i

State of Wo.shington Arthur B. Langlie, Governor

Department of Conservation and Development F.d Davis, Director

DIVISION OF MINES AND MINING Sheldon L. Glover, Supervisor

Report of Investigations No. 3

MINERAL RESOURCES OF TRE W]NATCHEE-ELLENSBURG-YAKIMA REGION

By Sheldon L. Glover

Olympia, Washington April, 1942

MINERAL RESOURCES OF 'fHE WENATCHEE-ELI..ENSBURG-YAKIMA REGION

Introduction

This information circular has been issued in response to ma..,y inquiries regarding minerals as a supplementary source of wealth in certain areas where horticulture is the dominant industry . Its purpose i s not to provide detailed information but rather to call attention to resources of present and potential value . Other reports are available to those who wj sh more complete data. Many persons living in the principal orchard section of the State are interested in some phase of the mineral industry; others may not realize how valuable that industry is. Some mention of specific minerals and the possibilities that exist in minerF.tl. development may suggest the desirability of commercial investigations leading to the further ex-ploitation of these important resources that are so necessary in the present emergency.

The Wenatchee-Ellensburg-Yakima region is considered, for the purposes of this report, to include that part of Washington which is adjacent to the eastern foot of the Co.scace Mountains from the inter-national boundary south to Oregon. The northern third of this region includes the Okanogan Valley a.nd nearby countrJ, the southern two-thirds lies mostly w£:st of the Columbia River but in part extends a consider-able distr.nce east of that river. It lies within and includes most of seven counties: Benton, Chelnn, Dougl~s, Grc.nt, Kittitas, Okanog~.n, nnd Yakima. Although much of this rogion is served by other importr.itlt towns and is many miles removed from Wenatchee, Ellensburg, or Yakima, still those are the largest business centers and mny be used to designate a more-or-l ess distinct part of the State .

As the region includes the principr.1 fruit-growing sections of Washington, it is natural that the importcnca of orchard and farm products tends to obscnre tho p:1rt plA-yed by minerals in the economic structure of the area. Nevertheless, the vtilue of the annual product-ion of minerals and aggregates is n d0cidedly large runount . In 1940, the latest year for \\'rlich stntistics are nvallable, the mineral output of the region was $9,364,938; this is aporoximately 30 per cent of the total State production, estimated, in advance of the publication of final figures, to be in the neighborhood of 31 million dollars.

Metallic Production

When the State as a whole is considered, the metallic minerals are outranked in v?.lue by the nonmetallic minerals e.nd contribute only from 10 to 25 per cent of the total production. Yet in the Wenotchee-Ellensburg-Yakima area the value of the metals greatly exceeded this proportion in recent yen.rs, owing chiefly to the output from one mine, the Holden property, of Chelnn County . In 1940 the production from this mine alone is given by the U. S. Bureau of Mines as having a value of $4,041, 264 in c0pper, gold and silver .

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Metallic Production, 1940 y

-

Mines Producing Metals , in order

County Lode Placer Value of importance -

Benton -- 4 845 Gold , silver Chelan I• 9 7 4,051,236 Copper, gold, silver Douglas -- 4 1,265 Gold, silver Grant -- 2 1,617 Gold, silver

' Kittitas 2 14 57,035 Gold, silver Okanogan I 27 20 195,239 Gold, copper, silver, Yakima ' 0 -- -- --

- ,-- -

4,307,237 - L- - •- -

-fY From U. S. Bur· . Mines Minerals Yearbook , 1940.

Possibilities of Additional Metallic Mineral Development

le ir

ad, on

Chelan, Kittitas, Okanogan, and Yakima Counties are particu-larly well situated , geologically, for the occurrence of economically valuable metallic minerals. The granitic intrusivesof the northern Cascade Mountains and the Okanogan Highlands are the source of some of the State ' s most important mineral deposits, end ore bodies of ~Y kinds occur in these grm1ites and particulo.rly in the metamorphosed sedimentary ro cks th~t overlie or are adjacent to them. Benton , Doug-lus , end Gre.nt Counties c.r e less favorably situr.. ted , but even here placer operctions rlong tha b~rs of the Columbia and Yakimn rivers bo.ve intermittently produced smc.11 runounts of gold for many years.

