At the request of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, approximately 34,172 acres of the Orocopia Mountains Wilderness Study Area (CDCA-344) were evaluated for mineral resources (known) and mineral resource potential (undiscovered).In this report, the area studied is referred to as the "wilderness study area" or simply "the study area".Any reference to the Orocopia Mountains Wilderness Study Area refers only to that part of the wilderness study area for which a mineral survey was requested by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.The Orocopia Mountains Wilderness Study Area is located in southeastern Riverside County, California, about 25 miles southeast of Indio.Fieldwork for this report was conducted between 1982 and 1986.In 1982, there were about 20 unpatented mining claims within or adjacent to the wilderness study area.Identified resources in the Orocopia Mountains Wilderness Study Area include low-grade talc deposits of moderate size and a small, low-grade, low-tonnage quartz-vein gold deposit.Active exploration for gold, including geochemical sampling and exploratory drilling, was underway in the late 1980's, and a tract with high resource potential for disseminated gold in crystalline rocks is delineated in the central part of the Orocopia Mountains Wilderness Study Area.One small area in the southeast corner of the wilderness study area has moderate resource potential for gold in quartz veins associated with propylitically altered mafic dikes cut by fault zones.Other small tracts within the wilderness study area have low resource potential for gold in quartz veins, moderate resource potential for gold in placer
