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Copperhead Mine

Past Producer in Saguache county in Colorado, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  16. Workings at the site
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10013991
MRDS ID D010578
Record type Site
Current site name Copperhead Mine
Alternate or previous names Triple-T Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -105.78558, 38.11862 (WGS84)
Elevation 2621
Location accuracy 1000(meters)
Relative position 12.6 MILES S45E FROM VILLA GROVE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Saguache(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Mirage(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Canon City(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Pueblo(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

San Luis(hydrologic unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic accounting unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic subregion)

Rio Grande(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 Saguache

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 045N 011E 29 SW Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • Near Spring Creek at the western base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, about 10 miles north-northwest of the town of Crestone. This is the main mine of the Blake district.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Copper Primary
Lead Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Pyrite Ore
Quartz Gangue
Epidote Gangue
Specularite Gangue

Analytical data

Result Sampling by Ellis and others (1983) produced grades up to 0.58 oz/ton gold, 2.8 oz/ton silver, and 2% copper from iron- and copper-stained gneissic fault gouge, silicified fault breccia, and quartz veins.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 281
USGS model code 37b
Deposit model name Gold on flat faults
Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Migmatitic Gneiss
    Rock description Migmatitic Gneiss
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleoproterozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -105.78558, 38.11862
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure name range front thrust west side of Sangre de Cristo Range
Structure description Sangre De Cristo Fault
Type of structure Regional
Structure description Sawatch Arch, Sangre De Cristo Range, Rio Grande Rift

Comments on the geologic information

  • Mineralization is characterized by intense silica replacement of breccia matrix along a low-angle fault (Benson, 1997). The low-angle fault is similar to that at the large, modern san Luis Mine further south.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No

Mining district

District name Blake (Mirage, Cotton Creek) District

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Gendev Mining Corp.
    Home office Colorado Springs, Co.
    First year 1960

Comments on the production information

  • See entry on Blake district for production info.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Sampling by Ellis and others (1983) produced grades up to 0.58 oz/ton gold, 2.8 oz/ton silver, and 2% copper from iron- and copper-stained gneissic fault gouge, silicified fault breccia, and quartz veins.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Length 45.72M
    Overall width 7.62M

Comments on the workings information

  • 25-FT-HIGH HILLSIDE CUT

Comments on development

  • EPLORATION AND OPEN CUT DEVELOPMENT IN 1958 TO MINE COPPER ORE AN D SMELT IT AT SMELTER UNDER CONSTRUCTION BELOW MINE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    SCOTT, G.R., AND OTHERS, 1978, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE PUEBLO 1X2 QUADR ANGLE, SOUTH-CENTRAL COLORADO: USGS MAP I-1022

  • Deposit

    COLORADO DIVISION OF MINES, 1958, SUMMARY OF MINERAL INDUSTRY ACTIV ITIES IN COLORADO: COLO. DIV. MINES ANN. REPT.

  • Deposit

    COLORADO DIV. MINES INF. REPT.

  • Deposit

    Benson, R.G., 1997, Detachment fault-related mineralization in a rift setting at the San Luis gold deposit and Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Alamosa, Costilla, and Saguache Counties, Colorado: Golden, Colorado School of Mines, Ph.D. dissertation, 226 p.

  • Deposit

    Ellis, C.E., Hannigan, B.J., and Thompson, J.R., 1983, Mineral investigation of the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness Study Area, Alamosa, Custer, Fremont, Huerfano, and Saguache Counties, Colorado, U.S. Bureau of Mines MLA 65-83, 190 p.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-1983 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey
Updater 14-JUN-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

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.