1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Happy Thought Mine

Past Producer in Mineral county in Colorado, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Zinc, Gold, Copper, Manganese
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
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. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10087588
MRDS ID D007960
Record type Site
Current site name Happy Thought Mine
Related records 10264261

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -106.94034, 37.88973 (WGS84)
Elevation 3185
Relative position 2.6 MILES N16W FROM CREEDE (B.M. 8853 AT NORTH END OF TOWN)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Mineral(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

San Luis Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Del Norte(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Durango(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic accounting unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic subregion)

Rio Grande(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Rio Grande 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 Mineral

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 042N 001W 13 SW OF SW OF NW Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • S-T-R, LAT-LONG, AND ELEV DETERMINED FROM EMMONS AND LARSEN'S (1923) TOPO MAP (1:24,000). MINE OR CLAIM LIES ABOVE W. WILLOW CR. MIDWAY BETW. AMETHYST AND PARK REGENT MINE ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1976)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary
Gold Primary
Copper Secondary
Manganese Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Anglesite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Silver Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Amethyst Gangue
Barite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Hematite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Chloritization; Fe And Mn Oxides, Cu Carbonate; Sericitization

Analytical data

Result ORE FROM STOPE 20 FT ABOVE TUNNEL (LEVEL 12) 400 FT NORTH OF SHAFT REPORTEDLY CARRIED 10 OZ/TON AG, 8% PB, $2/TON AU. ASSAYS OF CONCENTRATES: 877.1 TONS ZN CONC. ASSAYED 37% ZN, 8.10% PB, 4.5 OZ/TON AG, 0.4 OZ/TON AU
Result 405.07 TONS ZN CONC. ASSAYED 25 TO 31% ZN, 7 TO 11% PB, 2 TO 3 OZ/TON AG, 0.32 TO 0.52 OZ/TON AU
Result 1615.4 TONS ZN CONC. ASSAYED 28% ZN, 10% PB, 5 OZ/TON AG, 0.3 OZ/TON AU
Result 426.4 TONS PB CONC. ASSAYED 65% PB, 6.9 OZ/TON AG, 1.1 OZ/TON AU
Result 325.9 TONS PB CONC. ASSAYED 52% PB, 6 OZ/TON AG, 1 OZ/TON AU
Result 517.2 TONS PB CONC. ASSAYED 68% PB, 5.5 OZ/TON AG, 1.3 OZ/TON AU
Result 49.4 TONS SLIMES ASSAYED 21.7% PB, 4.6 OZ/TON AG, 0.48 OZ/TON AU.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
    Rock unit name Willow Creek Member Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite;Campbell Mtn. Member Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite
    Rock description Willow Cr. Mbr. Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite;Campbell Mtn. Mbr. Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Oligocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Oligocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
    Rock unit name Willow Creek Member Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite;Campbell Mtn. Member Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite
    Rock description Willow Cr. Mbr. Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite;Campbell Mtn. Mbr. Of Bachelor Mtn. Rhyolite

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description San Juan Volcanic Field; La Garita, Creede, And Bachelor Calderas
Type of structure Local
Structure description Creede Graben; Amethyst Fault Zone

Ore body information

  • Strike N25 TO 30W
    Dip 55 TO 65 SW
    Width 3.05M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Amethyst Fault Zone With Subparallel Fractures And Sheeted Zones In Hanging Wall

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1892

Mining district

District name Creede District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Minerals Engineering Co. (Meco)
    Home office Grand Junction, Co.
    First year 1981

Comments on the workings information

  • ONE SHAFT 1400 FT LONG ON INCLINE (1182 FT VERT. DIST), WITH 11 LEVELS TURNED APPROX. AT 100-FT INTERVALS. NELSON-WOOSTER-HUMPHREYS TUNNEL PASSES THRU BOTTOM OF MINE AT LEVEL 12.

Comments on development

  • IN 1894, UNITED MINES CO. EXTENDED THE 250-FT SHAFT TO 800 FT WITH DRIFTS AT 500, 600, AND 700 LEVELS. IN 1895, SHAFT EXTENDED TO 878 FT, LEVEL 8 DRIVEN, LEVEL 7 DRIVEN 654 FT SOUTH TO CONNECT WITH AMETHYST 5. IN 1896, BIG KANAWHA LEASING CO. EXTENDED SHAFT TO 1163 FT AND RAN LEVELS 9, 10, 11.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ATTITUDE IS FOR PRINCIPAL AMETHYST VEIN. ORE HIGHLY OXIDIZED TO 700 FT. NEARLY COMPLETE OXIDATION NOTED ON LEVEL 9. ON 10 LEVEL AND BELOW, SOME OXIDATION APPARENT IN CLOSELY SPACED STRINGERS. ON LEVEL 8, SULFIDE ORE IS CUT BY STRINGERS OF AURIFEROUS FE-MN OXIDES, CU CARBONATES, CERUSSITE.
Deposit Discovery Year: EARLY 1890S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1981 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references

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.