Royal Arch District

Occurrence in Mineral 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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10014047
MRDS ID D010663
Record type District
Current site name Royal Arch District
Alternate or previous names Spar City District
Related records 10288537

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -106.96895, 37.70695 (WGS84)
Elevation 2871
Relative position 10.7 TO 11.5 MILES S 6 TO 8 W FROM CREEDE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Mineral(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Spar City(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Del Norte(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Durango(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic accounting unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic subregion)

Rio Grande(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Rio Grande 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 Mineral

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 040N 001W 23,26,27,35 Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • ON DIVIDE BETWEEN PALO ALTO AND BIRD CREEK AND ALONG BIRD CREEK 1.2 TO 1.8 MILES SE OF SPAR CITY. S-T-R PROJECTED INTO UNSURVEYED AREA. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR SPAR CITY SITE (NW SEC. 22). ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1976

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • ORE MINERALS BASED ON PROBABLE SIMILARITY WITH CREEDE DISTRICT

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Sphalerite Ore
Barite Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Quartz Latite
    Rock unit name Fisher Quartz Latite;Snowshoe Mountain Tuff
    Rock description Fisher Quartz Latite;Snowshoe Mountain Tuff
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Oligocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Oligocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Quartz Latite
    Rock unit name Fisher Quartz Latite;Snowshoe Mountain Tuff
    Rock description Fisher Quartz Latite;Snowshoe Mountain Tuff

Nearby scientific data

(1) -106.96895, 37.70695

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description San Juan Volcanic Field, Creede Caldera
Type of structure Local
Structure description Deep Creek Graben

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Post-Resurgent Ring Faulting And Tensional Graben Faulting

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Occurrence
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1893
Discoverer L.P. Batway And Jessie W. Beam (Morning Claimants)

Mining district

District name Royal Arch (Spar City) District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Comments on the workings information

  • MINES DEVELOPED BY TUNNELS AND SHAFT; SEVERAL SURFACE PROSPECTS

Comments on development

  • AREA PROSPECTED SPORADICALLY SINCE EARLY 1900S. ALTHOUGH AG AND PB FOUND, SYSTEMATIC EXPLORATION DISCOURAGED BY THICK SOIL AND FOREST COVER, LANDSLIDES, AND GLACIAL DRIFT. AMOUNT OF PRODUCTION, IF ANY, UNKNOWN BUT CERTAINLY SMALL.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    STEVEN, T.A., AND LIPMAN, P.W., 1973, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE SPAR CITY QUADRANGLE, MINERAL COUNTY, COLORADO: USGS MAP GQ-1052.

  • Deposit

    STEVEN, T.A., 1964, GEOLOGIC SETTING OF THE SPAR CITY DISTRICT, SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS, COLORADO: USGS PROF. PAPER 475-D, P. D123-D127.

  • Deposit

    COLORADO DIV. MINES INF. REPT.

  • Deposit

    BLM MINERAL SURVEYS

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit MINERALIZATION LOCALIZED IN MINOR FAULTS NEAR INTERSECTION OF INFERRED SOUTHWARD EXTENSION OF NORTH-SOUTH TRENDING DEEP CREEK GRABEN (TENSIONAL FEATURE FORMED DURING RESURGENT DOMING IN CREEDE CALDERA) AND INFERRED EAST-WEST TREND OF REACTIVATED CALDERA MARGIN FAULT PROBABLY ACTIVE DURING EARLIER CALDERA FORMATION BUT LATER BURIED BY VISCOUS FISHER QUARTZ LATITE FLOWS DEPOSITED DURING POST-DOMING MARGINAL VOLCANIC ACTIVITY.
Deposit INDIVIDUAL RECORDS PREPARED FOR THREE PRINCIPAL PROPERTIES: BIRD CREEK MINE, DENVER TUNNEL, EMMA MINE ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-83 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.