Bonnybel Mine

Past Producer in Pitkin county in Colorado, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Zinc
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. Alteration
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Production statistics
  19. Workings at the site
  20. Links to other databases
  21. Bibliographic references
  22. General comments
  23. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10013239
MRDS ID D009427
Record type Site
Current site name Bonnybel Mine
Alternate or previous names Claims: Bonnybel, Chloride
Related records 10167644

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -106.8209, 39.1761 (WGS84)
Elevation 2812
Relative position 0.8 MILES S 10 W FROM ASPEN

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pitkin(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Aspen(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Leadville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Leadville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Roaring Fork(hydrologic unit)

Colorado Headwaters(hydrologic accounting unit)

Colorado Headwaters(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

White River 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 Pitkin

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
6th Principal 010S 08W 18 SW OF SW Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • IN ASPEN MTN AREA ON RIDGE BETWEEN SPAR GULCH AND VALLEJO GULCH. ELEV FROM SPURR (1898), LAT-LONG FROM BRYANT (1972) ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1980)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Silver Ore
Barite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Marblization Of Dolomite Near Porphyry Sheets

Analytical data

Result ORE SHIPMENTS IN 1922 AND 1925 CONTAINED 11 TO 12 OZ/TON AG, 4 TO 16 % PB, 3 % ZN, 6 % FE, 2 %

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Rock unit name Aplite Porphyry
    Rock description Aplite Porphyry
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mississippian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Leadville Limestone (Redcliff Member);Belden Formation
    Rock description Leadville Limestone (Redcliff Mbr);Belden Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -106.8209, 39.1761

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Sawatch Uplift, Central Colorado Trough, Piceance Basin, White River Uplift, Elk Uplift
Type of structure Local
Structure description Silver Fault, Contact Fault, Aspen Mountain Syncline, Bonnybel Fault, Chloride Fault

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Steeply Dipping Cross-Faults

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1880
Discoverer J. M. Daniel And Others (Claimants)
Year of first production 1900
Year of last production 1925

Mining district

District name Aspen (Roaring Fork) District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Blain Bray And Louis Jessen
    First year 1925
  • Type Owner
    Owner C. E. Anderson And Frank Yates
    First year 1925

Production statistics

  • Year 1922
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^11.1 Oz/Ton Ag, 4 % Pb
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Silver Silver 311g/mt
    Major Ore Lead Lead 4wt-pct
  • Year 1925
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Ap_Grade: ^12 Oz/Ton Ag, 16 % Pb, 3 % Zn, 6 % Fe, 2 % S, 28 % Insol
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Strontium Strontium 28wt-pct
    Ore Iron Iron 6wt-pct
    Ore Sulfur Sulfur 2wt-pct
    Major Ore Zinc Zinc 3wt-pct
    Major Ore Lead Lead 16wt-pct
    Major Ore Silver Silver 339g/mt

Comments on the production information

  • PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Overall depth 91.44M
    Overall length 198.12M

Comments on the workings information

  • SEVERAL TUNNELS; APPARENTLY ONE SHAFT SUNK TO 80 FT DEPTH, CONNECTING WITH ONE TUNNEL AT 20 FT. FROM (2D) LEVEL AT BOTTOM OF SHAFT, 90-FT WINZE SUNK TO 3D LEVEL, WHICH IS 140-FT CROSSCUT WESTWARD WITH DRIFT ON INTERNAL FAULT AT 90 FT AND 2D WINZE AT 115 FT. AT BOTTOM OF THIS 70-FT WINZE IS 110-FT WESTWARD CROSSCUT TUNNEL. THIRD LEVEL CONTINUES WEST ON 30-FT DECLINE TO INTERMEDIATE LEVEL 130 FT LONG AND TERMINATING IN 30-FT WINZE. HIGHER WORKINGS DEVELOP ORE FARTHER NW IN FAULT BLOCK AND TO SW BEYOND CHLORIDE FAULT. BONNYBEL WORKINGS CONNECTED TO LOWER DURANT TUNNEL AND WORKINGS VIA VISINO INCLINE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    SPURR, J.E., 1898, GEOLOGY OF THE ASPEN DISTRICT, COLORADO: USGS MON. 31, P. 151-153, PL. 40.

  • Deposit

    BRYANT, BRUCE, 1971, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE ASPEN QUADRANGLE, PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO: USGS MAP GQ-933.

  • Deposit

    BRYANT, BRUCE, 1972, MAP SHOWING MINES, PROSPECTS, AND AREAS OF SIGNIFICANT SILVER, LEAD, AND ZINC PRODUCTION IN THE ASPEN QUADRANGLE, PITKIN COUNTY, COLORADO: USGS MAP I-785-D

  • Deposit

    BLM MINERAL SURVEYS MS 1387, 3699

  • Production

    COLO. DIV. MINES ANN. OPERATOR REPTS.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DEPOSIT LIES IN SMALL NW-TRENDING FAULT BLOCK BOUNDED ON NE BY BONNYBELL FAULT, ON SW BY CHLORIDE FAULT, AND ON NW BY NE-TRENDING SILVER FAULT AND CUT BY MANY SMALL INTERNAL FAULTS. BELDEN SHALE AND PORPHYRY DIRECTLY OVERLIE LOWER LEADVILLE DOLOMITE MEMBER. PORPHYRY OCCURS AS LARGE CROSS-CUTTING DIKE AND SMALL INTERBEDDED SHEETS IN DOLOMITE, MARBLIZING THE DOLOMITE AROUND CONTACTS; MINE IS ONLY PLACE IN DISTRICT WHERE PORPHYRY WAS SEEN TO CUT BEDS OLDER THAN BELDEN. OXIDIZED ORE FOUND IN IRREGULAR SHOOTS PARALLEL WITH MAIN FAULTS AND HAVING NW TRENDS, DIPPING STEEPLY SW. OCCURRENCE IS SIGNIFICANT IN DISTRICT AS IT IS ONLY PLACE WHERE ALL OF HOST ROCK WAS TRANSFORMED INTO LOW-GRADE ORE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1982 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey

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.