Mineral potential of altered rocks near Blawn Mountain, Wah Wah Range, Utah

A mineralized area near Blawn Mountain in the southern Wah Wah Range has potential for deposits of lithophile metals, including uranium, tin, molybdenum, and beryllium. An area of iron oxide, alunite, and kaolinite alteration in rhyolite on Blawn Mountain overlaps southward with an area of fluorite, montmorillonite, and illite alteration in rhyolite and breccia near the Staats mine. The area on Blawn Mountain is largely depleted of metals other than iron, but the area near the Staats mine has produced some fluorspar and uranium and has anomalous amounts of tin, molybdenum, and beryllium in altered rock. Topaz rhyolites near the Staats mine and on The Tetons are similar to those in the Thomas Range of Utah, which are associated with deposits of fluorspar, uranium, and beryllium. Unmineralized topaz rhyolite in the Wah Wah Range contains anomalous traces of Be, Ga, Li, Mo, Nb, and Sn. Extensive areas of jasperoid with very low trace metal contents are associated with the areas of mineralization and alteration. The age of alteration and mineralization in the southern Wah Wah Range can De inferred from the age of host rocks. The rhyolite of Blawn Mountain, which is the host for alunite and kaolinite, is dated as 30.7?1.5 m.y. old. The intrusive topaz rhyolite of the Staats mine area, which with its altered breccia zone is the host and probable source of fluorine and lithophile metals, is 19.7?0.8 m.y. old. The overlap of both kaolinite and montmorillonite in altered breccia along the north side of the intrusive topaz rhyolite suggests that all of the alteration and mineralization may be younger than 19.7?0.8 m.y.