Wyoming geologists identify nickel-copper-cobalt prospect

The Wyoming State Geological Survey has identified anomalous nickel-copper-cobalt mineralization in the southeastern part of the state.

Samples collected from a layered, mafic-ultramafic complex known as Puzzler Hill contained metal values as high as 3.72% nickel, 4.43% copper and 0.08% cobalt. There were also precious metal levels of 0.29 oz. gold, 0.024 oz. platinum, 0.12 oz. palladium and 0.19 oz. silver per ton.

According to the survey’s senior economic geologist, Daniel Hausel, “It might be somewhat similar to Voisey’s Bay [in Labrador], only smaller.” Puzzler Hill lies in the Encampment district, which produced more than 21 million lb. of copper, along with some gold, silver, zinc and lead, in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The Wyoming survey’s samples, which were collected from turn-of-the-century mine dumps, included a variety of minerals, such as: limonite-stained breccia; massive specular and earthy hematite with copper carbonate; minor bornite and chalcopyrite in chlorite-actinolite-talc schist; and quartz breccia cemented by sideritic limonite with fuchsite.