Little Bill Placer Claim

Prospect in Granite county in Montana, United States with commodities Feldspar, Quartz, Garnet, Titanium, Metal, Iron, Zirconium, Niobium (Columbium), Tantalum, Thorium, Uranium
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. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Ownership information
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10096917
MRDS ID FS00094
Record type Site
Current site name Little Bill Placer Claim

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -113.69593, 46.19989 (WGS84)
Relative position THE AREA IS 2 MILES S OF SKALKAHO HIGHWAY AND 35 MILES WEST OF PHILIPSBURG, MONTANA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Granite(county)

Montana(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Mount Emerine(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Philipsburg(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Butte(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Flint-Rock(hydrologic unit)

Pend Oreille(hydrologic accounting unit)

Kootenai-Pend Oreille-Spokane(hydrologic subregion)

Pacific Northwest(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Beaverhead-Deerlodge 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 Granite

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Montana Principal 005N 017W 10 Montana

Comments on the location information

  • UNSURVEYED LANDS
  • Political location in record is Granite county. However, original lat/long plots 27km inside adjacent Deer Lodge county. Original coordinates were: lat/long NAD27 46-12-0N 112-41-42W (46.2 -112.695); UTM N<blank> E<blank> Z<blank>; PLSS line# 1: Meridian- Montana Principal, TWNSHP 005N, RNG 017W, Sect 10, Sect_fract <blank>. The location description 35 MILES WEST OF PHILIPSBURG, MONTANA places it 12 miles inside Ravalli county. The description 2 MILES S OF SKALKAHO HIGHWAY also points to Ravalli county -- all the geonames listings for Skalkaho are in Ravalli county. The mining district name "Sapphire Mountains Area" is equivocal because, although geonames places the Sapphire mountains in Ravalli county, they are on its eastern boundary with Granite county. The other 26 MRDS deposits said to be in Sapphire Mountains Area mining district also straddle the border. The bibliographic references will be difficult to check, FS and USBM files, not published or dated. The PLSS coordinates translate to 46.2 -113.7, very close to one degree west of the original lat/long. This places it in Granite county amidst 7 other very similar Sapphire Mountains district records. All are named XXX Placer Claim and have very similar references. So the longitude was likely mistyped. It was changed by 1 degree west to -113.695. The PLSS coordinates were were left as is even though they differ from the new lat/long by 1 section.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Feldspar Primary
Quartz Primary
Garnet Primary
Titanium, Metal Critical Primary
Iron Primary
Zirconium Critical Tertiary
Niobium (Columbium) Critical Tertiary
Tantalum Critical Tertiary
Thorium Tertiary
Uranium Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • SAMPLE - 25 POUNDS OF SAND AND GRAVEL DUG FROM THE DISCOVERY PIT.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Sand and Gravel Ore

Analytical data

Result MAGNETITE - 34%
Result FELDSPAR - 30%
Result QUARTZ - 25%
Result GARNET - 4%
Result ILMENITE - 3%
Result EPIDOTE - 1%
Result MUSCOVITE - LESS THAN 1%
Result SPHENE - LESS THAN 1%
Result HEMATITE - LESS THAN 1%
Result BIOTITE - LESS THAN 1% {{ TRACES OF THE FOLLOWING MINERALS: { ALLANITE
Result FERROMAGNESIAN
Result MONAZITE
Result CHLORITE
Result ZIRCON
Result RUTILE
Result XENOTIME
Result LIMONITE
Result PYRITE
Result THORITE {{ BY X-RAY SPECTROGRAPHIC ANALYSIS: { COLUMBITE (COLUMBIUM) - 0.07%
Result TANTALITE (TANTALIUM) - LESS THAN 0.05%
Result THORIUM - LESS THAN 0.05%
Result URANIUM - LESS THAN 0.05%

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pleistocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -113.69593, 46.19989

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • THERE ARE VARYING AMOUNTS OF RADIOACTIVE BLACK SANDS DISTRIBUTED IRREGULARLY THROUGHOUT THE UNCONSOLIDATED MATERIAL.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Both
Significant No
Discovery year 1954

Mining district

District name Sapphire Mountains Area

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Western Fluorite Mining Co., Inc.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Joseph T. And Ivy L. Abbey, Et. Al

Comments on the workings information

  • BULLDOZER CUT - 40 FT LONG, 12 FT WIDE, 4 FT DEEP

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    FS FILES

  • Deposit

    1954 OTHER BUREAU OF MINES - FIELD INVESTIGATION

  • Deposit

    1958 DIREXPL USFS

  • Deposit

    1960 DIREXPL USFS

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Discovery Year: 1954 (RELOCATED 1955)

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1975 Hunter, Marilyn D. U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 30-OCT-2008 Schruben, Paul U.S. Geological Survey Fixed lat/long - county disagreement.

Beyond USGS

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