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Crystal Mountain Pegmatite District

Producer in Larimer county in Colorado, United States with commodities Mica, Beryllium, Uranium, Feldspar, Niobium (Columbium), Tantalum, Gemstone, Manganese, Lithium, Bismuth, 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. 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. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10107992
MRDS ID D010383
Record type District
Current site name Crystal Mountain Pegmatite District
Alternate or previous names Storm Mountain District

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -105.43253, 40.53887 (WGS84)
Elevation 2499
Relative position TO MILES N TO E FROM ESTES PARK

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Larimer(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Crystal Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fort Collins(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Greeley(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Big Thompson(hydrologic unit)

South Platte(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Platte(hydrologic subregion)

Missouri(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Arapaho and Roosevelt 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 Larimer

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
6th Principal 006N;007N;007N;008N 071W;071W;072W;071W 03,04,09,10,18,28;05,22,30,31;14,20,21,24,25,26,27,29,36;20,21,26,27,28,36 Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • IN CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN AND STORM MOUNTAIN AREAS ALONG UPPER REACHES OF BUCKHORN CREEK AND ITS TRIBUTARIES (CASCADE CREEK, LAKEY CANYON, STOVE PRAIRIE CREEK, SHEEP CREEK, FISH CREEK, BEAR GULCH). OUTLYING DEPOSITS LIE ALONG CACHE LA POUDRE RIVER DRAINAGE (YOUNG GULCH) AND IN BIG THOMPSON RIVER DRAINAGE (BOBCAT GULCH, NORTH FORK). DISTRICT ACCESSIBLE FROM COLORADO 14 UP CACHE LA POUDRE RIVER AND ON CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN ROAD, OLD BALLARD ROAD, POLE HILL ROAD, STOVE PRAIRIE ROAD, RIST CANYON ROAD, AND VIA U.S. 34 UP BIG THOMPSON RIVER THRU DRAKE AND ON STORM MOUNTAIN TRAIL. DISTRICT EXTENDS ONTO POUDRE PARK, BUCKHORN MOUNTAIN, GLEN HAVEN, AND DRAKE QUADS. OUTLYING MINE LIES IN SEC. 08, T5N, R71W. ELEV GIVEN IS FOR DISTRICT'S OLDEST MINE, BUCKHORN; LAT-LONG GIVEN IS FOR CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN (S2 SEC. 26, T7N, R72W). ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1980)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Mica Primary
Beryllium Critical Primary
Uranium Primary
Feldspar Primary
Niobium (Columbium) Critical Secondary
Tantalum Critical Secondary
Gemstone Secondary
Manganese Critical Secondary
Lithium Critical Tertiary
Bismuth Critical Tertiary
REE Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Beryl Ore
Chrysoberyl Ore
Microcline Ore
Muscovite Ore
Tourmaline Ore
Uraninite Ore
Albite Gangue
Amblygonite Gangue
Apatite Gangue
Bertrandite Gangue
Bismutite Gangue
Cleavelandite Gangue
Fluorite Gangue
Hematite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Monazite Gangue
Purpurite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Sericite Gangue
Sillimanite Gangue
Spodumene Gangue
Torbernite Gangue
Triphylite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Albite And Sericite Replacement Of Spodumene; Tourmalinization Of Schistose Wallrock; Silicification Of Tonalite Wallrock; Fe Oxidation

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Tonalite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Pegmatite
    Rock unit name Pegmatite;Tonalite (Quartz Diorite)
    Rock description Pegmatite;Tonalite (Quartz Diorite)
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Tonalite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist > Mica Schist
    Rock unit name Metasedimentary Rocks--Quartz-Mica Schist;Pegmatite
    Rock description Metasedimentary Rocks--Quartz-Mica Schist;Pegmatite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -105.43253, 40.53887
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Front Range Uplift
Type of structure Local
Structure description Thompson Canyon Fault, Mt Olympus Batholith, Ne-Trending Folds

Ore body information

  • General form LENTICULAR, TABULAR, IRREGULAR

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Discordant Pegmatites Localized By Simple Fractures In Schist And Joints In Tonalite; Concordant Pegmatites Localized By Foliation Trends In Schist And By Flow Structure Within Margins Of Tonalite Sills; Mica And Be In Pegmatites Localized By Zoning, As Function Of Cooling/Crystallization/Differentiation History; Be More Localized In Discordant Pegmatites In Schist Farther From Tonalite Sill Margins.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1884
Year of first production 1884
Year of last production 1971

Mining district

District name Crystal Mountain (Storm Mountain) Pegmatite District

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Comments on the workings information

  • MOST WORKINGS ARE S ALL OPEN PITS, TRENCHES, AND HILLSIDE CUTS. MINOR UNDERGROUND WORKINGS CONSIST OF SHORT SHAFTS (UP TO 50 FT DEEP) AND DRIFTS.

