Reconnaissance study of the Black Dragon tar sand deposit T. 20-22 S., R. 12-13 E., San Rafael Swell, Emery County, Utah (RI-194)

By: B. T. Tripp

The study area, on the east flank of the San Rafael Swell, Emery Co., Utah, contains parts of three tar-sand deposits. These are the Black Dragon, Cottonwood Draw, and Red Canyon deposits. They occur in an area which varies from flat mesas to deep canyons with sheer cliffs. The formations occurring in the area range from the Permian White Rim Sandstone up to the Triassic Wingate Sandstone with the main tar-sand horizons occurring in the Cottonwood Draw facies of the Triassic Moenkopi Formation.

One smaller deposit, on the contact of the Sinbad Limestone and Torrey Members of the Moenkopi, also outcrops in the study area. These two tar-sand deposits contain a significant volume of bitumen but are too low grade to be mined in the near future. This study resulted in an inferred resource estimate of 81 million barrels of oil on 21,386 acres of the study area which are underlain by Cottonwood Draw facies tar sands. No resource figure was calculated for the Sinbad-Torrey deposit.

Other Information:
Published: 1985
Pages: 45 p.
Location: Emery County
Media Type: Paper Publication