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Blake (Mirage, Cotton Creek) District

Past Producer in Saguache county in Colorado, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Production statistics
  13. Bibliographic references
  14. General comments
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10012938
MRDS ID D008965
Record type District
Current site name Blake (Mirage, Cotton Creek) District
Related records 60000325

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -105.78197, 38.12807 (WGS84)
Elevation 2682
Relative position 8 TO 18 MILES SE OF VILLA GROVE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Saguache(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Valley View Hot Springs(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Canon City(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Pueblo(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

San Luis(hydrologic unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic accounting unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic subregion)

Rio Grande(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bureau of Land Management(Bureau of Land Management CO)

Bureau of Land Management CO BLM(Type of land area)

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Saguache

Comments on the location information

  • Small district on the lower western slopes of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, about 10 miles north-northwest of the town of Crestone. District is along the range front near the mouths of Spring Creek and Cotton Creek. The Copperhead, or Triple-T Mine is the most significant deposit.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Copper Primary
Lead Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • The Copperhead (Triple-T) mine was the largest mine in this small district.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Hematite Ore
Malachite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 281
USGS model code 37b
Deposit model name Gold on flat faults

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Rock unit name Gneiss
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type
    Rock unit name silicified breccia
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary

Nearby scientific data

(1) -105.78197, 38.12807
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Sangre De Cristo Fault

Comments on the geologic information

  • Mineralization is associated with a low-angle fault zone similar to that at the large, modern San Luis Mine further south (Benson, 1997). A thick zone of silicified breccia underlies the fault zone. The faulting and mineralization are Tertiary in age and related to Rio Grande rifting.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic

Production statistics

  • Year 1939
    Period 1934-1939
    Material ore
    Ore mined 160.93mt
    Accuracy Accurate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Gold Gold 1804g 0oz/st

Comments on the production information

  • Lead production not reported for 1935, 1938, 1939. Copper and silver not reported in 1935.
  • There was probably significantly more historic production than is recorded. Benson (1997) states that "extensive" historical mining and milling took place at the Copperhead Mine.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Sampling by Ellis and others (1983) in the Cotton Creek and Spring Creek area produced grades up to 0.58 oz/ton gold, 2.8 oz/ton silver, and 2% copper from iron- and copper-stained gneissic fault gouge, silicified fault breccia, and quartz veins.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    SCOTT, G.R., AND TAYLOR, R.B., 1974, RECONNAISSANCE GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE ELECTRIC PEAK QUADRANGLE, CUSTER AND SAGUACHE COUNTIES, COLORADO: USGS MF-628.

  • Deposit

    SCOTT, G.R., AND OTHERS, 1978. GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE PUEBLO 1X2 QUADRANGLE, SOUTH-CENTRAL COLORADO: USGS I-1022.

  • Deposit

    VANDERWILT, J.W., 1947, MINERAL RESOURCES OF COLORADO: COLORADO MINERAL RESOURCES BOARD, P. 191

  • Deposit

    COLORADO DIV. MINES MINE MGR. AND INSPECTORS REPTS.

  • Production

    VANDERBILT, 1947, P. 191

  • Deposit

    Benson, R.G., 1997, Detachment fault-related mineralization in a rift setting at the San Luis gold deposit and Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Alamosa, Costilla, and Saguache Counties, Colorado: Golden, Colorado School of Mines, Ph.D. dissertation, 226 p.

  • Deposit

    Ellis, C.E., Hannigan, B.J., and Thompson, J.R., 1983, Mineral investigation of the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness Study Area, Alamosa, Custer, Fremont, Huerfano, and Saguache Counties, Colorado, U.S. Bureau of Mines MLA 65-83, 190 p.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DEPOSITS ARE USUALLY VEINS IN SHEAR ZONES AND IRREGULAR FRACTURES, BUT ALSO INCLUDE ORIENT-TYPE FE REPLACEMENTS

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 10-JUN-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.