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El Plomo Mine

Past Producer in Costilla county in Colorado, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Lead
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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. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Reserves and resources
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10087427
MRDS ID D006755
Record type Site
Current site name El Plomo Mine
Alternate or previous names Rito Seco Mine, Plomo

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Pit
Geographic coordinates: -105.33, 37.25392 (WGS84)
Elevation 2652
Location accuracy 10(meters)
Relative position 6.5 MILES N 53 E FROM SAN LUIS

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Costilla(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Ojito Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Alamosa(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Trinidad(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Alamosa-Trinchera(hydrologic unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic accounting unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic subregion)

Rio Grande(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Costilla

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
6th Principal 032S 071W 15,16 Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • ON NORTH SIDE OF RITO SECO ON PRIVATE LAND WITHIN THE SANGRE DE CRISTO GRANT, WHICH IS UNSURVEYED ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1975)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Lead Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Anglesite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Sericite, Chlorite

Analytical data

Result $5 TO $15/TON AU (VAN DEIST)
Result $2.50 TO $7/TON AU (GUNTHER)
Result TO 8 OZ AU AND 357 OZ AG (HOLMES) , ASSAY FROM TRACT ONE MILE EAST OF MINE

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 82
USGS model code 22
Deposit model name Epithermal veins

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Latite
    Rock unit name Altered Lava Flow
    Rock description Altered Lava Flow
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Latite
    Rock unit name Santa Fe Formation;Vallejo
    Rock description Santa Fe Formation;Vallejo

Nearby scientific data

Pit (1) -105.33, 37.25392
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Culebra Massif, Rio Grande Rift Zone
Type of structure Local
Structure description Unnamed Normal Faults Associated With East Edge Of Rift

Ore body information

  • Strike FAULT N 35 E
    Dip FAULT 52.5 NW
    Length 121.92M

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Year of last production 1946

Mining district

District name El Plomo District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Earth Sciences, Inc.
    Home office Golden, Co.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1981
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 1.411 g/mt Gold Major 1981

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • EARTH SCIENCES AND E&B EXPLORATION (REPORTED IN WILKINSON, 1981)

Comments on development

  • PRODUCTION LIMITED TO SMALL TRIAL SHIPMENTS. USBM MIN. YEARBOOK 1940 REPORTED SHIPMENT OF 44 TONS AU ORE.IN 1975, EARTH SCIENCES, INC., OF GOLDEN OPERATED THE O.J. PROPERTY (POSSIBLY AT SITE OF OR NEAR RITO SECO MINE) BY OPEN-PIT METHOD AND PRODUCED 58,000+ ST ORE FOR EXPERIMENTAL HEAP LEACHING OPERATION. TEST YIELDED 980.5 OZ AU AND 214 OZ AG. WILKINSON (1981) REPORTED THAT EARTH SCIENCE ENTERED AGREEMENT WITH E&B EXPLORATION, INC. (VANCOUVER), TO OPERATE PROPERTY. DRILLING HAD ESTABLISHED RESOURCE/RESERVE OF 1.5 MILLION TONS ORE IN 2 DEPOSITS AT GRADE OF 0.03 TO 0.15 OZ/TON AU, AVERAGING 0.05 OZ/TON. ORE IS TO BE SHIPPED 5.5 MILES TO HEAP-LEACH SITE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    VAN DEIST, E.C., AND VAN DEIST, P.H., 1898, NOTES ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE WESTERN SLOPE OF THE SANGRE DE CRISTO RANGE IN COSTILLA COUNTY, COLO.: COLO, SCI. SOC. PROC., V. 5, P. 76-80.

  • Deposit

    GUNTHER, C.G., 1905, THE GOLD DEPOSITS OF PLOMO, SAN LUIS PARK, COLORADO: ECON. GEOLOGY, V. 1, P. 143-154.

  • Deposit

    VANDERWILT, J.W., 1947, COLO. MINERAL RESOURCES BD., P. 65.

  • Deposit

    HOLMES, W.I., 1935, BRIEF REPORT ON THE EAST BLACKMORE TRACT: COLO. STATE PLAN. COMM. UNPUB. REPT., 1 P.

  • Deposit

    RITTER, E.A., 1934, REPORT ON THE RITO SECO MINING PROPERTY LOCATED IN COSTILLA COUNTY, COLORADO: COLORADO STATE PLAN. COMM. UNPUB. REPI.

  • Deposit

    JOHNSON, R.B., 1969, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE TRINIDAD QUADRANGLE, SOUTH-CENTRAL COLORADO: USGS MAP 1-558.

  • Deposit

    WEILKINSON, BRUCE, 1981, GOLD LODE STUDIED IN COSTILLA COUNTY: DENVER POST, 6/14/81, P. 46.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit AU CONTAINED IN QUARTZ-PYRITE REPLACEMENT ALONG MAIN FAULT ZONE. ORE IS GRADATIONAL WITH BARREN COUNTRY ROCK. HOST APPEARS TO BE ALTERED LAVA FLOW WITHIN SEQUENCE OF CONGLOMERATES, SANDSTONES, AGGLOMERATES, AND OTHER FLOWS IN SANTA FE AND/OR VALLEJO FMS.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1981 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey
Updater 01-MAY-1983 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado 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

Authoritative Colorado resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.