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Aspen Contact Mine

Past Producer in Pitkin county in Colorado, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Zinc
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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. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Land status
  16. Ownership information
  17. Production statistics
  18. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10013235
MRDS ID D009422
Record type Site
Current site name Aspen Contact Mine
Alternate or previous names Claims: Tenderfoot, Last Chance, Last Chance No. 2, Eureka, Mollie, River, Lamokin, Annex
Related records 10288873

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -106.75812, 39.23527 (WGS84)
Elevation 2633
Relative position 4.8 MILES N 40 E FROM ASPEN

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pitkin(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Aspen(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Leadville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Leadville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Roaring Fork(hydrologic unit)

Colorado Headwaters(hydrologic accounting unit)

Colorado Headwaters(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

White River 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 Pitkin

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
6th Principal 009S 084W 27 SE OF NW Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • LENADO AREA OR SUBDISTRICT ALONG WOODY CREEK 0.25 MILE UPSTREAM OF LENADO TOWNSITE. ELEV AND LAT-LONG FROM BRYANT (1972) ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1980)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • OXIDIZED PART OF ORE CONTAINS UNSPECIFIED PB AND ZN CARBONATE MINERALS

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Sphalerite Ore

Analytical data

Result AVERAGE ANALYSIS OF 20 ORE SHIPMENTS (625 TONS) IN 1920 WAS 3.6 OZ/TON AG, 13.9 % PB, 37.4 % ZN, 4.8 % CAO, 6.1 % SIO2, 1.9 % FE, 14.0 % S, TRACE BARITE, VALUES FOR AU, MN, AS, SB, AND CARBONATE NOT DETERMINED

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite
    Rock unit name Quartz Monzonite
    Rock description Quartz Monzonite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Peerless Formation;Chaffee Formation (Dyer Dolomite Member)
    Rock description Peerless Formation;Chaffee Formation (Dyer Dolomite Mbr)

Nearby scientific data

(1) -106.75812, 39.23527
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Sawatch Uplift, Central Colorado Trough, Piceance Basin, White River Uplift, Elk Uplift
Type of structure Local
Structure description Lenado Fault, Silver Fault

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Thickness 12.19M
    Length 91.44M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • High-Angle Reverse Faults

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1892
Discoverer A. J. Varney (Claimant)

Mining district

District name Aspen (Roaring Fork) District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Herron Family
    First year 1956

Production statistics

  • Year 1919
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^6.7 Oz/Ton Ag, 22.8 % Pb, 10.4 % Zn
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Zinc Zinc 10wt-pct
    Major Ore Lead Lead 23wt-pct
    Major Ore Silver Silver 189g/mt
  • Year 1920
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^2.6 To 5.4 Oz/Ton Ag, 10 To 21 % Pb, 37.4 % Zn
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Zinc Zinc 37wt-pct
    Major Ore Lead Lead 16wt-pct
    Major Ore Silver Silver 113g/mt
  • Year 1925
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^3.3 To 6.9 Oz/Ton Ag, 10 To 20 % Pb, 35.8 % Zn
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Zinc Zinc 36wt-pct
    Major Ore Lead Lead 15wt-pct
    Major Ore Silver Silver 144g/mt
  • Year 1926
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^3.0 To 11.1 Oz/Ton Ag, 9 To 24 % Pb, 34.3 % Zn
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Zinc Zinc 34wt-pct
    Major Ore Lead Lead 17wt-pct
    Major Ore Silver Silver 201g/mt

Comments on the production information

  • PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 762M
    Overall depth 60.96M
    Overall length 274.32M

Comments on the workings information

  • MAIN TUNNEL DRIVEN AT S 46 E FOR 600 FT. DRIFTS TO NE AND SW DEVELOPED AT 350 TO 500 FT FROM PORTAL. 50-FT UPRAISE AND MAJOR STOPE AT 430 FT DEVELOPS ORE IN FOOTWALL OF SE FAULT. DRIFTS EXTEND ABOUT 230 FT NE OF AND AT LEAST 200 FT SW OF TUNNEL, POSSIBLY EXTENDING TO 600 FT SW INTO LEADVILLE MINE WORKINGS

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit VERTICAL TO STEEPLY SE DIPPING LENADO FAULT TRENDS APPROX N 60 E, OFFSETS SILVER FAULT AT DEPTH OF ABOUT 650 FT BELOW MINE WORKINGS, AND DISPLACES BELDEN SHALE AGAINST CAMBRIAN-ORDOVICIAN-DEVONIAN(?) SANDSTONE, DOLOMITE, AND QUARTZITE. FIRST ORE BODY LIES NEAR MAIN FAULT AND CONTAINS FRAGMENTS OF ORE AND LIMESTONE RICH IN ZN, WITH HIGH AG AND PB. OXIDIZED CARBONATE ORE FOUND ON EDGES OF VEIN. SPURR BELIEVES THIS ORE FORMED PREVIOUS TO LENADO FAULTING. JUST SE OF MAIN FAULT IS SECOND SUBPARALLEL FAULT CUTTING CAMBRIAN-ORDOVICIAN SEDIMENTARY ROCKS. MAJOR STOPE DEVELOPED IN ORE BODY LYING IN BRECCIATED DOLOMITE IN FOOTWALL BENEATH CAMBRIAN SAWATCH QUARTZITE. DOLOMITE HOST BETWEEN TWO FAULTS IS QUESTIONABLY ASSIGNED AND COULD BE EITHER PEERLESS FM (CAMBRIAN), MANITOU DOLOMITE (ORDOVICIAN), OR DYER MBR OF CHAFFEE FM (DEVONIAN). LATER INTERPRETATION BY BRYANT (1979) SHOWS MORE COMPLICATED BLOCK FAULTING IN MINE AREA.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1982 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.