1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Bakers Ridge Placer

Past Producer in La Plata county in Colorado, United States with commodity Gold
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
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. Controls for ore emplacement
  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. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10014106
MRDS ID D010743
Record type Site
Current site name Bakers Ridge Placer
Alternate or previous names Animas River Placer?

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -107.79925, 37.45223 (WGS84)
Elevation 2051
Relative position 12.5 MILES N 21 E FROM DURANGO

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

La Plata(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Hermosa(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Durango(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Durango(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Animas(hydrologic unit)

Upper San Juan(hydrologic accounting unit)

San Juan(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

San Juan 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 La Plata

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 037N;037N 008W;009W 19,30;24,25 Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • (LAND STATUS AND ADMINISTRATIVE AREA LOCATIONS CALCULATED USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS FOR SAN JUAN N. F.). ALONG ANIMAS RIVER AT BAKERS RIDGE 1.5 TO 3.5 MILES SOUTH OR ROCKWOOD AND 2 TO 4 MILES NE OF HERMOSA. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR COMMON SECTION CORNER 0.4 MILE SOUTH OF BAKERS RIDGE. MCCAUSLAND'S DESCRIPTION OF ANIMAS RIVER PLACER APPEARS TO BE SAME AREA AS BAKERS RIDGE ("15 MILES ABOVE DURANGO AND WITHIN ONE MILE OF BIG CANYON"). ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1974

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

Analytical data

Result AVERAGE AU SAMPLE FROM PROMMEL'S SAMPLING WAS 817 FINE, ALTHOUGH COARSE AU AND NUGGETS HAD BEEN REPORTED FROM PREVIOUS PROSPECTING. VALUES RANGED FROM 1.59 TO 121.59 ?/YD ($35/OZ AU). VALUES FROM PITS REACHING BEDROCK RANGED FROM 2.9 TO 37 ?/YD. HIGH-GRADE GRAVEL FROM BARS AND BANKS ABOVE BAKERS RIDGE CONTAINED 47.56 TO 121.59 ?/YD. MCCAUSLAND (1934) REPORTS HUNDREDS OF TEST PANNINGS YIELDING 30 TO 150 ?/YD ON LOWER BENCHES
Result 6-YD RUN YIELDED $3/YD AND 22-YD RUN YIELDED $2.73/YD PLUS 10 ?/LB FINER AU IN BLACK-SAND CONCENTRATES FOR TOTAL $3.20/YD.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Rock unit name Bakers Ridge Granite
    Rock description Bakers Ridge Granite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Precambrian
    Chronological age 1711
    Dating method Rb-Sr
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Precambrian
    Chronological age 1720
    Dating method U-Pb (zircon)
    Type of media Zircon
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Sand and Gravel
    Rock unit name Terrace Gravel;Glacial Moraine (Wisconsin Till)
    Rock description Terrace Gravel;Glacial Moraine (Wisconsin Till)

Nearby scientific data

(1) -107.79925, 37.45223
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description San Juan Uplift, San Juan Basin
Type of structure Local
Structure description San Juan Uplift

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Recessional Moraine; Elevated Bedrock-Cut Stream Channels

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1933
Discoverer R.D. Mccausland, J.T. Beardsley, V.N. Steele
Year of first production 1933
Year of last production 1938

Mining district

District name Durango Area

Land status

Ownership category National Forest
Area name San Juan N. F.

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner H. W. C. Prommel
    First year 1938

Comments on the production information

  • ONLY SMALL PRODUCTION REPORTED FROM 1933-38.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Overall depth 11.58M

Comments on the workings information

  • SURFACE TEST PITS

Comments on development

  • MCCAUSLAND AND OTHERS STARTED SEARCH IN 1933 AND FINALLY PROFITABLE GROUND DESCRIBED ABOVE. AFTER HUNDREDS OF TEST PANNINGS, THEY RAN 10-YPD MECHANICAL AU PAN THAT WINTER AND MADE 6-YD AND 22-YD RUNS YIELDING AU AND BLACK-SAND CONCENTRATES CONTAINING FINER GRAINED AU. PARKER (CITING PROMMEL) REPORTS UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO DIVERT RIVER AT BAKERS RIDGE AND MINE STREAMBED GRAVELS; ALSO STATES THAT HUMPHREY'S GOLD CORP. FILES CITE UNSUCCESSFUL PLACERING ATTEMPTS IN LATE 1930S. PROMMEL, WHOSE TESTING PROBABLY WAS DONE IN 1938, ESTIMATED SUBSTANTIAL WORKABLE GROUND (200 AC) IN HIGH TERRACE AND COMPARABLY PAYING GROUND IN LOWER TERRACES AND FLOOD PLAIN, BUT NOTED POSSIBLE CONFLICT WITH GRADUAL DEVELOPMENT IN VALLEY.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit UPPER LEVEL GRAVELS ASSOCIATED WITH 30- TO 50-FT-DEEP ANCIENT CHANNELS CUT INTO GRANITE BASEMENT ROCK 180 FT ABOVE PRESENT STREAM LEVEL. LOWER LEVEL GRAVELS IN THREE TERRACES UP TO 60 FT ABOVE PRESENT STREAM LEVEL. AU FOUND IN LOAMY OVERBURDEN AND DISTRIBUTED THROUGH GRAVEL BUT DISTINCTLY CONCENTRATED ON BEDROCK CONTACT. PARKER (1974) CONCLUDED THAT AU AT BAKERS RIDGE WAS DERIVED FROM TWO SOURCES. FIRST, AU WAS TRANSPORTED DOWN ANIMAS RIVER FROM MINERALIZED AREAS TO NORTH AFTER RETREAT OF GLACIERS AND DEPOSITED AU AND ALLUVIUM AT CHANGE IN GRADIENT WHERE RIVER LEAVES STEEPER NARROW CANYON ABOVE CARSON CREEK. SECOND SOURCE WAS REWORKING AND CONCENTRATION OF LARGE MASS OF RECESSIONAL MORAINE MATERIAL THAT DAMMED VALLEY FOLLOWING LAST GLACIAL RETREAT (LATE WISCONSIN ORPINEDALE).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1983 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.