Some twenty different metallic elements have been reported from the m.in~s and prospects of the region. Those of known or pos-sible commercial importnnce include antimony, chromium , copper, gold , iron, leud, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, silver, tungsten, and zinc . Others, such as arsenic, cobe.lt, iridium, platinum, and titruiium, are .Im.own to occur or hn.ve been reported in probably authen-tic accounts , but their potential value is doubtful . Many of ,these occurrences are being mined or prospected ; neny others, however, lack attention, though they wurrnnt detailed investigntion , particularly at the present time when supplies of strategic and critical minerals are so greatly needed. The "wnr11 minerals thslt have definite promise of being available in cor.unerckl £:.mount include those from which the following metals are derived: antimony, chromium, copper, iron, lead, mercury, molybdenum, nickel, tungsten , end zinc.

The number of mineral occurrences and the counties 1n which they a.re found are given in the following list. This compilation is as accurate as avo.ilable informc..tion allows , though from the very nature of prospecting any such list must be incomplete . It does serve, how-ever, to indicate mineral distribution c.nd suggests the firm besis upon which are founded predictions of ~ugmonted mining ~ctivity. Information on the minercJ.s from which these mct&ls r.re produced and descriptions and locations of many properties are given in various reports of the State Divisions o~ Geology ruid Mines and Mining . (pp. 12-13)

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Metallic Mineral Occurrences

Metal BentoIJ Chel rm Dm1 •la.s Gr$1n t (a) (b) (a) (b) (a) (b) (a, ( b)

Antimony - - - 2 - - - -1 I h Arsenic - - ~ 1 - ' - - -Chromium -': .;. [', 1 ' -- - - - -Cobalt I 1 - - - - - - - I Copper - - 3 6 - - - :; -Gold (lode) - - 30 20 - - - -Gold (plt:?.cer) 6 l 11 10 2 2 1 2 Ir.idium (placer) - - - - - - - -Iron 1•· - , - - 3 - - - -Load ' - - l 1 - - I - -Manganese - - - 2 - - - -M0rcury ! - 3 - -' - - - ' - ' Molybdenum - - 1 2 - - - -Nickel - - - 8 - - - - l Platinum (placer) - 1 - I - - I - - -Silver - - 2 12 - - - -Titanium - - - - - - - , -Tungsten - - , ·• - 1 - - - · -Zinc . - - - - -- - -

Total 6 1 49 74 2 2 l 2 .

Kittitas Ola, noui:m (a) (b) (a) ( b)

- 2 6 3 - - - 4 2 12 - 10 - l - -3 18 15 44

18 19 54 ill 27 16 29 9 - - - 1 - 5 2 2 - ' 5 10 - - 1 2 - 4 - 1 - 1 2 22 - 6 - 4 - - - 2 l 3 35 119 - ,_ - 1 - ,_ 1 4 - l - 6

51 91 150 355

.

Ynl i ma (a

----1 2 4 --

I - I - I ------l -

8

(

1

b)

1 2

1 3

2 1

0 2

gj Producing mines, end properties with a record of production . El Developed properties, prospects , .'.'!.Ild reported nlinoral occur-

rences t~t appear to bo authentic and too~ me.y .mve com-mercinl possibilities. No production recorded .

Nonmetallic Production

Mineral resources are commonly thought of in terms of metcls such as gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc . The nonmetellic mineruls t however , are equally important in industry, end in Washington they com-prise in vcrious years from 75 to 90 per cent of the total mineral out-put of the State . This proportion does not hold for the Wenatchee-Ellensburg-Yakimu region, where importuit metal-mining districts are located, yet nonmetcllic production here is conpistently large, and in 1940 was more than 5 million dollars .

The most important resource , with a value of approxim.ntely 2! million dollars , was prosaic sand end gravel , produced in unusually lar ge quantities because of its use in the concrete aggr egate at Gro.nd Coulee dam. Coal from the Roslyn field , Kittitns County, was valued at more than 2 million dollars ; and crushed rock, natural gns, epsomite, diotomite , clay, clay products, molding send, marl, ond minor miscel-le.neous pr oducts made up the balance . The producti on of sand , gravel , and crushed rock va.ries from year to year with ch:,,nges in road work mid general construction but is always Elll import ant runount . Other resources fluctuate in value of output ns market conditions chel.nge ,

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Value of Nonmetallic Production, 1940 a/

Product .. Benton Chelan Douglas Grant Kittite8 Okanogan Yakima Undi8tributed Total -

Sand, Gravel $ 4,158 $13,539 $6,147 $ 722 • 21 ,900 $7 ,535 $47,612 $2,495,549 , $2,'97, }6~ - . ·- - . ' . 2t

I -. - . - - - .

