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Dolores River Placers

Past Producer in Dolores county in Colorado, United States with commodities Gold, Silver
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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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  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 10014226
MRDS ID D010901
Record type Site
Current site name Dolores River Placers
Alternate or previous names Snyder Placer, Patented Claims: Wyoming Belle Placer, MS 20784, B. & S. Placer, MS 20784, Gold Nugget Placer, MS 20784, Lightning Placer, MS 20784

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -108.06009, 37.63918 (WGS84)
Elevation 2573
Relative position 1.7 TO 6.5 MILES S 22 W FROM RICO

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Dolores(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Rico(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Dove Creek(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Cortez(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Dolores(hydrologic unit)

Upper Colorado-Dolores(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Colorado-Dolores(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 Dolores
United States Colorado Montezuma

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 039N 011W 11,14,15,22,27,28 Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • (LAND STATUS AND ADMINISTRATIVE AREA LOCATIONS CALCULATED USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS FOR SAN JUAN N. F.). AU-BEARING GRAVELS EXTEND ALONG DOLORES RIVER FROM BUTNETT CREEK JUST SOUTH OF RICO TO TENDERFOOT CREEK. PRINCIPAL WORKINGS LOCATED OPPOSITE MOUTH OF SCOTCH GULCH (S2 SEC. 11), JUST UPSTREAM FROM MONTELORES STATION (S2 SEC. 15), AT BOOTLEGGER GULCH (NW SEC. 22), AND ONE-MILE STRETCH ABOVE TENDERFOOT CREEK (SECS. 27 AND 28). ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR MONTELORES STATION (SITE) ON DOLORES-MONTEZUMA COUNTY LINE AT DOLORES RIVER (SECS. 15 AND 22). ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1975

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Silver Ore

Host and associated rocks

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

Nearby scientific data

(1) -108.06009, 37.63918
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description San Juan Uplift, Paradox Basin
Type of structure Local
Structure description Rico Dome

Ore body information

  • Thickness 18.29M
    Length 8529.29M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Gravel-Bedrock Contact; Valley Wall Configuration

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1882
Year of first production 1882
Year of last production 1935

Mining district

District name Pioneer (Rico) District

Land status

Ownership category Private
Area name San Juan N. F.

Comments on the workings information

  • SURFACE CUTS; SOME DRIFTS RUN FROM LARGER CUT OPPOSITE SCOTCH GULCH

Comments on development

  • WEST DOLORES RIVER PLACERS DISCOVERED SEVERAL YEARS AFTER MAJOR LODE DISCOVERIES IN PIONEER (RICO) DISTRICT. ACCORDING TO ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL (1882), "SLUICING HAS BEEN BEGUN AT THE PLACER DIGGINGS DOWN THE RIVER, AND ALTHOUGH A VERY CRUDE PROCESS WAS EMPLOYED, THE RESULT INDICATES THAT IT WILL BE SUCCESSFUL." FATHER OF ROBERT SNYDER DISCOVERED PLACERS AND WORKED THEM ON SMALL SCALE UNTIL ACTIVITY ATTRACTED ATTENTION THAT LED TO BRIEF PERIOD OF EXTENSIVE PLACERING. PLACER PROSPECTORS CAME FROM CORTEZ VIA EXCURSION TRAINS ON RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN RR. AFTER MID 1890S, PLACERS WORKED ON A SMALL SCALE INTERMITTENTLY AT LEAST THROUGH 1934.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit AU-BEARING GRAVELS FOUND BOTH ALONG STREAM BED AND IN TERRACE REMNANTS, BUT PLACERING LIMITED TO TERRACE GRAVELS. ABOVE TENDERFOOT CREEK CONFLUENCE, REMNANTS FOUND AT 40 TO 60 FT, 100 FT, 180 FT, AND 360 FT ABOVE PRESENT RIVER LEVEL. DOWNSTREAM FROM RICO, TERRACE SURFACE LOCALLY DEVELOPED 15 FT ABOVE RIVER LEVEL. BETWEEN BURNETT CREEK AND COUNTY LINE, STEEPER VALLEY WALLS SHOW ONLY ONE BEDROCK TERRACE, AT 70 FT ABOVE RIVER LEVEL. SNYDER REPORTED AU TO BE CONCENTRATED ALMOST ENTIRELY ON BEDROCK, BUT OTHER REPORTS CITE AU DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT GRAVEL SECTION. AU IS UNIFORM YELLOW COLOR WITH SOME RUST COLORED; OCCURS AS COARSE FLAKES AND WIRES. SOURCE OF AU IS MINERALIZED AREAS IN PIONEER DISTRICT AROUND RICO.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1983 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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.