CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT
                          CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS



     We have  issued  our  report  dated  January  19,  1996,  accompanying  the
consolidated  financial  statements  included in the Annual  Report of Chaparral
Resources,  Inc. and  subsidiary  (the  Company) on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 1997. We consent to the incorporation by reference in the Company's
Registration Statement on Form S-8 of the aforementioned report.


                                             /s/  Grant Thornton LLP
                                             -----------------------------------
                                             GRANT THORNTON LLP



Denver, Colorado
April 1, 1998