Thomas D. Light Jennie L. Ridgley 1983 <p>The Chama River Canyon Wilderness and Roadless Area have a moderate to high potential for the presence&nbsp;of small deposits of copper with associated uranium and silver. These deposits, as yet undetected, would occur in&nbsp;the Permian Cutler Formation and in the lower part of the Triassic Chinle Formation, rock units that are, for the&nbsp;most part, present only in the subsurface. The presence of these deposits is inferred because such deposits occur&nbsp;in rocks of equivalent age in adjacent areas. Gypsum, of probable minable quality and quantity, occurs throughout&nbsp;the area. Oil and gas are possibly present in Pennsylvanian strata in the subsurface, although no drilling in the&nbsp;study area has tested this hypothesis. Other commodities, including noncopper-related uranium, kaolinite,&nbsp;chromium, vanadium, manganese, and bitumen, although present locally in anomalous concentrations, do not&nbsp;appear to constitute potential resources for these commodities.</p> application/pdf 10.3133/mf1523B en U.S. Geological Survey Mineral resource potential map of the Chama River Canyon Wilderness and contiguous roadless area, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico reports