356  CONTRIBUTIONS    TO    ECONOMIC    GEOLOGY,   1903.  [bull. 225. 
Basin  district. — The  next  locality  of  coal  outcrops  to  the  northwest 
is  locally  known  as  the  Basin  district,  because  of  its  nearness  to  Basin, 
the  county  seat  of  Bighorn  County.  There  are  two  mines  in  this  dis- 
trict; the  larger  one,  located  near  the  mouth  of  No  Wood  Creek, 
about  5  miles  southeast  of  Basin,  is  owned  by  Rogers  &  Gapen.  It 
has  been  worked  continuously  for  about  three  years,  although  coal  has 
been  taken  from  this  opening  for  more  than  a  decade.  The  deposit 
has  a  measured  thickness  of  5  feet  and  contains  many  thin,  slaty 
partings  which,  although  numerous,  are  in  total  thickness  insufficient 
to  render  the  deposit  unfit  for  economic  development.  Since  1900  the 
product  has  averaged  about  400  tons  a  year  with  a  market  value  of  $2 
per  ton  at  the  mine.  The  coal  is  in  the  shaly  division,  probably  near 
the  middle,  but  in  this  localit}^  there  appears  to  be  a  change  in  the 
sequence  of  the  Laramie  beds,  rendering  the  broad  divisions  of  the 
formation  difficult  to  recognize.  The  character  of  the  seam  is  illus- 
trated in  the  following  section: 
Section  of  the  Rogers  <&  Gapen  mine-,  near  Basin,  Wyo. 
Coal 
Impure,  coaly  shale 
Coal 
Black  shale 
Coal 
Dark -gray  clay 
Coal _" 
Coaly  shale 0 
Coal 
Dark-gray  clay 
Coal 1       3 
There  is  another  mine  in  this  district,  located  about  1  mile  southwest 
of  Basin,  owned  b}^  G.  N.  Mecklen.  The  bed  is  2J  feet  thick,  with  a 
6-inch  shaty  parting  near  the  base.  The  coal  is  contained  in  the  basal 
sandy  series,  which  here  dips  to  the  southward  at  such  a  steep  angle 
that  the  limit  of  economic  mining  will  soon  be  reached.  This  mine 
produces  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  b}^  the  following  section : 
Section  of  Mecklen  mine,  near  Basin,  Wyo. 
Coal 
Dark-gray  slate 
Coal 0 
Along  the  exposed  area  of  the  Laramie  formation,  between  Gray 
Bull  and  Shoshone  rivers,  some  prospecting  has  been  done,  resulting 
in  the  location  of  a  few  thin  coal  deposits,  all  of  which  are  under  the 
limit  of  a  profitable  working  thickness. 
't. 
In. 
1 
1 
0 
1 
0 
8 
0 
2 
0 
7 
0 
6 
0 
5 
0 
2 
0 
11 
0 
9 
ft. 
In. 
2 
0 
0 
6 
