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Crystal Mountain Fluorspar Mine

Producer in Ravalli county in Montana, United States with commodities Fluorine-Fluorite, Cobalt, Nickel, Uranium, REE
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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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Ore body information
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Land status
  14. Ownership information
  15. Production statistics
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10069419
MRDS ID W006948
Record type Site
Current site name Crystal Mountain Fluorspar Mine
Alternate or previous names Crystal Mountain Mine Retirement Group, Lumberjack Outcrops
Related records 10221405

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -113.8876, 46.00572 (WGS84)
Elevation 2073
Relative position 42 KM. BY ROAD EAST OF DARBY NEAR THE SUMMIT OF SLEEPING CHILD DIVIDE IN THE BITTEROOT NATIONAL FOREST

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Ravalli(county)

Montana(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bald Top Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Philipsburg(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Butte(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Bitterroot(hydrologic unit)

Pend Oreille(hydrologic accounting unit)

Kootenai-Pend Oreille-Spokane(hydrologic subregion)

Pacific Northwest(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bitterroot 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 Montana Ravalli

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Montana Principal 003N 019W 18,17 S2 (18); SW (17) Montana

Comments on the location information

  • THE LUMBERJACK DEPOSITS ARE ABOUT 2080 M. ABOVE SEA LEVEL. THE RETIREMENT OUTCROPS ARE 900 M. TO THE EAST AT 2225 M. ALTITUDE. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1978)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Fluorine-Fluorite Critical Primary
Cobalt Critical Secondary
Nickel Critical Secondary
Uranium Tertiary
REE Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • BIOTITE CONCENTRATES SLIGHTLY RADIOACTIVE.
  • THE FLUORITE IS BROWNISH, GRAY-WHITE, AND PURPLISH IN COLOR.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Fluorite Ore
Quartz Gangue
Sericite Gangue

Analytical data

Result AVERAGE GRADE OF ORE IS 96% CAF2. WEIGHTED AVERAGE OF 9 BUREAU OF MINES SAMPLES SHOWED 97.2% CAF2, 1.44% SIO2, 0.13% FE (SAMPLES FROM LUMBERJACK OUTCROPS). SPECTROGRAPHIC ANALYSIS REVEALED A1 - 1 - 5%
Result MG, FE, SI, NA, ZR - 0.1 - 1%
Result CU, CO, BA - 0.01 - 0.1%
Result AND NI, TI, CB - 0.001 - 0.01%. DARK FLUORITE ASSAYED: 0.13% EQUIVALENT U AND 0.78% CHEMICAL U.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -113.8876, 46.00572
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR LENTICULAR
    Dip 10-35SE

Comments on the geologic information

  • FAULTS AND JOINTS CAN BE GROUPED INTO THOSE THAT TREND NNE, ENE, WNW, OR NNW. THE GEORGETOWN LST. WAS A FAVORED HOST ROCK DUE TO ITS INTENSE JOINTING. THE RELATIVELY UNJOINTED DEL RIO SHALE WAS LESS PERMEABLE AND THE MINERALIZING AGENTS WERE AT FIRST PONDED AGAINST IT. THE GEORGETOWN LST. IS DARK GRAY AND MASSIVE. THE DEL RIO SHALE IS WELL-BEDDED, BLACK, AND PYRITIFEROUS.
  • PURE FLUORITE UNIFORM IN APPEARANCE AND QUALITY. OUTCROPS ARE SEPARATED BY GRANITE DIKES.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1937
Discoverer L. I. Thompson, A. E. Cumley
Year of first production 1952

Mining district

District name Sapphire Mountains Area

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Roberts Mining Co., Box 365, Darby, Mt., 59829
  • Type Owner
    Owner R. D. Flightner, A. E. Cumley, L. I. Thompson

Production statistics

  • Year 1955
    Period 1954-1955
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^96 % Caf2
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major CaF2 Ore Fluorine-Fluorite Fluorine 96wt-pct
  • Year 1961
    Period 1952-1961
    Material F
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^96% Caf2
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major CaF2 Fluorine-Fluorite Fluorine 96wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTIVE PERIOD IS 1952 TO AT LEAST 1972 CONTINUOUSLY.
  • ITEM 1 (ANNUAL PRODUCTION) - PRODUCTION IS FOR THE MUZQUIZ FLOTATION PLANT WHICH AHS A CAPACITY OF 600 MTPD AND PRODUCES 150,000 MTPA. ITEM 1 IN THE CUMULATIVE PRODUCTION IS FROM VAN ALSTINE.

Comments on the workings information

  • 1956- CRUSHING, SORTING, AND SCREENING PLANT WAS BUILT. MILL CAPACITY: 50 T/HR. OPEN PIT.

Comments on development

  • ECON.COM: INDIVIDUAL ORE BODIES ARE SMALL AND NOT SUITED TO LARGE-SCALE MINING OPERATIONS.
  • RETIREMENT OUTCROPS WERE FOUND WHEN A FOREST TRAIL WAS BEING PUT IN. IT IS FOUND NE OF SE 18; AND NW OF SW 17. LUMBERJACK IS IN THE NW OF SW 18. ; ECON.COM: ACCESS ROAD IMPASSABLE IN WINTER DUE TO SNOW. HEAVY-MEDIA PLANT AT DARBY

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    MBMG BULL 28, P. 5-11.

  • Deposit

    USBM REP INVES 4916.

  • Deposit

    MINING WORLD, V 15, NO 7, P. 43-46.

  • Deposit

    USGS BULL 1074-B, P. 19-21.

  • Deposit

    MBMG BULL 8, P. 22, 55-57.

  • Deposit

    MBMG BULL 109, P. 26.

  • Deposit

    1951 DIREXPL U. S. BU MINES, LUMBERJACK O. C. OUTLINE

  • Production

    USBM MIN. YBK, 1952-1972., MBMG BULL 8., MBMG BULL 28.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DEPOSITS FROM DISCONTINUOUS LENSES OR POCKETS IN SOLUTION CAVITIES IN LIMESTONE OR REPLACEMENT DEPOSITS IN THE LIMESTONE OR SHALE. IN 1963, TEMPLE AND GROGAN RECOGNIZED 110 DISTINCT MANTOS IN 56 "MINES". THE MANTOS WERE 20 TO 250 FT LONG (AVE. 112 FT), 10 TO 70 FT WIDE (AVE. 28 FT), AND 0.6 TO 13.3 FT THICK (AVE. 2.9 FT). THE MANTOS HAD GRADES RANGING FROM 20% TO 80% CAF2 (AVE. 60%) AND CONTAINED 36 TO 8000 ST OF FLUORITE (AVE. 915).
Deposit FERGUSONITE IN COARSELY CRYSTALLINE LIGHT-COLORED FLUORITE. THE LUMBERJACK GROUP OF OUTCROPS INCLUDES 3 MAIN BODIES 30-60 M WIDE AND 60-100 M LONG WITH A DIP OF 10-35SE. DEPOSITS CONTINUE UNDERGROUND DOWN-DIP. THE SMALLER RETIREMENT GROUP CONSISTS OF 2 ELLIPTICAL OUTCROPS 18 M WIDE AND 45 M LONG WHICH APPEAR TO BE RELATIVELY THIN.
Deposit NO VEGETATION GROWS ON OUTCROP AND IT HAS BEEN WEATHERED WHITE SO IT IS EASY TO SEE. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT
Deposit Discovery Year: 1937; FLUORSPAR IDENTIFIED 1951

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-1975 Schruben, Paul G. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JUN-1981 Wise, Kristine K. (Elliott, James E.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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