EMIGRANT BASIN AND HOOVER WILDERNESSES, AND ADJOINING ROADLESS AREAS, CALIFORNIA.

The Emigrant Basin and Hoover Wildernesses lie along the west and east sides of the crest of the Sierra Nevada in Tuolumne and Mono Counties, California. Mineral surveys led to the conclusion that there was little promise for the occurrence of mineral or energy resources in the Emigrant Basin Wilderness, whereas the Hoover Wilderness and adjoining roadless areas contain areas with probable and substantiated potential for base- and precious-metal resources. The metal contents in the rocks of the Emigrant Basin are generally no greater than the abundance levels that characterize nonmineralized regions, as shown by a geochemical survey. In contrast, an area in the southern part of the Hoover Wilderness has substantiated resource potential for small discontinuous precious-metal deposits along veins. This classification was made on the basis of an extension of an area containing known precious-metal deposits. Extensions of known, or the possibility of discovery of new, tungsten deposits indicate parts of these areas have probable mineral-resource potential. A mineralized area with probable mineral-resource potential for disseminated copper and molybdenum is present at the north end of the Hoover Wilderness.