Excelsior Mine

Past Producer in Hinsdale county in Colorado, United States with commodities Silver, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Antimony

Sections on this page

Identification information
Geographic coordinates
Site location context
Geographic areas
Public Land Survey System information
Commodities
Materials information
Host and associated rocks
Nearby scientific data
Geologic structures
Ore body information
Controls for ore emplacement
Economic information about the deposit and operations
Mining district
Land status
Ownership information
Production statistics
Links to other databases
Bibliographic references
General comments
Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID	10014716
MRDS ID	D011607
Record type	Site
Current site name	Excelsior Mine
Alternate or previous names	Patented Claim: Excelsior, Ms 5184
Related records	10142084

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates:	-107.46674, 38.01222 (WGS84)
Elevation	3124
Relative position	8.2 MILES S 82 W FROM LAKE CITY

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Hinsdale(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Uncompahgre Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Montrose(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)

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	Hinsdale

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian	Township	Range	Section	Fraction	State
New Mexico	044N	006W	36	SE	Colorado

Comments on the location information

MINE LIES ON SW SLOPE OF EMPIRE MOUNTAIN EAST OF YELLOWSTONE GULCH AND 0.3 MILE NORTH OF CAPITOL CITY SITE. CLAIM ADJOINS SILVER CHORD CLAIM ON SOUTH. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1977

Commodities

Commodity	Importance
Silver	Primary
Copper	Primary
Lead	Primary
Zinc Critical	Secondary
Antimony Critical	Tertiary

Materials information

Materials	Type of material
Chalcopyrite	Ore
Copper	Ore
Galena	Ore
Pyrite	Ore
Silver	Ore
Sphalerite	Ore
Tetrahedrite	Ore
Limonite	Gangue
Quartz	Gangue

Host and associated rocks

Host or associated

Associated

Rock type

Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Monzonite

Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Miocene
Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Oligocene

Host or associated	Associated
Rock type	Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
Rock unit name	Eureka Member Of Sapinero Mesa Tuff;Intrusive Rocks--Monzonite Porphyry;Intrusive Rocks--Rhyolite
Rock description	Eureka Member Of Sapinero Mesa Tuff;Intrusive Rocks--Monzonite Porphyry;Intrusive Rocks--Rhyolite

Host or associated Host

Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite

Host or associated	Host
Rock type	Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite

Nearby scientific data

(1)	-107.46674, 38.01222	ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure	Regional
Structure description	San Juan Volcanic Field, San Juan Depression
Type of structure	Local
Structure description	San Juan-Uncompahgre Calderas, Lake City Caldera, Eureka Graben

Ore body information

Thickness 0.3M

Thickness	0.3M

Controls for ore emplacement

Nw-Trending Fault/Fracture Transverse To Trend Of Pre-Lake City Caldera Eureka Graben And Possibly In Radial Or Subradial Orientation To Nw Ring Fault Of Lake City Caldera

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status	Past Producer
Commodity type	Metallic
Deposit size	Small
Significant	No
Discovery year	1878
Discoverer	B. F. H. Adams And W. B. Owen (Claimants)
Year of first production	1893
Year of last production	1920

Mining district

District name	Galena (Henson Creek) District

Land status

Ownership category	Private

Ownership information

Type Owner

Owner Frank Adams And W.B. Owen

Home office Capitol City

First year 1908

Type	Owner
Owner	Frank Adams And W.B. Owen
Home office	Capitol City
First year	1908

Production statistics

Year

1893

Description

Ap_Grade: ^59 Oz/Ton Ag. 10 To 12% Cu (Average)

Importance	Item	Commodity	Group	Amount recovered	Grade	Recovery percentage
Major	Ore	Copper	Copper		11wt-pct
Major	Ore	Silver	Silver		1666g/mt

Year

1896

Description

Ap_Grade: ^50 To 59 Oz/Ton Ag, 11 To 15.5% Cu, 5% Pb

Importance	Item	Commodity	Group	Grade
Major	Ore	Lead	Lead	5wt-pct
Major	Ore	Copper	Copper	13wt-pct
Major	Ore	Silver	Silver	1539g/mt

Comments on the production information

PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD. IRVING AND BANCROFT (1911) CITE PRODUCTION FOR 1893; FIGURES FOR 1896 GIVEN BY THEM AS SHIPMENTS MADE IN 1895 AND 1896. MINERAL RESOURCES OF U.S. VOLUMES CITE PRODUCTION IN 1907, 1912, 1916, 1919, AND 1920, BUT NO FIGURES WERE GIVEN; PRODUCTION CONSIDERED TO BE SMALL.

