Beaver Creek District

Past Producer in Saguache county in Colorado, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Zinc, Lead
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. Ownership information
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10014383
MRDS ID D011129
Record type District
Current site name Beaver Creek District
Alternate or previous names Midland District, Patented Claims: Noah, MS 6907a, Golden Ark, MS 6907a, South Beaver Mill Site, MS 6907b, Gold Cord, MS 12592, Continental, MS 13410, Iron Clad, MS 13410, Minnehaha, MS 13410, King, MS 13410, Oro, MS 13410, Summit, MS 13410, Lone Star, MS 17163, Beaver, MS 17165, Pueblo, MS 18715, Mascot, MS 18894, Little Hope, MS 18894, Boston, MS 20538, Fairview, MS 20538

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -106.92368, 38.34222 (WGS84)
Elevation 2746
Relative position 12.8 MILES S 4 W TO 13.8 MILES S 1 E FROM GUNNISON

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Saguache(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Spring Hill Creek(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Saguache(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Montrose(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Gunnison(hydrologic unit)

Gunnison(hydrologic accounting unit)

Gunnison(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Saguache

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 047N 001W 02,11,12,13 Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • DISTRICT LIES ON WEST SIDE OF SOUTH BEAVER CREEK ON EAST SIDE OF DIVIDE BETWEEN SUGAR CREEK AND SOUTH BEAVER CREEK. DISTRICT ACCESSIBLE VIA TRAIL OVER DIVIDE FROM ROAD UP SUGAR CREEK (VIA POLE AND WILLOW CREEKS) SOUTH FROM COLORADO RTE 149 AND BLUE MESA RESERVOIR. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR 9010 BENCH MARK ON SOUTH BEAVER CREEK AT MIDLAND MILL SITE IN SE SW SE SW SEC. 12, T47N, R1W. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1976

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Lead Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • BASE METALS OCCUR ONLY IN TRACE AMOUNTS

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Magnetite Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Rock unit name Leucogranite And Quartz Monzonite
    Rock description Leucogranite And Quartz Monzonite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
    Rock unit name Dubois Greenstone--Metabasalt, Meta-Andesite;Dubois Greenstone--Quartzite
    Rock description Dubois Greenstone--Metabasalt, Meta-Andesite;Dubois Greenstone--Quartzite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Amphibolite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -106.92368, 38.34222

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Gunnison Uplift, San Juan Volcanic Field
Type of structure Local
Structure description Gunnison Gold Belt, Iron Hill Alkalic Complex

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Metamorphosed Sea-Floor Chert Bed Intercalated In Submarine Volcanic Sequence

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Year of last production 1932

Mining district

District name Beaver Creek (Midland) District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Owen O'Fallon, C.E. Lyman, And B.M. Lyman Continental Mine)
    Home office Gunnison, Co.
    First year 1932
  • Type Owner
    Owner Patrick O'Fallon Continental Mine)
    Home office Gunnison, Co.
    First year 1932

Comments on the workings information

  • SHAFTS FROM 85 TO 300 FT DEEP; TUNNELS FROM 120 TO ABOUT 150 LONG WITH DRIFTS AND CROSSCUTS; OPEN CUTS AND SURFACE PROSPECTS.

Comments on development

  • HISTORY OF DISTRICT LARGELY UNKNOWN. DISCOVERIES AND EARLY MINING IN AREA LED TO ESTABLISHMENT OF SMALL MINING TOWNS OF DUBOIS, SPENCER, VULCAN, AND MIDWAY IN LATE 1880S. POST-1900 RECORDS INDICATE ONLY INTERMITTENT PRODUCTION FROM SEVERAL LARGER MINES, SUCH AS HEADLIGHT, OLD LOT, ANACONDA, AND MAMMOTH-GOOD HOPE, ALL TO WEST. ONLY REPORTED PRODUCTION FROM BEAVER CREEK DISTRICT WAS AU-AG ORE FROM CONTINENTAL MINE IN 1932.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit COUNTRY ROCK CONSISTS OF SCHIST AND AMPHIBOLITE OF DUBOIS GREENSTONE REPRESENTING METAMORPHOSED BASALT AND ANDESITE FLOWS AND WHOSE FOLIATION TRENDS GENERALLY N 40 TO 60 W, 60 TO 85 SW. MAGNETITE-BEARING QUARTZITE (METACHERT) LAYERS ARE INTERCALATED ALONG FOLIATION IN METAVOLCANICS. LARGE LAYER OF LEUCOGRANITE ALSO INTRUDED ALONG GENERAL TREND OF FOLIATION IN SCHIST. WITH NEW INTERPRETATION OF GUNNISON GOLD BELT DEPOSITS, THAT AT MIDLAND MINE REPORTED TO BE AU, POSSIBLY AURIFEROUS PYRITE OR AURIFEROUS CHERT, ASSOCIATED WITH MAGNETITE-BEARING QUARTZITE OR METACHERT LAYER WITH TRACE OCCURRENCES OF BASE METALS (SHERIDAN AND OTHERS, 1981, P. 275). WHETHER OR NOT BASE METALS REPRESENT MASSIVE SULFIDE OCCURRENCE CHARACTERISTIC OF GOLD BELT IS UNKNOWN AS NO OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF DISTRICT WERE FOUND. DEPOSIT AT CONTINENTAL MINE IS UNCERTAIN BUT WAS ORIGINALLY DESCRIBED AS VEIN, POSSIBLY RELATED TO EMPLACEMENT OF GRANITE LAYER.
Deposit BLM CLAIM RECORDS ASSIGN DISTRICT NAMES OF BOTH "BEAVER CREEK" AND "MIDLAND" TO CLAIMS AT AND NEAR MIDLAND AND CONTINENTAL MINES. FOR CONSISTENCY, DISTRICT IS ASSIGNED PREFERRED NAME OF "BEAVER CREEK." INDIVIDUAL RECORDS PREPARED FOR ONLY TWO KNOWN DEVELOPED PROPERTIES: MIDLAND MINE AND CONTINENTAL MINE. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-84 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.