SIGNIFICANT DISCOVERIES & ACHIEVEMENTS

 

  • 1978-79 Mapped the Wyoming portion of the Colorado-Wyoming State Line district & discovered several diamondiferous kimberlite intrusives.

 

Sloan 2 megacrystal kimberlite, Colorado with Chromian

Diopside megacryst

 

  • 1980 Mapped the Copper Mountain supracrustal belt.
  • 1980 Completed mapping & geophysical studies of the Sheep Rock district in the Laramie Range, Wyoming. Discovered the Radichal kimberlite intrusive and numerous 'kimberlitic' heavy mineral anomalies.
  • 1981 Discovered significant gold mineralization in the Seminoe Mountains greenstone belt, Wyoming.
  • 1982 Discovered significant gold mineralization in the Rattlesnake Hills greenstone belt, Granite Mountains, Wyoming. This was a completely overlooked gold district that is now known to host a large variety of gold deposits including auriferous veins, exhalites, stockworks, and epithermal breccias.
  • 1983-87 Managed projects which led to the identification of more than 300 kimberlitic indicator mineral anomalies in southeastern Wyoming. Evidence supports hundreds of undiscovered diamond deposits in Wyoming, Colorado and Montana.
  • 1985-89 Mapped the South Pass Greenstone Belt. Mapped eight 7.5-minute quadrangles of the South Pass greenstone belt & identified dozens of significant gold anomalies.

 

 

 

 

Gold at the Duncan Mine, South Pass: >100 significant

gold anomalies were found & structural controls

for gold were identified during mapping.

This study predicted the presence of major gold deposits

at the Carissa, Dickie Springs & Roundtop Mountain.

Significant gold deposits were also found at the Diana,

Tabor Grand, Wolf & other properties.

 

  • 1988-89 Mapped significant alteration zones and gold mineralization associated with the Donlin Creek – Snow Gulch disseminated gold deposit, Alaska. This is (2003) recognized as the largest undeveloped gold deposit in North America.
  • 1980s and 1990s, discovered dozens of agate, jasper and onyx deposits in Wyoming. Many of these were listed in my book on Gemstones of Wyoming (WSGS Bulletin 71) published in 2000. The discoveries included the source of the Sweetwater agates at Cedar Ridge, Jasper in the Tin Cup district, jasper in the Rattlesnake Hills and several other deposits.
     

Dan stands in historic gold-prospect pit at Tin Cup holding jasper cobbles.

This was one of dozens of agate, jasper and onyx discoveries recently made in this area that

was a former gold mining scam in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Similar scams were investigated by the author

that included Pine Mountain near Casper where 287 million ounces of gold was allegially found (although no gold was present),

at French Creek where assays were reported in the hundreds of ounces per ton, and later another scam indicated the discovery of the largest

palladium-platinum deposit in the world. A scam in California was reported to have more gold and platinum

than had been mined in all of human history. I was also lucky enough to investigate the historical 'Great Diamond

Hoax of 1872 near the Wyoming-Colorado border (right next to a bonafide diamond district).

 

  • 1990-91 Mapped the Seminoe Mountains greenstone belt. Discovered gold, zinc & lead mineralization as well as a large gold- and possibly diamond- paleoplacer along the edge of the Seminoe Mountains. A strong 'kimberlitic' indicator mineral anomaly found near the Miracle Mile suggests the presence of an undiscovered rich diamond deposit in that area.
  • 1992-93 Mapped of the Rattlesnake Hills greenstone belt. Also found associated epithermal & exhalitive gold mineralization.
  • 1993-94 Mapped the Cooper Hill mining district, Wyoming (1:12,000 scale).
  • 1995 Discovered significant Ni and Pd anomaly associated with Cu-Co-Au-Pt-Pd mineralization in the Puzzler Hill layered complex, Wyoming.
  • 1995 Discovered a gem-quality sapphire, ruby, kyanite and iolite deposit at Palmer, Canyon, Wyoming. Recovered the largest gem iolite in the world at that time (1,750 carats).

 

First group of iolites cut from Palmer Canyon discovery

 

  • 1997 Discovered gem-quality peridot in the Leucite Hills, Wyoming as well as evidence for diamondiferous lamproites.

 

One of the 13,000 carats of gem-quality peridot

discovered by me during exploration of the Leucite Hills in southwestern

Wyoming. During research in this area for diamonds, these gems were found

as well as evidence for hidden diamondiferous lamproites similar to the Ellendale field in Australia.

Olivine increases in quantity to the northeast, and diamond-stability

chromites were recovered from two lamproites in the northeastern portion of this field.

 

  • 1997-99 Mapped the Iron Mountain kimberlite district. Discovered several dozen kimberlites in the Iron Mountain district, Wyoming. This work also led to the discovery of the Indian guide cryptovolcanic anomalies to the west of Iron Mountain that are probable unexplored kimberlites.
  • 2003 Mapped one of the largest opal deposits in North America in central Wyoming, and discovered mountains of common opal, considerable fire opal, and some precious opal along with valuable decorative stone and the source are for the Sweetwater agates.

 

Opal from Cedar Ridge discovery. Common, fire and precious opal

were found over 16-square miles south of Riverton, Wyoming.

 

  • 2004 Identified one of the richest iolite-kyanite gemstone deposits in the world at Grizzly Creek, Wyoming. Recovered the largest iolite gem in the world at 24,150 carats. Let some gemstones in place that may weigh more than a tonne!

 

  

Largest gemstone in the world? Photo shows a geologist in front of outcrop of massive

iolite gemstone. Much of the outcrop shown in this photo

 is massive iolite. Fresh surface shows the beautiful, blue, transparent gemstone.

 

  • 2005 Recognized gem-quality iolite in southern Wyoming . This potentially represents one fo the largest (if not the largest) gemstone deposits in the world and could potentially have a resource of 2.4 trillion carats! However, much field work will be required to prove this deposit.

 

Group of faceted gemstones from the Palmer Canyon discovery.

These include pink sapphires, a blue sapphire, and some iolites.

Other discoveries of similar gemstones included some of the

largest gemstones ever found on earth - such as a massive ioite

gemstone larger than a door, and another iolite deposit that is essentially

unexplored by could host several hundred billion carats of the gemstone.

 

  • 2005 Discovered some kimberlites in the Laramie Range in a previously unknown district.  

   

 

 

 

The above photo cluster shows a variety of pyrope, almandine-pyrope, chromian diopside and chromian enstatite collected from anthills, outcrops

of the Bishop conglomerate, and also from the Cedar Mountain diamondiferous lamprophyres in the southern Green River Basin, Wyoming. The faceted gems

were cut in Sri Lanka and yielded extraordinary 'Cape Rubies' and 'Cape Emeralds'.


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