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Last Chance Mine

Past Producer in Mineral county in Colorado, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Gold, Zinc, Copper, Arsenic, Antimony, Cadmium
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Production statistics
  19. Workings at the site
  20. Links to other databases
  21. Bibliographic references
  22. General comments
  23. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10012367
MRDS ID D007968
Record type Site
Current site name Last Chance Mine
Alternate or previous names New York Nine, Del Monte Mine
Related records 10166494

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -106.93673, 37.88223 (WGS84)
Elevation 3179
Relative position 2.05 MILES N 15 W FROM CREEDE (B.M. 8853 AT NORTH END OF TOWN)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Mineral(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

San Luis Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Del Norte(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Durango(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic accounting unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic subregion)

Rio Grande(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Rio Grande National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Mineral

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 042N 001W 13 SE OF SW OF SW Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • S-T-R, LAT-LONG, AND ELEV DETERMINED FROM EMMONS AND LARSEN'S (1923) TOPO MAP (1:24,000). MINE OR CLAIM LIES ABOVE W. WILLOW CR. ON NE SIDE OF BACHELOR MTN. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1976)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Gold Primary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Copper Tertiary
Arsenic Critical Tertiary
Antimony Critical Tertiary
Cadmium Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Anglesite Ore
Cerargyrite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Greenockite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Silver Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Tennantite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore
Amethyst Gangue
Barite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Limonite, Hematite, Malachite, Wad, Goslarite; Silicification, Sericitization

Analytical data

Result RANGE OF ASSAYS FOR ORE MINED 1903-1906: 0.03 TO 0.08 OZ/TON AU, 21 TO 66.1 OZ/TON AG, 2.9 TO 4.2% PB, 0.4 TO 2% ZN. SEE PRODUCTION TABLE FOR OTHER ORE GRADES. 24-INCH ORE ZONE IN DEL MONTE VEIN REPORTEDLY RAN 60 TO 200 OZ/TON AG.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
    Rock unit name Campbell Mtn. Member Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite;Willow Creek Member Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite
    Rock description Campbell Mtn. Mbr. Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite;Willow Cr. Mbr. Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Oligocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Oligocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
    Rock unit name Campbell Mtn. Member Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite;Willow Creek Member Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite
    Rock description Campbell Mtn. Mbr. Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite;Willow Cr. Mbr. Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -106.93673, 37.88223
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description San Juan Volcanic Field; La Garita, Creede, And Bachelor Calderas
Type of structure Local
Structure description Creede Graben; Amethyst Fault Zone

Ore body information

  • Strike N 15 TO 20 W
    Dip 55 TO 65 SW

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Amethyst Fault And Subparallel Upward Branching Fractures In Hanging Wall

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1891
Discoverer Theodore Renniger And Julius Haas
Year of first production 1891
Year of last production 1976

Mining district

District name Creede District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Harrison-Western Corp.
    First year 1980
  • Type Owner
    Owner Minerals Engineering Co. (Meco)
    Home office Grand Junction, Co.
    First year 1981

Production statistics

  • Year 1940
    Accuracy Accurate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Silver Silver 1271g/mt
    Major Ore Gold Gold 1g/mt
    Major Ore Lead Lead 3wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • PARTIAL PRODUCTION HISTORY OF LAST CHANCE, NEW YORK, AND DEL MONTE MINES (INCLUDING VOLUNTEER AND PITTSBURGH). OUTPUT OF METALS FOR 1903-06, 1919-21, 1924, 1928, 1934, 1937-41, 1944 CALCULATED ON BASIS OF REPORTED ORE GRADES. IN 1942 LAST CHANCE, NEW YORK, AND OTHER WORKINGS WERE CONSOLIDATED, AND PRODUCTION REPORTED UNDER NAME OF EMPERIUS MINE.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 3218.6M
    Overall depth 362.71M

Comments on the workings information

  • LAST CHANCE SHAFT ABOUT 1500 FT LONG, INCLINED ABOUT 70 DEG NEAR SURFACE, FLATTENS TO 55 DEG AT 150 FT AND CONTINUES AT 50 TO 55 DEG, MOSTLY WITHIN AMETHYST VEIN BUT NOT ALONG VEIN DIP, RATHER AT 30 DEG ANGLE NORTHWARD. TOTAL DEPTH ABOUT 1190 VERTICAL FT. 12 LEVELS TURNED AT 100- TO 200-FT INTERVALS ON INCLINE. LEVEL 12 IS 37 FT ABOVE NELSON-WOOSTER-HUMPHREYS TUNNEL, WHICH WAS LATER CONNECTED AS LEVEL 13. TOTAL LENGTH OF ALL DRIFTS AND CROSSCUTS NOT DETERMINABLE BUT PROBABLY EXCEEDS 2 MILES. LARGE STOPE OF EXTREMELY FRACTURED ORE DEVELOPED AS "BIG CAVE" OR "CHANCE CAVE" ON LEVELS 3,4,5.

Comments on development

  • LAST CHANCE, NEW YORK, AND DEL MONTE CLAIMS OVERLAP EACH OTHER AND EVENTUALLY WERE WORKED THRU THE LAST CHANCE SHAFT AND NELSON TUNNEL. AS PRODUCTION WAS NOT REPORTED FOR INDIVIDUAL MINES, ALL THREE WORKINGS ARE CONSOLIDATED INTO ONE RECORD, WHICH INCLUDES PRODUCTION FROM VOLUNTEER AND PITTSBURGH WORKINGS. IN 1942 THESE, ALONG WITH AMETHYST AND OTHER CONNECTED WORKINGS, WERE ALL CONSOLIDATED UNDER NAME OF EMPERIUS MINE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit PRINCIPAL LODE IS AMETHYST VEIN (ATTITUDE ABOVE). FROM LEVELS 7 TO 11, LODE LIES IN FOOTWALL (WILLOW CR. RHYOLITE). DOWN TO LEVEL 7, MINERALIZATION IN HANGING WALL CUTS BOTH CAMPBELL MTN. AND OVERLYING WINDY GULCH MBRS. DEEP MINERALIZATION CONSISTS OF PRINCIPAL BASE METAL SULFIDES IN CHLORITIC VEIN. MORE ECONOMICAL SHALLOWER MINERALIZATION CONTAINS VEIN SULFIDES AND VERY FINE-GRAINE DISSEMINATED ORE IN CLOSELY SPACED MICROVEINLETS AND INTERGRANULAR PORE FILLING. MAIN MINERALIZED FRACTURES IN HANGING WALL BRANCH AND DIE OUT UPWARD FROM AMETHYST FAULT AT ANGLES FROM STEEPLY SW TO STEEPLY NE. DEL MONTE VEIN IS MAJOR HANGING WALL ANTITHETIC VEIN (SIMILAR TO OH), STRIKING MORE WESTERLY THAN AMETHYST, DIPPING 60 NE, AND JOINING AMETHYST VEIN AT CHANCE CAVE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1981 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

External references

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Colorado resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.