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Oro (Naturita) Placer District

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

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10087936
MRDS ID D010951
Record type District
Current site name Oro (Naturita) Placer District
Alternate or previous names Oro District, Naturita District

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -108.41194, 38.27 (WGS84)
Elevation 1804
Relative position 1.3 MILES N 80 E TO 10 MILES N 77 E FROM NATURITA

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Montrose(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Big Bucktail Creek(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Nucla(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Moab(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

San Miguel(hydrologic unit)

Upper Colorado-Dolores(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Colorado-Dolores(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Montrose

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 046N;046N;047N;046N 014W;015W;014W;016W 03,04,05,06,07,10;01,11,12,14,15,20,21,22;31,32,;10,11,14,15 Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • PLACER CLAIMS EXTEND FOR ABOUT 10 MILES ALONG SAN MIGUEL RIVER FROM PINON (COTTONWOOD CREEK CONFLUENCE) TO POINT JUST EAST OF NATURITA (NATURITA CREEK CONFLUENCE). DISTRICT ACCESSIBLE VIA COLORADO RTE 90 UP SAN MIGUEL RIVER EAST FROM NATURITA OR DOWN COTTONWOOD CREEK SW FROM MONTROSE. CLAIMS ALSO EXTEND ONTO REDVALE (1964) AND NATURITA (1964) QUADS. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR PROBABLE HYDRAULIC CUT (DETERMINED FROM AIRPHOTOS) ON HIGH TERRACE ON SOUTH SIDE OF SAN MIGUEL RIVER 0.65 MILE WNW FROM PINON IN SE SW NE SE. 4, T46N, R14W. DISTRICT ALSO EXTENS WEST ONTO NUCLA (1960) QUAD; ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1975

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Silver Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Sand and Gravel
    Rock unit name Terrace Gravel;Alluvium
    Rock description Terrace Gravel;Alluvium
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -108.41194, 38.27
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Nucla Syncline
Type of structure Regional
Structure description Paradox Basin Fold And Fault Belt, Uncompahgre Uplift

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Gravel-Bedrock Contacts In Terrace Deposits; Insides Of Meanders In Flood-Plain Deposits

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1883
Discoverer W.H. Bryant And Others (First Claimants)
Year of first production 1883
Year of last production 1963

Mining district

District name Oro (Naturita) District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Comments on the production information

  • PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD. FIGURES AND EXACT YEARS OF PRODUCTION BETWEEN 1883 AND 1932 UNKNOWN BECAUSE DISTRICT FIGURES WERE NOT TABULATED SEPARATELY. NO APPARENT PRODUCTION IN 1943-1944, 1950-1953, 1955-1962, AND AFTER 1963. DISTRICT PRODUCTION FOR 1932-1945 WAS TABULATED BY VANDERWILT; OTHER FIGURES CREDITED TO SAN MIGUEL PLACERS IN USBM MINERAL YEARBOOKS.

Comments on the workings information

  • APPARENTLY ALL SURFACE CUTS--SLUICING AND AT LEAST ONE HYDRAULIC CUT

Comments on development

  • FIRST PLACER CLIAMS IN DISTRICT WERE SURVEYED IN 1883 AND PATENTED IN 1886 BY W.H. BRYANT AND OTHERS. REMAINING CLAIMS WERE SURVEYED AND PATENTED FROM 1886 TO 1890 BY THERON STEVENS, LEWIS GREENE, AND BY H.C., J.C., AND THOMAS GOULDING. EXTENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION FROM 1883 TO 1886 IS UNKNOWN. BY 1886, FOUR BRITISH COMPANIES CONTROLLED PLACERS, AMONG WHICH U.S. GOLD PLACERS COMPANY WAS MOST ACTIVE. VANDERWILT RECORDED AS MANY AS 40 SMALL-SCALE PLACER OPERATIONS WORKED ON THE RIVER FROM 1932 TO 1949.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SAN MIGUEL RIVER BETWEEN COTTONWOOD CREEK AND NATURITA CREEK CHARACTERIZED BY CANYON CUT THROUGH CUT JURASSIC AND CRETACEOUS SEDIMENTARY ROCKS--BURRO CANYON AND DAKOTA FORMING UPPER RIM AND MORRISON FM FORMING CANYON WALLS AND BOTTOM. MOST OF PLACER CUTS OBSERVED ON AIRPHOTOS APPEAR TO BE IN ANY OF SEVERAL TERRACE LEVELS FLANKING RIVER. PARKER (1974) DESCRIBES TWO TERRACES AT COTTONWOOD CREEK LYING 27 TO 45 FT ABOVE RIVER WITH BEDROCK AT 12 TO 20 FT ABOVE RIVER, AND ABOUT 190 FT ABOVE RIVER WITH BEDROCK AT 140 FT ABOVE RIVER. BEDROCK FLOORS OF TERRACES SHOW LITTLE RELIEF AS BEDS HAVE ONLY VERY SLIGHT DIP AND LAYERS HAD BEEN STRIPPED TO NEAR-DIP SLOPES. AU IN LOWER TERRACE AND IN MODERN STREAM BAR WAS EXTREMELY SMALL AND WELL FLATTENED. COARSEST PARTICLE FROM 21 SAMPLES WEIGHED 0.25 MG, ESTIMATED TO BE 750 FINE. AU CONCENTRATED IN UPPER 2 TO 3 FT OF MODERN BARS WITH BEST VALUES FREQUENTLY ON INSIDE BANKS OF SHARP BENDS. APPARENTLY ON TERRACE DEPOSITS, SOME AU REPORTEDLY WAS RECOVERED
Deposit BY LIFTING SLABS OF BEDROCK. SOURCE OF AU AND AG IS UPSTREAM MINERALIZED AREAS AT TELLURIDE, OPHIR, AND MT. WILSON.
Deposit BLM CLAIM RECORDS ASSIGN DISTRICT NAME "ORO," BUT AREA HAS BEEN KNOWN BY POPULAR NAME OF "NATURITA." PHILADELPHIA PLACER (MS 1535) WAS ASSIGNED DISTRICT NAME OF "CHIPETA," BUT IS INCLUDED WITH ORO DISTRICT DUE TO COINCIDENCE OF LOCATION. NO INDIVIDUAL RECORDS PREPARED DUE TO LACK OF DESCRIPTIONS FOR PLACER OPERATIONS AND UNCERTAINTY AS TO EXACT NUMBER AND LOCATION OF OPERATIONS. ; 2 UNPUB REPT; 4 OTHER SRC

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 1983-11-01 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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Authoritative Colorado resources

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