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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Howes Gulch District

Producer in Larimer county in Colorado, United States with commodities Copper, Gold, Silver
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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. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10013977
MRDS ID D010557
Record type District
Current site name Howes Gulch District
Alternate or previous names Copper District, Moose

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -105.22559, 40.59109 (WGS84)
Elevation 1878
Relative position 6.8 MILES N84W FROM FORT COLLINS

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Larimer(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Horsetooth Reservoir(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fort Collins(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Greeley(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Cache La Poudre(hydrologic unit)

South Platte(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Platte(hydrologic subregion)

Missouri(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Larimer

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
6th Principal 007N 070W 11 NW Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • IN EMPIRE GULCH AREA TWO MILES WEST OF NORTH END OF HORSETOOTH RES ERVOIR. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR EMPIRE CLAIM IN N2 S2NW. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1980

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Gold Primary
Silver Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Fe Sulfide Oxidation

Analytical data

Result EMPIRE ORE YIELDED 9.6% CU, 0.5 OZ/TON AG, 0.1 OZ/TON ($2/TON) AU

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Boulder Creek Granodiorite
    Rock description Boulder Creek Granodiorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Metasedimentary Rocks--Quartzofeldspathic Schist And Gneiss;Amphibolite
    Rock description Metasedimentary Rocks--Quartzofeldspathic Schist And Gneiss;Amphibolite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -105.22559, 40.59109
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Front Range Uplift, Cheyenne Basin
Type of structure Local
Structure description Thompson Anticline, Nw- And East-West-Trending Faults

Ore body information

  • Thickness 0.46M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Sheeting Or Banding Possibly Parallel To Schistosity

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1873

Mining district

District name Howes Gulch (Copper) District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Comments on the workings information

  • EMPIRE CLAIM HAS 75-FT VERTICAL SHAFT WITH ADIT LEVEL INTERSECTIN G AT 35 FT, OTHER SHAFT OF UNKNOWN DEPTH. COPPER KING CLAIM HAS 50-FT VERTICAL SHAFT AND SEVERAL OPEN CUTS; OTHER CROSS-CUT TUNNELS ON CLAIM S

Comments on development

  • SPORADIC ACTIVITY IN DISTRICT SINCE ABOUT 1873, BUT VERY LITTLE O RE PRODUCED. EMPIRE AND OTHER CLAIMS PATENTED 1889-1900.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    LEE, H.A., 1899, REPORT ON COPPER DISTRICT, LARIMER COUNTY, COLORAD O: COLORADO BUREAU OF MINES MINE MGR. REPT., 1901, P. 231

  • Deposit

    COLTON, R.B., 1978, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE BOULDER-FORT COLLINS-GREELE Y AREA, COLORADO: USGS MAP I-855-G.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit INTERLAYERED METASEDIMENTARY ROCKS TREND GENERALLY EAST-WEST TO W NW-ESE. FE OXIDES SEEN AT SURFACE BUT SULFIDES PRESENT AT DEPTH; ORE S TREAKS 4 TO 18 INCHES THICK. VEINS DESCRIBED AS LYING VERTICALLY IN VA RIABLY BANDED OR SHEETED GNEISS, WITH MINERALIZATION GREATEST WHERE ST RUCTURES ARE THINNEST.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-83 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey
Editor 16-NOV-11 Wilson, Anna B U.S. Geological Survey Changed record type from site to district.

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.