La Plata District

Producer in Montezuma county in Colorado, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, Zinc, Uranium, Vanadium, Mercury, Tellurium, PGE, Iron
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Alteration
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Geologic structures
  9. Controls for ore emplacement
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Bibliographic references
  13. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 60000378
MRDS ID D010861
Record type District
Current site name La Plata District
Alternate or previous names California District

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -108.0636, 37.3994 (WGS84)
Relative position (LAND STATUS AND ADMINISTRATIVE AREA LOCATIONS CALCULATED USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS FOR SAN JUAN N. F.). DISTRICT SITUATED IN LA PLATA MTNS, STRADDLING LA PLATA AND MONTEZUMA COUNTY LINE NW OF DURANGO, CENTERED ON UPPER LA PLATA RIVER AND TRIBUTARIES AND INCLUDING UPPER JUNCTION CREEK AND UPPER LIGHTNER CREEK DRAINAGES ON EAST, BEAR CREEK ON NW, AND UPPER WEST MANCOS, MIDDLE MANCOS, AND EAST MANCOS RIVERS ON WEST. TOWNSITE OF LA PLATA AND MAYDAY (PARROTT CITY) LOCATED ON LA PLATA RIVER. PRINCIPAL PEAKS INCLUDE BANDED MTN, HESPERUS, HELMET, AND JACKSON RIDGE (MONTEZUMA COUNTY); MADDEN, GIBBS, BURWELL, SPILLER, MT MOSS, DIORITE, AND INDIAN TRAIL RIDGE (ON MONTEZUMA-LA PLATA COUNTY LINE); PARRATT, BABCOCK, SILVER MTN, OHLWILER RIDGE, LEWIS MTN, AND CUMBERLAND (LA PLATA COUNTY). DISTRICT ACCESSIBLE VIA ROAD UP LA PLATA RIVER NORTH FROM HESPERUS, VIA ROADS UP JUNCTION AND LIGHTNER CREEKS NW FROM DURANGO, VIA ROADS UP MANCOS RIVERS NE FROM MANCOS, AND VIA COLORADO ROUTE 145 ALONG DOLORES RIVER TO TRAIL UP BEAR CREEK. DISTRICT EXTENDS ONTO HESPERUS (1963), MONUMENT HILL (1963), RAMPART HILLS (1963), AND WALLACE RANCH (1963) QUADS AND INCLUDES PORTIONS OF ADJACENT TOWNSHIPS: T36N, R10W (SECS. 05 06), T37N, 412W (SECS. 23 24), AND T38N, R12W (SECS. 04 14). MONTEZ

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

La Plata(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

La Plata(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Cortez(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Cortez(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle San Juan(hydrologic unit)

Upper San Juan(hydrologic accounting unit)

San Juan(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

San Juan 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 Colorado Montezuma
United States Colorado La Plata

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Copper Primary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Uranium Secondary
Vanadium Critical Secondary
Mercury Secondary
Tellurium Critical Tertiary
PGE Critical Tertiary
Iron Tertiary

Alteration

  • (Local) SERICITIZATION
  • (Local) KAOLINIZATION
  • (Local) CHLORITIZATION
  • (Local) LIMONITIZATION
  • (Local) SILICIFICATION
  • (Local) OXIDATION

Nearby scientific data

(1) -108.0636, 37.3994

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description LA PLATA DOME, MAYDAY-IDAHO FAULT SYSTEM, PARROTT FAULT SYSTEM
Type of structure Regional
Structure description SAN JUAN UPLIFT, FOUR CORNERS PLATFORM

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fault/fracture

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1700
Year of first production 1873
Year of last production 1980

Mining district

District name CALIFORNIA DISTRICT
District name LA PLATA DISTRICT

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 2012-09-18 Wilson, Anna B U.S. Geological Survey confirmed that Hg is a minor commodity and added a reference source.

Beyond USGS

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

Authoritative Colorado resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.