Iron Mountain Mine

Past Producer in Fremont county in Colorado, United States with commodities Titanium, Metal, Iron, Vanadium
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. Mineral occurrence model information
  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. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10013539
MRDS ID D009897
Record type Site
Current site name Iron Mountain Mine
Alternate or previous names Iron Mountain Deposit, Iron Mountain Titaniferous Magnetite Deposit, Iron Mountain District
Related records 10166571

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -105.42224, 38.34251 (WGS84)
Elevation 2188
Relative position 12.0 MILES S 58 W OF CANON CITY POST OFFICE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fremont(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Iron Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Canon City(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Pueblo(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Arkansas Headwaters(hydrologic unit)

Upper Arkansas(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Arkansas(hydrologic subregion)

Arkansas-White-Red(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Fremont

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
6th Principal 020S 072W 03 CENTER OF SW OF NW Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • DEPOSIT ALSO EXTENDS TO SECTIONS 2, 4, 9, 10; ON DEWEESE PLATEAU, SSE OF IRON MOUNTAIN, NW OF PINE CREEK ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1976)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Titanium, Metal Critical Primary
Iron Primary
Vanadium Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • ORE USED FOR IRON WORKS AND HEAVY AGGREGATE

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Ilmenite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Augite Gangue
Biotite Gangue
Hornblende Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Olivine Gangue
Plagioclase Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Sericite Gangue
Spinel Gangue

Analytical data

Result 5 ORE SAMPLES SHOWED 48-50% FE, 13.5-14.1% T102

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 14
USGS model code 7b
Deposit model name Anorthosite Ti

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Gabbro
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Anorthosite
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Peridotite > Dunite
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Pyroxenite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Gabbro
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Anorthosite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Peridotite > Dunite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Pyroxenite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -105.42224, 38.34251

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Northern Wet Mountains, Deweese Plateau; Mcclure Mountain Complex
Type of structure Local
Structure description Wnw-Trending Faults, Nnw-Trending Fault

Ore body information

  • General form LENS-SHAPED MASSES IN FUNNEL-SHAPED BODY
    Strike N 25 E TO N 15 W
    Dip STEEPLY WEST
    Thickness 7.62M
    Length 121.92M
    Width 15.24M
    Depth to top 0M
    Depth to bottom 7.62M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Mafic-Ultramafic Body Near Fault Intersections

Comments on the geologic information

  • IGNEOUS ANORTHOSITE-NORITE LAYERED STRUCTURE IN HOST ROCK ACCOMPANIES AND SUBPARALLELS MAGNETITE LENSES

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1872
Year of first production 1873

Mining district

District name Iron Mountain District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Poston, A.
    First year 1957
  • Type Owner
    Owner Ellison Family
    First year 1959

Production statistics

  • Year 1870
    Period 1872-1956
    Material Iron ore
    Ore mined 984.2mt
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^48-50% Fe,
  • Year 1956
    Period 1955-1956
    Material Heavy aggregate
    Ore mined 34447mt
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^48-50% Fe, 13.5-14.1% T102
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Iron Iron 48wt-pct
    Major Titanium, Metal Titanium 14wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • ORE PRODUCED IN 1870'S WAS USED AS IRON ORE AND STEEL MILL FLUX; LATER ORE WITH SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF 4.25 WAS GROUND TO 0.25 INCH DIAMETER FOR USE AS HEAVY AGGREGATE FOR JUBMARINE CONCRETE PIPELINE COATINGS

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • RESERVES SMALL, WITH ABOUT 45-50% FE, 0-14% T102, 0.41-0.45% V205

Comments on the workings information

  • PITS, OPEN CUTS, SHAFT

Comments on development

  • CLAIMS PATENTED IN 1872

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DESCRIPTIONS APPLY TO A SERIES OF MAGNETITE LENSES, OF WHICH OUTCROPS HAVE BEEN MAPPED ALONG A 2200-FT ARC; INDIVIDUAL ORE BODIES ARE SMALL, DISCON TINUOUS, IN A LAYERED MAFIC-ULTRAMAFIC MATRIX; ADDITIONAL MAGNETITE LENSES MAY BE PRESENT AT DEPTH
Deposit IN 1948 A DIP NEEDLE SURVEY WAS DONE BY USBM; IN 1958 A GRID SURVEY WITH GRAVITY AND MAGNETIC OBSERVATIONS WAS RUN. TOTAL TONNAGE AT THIS DEPOSIT IS PROBABLY NOT LARGE; TRANSPORTATION COSTS FOR PRODUCTION WOULD BE HEAVY ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-1983 Collins, Donna B. Colorado Geological Survey
Updater 01-MAR-2005 Keller, John W. Colorado Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references

Authoritative Colorado resources

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