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Silver Tip Mine

Past Producer in Whatcom county in Washington, United States with commodities Silver, Gold, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Arsenic
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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. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Land status
  16. Ownership information
  17. Workings at the site
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10047805
MRDS ID M700089
Record type Site
Current site name Silver Tip Mine
Alternate or previous names Silvertip, Claims: Silver Tip Nos. 1-12
Related records 10056238, 10132101

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -121.63124, 48.90759 (WGS84)
Elevation 899
Relative position 3 MI EAST OF SHUKSAN; ABOUT 1.4 MI SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF GOAT MOUNTAIN

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Whatcom(county)

Washington(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Mount Larrabee(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Mount Baker(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Concrete(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Nooksack(hydrologic unit)

Puget Sound(hydrologic accounting unit)

Puget Sound(hydrologic subregion)

Pacific Northwest(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie 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 Washington Whatcom

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Willamette 040N 009E 34 W2 Washington

Comments on the location information

  • ON RUTH CREEK DRAINAGE ON SOUTH SLOPE OF GOAT MOUNTAIN. DISCREPANCY IN LOCATION; HUNTTING INDICATES MINE IS IN SEC. 35.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Gold Primary
Copper Secondary
Lead Secondary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Arsenic Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Malachite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Analytical data

Result ASSAYS OF REPRESENTATIVE MATERIAL FROM ORE SHOOTS ALONG SHEAR ZONE: 0.11-0.42 OZ/TON AU, 1.6-49 OZ/TON AG, 0.49-6.41% CU, 0.05% PB. ALTHOUGH NOT ASSAYED FOR ZN, SOME SAMPLES HAD AS MUCH AS 50% SPHALERITE.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 59
USGS model code 18b
Deposit model name Skarn Cu
Mark3 model number 8

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
    Rock unit name Shuksan Metamorphic Suite, Darrington Phyllite;Shuksan Metamorphic Suite, Darrington Phyllite
    Rock description Shuksan Metamorphic Suite, Darrington Phyllite;Shuksan Metamorphic Suite, Darrington Phyllite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -121.63124, 48.90759
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form DISSEMINATED ALONG SHEAR ZONES, LENTICULAR REPLACEMENT BODIES. QUARTZ-CALCITE VEINLETS ASSUMED TO CONTAIN AU AND AG
    Strike N 45 W
    Dip 50 SW TO 80 NE
    Depth to top 0M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Shear Zone

Comments on the geologic information

  • HOST ROCKS HAVE BEEN METAMORPHOSED TO BLUESCHIST FACIES

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1896
Discoverer H.C. Wells
Year of first production 1943
Year of last production 1949

Mining district

District name Mount Baker District

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Paul Olson, L. R. Lahey, And Hans Anderson, Tacoma, Wash.
    First year 1966
  • Type Owner
    Owner Ray Block
    First year 1966

Comments on the production information

  • SHIPPED A CAR VALUED AT $27/TON, UNSPECIFIED YEAR. NO OTHER PRODUCTION RECORDS FOUND

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 198.12M

Comments on the workings information

  • MAIN UNDERGROUND WORKINGS ARE 2 ADITS ON SILVER TIP #2 CLAIM: 240-FT-LONG ADIT WITH 180 FT OF DRIFTS, 30-FT INCLINED RAISE, AND SMALL STOPE; AND 90-FT ADIT WITH A 40-FT DRIFT AND 20-FT RAISE. A 3RD ADIT 1,500 FT TO SOUTHWEST IS CAVED, BUT DUMP SIZE SUGGESTS AT LEAST 100 FT OF WORKINGS.

Comments on development

  • ONE OF FIRST DISCOVERIES OF DISTRICT. MILL OPERATED FROM 1945-49 BUT WAS DESTROYED BY SNOWSLIDE IN WINTER OF 1949-50. IN 1960 OLSON, LAHEY, AND ANDERSON ACQUIRED A 10-YEAR LEASE ON THE PROPERTY, AND IN 1966, WERE EVALUATING SEVERAL SHEAR ZONES.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    MOEN, W.S., 1969, MINES AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 57, P. 93-94.

  • Deposit

    HUNTTING, M.T., 1956, INVENTORY OF WASHINGTON MINERALS - PART II, METALLIC MINERALS: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 37, P. 106.

  • Deposit

    DERKEY, R.E., JOSEPH, N.L., AND LASMANIS, RAYMOND, 1990, METAL MINES OF WASHINGTON - PRELIMINARY REPORT: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES OPEN-FILE REPORT 90-18, P. 568.

  • Production

    MOEN, 1966; HUNTTING, 1956

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ORE MINERALS ARE CONFINED SHEAR ZONES THAT CONTAIN VEINLETS OF CALCITE AND STRINGERS OF QUARTZ. METALLIC MINERALS ARE GENERALLY SPARSE AND DISSEMINATED. RARE ORE SHOOTS ABOUT 1 FT WIDE AND 10 FT LONG APPEAR TO BE LENTICULAR REPLACEMENT BODIES. NUMEROUS SHEAR ZONES ARE EXPOSED IN WORKINGS.
Deposit 12 CONTIGUOUS UNPATENTED CLAIMS. MAP OF CLAIMS AND SKETCH MAP OF MAIN ADITS IN MOEN ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-1981 Caress, Mary E. (Evarts, Russ) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-DEC-1991 Peterson, Jocelyn A. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references

Maps centered on this site