A preliminary report of geochemical investigations in the Blackbird District

Abstract

This paper reviews an experimental geochemical prospecting survey in the Blackbird cobalt-copper mining district. The district is in east-central Idaho, about 20 miles west-southwest of Salmon. The area is one of deeply weathered nearly flat-topped upland surfaces cut by steep-walled valleys which are tributary to the canyon of Panther Creek. Most of the area has a relatively heavy vegetative cover, and outcrops are scarce except on the sides of the steeper valleys* Because of the importance of the surficial deposits and soils and the physiographic history of the region on the interpretation of the geochemical data, a separate chapter on this subject by Gerald H. Richmond follows the following brief description of the geology of the district.