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Climax Molybdenum Mine

Occurrence in Park county in Colorado, United States with commodities Tungsten, Molybdenum, Tin, REE
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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. Nearby scientific data
  8. Geologic structures
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Ownership information
  11. Production statistics
  12. Reserves and resources
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10055834
MRDS ID SP00033
Record type Site
Current site name Climax Molybdenum Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -106.16839, 39.37027 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Lake(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Climax(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Leadville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Leadville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Arkansas Headwaters(hydrologic unit)

Upper Arkansas(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Arkansas(hydrologic subregion)

Arkansas-White-Red(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Pike and San Isabel 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 Park

Comments on the location information

  • POINT OF REFERENCE IS CENTROID; 100

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Tungsten Critical Primary
Molybdenum Primary
Tin Critical Primary
REE Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • MOLYBDENUM IS PRIMARY PRODUCT. TUNGSTEN IS MAJOR BY-PRODUCT. HUEBNERITE, CASSITERITE, PYRITE, AND MONZANITE ARE BY-PRODUCTS.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Molybdenite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Fluorite Gangue
Huebnerite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Sericite Gangue
Topaz Gangue

Nearby scientific data

(1) -106.16839, 39.37027
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Fractured Rhyolite Stock

Comments on the geologic information

  • FORMATION NAME IS CLIMAX STOCK. THREE SUCCESSIVE STAGES OR EPISODES OF MINERALIZATION RELATED TO EVOLUTION OF CLIMAX STOCK DURING OLIGOCENE - ENDING ABOUT 30 MY BEFORE PRESENT. MAJOR POST-ORE GEOLOGIC EVENT WAS THE MAJOR REACTIVATION OF PRE-ORE MOUSQUITO FAULT. AGE OF POST-ORE GEOLOGIC EVENT IS LTERT.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1879
Year of first production 1948

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Climax Molybdenum Co., Division Of American Metal Climax Inc. (Amax)

Production statistics

  • Year 1984
    Period 1948-84
    Material W03
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^100% W03
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Wo3 Tungsten Tungsten 100wt-pct
  • Year 1984
    Material W
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^100% W
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Wo3 Tungsten Tungsten 100wt-pct
  • Year 1985
    Material W
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^100% W
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Wo3 Tungsten Tungsten 100wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION CAPACITY: 900 MT/Y IN 1983. FUTURE FOR TUNGSTEN PRODUCTION ENTIRELY DEPENDENT ON MARKET CONDITIONS OF MAJOR PRODUCT - MOS2. MAJOR SOURCE OF UNITED STATES TUNGSTEN PRODUCTION. W03 IS BY-PRODUCT. PRODUCTION CONTINUING AT APPROXIMATELY THE SAME RATE.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1982
    Total resources 340000000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Tungsten Wo3 0.03 wt-pct Tungsten Major 1982

Comments on development

  • NATURE OF DISCOVERY WAS CONVENTIONAL PROSPECTING. PRODUCT UPGRADED BEFORE EXPORT: CONCENTRATES. CLOSED FROM MID-1982 TO MARCH 1984; THEN REOPENED. NON-GEOLOGIC CONSTRAINTS ON DEVELOPMENT OR EXPANSION IN 1-5 YEARS DUE TO THE MARKET. THERE IS ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE MINE. PREDICTION OF 20 YEARS FUTURE OPERATION.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    WALLACE, S.R., MUNCASTER, N.K., JONSON, D.C., MACKENZIE, W.B., BOOKSTROM, A.A., SURFACE, V.E., 1968, MULTIPLE INTRUSION AND MINERALIZATION AT CLIMAX, COLORADO, IN J.D. RIDGE (ED.), ORE DEPOSITS OF THE UNITED STATES, 1933-1967 (GRATON-SALES VOLUME), VOL. 1: NEW YORK, AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING, METALLURGICAL AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERS, P. 605-640, ILLUS., TABLES.. . AMAX, INC., ANNUAL REPORT, 1982.. . STAFF, TUNGSTEN SUPPLY AND DEMAND EXAMINED, MINING JOURNAL, NO. 7859, APRIL 4, 1986, P. 235.. . HO, E., CHANGES IN THE PATTERN OF TUNGSTEN TRADE, IN MPR PUBLISHING SERVICES LTD., TUNGSTEN: 1985, PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL TUNGSTEN SYMPOSIUM, MADRID, MAY 1985, P. 183-191.. . UNITED STATES, SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, AMAX, INC., FORM 10-K, FOR THE YEAR ENDING, 31 DECEMBER 1985

  • Production

    INTERNATIONAL STRATEGIC MINERALS INVENTORY RECORD W110

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DEPTH OF COVER: 0 TO DEPTH OF MINING. DEPTH OF UNCONSOLIDATED COVER: RANGES FROM 0 - MANY METERS.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1985 Hobbs, Warren S. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 16-AUG-0007 Melton, Greg U.S. 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.