Lower San Miguel District

Past Producer in Montrose county in Colorado, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Gold, Vanadium, Copper, Limestone, General, Stone, Dimension, Uranium, Molybdenum, Zinc, Chromium, Cobalt
Warning: This record lacks important information: bibliographic references, which we consider necessary for a comprehensive report.
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. Ownership information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 60000380
MRDS ID D010940
Record type District
Current site name Lower San Miguel District

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -108.05395, 38.0172 (WGS84)
Relative position DISTRICT LIES ALONG SAN MIGUEL RIVER FROM CONFLUENCE WITH SOUTH FORK 5 MILES BELOW TELLURIDE TO AREA ABOUT 6 MILES BELOW PLACERVILLE, WITH SEVERAL PLACER CLAIMS ACROSS SAN MIGUEL-MONTROSE COUNTY LINE ABOUT 16 MILES BELOW PLACERVILLE; INCLUDES LOWER PORTIONS OF FOLLOWING PRINCIPAL TRIBUTARIES: DEEP CREEK, BIG BEAR CREEK, FALL CREEK, LEOPARD CREEK, SLAUGHTERHOUSE GULCH, AND SPENCER CREEK. PRINCIPAL LANDMARKS AND FEATURES INCLUDE DEEP CREEK MESA, GRAY HEAD, WILSON MESA, SPECIE MESA, LITTLE CONE, HASTINGS MESA, IRON SPRINGS MESA, AND SAN MIGUEL CANYON. DISTRICT EXTENDS ONTO LITTLE CONE (1953), GRAY HEAD (1953), GURLEY CANYON (1964), AND SANBORN PARK (1967) QUADS, AND ONTO CORTEZ (1969) AND DURANGO (1945) 1X2 SHEETS; INCLUDES FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL SECTIONS: SEC. 31, T43N, R9W; SECS. 04 AND 05, T42N, R10W; SECS. 07, 18, AND 19, T45N, R12W; SECS. 11, 12, AND 13, T45N, R13W. DISTRICT ACCESSIBLE VIA COLORADO RTE 145 ALONG SAN MIGUEL RIVER WEST FROM TELLURIDE, AND SE FROM NATURITA AND NORWOOD; VIA TRAILS OVER SAN MIGUEL MTNS NORTH FROM RICO AND DUNTON (DOLORES RIVER VALLEY); VIA COLORADO RTE 62 SW FROM RIDGEWAY, OVER DALLAS DIVIDE, AND DOWN LEOPARD CREEK. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR BENCH MARK (ELEV 7300) IN CENTRALLY LOCATED TOWN OF PLACERVILLE (SE SE SEC. 34,

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

San Miguel(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Placerville(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Nucla(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Moab(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

San Miguel(hydrologic unit)

Upper Colorado-Dolores(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Colorado-Dolores(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Montrose
United States Colorado San Miguel

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Gold Primary
Vanadium Critical Primary
Copper Secondary
Limestone, General Secondary
Stone, Dimension Secondary
Uranium Secondary
Molybdenum Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Chromium Critical Tertiary
Cobalt Critical Tertiary

Alteration

  • (Local) OXIDATION

Nearby scientific data

(1) -108.05395, 38.0172

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description PARADOX BASIN, UNCOMPAHGRE UPLIFT, SAN JUAN VOLCANIC FIELD, SAN MIGUEL MTNS

Controls for ore emplacement

  • VANADIUM ORES CONTROLLED BY PERMEABLE SANDSTONE UNDERLYING PONY EXPRESS LIMESTONE. PLACERS CONTROLLED BY GRAVEL-FILLED BEDROCK CHANNELS AND CONTACTS BETWEEN BEDROCK AND GRAVEL. VEIN DEPOSITS CONTROLLED BY PRINCIPAL NW-TRENDING FAULTS AND BY EAST-WEST-TRENDING DIKES. REPLACEMENTS CONTROLLED BY CHEMICAL FAVORABILITY OF LIMESTONE NEAR FAULTS.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Discovery year 1875
Year of first production 1878
Year of last production 1977

Mining district

District name LOWER SAN MIGUEL DISTRICT

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner SPENCER AND SCHOOLEY
    Home office MANCOS
    Year 1977
  • Type Operator
    Owner SPENCER AND SCHOOLEY
    Home office MANCOS
    Year 1977

Reference information

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.