' ~-- . .. •' • --~. I

Coal L ' ' - 2,198,878 2, 198,87€ ' :~ -- -- -- ' ,. '' ' . ··,1 b,

,_ - .

10,633 - 6,103 Basalt 15,100 -- 5,900 -- 90 ,883 128,615 . -· _.; ·-···· . - .

' ., _, . ..

Neturel Gas 30,370 . -- -- -- -- -- 30. 37c ' ' -· - - - - j ~- •• . ·- - - ··--

Epsomite - -- ~~ •r·.- , .. (o) ,,-• -

... - --- I ' -- -.;.~- .. -· " ' ) :. - I

- - -'' r 32,64~ Di etomite -- -- -- 7, 137 25,510 -- I -- __ .. .

"'

Clay 8,268 j ; ~ - a,26E -- -- -- -- -- ~-- ., '. I

-- ~ _ __ l. - . . - - - -- - -. . ~-- -,-,.., ,. (c) --- ·-

. ~ --- •,• !Molding sanci i-- I I -- I ·-- -- -- ~~ -

. - - .t:. --· ... ... ... -- . . '

Me rl -- - (o)

. -- ' -- -- -- --- ~ ' ' ' . -- ......... ....

(c) Mi acelleneous -- 10,757 -- -- - '; -- -- 51,000 !!J

61, 75·

TOT.AL i49 ,628 113 ,5391" )35,805 ~13,759 ~2.246,288 )7,535,. $138,495 $2 ,552,652 S5 ,057,70J

~ From statistics of the U. s. Bureau of Mines , in cooperation with the State Division of Geolo~. Y. From statistics of the Dept . of Labor end Industries, Se.fety Division ~ Included in "Undistributed Miscellaneous" in order to conceal individual operations. ~ Mostly from Okeno~en County. ~ Includes e conservative estimete of the production of oertein meteriels.

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may increase or decr ease because of variat ions in availability and utilization, and commonly a.re dependent on the business strength and progressiveness of the operators .

Possibilities in Nonmet~llic Mineral Development

In general , the market for nonmetallic minerals is highly com-petitive and so differs mnrkedly from th::.t for met allic minerr..ls. The metals have 3.ll open market, prices are reasonably fixed , and profits may be estimuted from mining and milling costs and volume of output . Most nonmetals, on the other hr..nd, must be marketed in co~petition with other minerals of established producers, or new uses must be de-veloped and prospective buyers convinced th:.:t the product is desir-cble . Commonly, much research precedes marketing, o.nd expensive pro-cessing nnd treatment may be necessory before the product is salable This cr.lls for initiative ana inw.gination, but profitable businesses muy be built on resources toot are seldom given consideration.

Some minerals and aggregates toot have been profitably mined in this region or elsewhere ~re mentioned here in order to call_ atten-tion to future possibilities as bused on pest performance . Other m.cter-ials , such as sand, gravel, l..Ild crushed rock , consistently ~dd to the tota.l minoral output of the Stcte but need no more tbnn passing mention, as their occurrence and value are well known. For information on these last as well ns for more complete accounts of the occurrence of other rn.o.terials, reference rn.o.y be rn.o.de to detailed publications listed at the end of this report.

Clay

High-grcde refractory clay-shcles have been mined for 111£1IlY ye~rs in Douglcs County, just across the Columbia River from Wenatcheo. These clays are shipped to Renton where they ~re used in various mix-tures for the Ill.'J.Ilufac~ure of fire brick and heat-resisting specialties. Similar clays tl.l'e known to occur in Squillclruck Canyon , south of Wen-atchee, nnd me.y be expected elsewhere in the sediments of the Swauk foI'Dll.ltion of the Wenatchee vicinity. Other light-firing refractory clays have formed from the alteration of rhyolite and other igneous rocks; future prospecting may show some of these to h.1.ve cerc.mic value. In general, it is only tho clays of exceptionl.l qun.lity end which rn.o.y be cheaply mined that repay shipment to distant manufacturing centers; but it is reasonably certain tb:t such deposits exist in eddition to those now known.

