eastern-most central Colorado along the border with Kansas. This evaluation of the mineral and mineral fuel resource potential was conducted for the nearly 68,600 acres of state mineral lands within Cheyenne 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 98 individual tracts that range from approximately 320 acres to 1,500 acres.
In 1998, Cheyenne County ranked third among Colorado’s counties in annual oil production and eighth in annual natural gas production. Oil and gas was produced from 54 individual fields having a total of 311 producing wells. There are no known coal or metallic mineral resources in the county. Only two categories of industrial minerals and construction materials occur in Cheyenne County, which cover most of the county: 1) eolian sand and 2) sand and gravel. Sand and gravel is derived from the Tertiary Ogallala Formation, Quaternary alluvium, and the Quaternary Nussbaum Alluvium.