Abstract

Travertine veins in Paleozoic rocks of the north-central part of the Cedar Mountains in Tooele County, Utah, are economically important. The travertine occurs as large, near-vertical fissure veins of high-purity, high-whiteness, calcite pseudomorphs after the originally deposited aragonite. Mining, primarily for ornamental stone, dates back to the 1890s and has continued intermittently to the present. While a large amount of stone has been mined (more than 2 million tons), a large known resource remains and preliminary exploration indicates potential for development of additional resources.

The veins primarily occur in complexly folded and faulted Pennsylvanian Oquirrh Formation. They probably originated as low-temperature, groundwater deposits in open fissure veins. Veins are up to 80 feet wide and have been mined to about 300 feet in depth. A 1000-foot drill hole along a vein is purported to bottom in travertine.

The high-purity, high-brightness travertine is probably suitable for high-unit-value ground calcium carbonate uses like paper filling and coating, and use in pharmaceuticals.