Comments on the workings information

MINE DEVELOPED BY 100-FT CROSSCUT DRIVEN (PRESUMABLY) NE TO VEIN, WITH 500-FT DRIFT NW-SE. DISCOVERY SHAFT FROM SURFACE INTERSECTS DRIFT AT 200 FT FROM CROSSCUT; 90- TO 100-FT-LONG STOPE EXTENDS 160 FT ABOVE LEVEL. BELOW MAIN DRIFT IS 106-FT WINZE OFF WHICH SEVERAL SHORT LEVELS RUN AND 75X30X3-FT STOPE WORKED.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency	Database name	Acronym	Record ID	Notes
USGS	Mineral Resources Data System	MRDS	D011607

Bibliographic references

Deposit

IRVING, J.D., AND BANCROFT, HOWLAND, 1911, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS NEAR LAKE CITY, COLORADO: USGS BULL. 478, P. 74-76.
Deposit

SLACK, J.F., 1980, MULTISTAGE VEIN ORES OF THE LAKE CITY DISTRICT, WESTERN SAN MOUNTAINS, COLORADO: ECON. GEOLOGY, V. 75, NO. 7, P. 963-991.
Deposit

LIPMAN, P.W., 1976, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE LAKE CITY CALDERA AREA, WESTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS, SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO: USGS MAP I-962.
Deposit

BLM MINERAL SURVEY MS 5184
Production

IRVING AND BANCROFT, 1911, P. 74-75; MINERAL RESOURCES OF U.S.

General comments

Subject category	Comment text
Deposit	MINE LIES NW OF LAKE CITY CALDERA RIM IN UNCOMPAHGRE CALDERA INFILL ROCKS CONSISTING OF EUREKA MEMBER RHYOLITE. NW OF MINE, SEQUENCE INTRUDED AND ALTERED BY MONZONITE PORPHYRY AND RHYOLITE PLUGS. VEIN LIES IN SLACK'S (1980) QUARTZ/BASE-METAL ASSEMBLAGE, INNER QUARTZ-CHALCOPYRITE ZONE. VEIN TRENDS GENERALLY N 10 TO 12 W, 60 TO 70 NE, STEEPENING IN UPPER WORKINGS. ORE CHARACTERIZED BY NATIVE CU AND NATIVE AG. NATIVE CU FOUND ABOUT 400 FT IN ON MAIN LEVEL. NATIVE AG WAS PROMINENT IN LOWER WORKINGS WITH ABUNDANT SPHALERITE.

Subject category

Comment text

Deposit

MINE LIES NW OF LAKE CITY CALDERA RIM IN UNCOMPAHGRE CALDERA INFILL ROCKS CONSISTING OF EUREKA MEMBER RHYOLITE. NW OF MINE, SEQUENCE INTRUDED AND ALTERED BY MONZONITE PORPHYRY AND RHYOLITE PLUGS. VEIN LIES IN SLACK'S (1980) QUARTZ/BASE-METAL ASSEMBLAGE, INNER QUARTZ-CHALCOPYRITE ZONE. VEIN TRENDS GENERALLY N 10 TO 12 W, 60 TO 70 NE, STEEPENING IN UPPER WORKINGS. ORE CHARACTERIZED BY NATIVE CU AND NATIVE AG. NATIVE CU FOUND ABOUT 400 FT IN ON MAIN LEVEL. NATIVE AG WAS PROMINENT IN LOWER WORKINGS WITH ABUNDANT SPHALERITE.

Reporter information

Type	Date	Name	Affiliation	Comment
Reporter	01-APR-1984	Schwochow, Stephen D.	Colorado Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references

Wikidata: Q49411221 (Excelsior Mine)

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.