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Columbus Mine

Past Producer in La Plata county in Colorado, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, Tellurium
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  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. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10014159
MRDS ID D010810
MAS/MILS ID 0080670061
Record type Site
Current site name Columbus Mine
Alternate or previous names Patented Claims: Lorrillard, MS 1142, Little Mack, MS 1144, Moonlight, MS 9179, Columbus, MS 9223, Maverick, MS 9223, Gold Cup, MS 9223, Last Chance, MS 17252, Lucky Boy, MS 19405

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Main Entrance
Geographic coordinates: -108.01759, 37.42779 (WGS84)
Elevation 3572
Location accuracy 10(meters)
Relative position 12.7 MILES N 38 W FROM DURANGO, 10 m. Adit labeled on topo.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

La Plata(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

La Plata(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Cortez(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Cortez(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle San Juan(hydrologic unit)

Upper San Juan(hydrologic accounting unit)

San Juan(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

San Juan 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 La Plata

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 037N;037N 010W;011W 30,31;25,36 Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • (LAND STATUS AND ADMINISTRATIVE AREA LOCATIONS CALCULATED USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS FOR SAN JUAN N. F.). ON NORTH SLOPE OF LEWIS MTN NEAR HEAD OF COLUMBUS BASIN, 3.2 MILES NE OF LA PLATA TOWNSITE (UNSURVEYED SECTION). ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1974

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Lead Secondary
Copper Secondary
Tellurium Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Sylvanite Ore
Barite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Sericite Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Nonporphyritic Rocks--Diorite
    Rock description Nonporphyritic Rocks--Diorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Permian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Eocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Eocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Cutler Formation
    Rock description Cutler Formation

Nearby scientific data

Main Entrance (1) -108.01759, 37.42779
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description San Juan Uplift, Four Corners Platform
Type of structure Local
Structure description La Plata Dome, Lewis Mtn Diorite Stock

Ore body information

  • Thickness 18.29M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Possibly Scissor Fault Intersection

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1895
Discoverer Benjamin O. Reid and others (Claimants)
Year of first production 1895
Year of last production 1913

Mining district

District name California (La Plata) District

Land status

Ownership category National Forest
Area name San Juan N. F.

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Columbus Mining Co.
    Home office Denver, Co.
    First year 1918

Comments on the production information

  • PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD. FIGURES UNAVAILABLE FOR YEARS PRIOR TO 1901, BUT PRODUCTION CONSIDERED SMALL. NO PRODUCTION RECORDED BETWEEN 1901 AND 1912.

Comments on the workings information

  • MINE DEVELOPED BY TWO SHAFTS AND 4 LEVELS. OLD 50-FT INCLINED SHAFT TO LESS DEVELOPED 50-FT LEVEL. NEWER MAIN VERTICAL SHAFT 300 FT DEEP WITH LEVELS AT 60 FT, 100 FT, 200 FT, AND 300 FT, AND LUCKY BOY TUNNEL LEVEL AT 350 FT. ON 100 LEVEL, 10-FT CROSSCUT TO VEIN, ON WHICH DRIFT DRIVEN N 53 E AT LEAST 180 FT (TO CAVED AREA) AND S 53 W FOR 275 FT WITH SUBSIDIARY BRANCHES AND RAISE AT 70 FT FROM CROSSCUT AND 100-FT WINZE TO 200 LEVEL AT 100 FT FROM CROSSCUT. ON 200 LEVEL, 40-FT CROSSCUT TO VEIN, ON WHICH DRIFT DRIVEN S 53 W FOR 640 FT, WITH RAISE TO 100 LEVEL AT 100 FT, 30-FT RAISE AT 170 FT, AND SHORT BRANCH TUNNELS AT 445, 465, AND 530 FT FROM CROSSCUT. ON 300 LEVEL, 70-FT CROSSCUT TO VEIN, ON WHICH DRIFT DRIVEN N 53 E FOR 110 FT AND S 53 W FOR 110 FT, WITH 50-FT INCLINED WINZE TO TUNNEL LEVEL AT 10 FT SW OF CROSSCUT. TUNNEL LEVEL AT 350 FT HAS 65 FT DRIFT DRIVEN GENERALLY NE AND 80-FT DRIFT DRIVEN GENERALLY SW FROM RAISE. SEVERAL OPEN CUTS ON VEIN

Comments on development

  • MINE ACTIVE IN 1890S BUT PROBABLY ONLY SMALL PRODUCTION TO 1901; INTERMITTENTLY OPERATED FROM 1901-1913; SOME DEVELOPMENT WORK AS LATE AS 1917 OR 1918.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ECKEL, E.B., AND OTHERS, 1949, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE LA PLATA DISTRICT, COLORADO: USGS PROF. PAPER 219, P. 73-76, 101-103, PL. 16.

  • Deposit

    Neubert and others, 1992, Mineral Appraisal of the San Juan National Forest, Colorado: USBM MLA 2-92, fig. 39, p. 111; p. 114-115.

  • Deposit

    BLM MINERAL SURVEY MS 1142, 1144, 9179, 9223, 17252, 19405

  • Deposit

    REED, J.R., 1936, REPORT ON COLUMBUS MINES CO., LA PLATA COUNTY, COLORADO--LUCKY BOY, LAST CHANCE, MOONLIGHT, ETC.: UNPUB. ENG. REPT., 3 P.

  • Deposit

    COLORADO DIV. MINES INF. REPT.

  • Production

    ECKEL AND OTHERS, 1949, P. 101-102 (AS COMPILED FROM USGS AND USBM RECORDS)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit COUNTRY ROCK CONSISTS OF CUTLER FM RED BEDS INTRUDED BY DIORITE STOCK. VEIN TRENDS N 69 TO 62 E, 59 TO 70 NW AND MAY POSSIBLY OCCUPY PORTION OF TWO INTERSECTING FAULTS (SCISSOR FAULT). VEIN CONSISTS OF 30- TO 60-FT-WIDE ZONE OF SHEARED, PYRITIZED, AND PARTLY SERICITIZED DIORITE CONTAINING DISSEMINATED PYRITE AND QUARTZ VEINLETS.
Deposit A.B. Wilson merged data from 10264207 and deleted that duplicate record.
Deposit Discovery Year: 1890s
Deposit Copied from deleted MAS record 0080670061 (=10264207):

Shaft and crosscut adit expose a vein which strikes N60E, dips 65NW. Vein hosted in silicified Cutler Formation and diorite. Ore contains pyrite, tellurides?

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-83 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey
Reporter 12-JUN-97 Buckingham, David A. U.S. Bureau of Mines MAS record 0080670061

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

External references

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.