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

Gem Park District

Past Producer in Fremont county in Colorado, United States with commodities Vermiculite, Nickel, Copper, Thorium, Niobium (Columbium), Iron, REE, Phosphorus-Phosphates, Silver, Cobalt
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Alteration
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Geologic structures
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Bibliographic references
  13. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10311020
Record type District
Current site name Gem Park District

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -105.54697, 38.26834 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Fremont(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Hillside(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Canon City(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Pueblo(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Arkansas Headwaters(hydrologic unit)

Upper Arkansas(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Arkansas(hydrologic subregion)

Arkansas-White-Red(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Fremont

Comments on the location information

  • On the Custer County - Fremont County border. Wet Mountains.
  • Basically coincident with the Gem Park igneous complex.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Vermiculite Primary
Nickel Critical Primary
Copper Secondary
Thorium Primary
Niobium (Columbium) Critical Primary
Iron Primary
REE Critical Primary
Phosphorus-Phosphates Secondary
Silver Secondary
Cobalt Critical Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Parker and Sharp (1970) believe that a significant niobium-REE-thorium deposit may lie within a carbonatite mass that they postulate lies beneath the fenitized mass at the Vermiculite Mine in this district.
  • Copper and nickel occur in the area but have not been sufficiently evaluated. Copper occurs as chalcopyrite in coarse pyroxenite at the periphery of the Gem Park complex, in fenitized rock at the Vermiculite Mine, and in a few carbonatite dikes. The "Gem Mine" on the northern periphery of the district contains nickel, copper, silver, and cobalt. Minerals there include niccolite, annabergite, and native silver. It was mined in the 1800s (Cappa, 1998).
  • The "Goldenite" and "Silverite" mines are part of a large, blanket-like vermiculite deposit (Bush, 1951). A large tonnage of material was produced in the past and is of a good grade.
  • Armbrustmacher and others (1988) report detailed mineralogy of carbonatites from drill core.
  • The "Mag Lode" prospect contains titanium-bearing iron ore. It is possibly titaniferous magnetite similar to that at Iron Mountain which is about seven miles northeast of the Gem Park district in the McClure Mountain igneous complex.

Alteration

  • (Local) fenitization

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Pyroxenite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Gabbro
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Carbonatite, Intrusive
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cambrian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Porphyry > Lamprophyre
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Syenite
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Alkalic Intrusive Rock > Nepheline Syenite
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Pegmatite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -105.54697, 38.26834
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description alkalic igneous complex;

Comments on the geologic information

  • Cambrian mafic and ultramafic alkalic complex.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both

Mining district

District name Gem Park District

Comments on the production information

  • A significant tonnage of vermiculite has been produced from the Goldenite and Silverite mines (Bush, 1951). Small amounts of nickel, copper (?), and silver were produced from the Gem Mine in the 1800s.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves/resources not defined.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAR-2005 Keller, John W. Colorado Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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.