Century Mine

Past Producer in Montezuma county in Colorado, United States with commodities Gold, Silver
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. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  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 10014157
MRDS ID D010808
MAS/MILS ID 0080830022
Record type Site
Current site name Century Mine
Alternate or previous names Patented Claim: Century, MS 1097.5, Century vein

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -108.06292, 37.44811 (WGS84)
Elevation 3420
Location accuracy 100(meters)
Relative position 15.4 MILES N 42 W FROM DURANGO, Approx. location on PP-219, pl. 1, #12. Used MAS location 0080830022.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Montezuma(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

La Plata(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Cortez(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Cortez(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle San Juan(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 Montezuma

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 037N 011W 22 SW Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • (LAND STATUS AND ADMINISTRATIVE AREA LOCATIONS CALCULATED USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS FOR SAN JUAN N. F.). IN HEADWATERS OF BEAR CREEK ON EAST SLOPE OF BANDED MTN. 3.35 MILES NORTH OF LA PLATA TOWNSITE (UNSURVEYED SECTION). ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1974

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Oxidation Of Pyrite To Limonite

Analytical data

Result ECKEL AND OTHERS' (1949) ANALYSES: SAMPLE 421 (LOWER DUMP), 0.02 OZ/TON AU AND 0.01 OZ/TON AG
Result SAMPLE 423 (ORE PILE ON UPPER DUMP), 0.74 0Z/TON AU AND 0.40 OZ/TON AG
Result SAMPLE 424 (SMALL ORE PILE NEAR UPPER DUMP, 0.24 OZ/TON AU AND 0.72 OZ/TON AG. OTHER VEIN SAMPLES IN CENTURY MINE AREA CONTAINED 0.01 TO 0.08 OZ/TON AU WITH HIGH OF 0.25 OZ/TON, AND TRACE TO 0.99 OZ/TON AG WITH HIGHS OF 1.74 AND 4.19 OZ/TON AG.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Monzonite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Jurassic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Eocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Jurassic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Porphyritic Rocks--Diorite-Monzonite Porphyry;Nonporphyritic Rocks--Monzonite
    Rock description Porphyritic Rocks--Diorite-Monzonite Porphyry;Nonporphyritic Rocks--Monzonite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock unit name Junction Creek Sandstone
    Rock description Junction Creek Sandstone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -108.06292, 37.44811

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description San Juan Uplift, Four Corners Platform
Type of structure Local
Structure description La Plata Dome, Spiller Peak-Mt Moss Stock

Ore body information

  • Thickness 1.52M

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1882
Discoverer James P. Wallace (Claimant)
Year of last production 1896

Mining district

District name La Plata (California) District

Land status

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

Comments on the workings information

  • LOWER ADIT DRIVEN GENERALLY S 70 W FOR 500 FT ALONG VEIN TO FACE WITH 110 FT OF SUBSIDIARY DRIFTS AND CROSSCUTS. UPPER ADIT CAVED, LOCATED 50 FT ABOVE LOWER ADIT. STOPE ABOVE UPPER TUNNEL COULD HAVE BEEN EITHER OVERHAND STOPE OR SURFACE CUT. 45-FT SHAFT (POSITION UNKNOWN) AND POSSIBLE THIRD ADIT OF UNKNOWN EXTENT.

Comments on development

  • DEPOSIT DISCOVERED BEFORE 1882 AND YIELDED ONE LOT OF HIGH-GRADE ORE. IN 1883, MINE PRODUCED 46.2 ST ORE. SOME DEVELOPMENT IN LATER YEARS, BUT MINE APPEARED ABANDONED BEFORE 1896.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ECKEL, E.B., AND OTHERS, 1949, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE LA PLATA DISTRICT, COLORADO: USGS PROF. PAPER P. 67-68, 99-101.

  • Deposit

    BLM MINERAL SURVEY MS 1097.5

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit COUNTRY ROCK CONSISTS OF GENERALLY UNMETAMORPHOSED DOLORES FM AND OTHER METAMORPHOSED JURASSIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS INTRUDED BY DIORITE-MONZONITE PORPHYRY SILL AND APPENDAGE OF SPILLER PEAK-MT MOSS MONZONITE STOCK. SHALY BEDS SILICIFIED OR ALTERED TO HORNFELS; SANDSTONE SILICIFIED TO QUARTZITE. CENTURY VEIN TRENDS N 70 TO 80 E, DIPS 85 SE, AND IS STROnGEST IN JUNCTION CREEK SANDSTONE, TRACEABLE DOWN INTO ENTRADA SANDSTONE, BUT STOPS ABRUPTLY AT SHALE LAYER IN OVERLYING MORRISON FM. IN LOWER ADIT, VEIN IS 2- TO 5-FT-WIDE ZONE OF STRONGLY BRECCIATED QUARTZITE WITH QUARTZ AS BRECCIA-FRAGMENT CEMENT AND AS FILMS AND VEINLETS; PYRITE WIDELY BUT SPARINGLY DISTRIBUTED; VEIN WALLS SHARPLY DEFINED AND VERTICALLY SLICKENSIDED.
Deposit Changed district name from California (La Plata) to La Plata (California) to eliminate confusion with other California districts. Prof. Paper 219 calls this area La Plata District.
Deposit Comment from old, now deleted, record # 10263965:

"northeast-trending subparalllel qtz vein hosted in silicified Junction Creek Sandstone"

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-83 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey
Reporter 28-MAY-92 Intermountain Field Operations Center U.S. Bureau of Mines
Reporter 17-NOV-83 Intermountain Field Operations Center U.S. Bureau of Mines
Editor 25-JUN-08 Wilson, Anna B. U.S. 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.