Bitteroot Mine

Past Producer in La Plata county in Colorado, United States with commodities Silver, Copper
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. 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 10014198
MRDS ID D010865
Record type Site
Current site name Bitteroot Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -107.74564, 37.61362 (WGS84)
Elevation 2438
Relative position 13.9 MILES S 17 FROM SILVERTON

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

La Plata(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Mountain View Crest(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Silverton(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 039N 008W 28 SE Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • (LAND STATUS AND ADMINISTRATIVE AREA LOCATIONS CALCULATED USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS FOR SAN JUAN N. F.). ON NORTH SIDE OF ANIMAS RIVER AT SE BASE OF WEST NEEDLE MTNS. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR LOWER PORTAL. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1974

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Copper Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Pyrite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Fe Oxidation

Analytical data

Result CHIP SAMPLES OF LIMONITE-STAINED GOUGE AND PYRITE FROM FAULT CONTAINED 0.01 TO 0.2% CU

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 > Quartz Monzonite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Precambrian
    Chronological age 1466
    Dating method Rb-Sr
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Precambrian
    Chronological age 1460
    Dating method K-Ar
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Precambrian
    Chronological age 1460
    Dating method K-Ar
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Precambrian
    Chronological age 1466
    Dating method Rb-Sr
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Twilight Gneiss
    Rock description Twilight Gneiss

Nearby scientific data

(1) -107.74564, 37.61362

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description San Juan Uplift
Type of structure Local
Structure description Needle Mtns Uplift

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Nw-Trending Fault Zone Cutting Gneiss

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Year of last production 1925

Mining district

District name Cascade District

Land status

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

Comments on the workings information

  • MINE DEVELOPED BY THREE SHORT TUNNELS. LOWER (MAIN) TUNNEL DRIVEN N 40 W FOR 65 FT TO FACE. UPPER TUNNEL LOCATED 125 FT NW OF MAIN TUNNEL AND DRIVEN N 45 W FOR 20 FT. THIRD TUNNEL STILL HIGHER ON HILLSIDE LIES APPROX 430 FT NW OF MAIN ADIT, EXTENT UNKNOWN.

Comments on development

  • SCOTT (1983) STATES THAT ANALYTICAL DATA DID NOT CONFIRM PRESENCE OF AG BUT THAT ODEL WILEY OF FARMINGTON, NM (IN 1982 PERS. COMM.), CITED PRODUCTION OF LOW-GRADE AG ORE IN 1920S FROM BITTEROOT AND SILVER STAR EXTENSION MINES.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit MINE DEVELOPED ON QUARTZ-PYRITE-CALCITE VEINS WITHIN FAULT ZONE CUTTING NE-TRENDING FOLIATION OF TWILIGHT GNEISS. IN TUNNEL, FAULT TRENDS N 40 TO 45 W, 67-68 NE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1983 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Authoritative Colorado resources

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