COAL  ON  NORTHEAST  SIDE  OF  BIGHORN  BASIN,  WYO.  177 
mine.  North  of  this  mine  the  coal  is  workable  for  only  a  short  dis- 
tance, deteriorating  rapidly  to  a  bed  of  brown,  lignitic  shale,  which 
contains  a  few  coal  partings.  At  the  Converse  prospect  the  coal  bed 
disappears  under  the  alluvium  of  the  No  Wood  Valley,  reappearing 
in  a  railroad  cut  1  mile  south  of  Manderson.  At  the  latter  point  the 
coal  is  not  workable,  its  total  thickness  being  only  15  inches. 
Southwest  of  Basin  several  openings  have  been  made  on  the  Rogers 
&  Gapin  coal  bed.  Coal  has  been  mined  from  these  openings  for 
local  use,  but  on  account  of  the  thinness  of  the  bed  it  is  probable  that 
shipping  mines  can  not  be  developed  in  this  locality.  Measurements 
made  in  the  SW.  J  sec.  33,  T.  51  N.,  R.  93  W.,  show  from  14  to  18 
inches  of  clean  coal  occurring  in  bony  coal  and  carbonaceous  shale. 
In  the  NW.  \  SE.  }  sec.  29,  T.  51  N.,  R.  93  W.,  the  coal  is  possibly 
workable,  as  may  be  seen  by  an  inspection  of  the  following  section : 
Section  of  coal  bed  in  an  old  prospect  1\  miles  southwest  of  Basin,  in  sec.  29,  T.  51  N., 
R.  93  W. 
Shale.  Ft.  in. 
Coal 1     7 
Shale 6 
Coal 6 
Total  coal 2     1 
When  Fisher  visited  this  neighborhood  in  1905  one  of  the  mines 
was  in  operation,  but  it  was  abandoned  soon  afterward  on  account  of 
the  thinning  out  of  the  coal  bed.     Fisher  a  writes  of  this  mine: 
There  is  another  mine  in  this  district,  located  about  1  mile  southwest  of  Basin, 
owned  by  G.  N.  Mecklen.  The  bed  is  1\  feet  thick,  with  a  6-inch  shaly  parting  near 
the  base.  The  coal  is  contained  in  sandy  beds,  which  here  dip  to  the  south  at  such 
a  steep  angle  that  the  limit  of  economic  mining  will  soon  be  reached.  This  mine  pro- 
duces about  600  tons  a  year,  which  is  consumed  by  the  residents  of  Basin  and  the 
Bighorn  River  Valley.  The  mine  is  poorly  improved  and  the  bed  is  too  thin  to  warrant 
any  considerable  development,  as  is  shown  by  the  following  section: 
Section  of  coal  bed  at  Mecklen  mine,  near  Basin,  Wyo. 
Ft.  in. 
Coal 2 
Slate,  dark-gray 6 
Coal 6 
Total  coal 2     6 
North  of  this  point  the  coal  is  not  known  to  be  workable  al  any 
place.  It  is  exposed  on  the  wagon  road  between  Basin  and  Germania, 
2  miles  west  of  Basin,  also  in  the  SW.  |  SW.  \  sec.  10,  T.  52  N., 
R.  94  W. 
Coal  occurs  at  higher  horizons  in  the  Fort  Union  formation,  but 
these  are  irregular  and  nonpersistent.  So  far  as  know  n.  none  of  the 
higher  beds  an1  of  workable  thickness.     A  15-inch  bed  outcrops  on 
«Loc.  cit. 
714!)7— Bull.  841—00 1 2 
