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Lisbon Valley Copper

Producer in San Juan county in Utah, United States with commodity Copper
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Controls for ore emplacement
  15. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  16. Mining district
  17. Mineral rights holdings
  18. Land status
  19. Ownership information
  20. Production statistics
  21. Reserves and resources
  22. Links to other databases
  23. Bibliographic references
  24. General comments
  25. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10276693
MRDS ID W017284
MAS/MILS ID 0490370549
Record type Deposit
Current site name Lisbon Valley Copper
Alternate or previous names Lisbon Valley Potash Area, St Mary, St Mary's Copper Mine, Lisbon Valley Project, Centinnial, Sentinel, GTO
Related records 10072291

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Ore Body
Geographic coordinates: -109.20849, 38.19719 (WGS84)
Elevation 2070
Location accuracy 100(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

San Juan(county)

Utah(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Lisbon Valley(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

La Sal(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Moab(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Dolores(hydrologic unit)

Upper Colorado-Dolores(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Colorado-Dolores(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bureau of Land Management(Bureau of Land Management UT)

Bureau of Land Management UT BLM(Type of land area)

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Utah San Juan

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Salt Lake 030 S 025 E 08 NWNW Utah

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcocite Ore
Bornite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Covellite Ore
Digenite Ore
Brochantite Ore
Malachite Ore
Azurite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Goethite Gangue
Jarosite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Marcasite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) oxidation

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 203
USGS model code Unassigned
Deposit model name Sediment-hosted Cu, red-bed
Mark3 model number 97

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock type qualifier crossbedded sandstone, also contains pebbly conglomerate, shale, mudstone, and locally coal
    Rock unit name Dakota Sandstone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock type qualifier crossbedded stream-laid pebble conglomerate and coarse-grained conglomeratic sandstone, but it also contains finer grained sandstone layers and shale.
    Rock unit name Burro Canyon Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cretaceous

Nearby scientific data

Ore Body (1) -109.20849, 38.19719
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure name Lisbon Valley fault
Type of structure Local
Structure name salt anticlines

Ore body information

  • General form strata-bound

Controls for ore emplacement

  • faults intersecting regionally permeable aquifers
  • reduced facies sediments in redbed sequences
  • impermeable cap rock (salt dome)

Comments on the geologic information

  • Burro Canyon Formation:
    The Burro Canyon Formation overlies the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation. It consists chiefly of crossbedded stream-laid pebble conglomerate and coarse-grained conglomeratic sandstone, but it also contains finer grained sandstone layers and shale. The pebbles in the conglomerate are mostly light- to dark-gray chert and light-gray to cream-colored quartzite, mostly less than half an inch across but rarely several inches. Maximum measured thickness of the formation is about 110 feet. Lithologic character suggests that the Burro Canyon Formation was deposited by meandering streams shifting their channels across a broad alluvial plain.

    Dakota Sandstone:
    The Dakota consists mostly of crossbedded sandstone in beds a few inches to several feet thick. Beds are thinner and more uniform than in the underlying Burro Canyon. The Dakota also contains pebbly conglomerate, shale, mudstone, and locally coal.
    Fossil ripple marks, worm burrows, petrified wood, impressions of twigs, and carbonized plant matter?all common in the Dakota?indicate deposition in shallow water. The coal accumulated in a swamp. The upper part of the Dakota interfingers with the lower part of the overlying Mancos Shale. Deposition of the Dakota, therefore, presaged the readvance of a seaway across the western interior of the continent.


Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes
Mining method Open Pit
Year of first production 1970
Year of last production 2007
Plant type Leach
Plant subcategory Solvent Extraction-Electrowin
Milling method Leach-Solvent-Extract-Electrowin

Mining district

District name Moab District

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Located Claim

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Summo Minerals Corp.
    Interest 45
    Home office Canada
    Year 1996
  • Type Owner
    Owner St. Mary Land And Exploration
    Interest 55
    Year 1997
    First year 1997
  • Type Owner
    Owner U.S. Bureau Of Land Management
    Interest 100
    Year 1977
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Constellation Copper
    Interest 100
    Home office Lakewood CO 80235 \nUnited States
    Year 2010
    First year 2002

Production statistics

  • Year 2006
    Material High Country News, February 18, 2008\nhttp://www.hcn.org/issues/364/17521
    Accuracy Accurate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Primary Copper Copper 9000mt
  • Year 2007
    Material High Country News, February 18, 2008\nhttp://www.hcn.org/issues/364/17521
    Accuracy Accurate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Primary Copper Copper 8940mt

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Name Centennial, GTO, Sentinel
    Estimate year 2005
    Reserves 36700000mt ore
    Remarks 2005 NI 43-101 study, page 17.15. 169,000 mt contained Cu.
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper 0.46 wt-pct Copper Primary 2005
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1995
    Demonstrated 24865000mt ore
    Total resources 24865000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper Cu 0.445 wt-pct Copper Major 1995
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1995
    Demonstrated 8972000mt ore
    Total resources 8972000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper Cu 0.293 wt-pct Copper Major 1995
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1995
    Demonstrated 4849000mt ore
    Total resources 4849000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper Cu 0.625 wt-pct Copper Major 1995
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1995
    Demonstrated 38686000mt ore
    Total resources 38686000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper Cu 0.432 wt-pct Copper Major 1995
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1997
    Total resources 35000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper Cu 0.46 wt-pct Copper Major 1997

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Reserve-Resource

    MINING RECORD. V106/N28. JULY 12, 1995. P.5.

