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Silver Cliff Mine

Past Producer in Niobrara county in Wyoming, United States with commodities Uranium, Copper, Gold, Radium, Silver
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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. Nearby scientific data
  9. Controls for ore emplacement
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Ownership information
  12. Links to other databases
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10108466
MRDS ID DC05952
MAS/MILS ID 560270062
Record type Site
Current site name Silver Cliff Mine
Alternate or previous names Rochelle Mine

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Ore Body
Geographic coordinates: -104.46889, 42.76167 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 50(meters)
Relative position 160 ACRES OF SEC. On the top of the elongated hill less than 1 mile due west from the center of the town of Lusk. At least 5 workings and an adit are shown near the center of Sec. 7 on the Lusk 24k topo.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Niobrara(county)

Wyoming(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Lusk(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Lusk(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Torrington(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Niobrara Headwaters(hydrologic unit)

Niobrara(hydrologic accounting unit)

Niobrara(hydrologic subregion)

Missouri(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Wyoming Niobrara

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
6th Principal 032N 063W 7 SW4 of NE4 and NW4 of SE4 Wyoming

Comments on the location information

  • LATITUDE-LONGITUDE VALUES CALCULATED FROM TOWNSHIP, RANGE, SECTION.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Uranium Primary
Copper Primary
Gold Primary
Radium Primary
Silver Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • "Only two of the nine localities examined in the Lusk area showed the presence of selenium in field tests, and the area does not appear to have deposits that contain commercial quantities of selenium. One out of twenty samples from the Silver Cliff mine gave a positive reaction, but the quantity of material was insignificant. The Russel Thompson ranch is well known for poisonous selenium-bearing plants. In spite of this, only one of the nine smaples taken contained a detectable amount of selenium, and it assayed only 0.004 percent." (Shaw and others, 1956, p. 5).

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Copper Ore
Silver Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Malachite Ore
Azurite Ore
Cuprite Ore
Chrysocolla Ore
Metatorbernite Ore
Uranophane Ore
Pitchblende Ore
Clinozoisite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Clinozoisite Gangue

Analytical data

Result select samples contained 0.5 opt Au.
Result several samples yielded <0.02 to 10.88% cu, 0.16 to 15.04 opt Ag, and 0.001 to 3.39% U3O8.

Nearby scientific data

Ore Body (1) -104.46889, 42.76167
ListMap

Economic information

Comments on the ore body information

  • The mineralization lies within and adjacent to a high-angle reverse fault that strikes N15E. It also occurs as a blanket deposit in iron-stained sandstone at the base of the Paleozoic rocks adjacent to the mineralized fault." (Hausel, 1997, p. 72-73).

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fault Zone

Comments on the geologic information

  • GEOL.DESC: CALCITE VEINS, U IN SANDSTONE 0.001-3.39 AND 0.001 TO 0.12 IN FAULT ZONE
  • Ore mineral gummite listed in Hausel, but is not a choice on the MRDS drop down materials pick list.
  • "Most of the hill consists of Precambrian metamorphic rocks (muscovite schist interbedded with thin lenses of limy schist) unconformably overlain by calcareous Flathead(?) Sandstone or possibly Guernsey(?) Formation sandstone. The sandstone dips southeast." (Hausel, 1997, p. 72)

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1879
Year of first production 1880
Year of last production 1953

Ownership information

  • Type Lessee
    Owner Joel L. Starnes
    Home office Lusk, WY
    Year 1955
  • Type Lessee
    Owner Wyoming Uranium Co.
    Year 1955
    First year 1950
  • Type Lessee
    Owner E.D. Lorimer
    Year 1955
    First year 1918
    Last year 1922

Comments on the production information

  • "Produced uranium in the 1920s and again in the early 1950s. Some copper, silver, and gold also were recovered from this area in 1879 and early 1880s." (Hausel, 1997, p. 72)
  • "The mine was opened in 1880 and worked on a small scale for copper and silver until 1884. Later, uranium was discovered. Beteween 1918 and 1922, six carloads containing more than 3% U3O8 were shipped to the Radium Company of Denver, Colorado. Following a period of inactivity, minor amounts of uranium were recovered from 1951-1953. " (Hausel, 1997, p. 73)

Comments on the workings information

  • "Following the discovery of silver-copper-gold mineralization in 1879, a 285-foot-deep shaft was sunk, and a 1200-foot inclined adit was driven to the bottom of the shaft. Five levels were established with at least 1600 feet of drifts." (Hausel, 1997, p. 72)

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    USGS BULL. 1009-A. 1954

  • Deposit

    USGS OIL & GAS PRELIM. MAP 102. 1949

  • Deposit

    AMER. MINERALOGIST V. II, P. 155-164

  • Deposit

    CONSV. DIV. COMP. DATE, 04-16-1959

  • Deposit

    USAEC ANNUAL REPORT (RME-3148), 1956-1957, P. 4

  • Deposit

    WYO GS FOR MAS

  • Deposit

    Hausel, 1997, Copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum, and associated metal deposits of Wyoming: WGS Bull. 70, p. 72-73.

  • Deposit

    WYO. GEOL. SURVEY BULL. 45, 1952, P. 167.

  • Deposit

    Shaw, J.F., Wilson, S.R., Storms, W.R., Baroch, C.T., and Bauerle, L.C., 1956, Quarterly report on reconnaissance, exploration, and extraction of selenium (GSA Contract DMP-97), Reserach Report No. 36.8, 13 p. (unpublished report in File Room, Bldg. 20, Denver Federal Center as of 8/2010)

  • Deposit

    RME 1002 TEPCO FILES USGS (unverified)

  • Deposit

    DMEA Docket No. 3735, 65 p., http://minerals.usgs.gov/dockets/scans/wy/dmea/3735_DMEA.pdf

  • Deposit

    DMEA Docket No. 4704, 1957, 95 p., http://minerals.usgs.gov/dockets/scans/wy/dmea/4704_DMEA.pdf

Comments on the references

  • Deleted Record 10081149 (W032882) cited only USAEC ANNUAL REPORT (RME-3148), 1956-1957, P. 4. Deleted record 10232428 (0560270062) cited "WY GS FOR MAS" and "J.L. STARNES". It is not clear if Starnes is a reference, a verbal communication, or an owner.
  • REF. WYO. GEOL. SURVEY BULL. 45, 1952, P. 167; RME 1002 TEPCO FILES USGS; DMEA REPORTS (clipped from Deposit Comment 1.)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit $34,000 RADIUM (1922) 4 LARGE PITS, 285 FT SHAFT, 5 LEVELS 1600 FT OF DRIFTS: REF. WYO. GEOL. SURVEY BULL. 45, 1952, P. 167; RME 1002 TEPCO FILES USGS; DMEA REPORTS
Deposit Shaw, J.F., Wilson, S.R., Storms, W.R., Baroch, C.T., and Bauerle, L.C., 1956, Quarterly report on reconnaissance, exploration, and extraction of selenium (GSA Contract DMP-97), Reserach Report No. 36.8, 13 p. is an unpublished report found in the former U.S. Bureau of Mines file room, now housed in Building 20 at the Denver Federal Center (as of 8/2010).(unpublished).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 1974-03-01 Conservation Division Files U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 1983-11-18 Intermountain Field Operations Center U.S. Bureau of Mines 10232428 (0560270062)
Reporter 1984-05-01 Barari, Rachel A. South Dakota Geological Survey 10081149 (W032882)
Editor 2010-08-17 Wilson, Anna B. U.S. Geological Survey merged and deleted 10081149 (W032882) and 10232428 (0560270062). Re-revised as of 13-jan-2012.

Beyond USGS

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

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