Clays suitable for ordinary red- fired ware, such as conunon brick ruid tile, occur abundantly and h'lve been used for years in local yards. At the present time brick plants operate at Oroville, Wenatchee, and Granger , and in former years plu.nts were in opero.tion nt Chelan , Ellensburg , and other towns of the region .

Some of' the better high-nlumina cl~ys would doubtless prove available for the me.nufacture of aluminum in the newly devised process now under consideration . However, these cleys occur mostly as beds in the folded Swuuk formation, and , though susceptible to cheap mining at their outcrop, would eventU£.lly require more expensive underground mining; this would probably place them in en unfavorable position to

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compete economically with other State deposits .

Bentonite is rui unusu.cl clay composed principally of the mineral montmorillonite . It is mostly used in an unfired condition, hence differs m.r.rkedly in this respect from the more common ceramic clays . An extensive deposit of l ~rge tonnage occurs near the Tieton reservoir in Yakimn County . Some pnrts of the deposit are of particu-larly high quality; others would require beneficiation . The occur-rence is a. promising source of ooterio.l for "drilling mud , 11 filters , and various specielty uses .

Coal

One of the most importc.nt co~l fields of the State is in the Cle Elum-Roslyn area of Kittitas County. The production there was 771 , 536 tons in 1940 :tnd is commonly more than a million tons . Coal also occurs in Kittit~s County outside this area of greatest develop-ment , and in Ynkima and Chelc.n counties , but is not worked commercially because of such fnctors as inadequate prospecting, low quality, thin-ness of beds , or difficult nccessibility . As market o.nd trc.nsportation conditions improve it is certain that prospocting will indicate other properties and probably even other coal fields to be economically valuable.

As an example of the possibilities of other arecs, coal is present rather commonly in the Swa.uk formation. Most of the known occurrences are too sma.11 or of too low grade to be commercial . How-ever, coal of good quality c.nd in appa.rently wor kable thiclmess was encountered in drilling & test well for oil near Wenntchee , so it is reasonable to expect similar muterial will be found where mining would be fe~sible . Another field that br.s promise is noe.r the summit of the Cascades to the west of YakimD. . Coal of an.thrccite rank occurs here in minablc beds ruid has b~en pro.spectcd ll.Ild developed to some extent . Fin~ncing , mining problems , and trn.nsportution difficulties nppear to have been the principc.l deterrents to production in this area .

Dia.tomite

Dia.toms are nicroscopic plsnt forms, living in fresh e.nd salt wc.ter , that sucrote a tost, or shell , of hydrous siJ.icc. . They may grow in such abundance that the tests accumulate in deposits many feet thick as tho diatoms die, although 40 or 50 million individuals ere required to pr oduce a cubic inch in such deposits . The accumu-lated material is called diatomite, or diatomD.ceous earth, and is a. porous, light- weight , powdery substance that , when pure, is nearly white in color and resembles cha.lk .

Dio.tomite ms many varied uses . Most of these are due to its peculi&r physiccl propertiesj othors ere due to its high content of silica the.tis easily soluble in alkalies end rel~tively insoluble in most acids or in neutral solutions. The dead-air spaces provided by the hollow cells of the di&toms ~kc the dio.tomite an excellent thermoinsulntion material for industrial nnd architecturcl use . It is particularly v&l~ble , nlso, as a filtering medium o.nd ass.nab-sorbent , filler, and mild o.brc.sive. Other uses lll.ElY be expected ns

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industry becomes awaxe of its adapt a tions.

