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Delta Limonite Deposit

Past Producer in Delta county in Colorado, United States with commodities Iron, Manganese
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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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10013199
MRDS ID D009352
Record type Site
Current site name Delta Limonite Deposit
Alternate or previous names Iron Cap Mine, Iron Cap Claim, Mingen Limonite Deposit
Related records 10288264

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -107.89898, 38.71916 (WGS84)
Elevation 1628
Location accuracy 1000(meters)
Relative position 9.5 MILES S 81 E FROM DELTA, Within 2000-Ft Radius, Within 2000-Ft Radius, Within 2000-Ft Radius, Within 2000-Ft Radius

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Delta(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Olathe NW(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Paonia(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Montrose(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lower Gunnison(hydrologic unit)

Gunnison(hydrologic accounting unit)

Gunnison(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bureau of Land Management(Bureau of Land Management CO)

Bureau of Land Management CO BLM(Type of land area)

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Delta

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
6th Principal 015S 094W 28 SE Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • PROBABLY ALONG UNNAMED TRIBUTARY TO PEACH VALLEY ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1980

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary
Manganese Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Limonite Ore

Analytical data

Result SAMPLE SENT TO CF&I BY MIKE MINGEN CONTAINED 39.7% FE, 28.0% SI02, 1.5% MN, TRACE TI02. SECOND SAMPLE CONTAINED 57.2% FE, 0.019% P, 3.7% SI02, 0.2% MN, TRACE TI02. COMPOSITE SAMPLE BY USBM 5/26/43 CONTAINED 49.0% FE, 12.4% SI02. USBM CHARACTER SAMPLE FROM 1957 CONTAINED 47.5% FE, 0.03% P, 0.47% S, 13.8% SI02, LESS THAN 0.01% MN, 12.6% LOI. SPECTROGRAPHIC ANALYSIS SHOWED 0.001 TO 0.01% CU, GA, SC, YB, ZR, AND PB
Result 0.01 TO 0.1% MN, NI, TI
Result 0.1 TO 1.0% ZN

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
    Rock unit name Mancos Shale;Dakota Sandstone
    Rock description Mancos Shale;Dakota Sandstone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous

Nearby scientific data

(1) -107.89898, 38.71916
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Gunnison Uplift, Piceance Basin, Montrose Syncline
Type of structure Local
Structure description Gunnison Uplift, Montrose Syncline

Ore body information

  • Thickness 3.05M
    Length 76.2M

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1890

Mining district

District name Delta Area

Land status

Ownership category Private

Comments on the workings information

  • A FEW SHORT ADITS, OPEN CUTS, AND SHALLOW PITS

Comments on development

  • DEPOSIT WAS OPERATED PRE 1900 AS SOURCE OF FLUX FOR SMELTERS IN SALIDA AND GUNNISON AND UP TO 1920 AS IRON ORE FOR PUEBLO STEEL MILL. SITE EXAMINED DURING WW II AS POTENTIAL SOURCE OF STRATEGIC MINERAL (FE)

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    HARRER, C.M., AND TESCH, W.J., JR., 1959, RECONNAISSANCE OF IRON OCCURRENCES IN COLORADO: USBM IC 7918, P. 25-26

  • Deposit

    TWETO, OGDEN, AND OTHERS, 1976, PRELIMINARY GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE MONTROSE 1X2 QUADRANGLE, SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO: USGS MAP MF-761

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit LIMONITE ZONE OCCURS UP TO 10 FT IN THICKNESS AND IS EXPOSED OVER LENGTH OF 250 FT ON OUTCROP OF MANCOS SHALE JUST ABOVE (WEST OF) CONTACT WITH DAKOTA SANDSTONE. HIGHER GRADE ORE IS POROUS TO CLINKERY AND BROWN TO BLACK IN COLOR. LOWER GRADE ORE APPEARS OCHEROUS. LIMONITE ACTS AS CEMENT BINDER AND COATING ON SANDSTONE AND SHALE FRAGMENTS. AS CONTACT BETWEEN DAKOTA AND MANCOS IS SOMETIMES GRADATIONAL AND UPPER DAKOTA HAS CARBONACEOUS OR COALY SHALES, LIMONITE COULD REPRESENT OXIDATION OF CONTAINED PYRITE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-82 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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.