Rock Island Mine

Past Producer in Mineral county in Montana, United States with commodities Copper, Lead, Zinc
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. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  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 10102024
MRDS ID DC11300
Record type Site
Current site name Rock Island Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -115.30628, 47.43348 (WGS84)
Elevation 1554
Relative position APPROX 4 1/2 MI NE OF DEBORGIA, MONT.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Mineral(county)

Montana(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

De Borgia North(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Wallace(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Wallace(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle Clark Fork(hydrologic unit)

Pend Oreille(hydrologic accounting unit)

Kootenai-Pend Oreille-Spokane(hydrologic subregion)

Pacific Northwest(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Lolo 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 Mineral

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Montana Principal 019N 029W 04 W 1/2 Montana

Comments on the location information

  • NEAR HEAD OF ROCK CREEK

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Chrysocolla Ore
Galena Ore
Malachite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Limonite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Pyrrhotite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Hydrothermal Bleaching Is Common Within A Belt Approx 1 Mi Wide Along The North Side Of The Osburn Fault Zone. It Has Been Used As A Guide To Ore Deposits.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Argillite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -115.30628, 47.43348

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description A Major Structural Grain Trends Nw And Consists Of Subparallel Faults And Folds. Major Fault Is The Osburn. This Fault Seems To Demarcate A Change In Folding Form With Fold To The North Showing Signs Of More Intense Structural Deformation Than Those To The South

Ore body information

  • General form POD/LENS
    Strike N 33 E
    Dip 68NW
    Length 48.77M
    Width 0.61M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Osburn Fault Zone

Comments on the geologic information

  • HOST BEDS STRIKE NW AND ARE OVERTURNED, WITH DIPS RANGING FROM 40 DEG TO 60 DEG TO THE SOUTH

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No

Mining district

District name Rock Island District

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Comments on the production information

  • ONE OR TWO CAR LOADS OF LOW GRADE ORE HAVE REPORTEDLY BEEN SHIPPED FROM THE MINE. PB-ZN-CU ORE WAS PRODUCED THROUGH 1956.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Overall depth 213.36M

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS CONSIST OF 3 LEVELS AND A 90 FT RAISE CONNECTING THE UPPER TWO LEVELS. AS OF 1956 , THE LOWER LEVEL WAS INACCESSIBLE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    WALLACE, R. E. AND HOSTERMAN, J. W., 1956 , RECONNAISSANCE GEOLOGY OF WESTERN MINERAL COUNTY, MONTANA: US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 1027-M, P. 605 .

  • Deposit

    YOUNG, F. M., CROWLEY, F. A., AND SAHINEN, U. M., 1962 , MARKETING PROBLEMS OF SMALL BUSINESS ENTERPRISES ENGAGED IN LEAD AND ZINC MINING: MONTANA BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULL. 30 , P. 31 .

  • Deposit

    CONSV. DIV. COMP. DATE, 01-09-1963

  • Production

    WALLACE, R. E. AND HOSTERMAN, J. W., 1956 : US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 1027-M, P. 605 .

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit VEINS DIMENSIONS ARE 50 FT IN STRIKE LENGTH AND AT LEAST 160 FT IN DIP LENGTH. VEIN CONSISTS OF IRREGULAR PODS OF QUARTZ AND SULFIDES ALONG A FAULT ZONE

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAR-1974 Unknown U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-MAY-1979 Rojstaczer, Stuart A. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references