  • Deposit

    Buffington, Darrel L., P.E., King, Nelson D., Stevens, Mark G., C.P.G., Tschabrun, Donald B., 2005, Technical Report of the Lisbon Valley Copper Project, San Juan County, Utah; Prepared for Constellation Copper Corporation by Pincock, Allen & Holt, Mining Consultants, September 22, 2005, 108 pages.

  • Geology

    Morrison, S. J., and Parry, W. T. 1986, Formation of Carbonate-Sulfate Veins Associated with Copper Ore Deposits from Saline Basin Brines, Lisbon Valley, Utah: Fluid Inclusion and Isotopic Evidence: Econ Geol Vol., 81 pp. 1853-1866

  • Reserve-Resource

    RANDOL, MINING DIRECTORY, 1996/97, U.S. MINES & MINING COMPANIES, P315.

  • Deposit

    High Country News, February 18, 2008.

  • Deposit

    DIX GP JR 1954 URANIUM DEPOSITS BIG INDIAN WASH SAN JUAN CO UTAH USAEC RME 4022 REV

  • Deposit

    ISACHSEN YW 1954 ORE DEPOSITS BIG INDIAN WASH AREA GUIDEBOOK TO THE GEOLOGY OF UTAH NO 9 UGA

  • Deposit

    WOOD HB, 1968 GEOLOGY AND EXPLOITATION OF URANIUM DEPOSITS IN LISBON VALLEY AREA UTAH, IN RIDGE ed ORE DEPOSITS OF US, GRATON SALES VOL 1, AIME
    P 771-789

  • Deposit

    NEW YORK AIME

  • Deposit

    THE DENVER POST, THURSDAY, AUG. 10, 1995.

  • Deposit

    RANDOL, MINING DIRECTORY, 1994/95, U.S. MINES & MINING COMPANIES, P399.

  • Deposit

    "SUMMO MINERALS FINANCING COMMITMENT FOR LISBON VALLEY." FROM POINT CAST BUSINESS WIRE, 3-5-97.

  • Deposit

    THE MINING RECORD, VOL., 107, #42, OCT., 16, 1996, P1.

  • Deposit

    THE MINING RECORD, VOL., 107, #45, NOV., 6, 1996, P1.

  • Deposit

    THE MINING RECORD, VOL., 107, #46, NOV., 13, 1996, P3.

  • Deposit

    THE MINING RECORD, VOL., 108, #1, JAN. 1, 1997, P1.

  • Deposit

    THE MINING RECORD, VOL., 108, #6, FEB. 5, 1997, P1.

  • Deposit

    THE MINING RECORD, VOL., 108, #15, APR. 9, 1997, P1.

  • Deposit

    PAY DIRT, #693, MARCH, 1997, P14.

  • Deposit

    SUMMO MINERALS PRESS RELEASE, 5-27-96.

  • Deposit

    THE NORTHERN MINER, 6-2-97, P.14.

  • Deposit

    Weir, G. W., and Puffett, W. P., 1960, Similarities of uranium-vanadium and copper deposits in the Lisbon Valley area, Utah-
    Colorado,USA: Internat. Geol. Cong., 21st, Copenhagen 1960,
    Proc., p. 133-148.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit MINE IS APPROX. 44 MILES SOUTH OF MOAB, NEAR MONTICELLO, SAN JUAN CT, UTAH. THE PROJECT IS LOCATED IN LISBON VALLEY, UTAH ABOUT 45 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MOAB. IT IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE 40 MILLION LBS OF CATHODE COPPER ANNUALLY AT A CASH OPERATING COST OF US$0.47/LB. OVER A MINIMUM EIGHT YEAR MINE LIFE. FINANCING TO BE COMPLETED & COMMENCE CONSTRUCTION, EARLY 97. WHICH IS EXPECTED TO TAKE 12 MONTHS TO COMPLETE, INITIAL CATHODE COPPERPRODUCTION BY 1998.
Deposit The following is summarized from Morrison and Parry, (1986)
Copper-silver and uranium deposits are widely distributed in the Mesozoic red-bed sequence of clastic sediments. The copper-silver deposits are post-laramide faulting (Middle Cretaceous), whereas uranium deposits occur in sandstones of the Chinle (Triassic) and Morrison (Jurassic) Formations.
Copper deposits at Lisbon Valley occur along the Lisbon Valley fault in coal-bearing horizons of the Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone and Burro Canyon Formation. Copper mineralization is found as vein fillings, sandstone pore fillings, and replacements of coalified plant fossils. The primary copper mineral is chalcocite (sulfide), which is thought to have been deposited from upwelling Cu-rich basin brine solutions ascending through the Lisbon Valley Fault. Minor amounts of bornite, chalcopyrite, covellite, digenite, and brochantite as listed as ore minerals. Above the water table, chalcocite has been oxidized to malachite, azurite, tenorite, and cuprite. district. Gangue minerals include calcite, Ba-Sr sulfates, goethite, jarosite, pyrite, marcasite and, Mn oxide.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 20-AUG-97 Buckingham, David A. U.S. Bureau of Mines

Beyond USGS

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

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