Bear Valley Placers

Past Producer in Valley county in Idaho, United States with commodities Niobium (Columbium), Tantalum, REE, Uranium, Titanium, Radium, Thorium
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. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Land status
  13. Ownership information
  14. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10105706
MRDS ID W014380
Record type Site
Current site name Bear Valley Placers

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -115.40178, 44.37071 (WGS84)
Elevation 1981
Relative position 23 MI NE LOWMAN

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Valley(county)

Idaho(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Cache Creek(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Deadwood River(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Challis(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Middle Fork Salmon(hydrologic unit)

Salmon(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Snake(hydrologic subregion)

Pacific Northwest(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Boise 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 Idaho Valley

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Boise 012N 009E 17 Idaho

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Niobium (Columbium) Critical Primary
Tantalum Critical Primary
REE Critical Primary
Uranium Primary
Titanium Critical Tertiary
Radium Tertiary
Thorium Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Columbite Ore
Euxenite Ore
Garnet Ore
Ilmenite Ore
Magnetite Ore
Monazite Ore
Tantalite Ore
Zircon Ore

Analytical data

Result SAMPLES FOUND EUXENITE AVE 1.0 LB / C. Y., COLUMBITE AVE 0.2 LB / C.Y., MONAZITE 0.5 LB/C.Y.
Result GRAVEL: 20-130 LB BLACK SAND/CY. { OTHER SAMPLES FOUND 0.05 LB ZIRCON/CY, 13 LB. GARNET/CY., 28 LB ILMENITE/C.Y., 7 LB MAGNETITE/C.Y.
Result FROM EUXENITE: CB2O5 23.29%, TA2O 1.5 - 3%, TIO2 22-26%, 2 - 16% U3O8, 2.5 - 5% THO2

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Idaho Batholith-Quartz Diorite;Pegmatite, Aplite Dikes
    Rock description Idaho Batholith-Quartz Diorite;Pegmatite, Aplite Dikes
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Alluvium
    Rock unit name Alluvium
    Rock description Alluvium

Nearby scientific data

(1) -115.40178, 44.37071

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Year of first production 1955

Mining district

District name Unorganized District; Bear Valley Area

Land status

Ownership category National Forest
Area name Boise National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Porter Brothers Corp.

Comments on the production information

  • 1955 - 99 % OF DOMESTIC SUPPLY OF COLUMBIUM AND TANTALUM PRODUCED FROM BEAR VALLEY PLACERS.

Comments on the workings information

  • DREDGING; DUG 7000-8000 YARDS GRAVEL/DAY.

Comments on development

  • 200 TON MILL AT LOWMAN

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ENG. MINING JOURNAL, MARCH, 1958.

  • Deposit

    DAYTON, S. H., 1958, RADIOACTIVE BLACK SAND IS YIELDING COLUMBITE CONCENTRATE AT IDAHO MILL: MINING WORLD, MAY, 1958.

  • Deposit

    MINING WORLD, JANUARY, 1958.

  • Deposit

    SAVAGE, C. N., 1961, METAL FROM BLACKSANDS: SELECTED TECHNOLOGIC AND ECONOMIC DATA: IDAHO BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY INF. CIRC. 10, 34 P.

  • Deposit

    1961 OTHER IDAHO BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY INF. CIRC. 1

  • Production

    SAVAGE, C. N., 1961, IDAHO BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY INF CIRC. 10, P. 18.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1976 Siefken, Robert R. (Miller, Pat) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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