Dit..tmni te in lnrge ruid unusually pure beds occurs in many parts of the State, particula rly in (1) Grant County, 10 miles or so south of Quincy, (2) in Kittitas County, between Ellensburg and Ya kimn, and (3) in Ad.oms County , in the Bc.tton vicinity. Grant and Kittitas County deposits have been mined for many years, &nd a small but r a ther st~dy proQuction of di~tomite h:ls been made by various compcnies . Some di~tomite is mined and shipped without treatment; the principal pro-duction nt the present time, mwever, is by compD.llies at Quincy , Kit-titas, and Yakima, which dry and pulverize the raw material, air clussify the powder , o.nd ship the sized product •

Dintomite occurs at many places in the United States but sel dom in the purity that cl:nra cterizes the Eastern Washington beds • This very purity is partly a detriment, for tho W~shington materie..1 l a cks the indurntion ( in pHrt due to impurities) th:i.t permits certain California diatomite to be sawed into blocks which have o moderate compressive strength. The addition of bonding materials to diatomite he.s so f ~r not proved f easible , but rese~rch llUlY yet develop ~ method of forming blocks from the ~eshington variety ~~thout decreasing too greatly its desirnble pl'zy'sical properties. For ull uses requiring powdered diatomite the Washington material appears to be equal or superior to that of other States. This should assure it the local market without competition, and give it a favorable position against other sources with out-of-State users.

Dolomite

Dolomite resembles limestone but is a double c~rboncte of magnesium and culcium and so has certain uses to which limestone ( c.:..lcium carbonate) is not o.dn.pted . It occurs in extensi vc beds of large tonnnge in the Riverside a roo of Okanogan County, end is avcil-able for ::..ny market demund that may urise . One qucrry is now in opera-tion, the stone being shipped for use in pcper mills . One of the newly developed processes for the extraction of metallic mognesium utilizes dolomite, end the availability of o.11 other needed raw mater-i als and abundant electric power makes this minerc:.l a resource of potential importance to this r egion .

Epsomite

Two lakes in the vicinity of Oroville, in northern Ok~.nogan County, contain magnesium sulphate as brine and as the crystalline salt, epsomite . This material was refined and sold during the last war, and a few years ago production was resumed from one of the lakes (Poison Lake). The solution is pumped into a tank truck, hauled to Tonasket, and there refined by o ccmpa.xatively simple proc~ss to pharmaceuticol-stll.ndard epsom salts . About 7 tons per day is produced and sold in eastern markets .

Graphite

Various industries use gr~phite in considerable amount, but under normal conditions the market is chiefly suppli ed by the Drtificia.1

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product and by importations from foreign sources . Natural gr aphite occurs in mn.ny parts of the United States l..Ild can be produced extens-ively if the m&rket warrants; it is reasonable to expect a marked ex-pruision in domestic pxoduction under the present unusual conditions of demand .:uid ocean transportation .

Graphite occurs in various locr.li ties in W"'shington, includ-ing Chekn , Kittitc..s, Okruiogun, and Yllkima. counties, but with few exceptions it is the amorphous variety, for which there is little demand. However, ,..n occurrence of high- qunlity crystalline (fluke) graphite east of Omo.k bas been extensively prospected during the l ast few yc&rs , and a mill for the concentration of the mineral h!ls been constructed at Omak . The local material should find ready ac-ceptance by Northwest users, and if a wiiform grade of superior qu~lity can be maint&i ned , it should be acceptable to the eastern market despite peculiax prejudices that affect the graphite industry .

Limestone

Limestone is burned for lime .'.l.Ild is used as mined, or nfter grinding and sizing , in many industrial processes. It is essential in the mruiufacture of portb.nd cement, p,tpe-r, sugc.x, and in m~my metallurgical and chemicul processes . A steady, continuing demand for limestone exists, o.nd fnvorably situated deposits of proper qual-ity ere mined on n l erge scale at many places in Washington .

One of the largest limestone areas of the State is near Riverside, Okanogan County. Other deposits, smaller but of good quality, occur at several places farther south, as near Pateros, on the shores of Lake Chelnn, near Orondo , ne~r Entiat , and in the mountQins to the west of this general area. A qU£rry is in opera-tion on one of these deposits , and a smz.11 runount of work has been done on others . In general, however, they a re undeveloped though entirely avail~ble for any locnl demend .

Marl

A de_posit of nearll' whito marl , c. powdery form of calcium carbonate, occurs in Wagon Road Coulee , ne.'.!T Riverside, Okanogan County, nnd has been mined in a SmDll WtlY for several years . This material could be produced on 11 much larger scale and, efter treat-ment , might be sui tn ble for purposes not now considered. Other de-posits of the more ordinary gray or buff-colored marl ere kno~~ in the extensive limestone ~rcu of that sc..me vicinity nnd nre quite suituble for use as soil " conditioners" and in certnin industrial processes.