Comments on development

  • FIRST DISCOVERY WAS AT BUCKHORN MINE IN 1884. CRYSTAL SILICA MINE ALSO PROBABLY OPENED BEFORE 1900. OTHER MAJOR MINES OPENED IN 1930S FOLLOWING DISCOVERY OF BERYL IN PEGMATITES IN 1934. FROM 1942 TO 1950, USGS INVESTIGATED BE, TA, MIC, AND LI IN NUMEROUS PEGMATITE DISTRICTS, INCLUDING CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN AT HYATT RANCH, BUCKHORN, AND OTHERS (HANLEY AND OTHERS, 1950). USBM DID ADDITIONAL DRILLING FOR BE RESERVES AT HYATT RANCH IN 1950. OTHER SMALL BE AND MIC PROPERTIES OPENED AND PRODUCED IN 1950S TO 1963. LAST REPORTED PRODUCTION WAS 1971 AT CORRAL POLE. PROBABLY SOME SPORADIC MINERAL AND SPECIMEN COLLECTING CONTINUES.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DETAILED RECORDS PREPARED FOR MINES THAT PRODUCED BE AND FOR PRINCIPAL BE PROSPECTS (WHERE LOCATABLE): BERYL DIKE, BERYL NO. 3, BERYL NO. 5, BIG BOULDER, BUCKHORN MICA, CALYPSO BERYL, CORRAL POLE, CRYSTAL SILICA, CRYSTAL SNOW, DEBBIE DOLL, DOUBLE OPENING, GIANT CRYSTAL, GREEN CRYSTAL, HANKS HOLE, H G & S NO. 3, HIDE ABOVE, HILLTOP NO. 23, HUCKLEBERRY, HUMPHREY BERYL, HYATT RANCH, JAY DEE DEE, KINGS CANYON, LEWIS BERYL, LODGE POLE, MICA-BERYL, MICA DIKE, MT ETHEL, PAN, PRIMROSE BERYL, RITA BERYL, SILICA BERYL, TANTALUM, WISDOM RANCH. RECORD ALSO PREPARED FOR PRINCIPAL U PROPERTY, EUREKA GROUP. OTHER PROPERTIES CONTAINING AND/OR PRODUCING BE BUT UNLOCATABLE INCLUDE DONNELL, LOOKOUT BERYL, NEW HOPE, LIVINGSTON, RADIAL BERYL, PLAINS VIEW, WHITE ROCK, IBEX, AND SHEEP CREEK. OTHER RECORDED PRODUCING PROPERTY FOR WHICH LOCATION IS HIGHLY INDEFINITE IS LANGSTON MINE. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT
Deposit MAJORITY OF PEGMATITES IN DISTRICT ARE CLASSIFIED HOMOGENEOUS, CONSISTING MOSTLY OF PERTHITE, PLAGIOCLASE, QUARTZ, AND MUSCOVITE OF RELATIVE UNIFORM TEXTURE AND DISSEMINATION; OTHERS SHOW SOME INCREASE IN GRAIN SIZE AND FORMATION OF CLOTS OR PODS TOWARD CENTER. THIS IS OTHER END MEMBER OF CONTINUOUS SERIES FROM WELL-ZONED PEGMATITES. ZONED PEGMATITES CONSIST OF 1) BORDER ZONE OF FINE-GRAINED QUARTZ AND MUSCOVITE WITH SOME PLAGIOCLASE, ONLY SEVERAL INCHES THICK; SHARP, DISTINCT CONTACT WITH SCHIST WALLROCK, IRREGULAR GRADATIONAL CONTACT WITH TONALITE WALLROCK; PREFERRED ORIENTATION OF MUSCOVITE AND QUARTZ NORMAL TO WALL; 2) WALL ZONE OF FELDSPAR WITH SUBORDINATE QUARTZ, MINOR MUSCOVITE, ACCESSORY BERYL, GARNET, AND TOURMALINE; MEDIUM- TO FINE-GRAINED, RANDOMLY ORIENTED CRYSTALS, WITH SOME ORIENTATION OF ELONGATE MINERALS NORMAL TO WALLS; 3) INTERMEDIATE ZONE OF PERTHITE OR PERTHITE-QUARTZ PEGMATITE, OCCASIONALLY SUBDIVISIBLE, OCCASIONALLY DISCONTINUOUS, WITH PROMINENT SEGREGATIONS OF
Deposit OTHERMINERALS; SOME TENDENCY FOR CONCENTRATION IN UPPER PART AS DOME OR HOOD, AND NOTICEABLE VERTICAL AND LATERAL TELESCOPING; 4) CORE OF COARSE-GRAINED QUARTZ, PERTHITE, OR QUARTZ-PERTHITE AS ELONGATE OR OVOID LENSES OR SERIES OF DISCONNECTED SEGMENTS. BERYL, GARNET, TOURMALINE, AND RARE MINERALS USUALLY CONCENTRATED IN IRREGULAR, COARSE-GRAINED, SEGREGATIONS OR MASSES (KNOWN AS SHOOTS, STREAKS, OR POCKETS) SEPARATED BY RELATIVELY BARREN ROCK. BASIC MINERALOGIC TYPES OF PEGMATITES INCLUDE 1) FELDSPAR-RICH PEGMATITE, SUBDIVIDED INTO PLAGIOCLASE-PERTHITE-QUARTZ TYPE AND PERTHITE-PLAGIOCLASE-QUARTZ TYPE (FURTHER SUBDIVIDED INTO THREE TYPES ON BASIS OF PERTHITE-PLAGIOCLASE RATIO); 2) QUARTZ-RICH PEGMATITE; AND 3) TOURMALINE-RICH PEGMATITE (GT 5 %).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAR-83 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey
Editor 16-NOV-11 Wilson, Anna B U.S. Geological Survey Changed record type from site to district.

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Colorado resources

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