3.3.1.8 Abandoned and Active Mines

Creek, Kindt Basin, and Little Snake River) (BLM 2008a). Approximately 27 million tons of federal coal have been recovered using strip mining and another 16 million tons have been extracted using underground mining methods in the Project vicinity (BLM 2008a).

Uranium

Wyoming is estimated to contain approximately one third of the total uranium reserves in the U.S. (Webster and McNamee 2019). Sedimentary uranium deposits have been discovered in most of the major basins in the vicinity of the Project, including the Shirley Basin to the east and the Great Divide Basin to the west. Commercial development of sedimentary uranium and magnetite deposits in the area has occurred over the last 50 years (Webster and McNamee 2019).

Geothermal

According to the WSGS (2022b), tourism is the primary use of geothermal energy in Wyoming. Geothermal features draw hundreds of thousands of tourists to Wyoming each year, allowing them to enjoy thermal springs in the state, primarily in Yellowstone National Park and Hot Springs State Park in Thermopolis. Direct use of geothermal energy is also harnessed as a means to heat buildings, water, and roadways in some areas of the state.

Although there is currently limited potential for economic geothermal resource development in Wyoming, there are adequate resources for small scale energy production and geothermal heat pump implementation. As new technologies emerge and geothermal resources are discovered, the viability of geothermal energy in Wyoming may increase in the future (WSGS 2015).

The Project vicinity has a relatively low favorability of deep enhanced geothermal systems, and no areas within the immediate vicinity of the Project have been identified as having hydrothermal sites (National Renewable Energy Laboratory undated).

3.3.1.8 Abandoned and Active Mines

Many mines (past or present), prospects, or mining occurrences are scattered around the Project vicinity (WSGS 2022c). Wyoming has 318,661 records of mining claims on public land managed by the BLM and 3,187 records of mines listed by the USGS. Of these claims, approximately 11 percent are active while approximately 89 percent are now closed; Sweetwater, Fremont, and Converse are the most active counties for mining claims in Wyoming (The Diggings™ 2022).

The Seminoe Mountains mining district in the Project vicinity is restricted to a belt of Archean metamorphic rocks cropping out along the western flank of the Seminoe Mountains. According to Hausel (1994), the Seminoe Mountains mining district is known for its iron ore and gold deposits, but also hosts some copper, silver, serpentine, asbestos, jasper, jade, and leopard rock. According to Hausel’s work in the area (Hausel 1994), some previously unknown zones of anomalous lead and zinc associated with shear zones were detected, and some pyrope garnet and chromian diopside were recovered from a nearby placer. Historic ore production from the Seminoe Mountains mining district has been minor (Hausel 1994).