Natural Gas

Ne.turnl ga.s wos struck in 1913 in a well drilled for water in Benton County . Other wells were drilled lc.ter, ond in 1929 the Rattlesnake Hills gas field was put into conunercicl production , sup-plying seven towns in the Yakima Valley. Production was continuous for 12 yeQrs and reached its po~k in 1935; thereafter it declined

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rapidly illltil the field was pro.ctically aoondoned in 1941. During this octive period , nearly li billion cubic feet of gas , valued at $875 ,000 WQS sold . This field muy ~gain be in production at some future time, but meanwhile continued exploration- drilling in thnt general vicinity and in the folded Sw&ulc (Eocene) formution necr Wenatchee hns produced sufficient gas showings to indiccto that other commerciru. supplies nw.y be expected .

Pumicite

Pumicite , or volcanic ash, is a fine-grained sand or dust composed of fragmented volcanic glass that origi11ates as ejecta from volcanic eruptions . The individual particles ere always small and are commonly microscopic in size , but they have accumulated in suf-ficient qunnti ty in many places in the State to form rather pure beds muny feet in thiclmess . These deposits are buff or light gray in color and muy be unconsolidated and powdery, or so compacted as to resemble a soft fine sruidstone .

When pumicite is free from impurities , such us ha.rd quartz grains , it is used as an abrasive in certain cutting scouring , clenn-ing, and polishing compounds. It is tho active scouring agent in Old Dutch Cleanser Lnd in mechanics • hand soaps . To prepare pumicite for such use is generally very simple ; the raw material may or may not require pulverizing but it usually is screened or air- separated into uniformly sized particles . Very fine grained pumicite may be used in concrete aggregates to replace up to 50 per cent of portland cement without loss of strength in the finished concrete . Other uses , such as in special plasters, take some of th~ material, and experimentution will doubtless develop a greater field of usefulness.

Most of the Washington occurrences are in Benton, Grruit, Walla Walla , D.n.d Yakilrill. Counties, though large deposits are known in other counties . A quarry was former ly operated on a deposit near Sunnyside , and efforts wer e made a few years ago , ~~th considerable success, to mllrket pumicite from near Wallulc . Probably a market could be developed in the Pacific Northwest , if one does not already exist , for a dependably uniform product , end it is also possible th.~t grades may be available here that would ellow the producer to enter the rapidly increasing e~stern ma.rket .

Sund and Gravel

Sand and gravel for general construction needs a re av&ilable in many places and are produced in import.::nt mnounts in most of the counties of the region . These materfnls are too well known to require particular mention bore. Certain varieties of s&11ds, however, warrant special consideration:

A good gr a.de of molding send (for foundry use) bas been mined for lllQilY yea.rs from a deposit at Ellensburg . This bed is necrly ex-hausted , but the formn.tion in which it occurs is widespread and doubt-less contains other suitnble beds.

Soft S:l!ldstones of relatively high silica content occur in

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the Swauk formation and are being mined for speciul uses at one place necr Wenctchee. This rock may be readily disintegrated and trected to remove impurities ; the result~t silic~ sand would be available for v~rious industricl upplic6tions not now considered and might be suitLble for the llk"ln.ufacture of some kinds of gl~sswa.re .

A large deposit of unconsolidated silic~ occurs near Corfu, in Grant County . mined end is adjacent to a railroad. With find industrial application.

Silica ( Quartz)

sand, relatively high in It could be very easily

some treatment it should

Massive quartz makes up large veins and pegmatitic segrega-tions in various places e.nd is avnilable for industri~ uses . In. Chelan County, rui exposure of very pure quartz near Merritt and othor lerge bodios on BurchMount~in nre being considered for the manufac-ture of ferrosilicon . Near ~cnctchee , .. n extensive dike- like mass that is predominantly. silicc lts been mined for smelter use from a quarry in Squillchuck CD.D.yon . A very high silica content c.nd an un-usually low content of impurities, pD.rti cularly ph:>sphorous, are essenticl for the newer metallurgical r equirements, and ~nse of a ccess and mining ure determining factors in choosing between in-dividual occurrences .

