Law Dredge Mine

Past Producer in Moffat county in Colorado, United States with commodity Gold
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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  16. Workings at the site
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10013446
MRDS ID D009739
Record type Site
Current site name Law Dredge Mine
Alternate or previous names Boothe and Nelson Placers

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -107.62761, 40.92968 (WGS84)
Elevation 1951
Relative position 30.3 MILES N 26 E FROM LAY

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Moffat(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Pole Gulch(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Craig(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Craig(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Little Snake(hydrologic unit)

White-Yampa(hydrologic accounting unit)

White-Yampa(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(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 Moffat

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
6th Principal 011N 091W 05,08 W2 OF E2 (05); W2 OF NE (08) Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • ALONG EAST SIDE OF TIMBERLAKE CREEK 3.5 MILES ABOVE CONFLUENCE WITH FOURMILE CREEK. LAT-LONG GIVEN IS SOUTH CORNER SW SE 05 ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1974)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Sand and Gravel
    Rock unit name Unconsolidated Deposits--Alluvium
    Rock description Unconsolidated Deposits--Alluvium
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -107.62761, 40.92968

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Washakie Basin
Type of structure Local
Structure description Washakie Basin

Ore body information

  • Thickness 3.66M

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1897
Discoverer B.W. Law
Year of first production 1900
Year of last production 1904

Mining district

District name Fourmile (Timberlake Creek) District

Land status

Ownership category Federal

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner B. W. Law
    First year 1904

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Area 14.165HA

Comments on the workings information

  • DREDGE OPERATION AND GROUND SLUICING

Comments on development

  • ACCORDING TO MARKS (1915), B.W. LAW BUILT WATER DIVERSION DITCH FROM FOURMILE DIVIDE (POSSIBLY THE DIVIDE BETWEEN FOURMILE DRAINAGE AND SLATER CREEK) TO WILLOW CREEK, LET WATER RUN DOWN STREAM BED FOR SEVERAL MILES, THEN DIVERTED IT TO HIS DREDGE SITE. WHEN HE PURCHASED IT, LAW'S DREDGE WAS A SECONDHAND OPEN-CHAIN TYPE BUILT BY URIE CO. OF KANSAS CITY, MO, WITH 600-TO 700-YD/DAY CAPACITY. MACHINE WAS FUELED BY COAL THAT WAS HAULED IN BY WAGON ABOUT 19 MILES FROM MINE AT SAVERY, WY. DREDGE PROCESSED GROUND THAT RAN ABOUT $0.25/YD (OLD AU PRICE). IT IS ESTIMATED THAT LAW RECOVERED $115000 WORTH OF AU BY DREDGING AND $25000 BY SLUICING. EXCESS WATER FROM DREDGE WAS USED TO IRRIGATE LAW'S GRAIN AND HAY FIELDS NEARBY. DREDGE WAS ABANDONED ON SITE AFTER TERMINATION OF OPERATION.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    PARKER, B.H., JR., 1974, THE PLACERS OF MOFFAT COUNTY, IN GOLD PLACERS OF COLORADO: COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES QUART., V. 69, NO. 4, P. 150-168.

  • Deposit

    TWETO, OGDEN, 1976, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE CRAIG 1X2 QUADRANGLE, NORTHWESTERN COLORADO: USGS MAP I-972

  • Deposit

    SNOW, E.P., 1895, THE FOURMILE PLACER FIELDS OF (MOFFAT COUNTY), COLORADO AND WYOMING: ENG. MINING JOUR., V. 60, P. 102-105

  • Deposit

    HOOVER, HERBERT C., 1897, GEOLOGY OF THE FOUR-MILE PLACER MINING DISTRICT (MOFFAT COUNTY), COLORADO: ENG. MINING JOUR., V. 63, P. 510 &&

  • Deposit

    MARKS, J.H., 1915, PRELIMINARY REPORT, THE TIMBERLAKE OR FOURMILE PLACER DISTRICT, MOFFAT COUNTY: COLORADO STATE PLAN. COMM. UNPUB. REPT., 9 P.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit FARNSWORTH'S ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION STATED THAT THE HIGHER PAYING ZONES IN AREA LIE IN SLIGHTLY CONSOLIDATED GRAVELS BENEATH IRON OXIDE-CEMENTED CONGLOMERATE AND ABOVE LAYER OF "BLUE CLAY," (NOW INTERPRETED AS EOCENE BEDROCK). AU CONCENTRATIONS IN TERRACE AND MANTLE DEPOSITS APPEAR LIMITED TO LEVEL BELOW THE PROMINENT CONGLOMERATE OR "CAP ROCK," WHICH WAS INTERPRETED BY PARKER (1974) AND THEOBALD AS A DELTAIC FAN IN EITHER THE TIPTON TONGUE OF GREEN RIVER FM (EOCENE) OR CATHEDRAL BLUFFS MEMBER OF WASATCH FM (EOCENE). MODERN PLACERS THUS WERE DERIVED FROM EOCENE FOSSIL BEACH AND ALLUVIAL PLACERS AND PROBABLY BEGAN FORMING IN LATE PLIOCENE OR PLEISTOCENE TIME. AGE OF MINERALIZATION CITED FOR DEPOSIT DEPENDS ON UNIT WORKED--EOCENE FOR BEDROCK OPERATIONS OR QUATERNARY FOR TERRACE, STREAM BED, AND MANTLE OPERATIONS. THIS DEPOSIT CONSISTS OF SAND AND GRAVEL IN STREAM BOTTOM AND LOW TERRACES, UP TO 12 FT THICK, AVERAGING 6 FT.
Deposit Discovery Year: LATE 1890'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-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.