Caribou Mine

Past Producer in Boulder county in Colorado, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Gold, Zinc, Copper, Uranium, Vanadium
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. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Mineral rights holdings
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Production statistics
  19. Workings at the site
  20. Links to other databases
  21. Bibliographic references
  22. General comments
  23. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10017083
MRDS ID DC02851
Record type Site
Mineralized Area Caribou Area
Current site name Caribou Mine
Alternate or previous names Caribou Consolidated Group, Con. Silver Caribou Mines, Consolidated Caribou Silver Mines, Consolidated Caribou Silver Mine

Comments on the site names

  • PART OF CARIBOU CONSOLIDATED GROUP

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -105.58333, 39.98139 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 10(meters)
Relative position Shaft labeled on topo. Center, N2, sec. 8.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Boulder(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Nederland(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Denver West(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Denver(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

St. Vrain(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 Boulder

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
6th Principal 01S 73W 05, 08 Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • Location of Caribou shaft, on NE side of Caribou Hill, about 1500 feet west of Caribou.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Gold Primary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Copper Secondary
Uranium Secondary
Vanadium Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Largest producer in the district, the mine is noted for its very rich silver ore in near-surface vein deposits. Uranium has been found at the Caribou Mine, but production is negligible.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Acanthite Ore
Cerargyrite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Pyrargyrite Ore
Silver Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Pitchblende Ore
Pyrite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) wall rock is silicified and pyritized

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 Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Monzogabbro
    Rock unit name Caribou stock
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary

Nearby scientific data

(2) -105.58333, 39.98139

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description ore shoots localized at vein junctions and by changes in dip or strike

Comments on the geologic information

  • Alternate deleted record called rock type monzonite and age Neoproterozoic.
  • TITANIFEROUS MAGNETITE IN MASSES OF PYROXENITE THAT ARE SEGREGATIONS IN THE CARIBOU STOCK (DC03391 = 10017384, record has been merged and deleted)
  • SILVER IS GREATLY ENRICHED IN NEAR-SURFACE OXIDIZED ORE; ORE SHOOTS LOCALIZED AT JUNCTION OF VEINS, AND BY CHANGES IN DIP OR STRIKE; NATIVE SILVER, GALENA, ARGENTITE, CERARGYRITE, GREY COPPER, SPHALERITE AND CHALCOPYRITE IN QTZ GANGUE.
  • PRECAMBRIAN METAMORPHIC AND IGNEOUS ROCKS INTRUDED BY TERTIARY PORPHYRITIC MONZONITE AND DIORITE. MONZONITE, IN TURN, IS CUT BY E-W AND NE-TRENDING LEAD-SILVER QUARTZ CARBONATE VEINS.
  • URANIUM CONTENT OF SAMPLES FROM THE RADIUM VEIN RANGES FROM 0.01 TO 1.85 PERCENT. (Deleted record DC03292 claimed uranium content ranged from 0.001 to 1.45%, citing "DMEA RECORDS")
  • CARIBOU VEIN STRIKES W DIPS 75 N, AVE. 2 FT WIDTH. MOST ORE CONCENTRATED NEAR INTERSECTION WITH NO NAME VEIN. ORE MINERALS ARE GALENA, SPHALERITE, ARGENTITE, PYRARGYRITE, AND NATIVE SILVER. OTHER VEINS INCLUDE POORMAN, SILVER DOLLAR, SHERMAN, COLUMBIA, SPENCER, RADIUM, ELMER, AND NELSON.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1869

Mining district

District name Grand Island-Caribou District

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Patented

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Consolidated Caribou Silver Mines
    Year 1948
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Nederland Mines Inc.
    Home office Colorado
    Year 1917

Comments on the ownership information

  • Calais Resources (2005)

Production statistics

  • Year 1874
    Material 2570 g/mt silver (Copied from deleted record DC03396 = 10017387, which used Bull. 1030-N, p. 541, as the only citable source). This source says "Value of silver ore shipped from the mine before 1880

Comments on the production information

  • BY 1883, $2,500,000 TOTAL OUTPUT FROM THE CARIBOU AND NO NAME VEINS; INTERMITTENT OPERATIONS SINCE THEN. CONSOLIDATED CARIBOU SILVER MINES, INC., REOPENED THE MINE IN 1948, VIA THE IDAHO TUNNEL ON THE 500-FOOT LEVEL, AND REPORTED $500,000 IN LEAD-SILVER ORE PRODUCED THROUGH 1951.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Calais Resources has continued exploration in the Caribou and Cross mines area and reports (2005) a total resource (measured, indicated, and inferred) of: 437,240 oz Au and 12,575,240 oz Ag, contained in 1,058,000 tons of mineralized material for the Caribou/Cross project. The company continued exploration in the district in 2004 and 2005.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings Idaho tunnel
    Length 1127.76M
  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings Caribou Shaft
    Overall depth 307.84M
  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings No-Name shaft
    Overall depth 182.88M

Comments on the workings information

  • Mine has 14 levels to a depth of almost 1500 ft.; access via Idaho tunnel on the 500-ft level.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    LOVERING AND GODDARD, 1950, USGS PP 223, P. 200-201, AND PL. 3 (NORTH HALF)

  • Deposit

    CONSV. DIV. COMP. DATE, 10,62

  • Reserve-Resource

    Calais Resources corporate info., accessed from internet on 12/20/2005.

  • Deposit

    Sunshine Mining Co. Colorado exploration files, unpublished data, Colorado Geological Survey.

  • Deposit

    Moore, F. B., Cavender, W. S., and Kaiser, E. P., 1957, Geology and uranium deposits of the Caribou area, Boulder County, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1030-N, pp. 517-552.

  • Deposit

    DMEA RECORDS

  • Deposit

    MINE MAP REPO # 401309 408176 408177 408173 408178

  • Deposit

    HENDERSON, 1929, USBM TECH. PAPER 439.

  • Deposit

    Smith, D. A., 2003, Silver saga, the story of Caribou, Colorado (rev. ed.): Boulder, University Press of Colorado, 230 p.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
General Also see record 10214415. This is the same deposit, but the information in the record is so different, that it should be retained.
Deposit ORE BODIES (uranium) TOO SMALL TO BE MINED ECONOMICALLY.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 1973-03-01 Conservation Division Files U.S. Geological Survey also DC03396 = 10017387, and DC03292 = 10017332, and DC03293 = 10017333, and DC03391 = 10017384
Updater 2005-12-21 Beach, Richard A. Colorado Geological Survey
Reporter 1977-01-01 Hasler, J. William U.S. Geological Survey also D002195 = 10090648
Editor 2007-05-29 Melton, Greg U.S. Geological Survey also DC03396 = 10017387, and D002195 = 10090648, and DC03292 = 10017332, and DC03293 = 10017333, and DC03391 = 10017384
Editor 2012-01-06 Wilson, Anna B U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 1983-11-17 Intermountain Field Operations Center (IFOC) U.S. Bureau of Mines 0080130211 = 10141957

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.