Difficult Creek District

Occurrence in Pitkin county in Colorado, United States with commodities Gold, Copper, Silver, Manganese
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. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Land status
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10013421
MRDS ID D009703
Record type District
Current site name Difficult Creek District
Alternate or previous names See Last Page

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -106.73951, 39.04582 (WGS84)
Elevation 3768
Relative position 9 TO 11 MILES S 25 E FROM ASPEN

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Gunnison(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

New York Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Leadville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Leadville(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

East-Taylor(hydrologic unit)

Gunnison(hydrologic accounting unit)

Gunnison(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
United States Colorado Gunnison

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
6th Principal 011S;012S 084W;084W 22,25,26,27,34,35,36;01,02 Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • CLAIMS LIE ALONG DIFFICULT CREEK AND AROUND GOLD HILL. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE TOP OF GOLD HILL ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1977)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Copper Primary
Silver Secondary
Manganese Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • ANALYSES SHOWED TRACE CONCENTRATIONS OF TI, CO, CR, NI, PB, V, Y, ZN

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Malachite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Fe And Mn Oxides

Analytical data

Result (SEE LAST PAGE)

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Pegmatite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
    Rock unit name Biotite Gneiss And Migmatite
    Rock description Biotite Gneiss And Migmatite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss

Nearby scientific data

(1) -106.73951, 39.04582

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Sawatch Uplift
Type of structure Local
Structure description Castle Creek Fault Zone, Grizzly Caldera

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Ne-Trending Shear Zones

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1892
Discoverer Francis O. Wood Etal. (Claimant Of Franco Placer, Morning Call, Reveille, My Queen, Princess Claims)

Mining district

District name Difficult Creek District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Comments on the workings information

  • NUMEROUS SURFACE PROSPECTS, SHAFTS, TUNNELS

Comments on development

  • CLAIMS STAKED BETWEEN 1892 AND 1900, BUT APPARENTLY LITTLE MORE THAN EXPLORATORY SHAFTS AND TUNNELS WERE DRIVEN. DISTRICT WAS SOON ABANDONED

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit COPPER MINERALIZATION FOUND IN CHALCOPYRITE-QUARTZ-CARBONATE VEINS IN NE-TRENDING, STEEPLY DIPPING SHEAR ZONES CUTTING MUSCOVITE-BIOTITE SCHIST AND GNEISS THAT CONTAIN LENSES AND BODIES OF QUARTZ MONZONITE AND PEGMATITE. HIGHER AU VALUES MAY BE DUE TO NEAR-SURFACE ENRICHMENT. AGE OF DEPOSITS UNKNOWN; VEINS COULD BE MID TERTIARY ON BASIS OF ASSOCIATION WITH INDEPENDENCE DISTRICT AND GRIZZLY PEAK CAULDRON OR WITH WHITE ROCK PLUTON TO WEST.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-82 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey
Editor 16-NOV-11 Wilson, Anna B U.S. Geological Survey Changed record type from site to district.

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.