| Deposit ID | 10230492 |
|---|---|
| MAS/MILS ID | 560070328 |
| Record type | Site |
| Current site name | Elk Mountain mine |
| Alternate or previous names | Elk Mountain Mining and Milling Company, Elk Mountain Prospect, M & M Elk Mountain Mine, Elk Mountain District, M & M's Elk Mountain mine |
| Point of reference | Geographic coordinates: | Elevation | UTM | Precision | Relative position | Point location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ore Body | -106.58694, 41.60889 (WGS84) | 2469 | 10 | Adit on topo in NW 4 Sec. 23. At 8100 ft. contour on south side of unnamed tributary to Brush Creek. Description of mine is a 175 ft shaft. Wilson and Heran were unable to find any hint of a mine, other than two heaps of wood that may or may not have been buidlings at one time. | ||
| (click for info) | ||||||
| Approximate | -106.59167, 41.60389 (WGS84) | 10 | Possible diggings on the east side of a small saddle about 1/2 mi. east of Brush Creek on the secion line between secs. 22 and 23. An old road is overgrown but can be followed as a foot trail. A. Wilson (USGS) visited and took GPS reading on Aug. 5, 2010. | |||
Political divisions (FIPS codes)
Carbon(county)
Wyoming(state)
United States(country)
North America(continent)
Land(continent)
USGS map quadrangles
Coad Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)
Medicine Bow(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)
Rawlins(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)
Hydrologic units (watersheds)
Upper North Platte(hydrologic unit)
North Platte(hydrologic accounting unit)
North Platte(hydrologic subregion)
Missouri(hydrologic region)
| Country | State | County |
|---|---|---|
| United States | Wyoming | Carbon |
| Meridian | Township | Range | Section | Fraction | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6th Principal | 19N | 082W | 22, 23, 26, 27, 28 | Wyoming |
| Commodity | Importance |
|---|---|
| Copper | Primary |
| Silver | Secondary |
| Gold | Secondary |
| Materials | Type of material |
|---|---|
| Chalcocite | Ore |
| Chalcopyrite | Ore |
| Model code | 72 |
|---|---|
| USGS model code | 19a |
| Deposit model name | Polymetallic replacement |
| Mark3 model number | 47 |
| Host or associated | Host | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock type | Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone | ||||
| Rock unit name | Madison Limestone | ||||
| |||||
| Ore Body (1) | -106.58694, 41.60889 | |
|---|---|---|
| Approximate (2) | -106.59167, 41.60389 |
| Operation type | Surface-Underground |
|---|---|
| Development status | Past Producer |
| Commodity type | Metallic |
| Significant | No |
| Year of last production | 1902 |
| District name | Elk Mountain District |
|---|
| Ownership category | State |
|---|
| Type of workings | Underground |
|---|
| Agency | Database name | Acronym | Record ID | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Bureau of Mines | Minerals Availability System | MAS | 560070328 | |
| USGS | Mineral Resources Data System | MRDS | W900041 | Terry Klein submitted record to MRDS in 2000, not yet incorporated into newMRDS. |
Osterwald and others, 1966, Mineral Resources of Wyoming: Geological Survey of Wyoming Bull. 50 [revised ed.], p. 43, 119, 174.
Osterwald and others, 1959, Mineral Resources of Wyoming: Geological Survey of Wyoming Bull. 50, p. 40, 157.
Hausel, 1989, The geology of Wyoming's precious metal lode and placer deposits: Geological Survey of Wyoming Bull. 68, p. 108-109.
Harris, Hausel, and Meyer, 1985, Metallic and industrial minerals map of Wyoming: Geological Survey of Wyoming Map Series 14, scale 1:500,000.
Hausel, 1997, Copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, and associated metal deposits of Wyoming: WGS Bull. 70, p. 119.
| Subject category | Comment text |
|---|---|
| General | Wilson (USGS Field notes, Aug. 5, 2010) concluded "that the M&M, if either of these sites was the M&M Elk Moutain, is/was very small and long gone." This record falls into the category of abandoned mine. |
| Deposit | A.B. Wilson and W. Heran attempted to visit this site on Aug. 5, 2010. Amazinigly, the FS road shown on the topo immediately east of Brush Creek was open and not posted or gated. However, we found little, if any evidence of a mine at this site, only evidence that is has been used as a hunting camp. There were round nodules of chert or chalcedony (not calcareous--they do not fizz with acid) in a limestone matrix in float in what is left of the road. A tougher off road vehichle might have been able to drive all the way to the site (we stopped about 1/2 mi away). We found several collapsed piles of wood but were unable to determine if these had been buildings or were remnants from saw mill. As we were unable to find anything resembling a mine or prospect, we did not take any geochemical samples. |
| Deposit | Citing references from 1905 and earlier, Hausel (1980 and 1997), summarizes this as a copper-and iron-stained gossan. Based on those early reports, Hausel (1997) describes the site as follows: "Located in secs. 22, 23, and 26, T19N, R82W. Operated by the Elk Mountain Mining and Milling Company, the property was discovered as a copper- and iron-stained gossan [...]. The deposit lies on the north side of Pass Creek in a series of north-trending fractures along the contact between Madison Limestone and Precambrian schist and granite. Two feet of limestone breccia containing iron oxides, copper oxides, and copper carbonates were discovered. Bunches and streaks of gold- and silver-bearing chalcocite varied from mere specks to masses weighing several hundrd pounds [...]. Chalcopyrite was discovered below the chalcocite [...]. According to Beeler {..], more than 300 feet of drifts and shafts were dug by 1902, and smelter returns showed a shiopment of 15.75 tons of ore yielded 4380.21 poiunds of copper (14% Cu)." |
| Type | Date | Name | Affiliation | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reporter | 1983-11-18 | Intermountain Field Operations Center (IFOC) | U.S. Bureau of Mines | |
| Editor | 2008-10-31 | Wilson, Anna B. | U.S. Geological Survey | revised 6/16/10. Site visit 8/5/2010. |
Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.