1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Platinum Placers of Choco Department

Producer in Choco, Colombia with commodities Platinum, Gold, Silver, Palladium, Copper
Map
XML
JSON
KML
B
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Ownership information
  16. Production statistics
  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 10107269
MRDS ID W001518
Record type Site
Current site name Platinum Placers of Choco Department

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -76.66641, 5.10133 (WGS84)
Elevation 107
Relative position UPSTREAM AND DOWNSTREAM FROM VILLAGE OF ANDAGOYA ON SAN JUAN RIVER, AND IN HEADWATERS OF ATRATO RIVER SOUTHEAST OF QUIBDO

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Choco(province)

Colombia(country)

South America(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country State
Colombia Choco

Comments on the location information

  • ELEVATION OF DREDGIBLE PARTS OF RIVERS RANGES FROM 60 TO 120 MTRS. LAT. AND LONG. REFER TO GEOGRAPHIC CENTER OF LARGE AREA

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Platinum Critical Primary
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Palladium Critical Secondary
Copper Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Platinum Ore
Chromite Gangue
Ilmenite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue

Analytical data

Result PT CONCENTRATES: 84 - 87% PT, 1 - 3% RH, 0.4 - 0.6% PL, 0.7 - 2.5% OS - IR, 6 - 9% FE, 0.5 - 0.75% CU

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 120
USGS model code 39b
Deposit model name Placer PGE-Au

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Ultramafic Intrusive Rock
    Rock unit name Ultrabasic Intrusives, Alpine;Quartz Diorite, Tonalite, Granodiorite
    Rock description Ultrabasic Intrusives, Alpine;Quartz Diorite, Tonalite, Granodiorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous

Nearby scientific data

(1) -76.66641, 5.10133
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Reg.Trends: N - S Folding, