Mouat Ni-Cu Verdegris Creek

Prospect in Stillwater county in Montana, United States with commodities Nickel, Copper, Cobalt, PGE, Silver, Gold
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. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Controls for ore emplacement
  15. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  16. Mining district
  17. Land status
  18. Ownership information
  19. Reserves and resources
  20. Workings at the site
  21. Links to other databases
  22. Bibliographic references
  23. General comments
  24. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10042347
MRDS ID M060102
Record type Site
Current site name Mouat Ni-Cu Verdegris Creek
Alternate or previous names Mountain View

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -109.89635, 45.37992 (WGS84)
Elevation 1844
Relative position 44 MI FROM COLUMBUS BY ROAD. ABOUT 0.5 MI SOUTHEAST OF MOUNTAIN VIEW LAKE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Stillwater(county)

Montana(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Meyer Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Red Lodge(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Billings(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Stillwater(hydrologic unit)

Upper Yellowstone(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Yellowstone(hydrologic subregion)

Missouri(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Custer Gallatin 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 Montana Stillwater

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Montana Principal 005S 015E 20,21,28,29 Montana

Comments on the location information

  • UNSURVEYED. IN CUSTER NATIONAL FOREST

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Nickel Critical Primary
Copper Primary
Cobalt Critical Secondary
PGE Critical Tertiary
Silver Tertiary
Gold Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • SEE PAGE (1979) FOR GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF BASAL SERIES MINERALIZATION.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Pentlandite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Magnetite Gangue
Plagioclase Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) None Related To Ore-Forming Process

Analytical data

Result AVERAGE ORE: CU=0.37%, NI=0.42%. ASSAY: 1.85% CU, 0.55% NI, 291 PPB PT(+RU, RH, IR), 86 PPB PD, 67 PPB AU (CONVERTED FROM OZ/TON TO PPB). AVERAGE PGE: 12.4 PPB PT, 42.2 PPB PD, 6.5 PPB RH (MAX. 58 PPB PT, 120 PPB PD, 14 PPB RH). HIGHEST VALUES IN 5 FT SAMPLES WERE 1.07% NI AND 0.83% CU
Result HIGHEST VALUES FOR LONGER CORES WERE 0.81% NI AND 0.60% CU FOR 55 FT

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 1
USGS model code 1
Deposit model name Stillwater Ni-Cu

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cretaceous
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock > Peridotite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Hornfels

Nearby scientific data

(1) -109.89635, 45.37992

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description The Stillwater Complex Is Exposed Along The Northern Margin Of The Beartooth Uplift, One Of Several Laramide Basement-Cored Ranges That Make Up The Rocky Mountain Foreland Of South-Central Montana (Foose And Others, 1961: Kulik And Schmidt, 1988)

Ore body information

  • General form STRATIFORM, PODS, LENSES, SILL-LIKE BODIES
    Length 274.32M
    Width 457.2M
    Depth to top 0M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Immiscible Sulfide Liquid Enriched In Ni And Cu Exsolved From Mafic Silicate Magma And Accumulated Near Lower Contact Of The Stillwater Complex. Assimilation Of Sulfur From Rocks Adjacent To The Stillwater Complex May Have Led To The Exsolution Of The Sulfide Liquid (Zientek And Ripley, 1990)

Comments on the geologic information

  • AGE OF STILLWATER COMPLEX IS 2,705 +/- 4 MA BASED ON U-PB SYSTEMATICS ON ZIRCON-BADDELEYITE (PREMO AND OTHERS, 1990) ; GEOL.DESC: AGE OF HOST ROCKS: PRE CAMBRIAN; MAJOR.UNITS: STILLWATER COMPLEX.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1883
Discoverer Jack Nye, Jimmy And Jonas Hedges

Mining district

District name In Stillwater Complex

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Anaconda Co.
    First year 1977
  • Type Owner
    Owner M. W. Mouat
    First year 1949

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1973
    Total resources 136000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Nickel Ni 0.25 wt-pct Nickel Major 1973
    Copper Cu 0.25 wt-pct Copper Major 1973

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • PAGE AND OTHERS IN CZAMANSKE AND ZIENTEK ESTIMATED SEVERAL MILLION TONS AT 0.4% NI, 0.35% CU

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 2438.4M

Comments on the workings information

  • 7 ADITS, INACCESSIBLE; MOUAT TUNNEL. 5,981 FT OF DRILL CORE FROM 8 HOLES DRILLED IN 1940-1941 (USBM); 92,041 FT OF DRILL CORE FROM 95 HOLES DRILLED FROM 1967-1970 (ANACONDA); 3,898 FT OF DRILL CORE FROM 13 HOLES DRILLED IN 1977 (ANACONDA)

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit 11 LARGE PODS, 24 SMALL PODS AND LENSES DISCOVERED. SIZE OF LARGEST POD: 420 FT LONG, 218 FT WIDE, 116 FT THICK. NORITE SILLS DIP 30-40W, PARALLEL TO BASE OF COMPLEX. MINERALIZED AREA ROUGHLY 1,200 FT IN DIAMETER. INDIVIDUAL MASSES MEASURE AS MUCH AS 100 BY 30 FT ON EXPOSED SURFACES. SULFIDES ARE MOST ABUNDANT IN HORNFELS; PYRRHOTITE IS MOST ABUNDANT SULFIDE. NI AND CU CONTENT IS ERRATIC AND CANNOT BE ESTIMATED BY INSPECTION.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-1973 Dohrenwend, John C. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JAN-1975 Shaffer, Glenn L. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-AUG-1991 Peterson, Jocelyn A. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Operator history (post-MRDS)

MRDS records operators as of each record's last update (≤ 2019). Some of the operators listed here have since changed hands or dissolved:

Curated by qvyshift.com from publicly-reported M&A activity (SEC filings, press releases, USGS Mineral Yearbooks). Not authoritative — verify against primary sources before relying on it. The MSHA panel above is the current authoritative source for actively-permitted mines.