Sodium Compounds

Sodium sulph'.:.te occurs as brine and as the cryst:1lline minert.l miro.bilite in several Okonognn County lc.kes in the southwest part of the Colville Indian Roservation, ~bout 60 miles northenst of Wenutche~. Another deposit of sodium sulphate snd one of sodium csrbon~te are near Warden in Grant County, some 60 miles east of Ellensburg, l'.nd another deposit of the CE.rbonc.te is ne(,r Wilson Creek, about the sc.me distance east of Wenatchee. A refining plant, located at Mouse, is expected to bring the Okc..nogun County occurrences into production, although previous efforts to produce s~lts from the various Washington deposits b.:.ve not been too successful. There is no apparent reason wb;v sucn difficulties as there a.re in mining, treat-ment , end mo.rket:Lng cannot be overcome, me.king these sodium compounds nvnilnble for the use of lllCJlufucturers of po.per, glass, nnd various chemicals •

Stone

Basalt is abund~t, pnrticulurly in the southern part of the region, and is quarried in mc.ny places for road met~l . The aggregate runount produced annu~lly is lcrge ~nd makes an import.:-.nt oddition to the value of the mineral output . Other rock types are common and some could be used for dimension stone for ~rchitecturD.1 use. This applies especially to the grunites of the northern port of the arer , but the same dem.:lnd for such materiul at the pres~nt time is reletively small.

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Other Nonmetnllic Mat eric.ls

A number of other nonmetallic minersls or nggrego.tes occur or ha.ve been reported in the region . Some of these have o. doubtful value ; others nw.y wv..rrc..nt prospecting or developJnent , particul~rly as industrial conditions ch'.:.nge or improve. Those that deserve par-ticular considerution include the following :

1. Asbestos . - - Chrysotile or II serpentine csbestos" , the principal asbestos of commerce, is not known to occur, though it hs.s been reported in the Wenatchee district, ruid geologic con-ditions in that and cert£iin other ar eas £ire favornble for its occurrence . Another form of ~sbestos , however , is known to be present ~..nd is doubtless the one r eferred to in severcl old rE:ports . This form is genertlly spoken of as "araphi bole 1..1sbestos11 und may include the fibrous variety of the minerl'ls tremoli te, a.ctinoli te , :.md e..nthophylli te . The fibers m&y be white v.nd very long, but they lack the flexibility of serpontine asbestos , hence are not usable for spinning and for the m.~nufccture of many high- gr~de pxoducts. Amphi bole asbestos is usable , hov;ever, in speciel cements and for sterun- pipe covering, nnd some varieties a.re especially vuluuble, p~rticularly nt the present time , for ~cid filter s . Thnt it is becoming increasingly in demo.nd is indic,ted by numerous inquiries from eastern mnnuf~cturers us to Wcshington sources of supply.

Occurrences hnve been ~eported on Williams, Goose, and Icicle Creeks , Chelt.n County, ruid near Alta Lake , Okanog"1! County. More recent reports nre of nn occurrence 14 miles south of Le~venworth ~.nd another on BurchMountcin , just north of Wenatchee . An apparently large deposit of short-fiber anthoph;yllite bls been pros-pected in the canyon of Swo.knne Creek, near Wenatchee , and a short-fiber !UTlphibole asbestos w~s formerly mined from the Altn Lske deposit (necr Pateros) . This lest wus ship-ped to Wenatchee , !;.lld used with di~tomite in the manufac-ture of fire- proof F.nd cold-vm.tor pll.ints .

2 . Feldspar. -- Occurrences between Chelan and Wenatchee muy have future value if the minerr..l can be mined economically.

J . Fuller ' s Enrth. -- Some clays of the Yakimu region, particularly those associ.:ted with dio.tomite , huve been re-ported to hRve the desir~ble properties of fuller ' s e~rth.

4, Grinding Pebbles. -- Rounded, wnterworn qurrtzito pebbles and cobbles occur ~bundcntly in the gener£1.l vicinity of Yakima and w~ght be marketed for use in pebble mills . There is a growing demr:nd for suitable pebbles, ~nd the gathering of these may develop into c profitable pnrt- time employment for residents of this nrec .

5. Mica. -- Merchtinteble muscovite mica is reported from two places in Ch.:ilcn County. It is doubtful if a. gra.de occurs which could be profitably mined, but the value of this mineral,

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purticul~rly !lt the present time, wnrrc.nts the investig!ition of any possible source . Biotite micu (dark colored) h!ls little value at !lllY time, but an occurrence of schist in which biotite forms nn unusuo.lly large proportion of the rock is known uer.r Luavenworth c.nd could be used as a source of flake mica for certain purposes .

6 . Talc end Soapstone . -- A low-grci.do soapstone occurs in Oknnogan County ne~.r Omnk, e.nd a better gr~de is known in smo.11 c.mount in Chelo.n County nenr Wenatchee Lake ; other occurrences are reported from ne~r the White River (northwest of Wenatchee Lake), from near Blewett, and from the Casbnere vicinity. This general region is favorable, geologically, for the occurrence of tal c o.nd socpstone, and careful prospecting might disclose economicclly valuable deposits comparable to those thst ~re being worked successfully in Skagit County .

Sele~ted References

The following reports, selected as containing detailed er additional information on the Wenatchee-Ellensburg-Yakima region, may be secured for the price indicated from the Department of Conservation and Development, Olympi&, Washington. Those marked with an ~sterisk (*) are no longer available for distribution but may be consulted in the larger libraries .

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No. 2.

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5.

6.

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State Division of Geology

Annual Reports

1901 . Volume 1, Part 2. The metalliferous resources of Washington, except iron, by Henry Lruides, W. S. Thyng , Milnor Roberts. 1902.

1901. Volume I, Part 4 . The iron ores of Washington, by Solon Shedd. 1902.

Bulletins

The road me.tericls of Washington, by Henry Landes . 1911. 50¢ Cement materials £J..Dd industry in Washington, by Solon Shedd. 1913 . 75¢ (De3cribes limestone deposits . ) Geology and ore deposits of the Myers Creek end Oroville-Nj_ghthawk districts, by Joseph B. Umpleby. 1911. 50¢ Geology and ore deposits of the Blewett mining district , by Chl:i,.rles E. Weo.ver . 19ll. 50¢ · The coal fields of Kittitcs County, by E. J . Saunders . 1914 . 50¢ The mineral resources of Washington, with stntistics for 1912, by Henry Len.des. 1914. The coal fields of southeestern W~shington, by Harold E. Culver. 1919. 75¢ (Includes information on the anthracite

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22 .

23.

24.

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coal of western Yakima County.) The mineral resources of Washington , with statistics for 1919, by Ernest N. Patty end Sheldon L. Glover. 1921. 50¢ The road building sands and gravel of Washington , by Morris M. Leighton . 1919. 50¢ The metal mines of Washington, by Ernest N. Patty . 1921. $1.00 Clays and shales of ~ashington , by Sheldon L. Glover. 1941. $1 .00 Iron ores, fuels, c.nd fluxes of Wnshington, by Bolon Shedd, Olaf P. Jenkins , and Herschel H. Cooper . 1922 • The mineral r esources of Washington , with statistics for 1922, by Solon Shedd . 1924. Geology of ~ashington , by Harold E. Culver.

Part 1. General features of Washington geology (with preliminary geologic map in colors . ) 1936. $1.00.

33 . Nonm.etalli c minerc.J. resources of Washington, with statistics for 1933, by Sheldon L. Glover. 1936. 75¢

35. Bibliograpl::zy- ruid index of geology and miner~l resources of Washington, by W. A. G. Bennett . 1939 . 75¢ Tungsten occurrences of Washington. (In preparation) Chromite occurrences of Washington. (In preparation)

Reports of Investigations

*l. Abstract of the report by polon Shedd on the geology ~nd resources of the Pasco-Prosser que.drc.ngles, by Harold E. Culver. 1926.

4. Preliminary report on petroleum and naturcl gas in Wash-ington , by Sheldon L. Glover. 1936. 25¢

Sta.te Di V'ision of Mines D..nd Mining

An outline of mining laws of the StQte of Washington, by M. H. Van Nuys . 1940. Free.

Preliminary report on str~tegic metals in Washington , by T. B. Hill a.nd J. W. Melrose . 1940. Free .

Washington iron ores , a summary report , by Sheldon L . Glover, 1942 . Free .

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