Stillwater Complex

Producer in Sweet Grass county in Montana, United States with commodities Nickel, Platinum, Copper, Chromium, Palladium, Iridium, Aluminum, Gold, Osmium, Cobalt, Silver, Rhodium
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Mineral occurrence model information
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Geologic structures
  9. Controls for ore emplacement
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Mineral rights holdings
  13. Land status
  14. Ownership information
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 60000949
MRDS ID M045489
Record type District
Current site name Stillwater Complex

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Centroid
Geographic coordinates: -110.00079, 45.41662 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 100(meters)
Relative position MOST OF AREA IS UNSURVEYED. LOCATION GIVEN IS APPROXIMATE FOR CENTER OF COMPLEX., ACCURATE WITHIN COMPLEX

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Sweet Grass(county)

Montana(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Picket Pin Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Gardiner(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Bozeman(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Stillwater(hydrologic unit)

Upper Yellowstone(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Yellowstone(hydrologic subregion)

Missouri(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Custer Gallatin 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 Montana Sweet Grass
United States Montana Stillwater

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Nickel Critical Primary
Platinum Critical Primary
Copper Primary
Chromium Critical Primary
Palladium Critical Primary
Iridium Critical Tertiary
Aluminum Critical Tertiary
Gold Tertiary
Osmium Tertiary
Cobalt Critical Tertiary
Silver Tertiary
Rhodium Critical Tertiary

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 4
USGS model code 2b
Deposit model name Merensky Reef PGE
Model code 1
USGS model code 1
Deposit model name Stillwater Ni-Cu
Model code 2
USGS model code 2a
Deposit model name Bushveld Cr

Nearby scientific data

Centroid (1) -110.00079, 45.41662

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description CUMULATE LAYERING, NUMEROUS FAULTS OFFSETTING MINERALIZED LAYERS
Type of structure Regional
Structure description THE STILLWATER COMPLEX IS EXPOSED ALONG THE NORTHERN MARGIN OF THE BEARTOOTH UPLIFT, ONE OF SEVERAL LARAMIDE BASEMENT-CORED RANGES THAT MAKE UP THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN FORELAND OF SOUTH-CENTRAL MONTANA (FOOSE AND OTHERS, 1961: KULIK AND SCHMIDT, 1988)

Controls for ore emplacement

  • MAGMATIC SEGREGATION BY CRYSTAL SETTLING FOR CHROMITE DEPOSITS, MAGMATIC SEGREGATION BY LIQUID IMMISCIBILITY FOR CU-NI DEPOSITS, MAGMATIC SULFIDE CRYSTALLIZATION FOR JM REEF DEPOSITS

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Producer
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1883

Mining district

District name Stillwater

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Located Claim
Type of mineral rights Patented

Land status

Ownership category National Forest
Area name Custer National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner STILLWATER MINING CO.
    Year 1991

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Updater 05-JAN-11 Causey, J. Douglas U.S. Geological Survey This record came from the old MRDS database without a reporter. I did some minor updates.

Beyond USGS

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

External references