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Rainbow Mine

Past Producer in Brewster county in Texas, United States with commodity Mercury
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Geologic structures
  10. Ore body information
  11. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Mineral rights holdings
  15. Land status
  16. Ownership information
  17. Production statistics
  18. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10040390
MRDS ID M055144
MAS/MILS ID 480430035
Record type Site
Current site name Rainbow Mine
Related records 10154033

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Main Entrance
Geographic coordinates: -103.62444, 29.31873 (WGS84)
Elevation 895
Location accuracy 250(meters)
Relative position Coordinates are for second mine shaft labeled "Mine" on topo southeast of summit 3092 at south end of Fossil Knobs.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Brewster(county)

Texas(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Terlingua(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Chisos Mountains(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Emory Peak(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Terlingua(hydrologic unit)

Rio Grande-Amistad(hydrologic accounting unit)

Rio Grande-Amistad(hydrologic subregion)

Rio Grande(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Texas Brewster

Comments on the location information

  • MINE IS LOCATED IN SECTION 70, BLOCK G12.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Mercury Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cinnabar Ore
Calcite Gangue
Clay Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Santa Elena Shale;Del Rio;Boquillas
    Rock description Santa Elena Shale;Del Rio;Boquillas

Nearby scientific data

Main Entrance (1) -103.62444, 29.31873
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Asymmetric Terlingua Anticline

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Solution Collapse Along Santa Elena Limestone-Del Rio Clay Contact Controlled By A N60e Fault Zone.

Comments on the geologic information

  • CRET. LIMESTONE AND SHALE IS CUT BY N-W TRENDING NORMAL FAULTS.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1900
Year of first production 1916
Year of last production 1942
Production years UNCERTAIN: OPENED 1916, LEASED 1918, REOPENED 1927, OPERATING 1934.

Mining district

District name Terlingua

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Private Lease

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Rainbow Quicksilver Mines
    Home office Texas
    Year 1979
  • Type Operator
    Owner Rainbow Mining Co. )
    First year 1918

Production statistics

  • Year 1943
    Period 1929-1943
    Material HG
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^5-18 Lb/Ton
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Mercury Mercury 5495g/mt

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Overall depth 204.22M
  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings 670 ft. shaft, drifts on several levels

Comments on the workings information

  • RAINBOW SHAFT 670 FT WITH DRIFTS AT 50 FT INTERVALS DOWN TO 635 FT LEVEL.

Comments on development

  • EXPLORATION DRILLING IN THE 1930'S FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE SHAFT LOCATED SEVERAL HIGH-GRADE OREBODIES WHICH WERE MINED OUT BY 1942. PROSPECTED 1951-52 BY PAULSEL MINING CO. AND OTHERS. ; ECON.COM: ORE TREATED IN A 10 TPD FURNACE INSTALLED IN THE 1930'S. ORE RESERVES EXHAUSTED IN 1942.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    BAILEY, E.H., USGS, PERSONAL FILES

  • Deposit

    CHESTER, J.W., 1965, MERCURY IN TEXAS: USBM IC 8252

  • Deposit

    USGS PP 312

  • Deposit

    TX BEG MRC-73, P. 19.

  • Deposit

    FIELD WORK BY C.P. ROSS AND OTHERS 1934

  • Deposit

    Bailey, E.H., 1962, Mercury in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Investigations Resource Map MR-30, 8 p. pamphlet, scale 1:3,168,000.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

  • Production

    USBM DATA

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THREE OREBODIES ALONG DEL RIO CLAY/SANTA ELENA LIMESTONE CONTACT: (1) TRENDS N70E, 700 FT LONG; (2) SEMI PARALLEL TO (1); (3) EXTENDS INTO ADJACENT CHISOS MINE.
Deposit CINNABAR-BEARING CALCITE VEINS IN CRET BOQUILLAS FLAGS WAS NEAR SURFACE ORE. AT LOWER LEVELS ORE ZONES DEVELOPED ALONG DEVILS RIVER LIMESTONE-GRAYSON FM CONTACT BY SOLUTION COLLAPSING OF GRAYSON FM AND REPLACEMENT OF CLAY MATRIX

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 1973-10-01 Bergquist, Joel R. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 1992-09-01 Long, Keith R. U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 2012-11-01 Wilson, Anna B U.S. Geological Survey merged and deleted duplicate record 10154033.
Reporter 1983-11-18 Garner U.S. Bureau of Mines MAS 0480430035 = 10154033.

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site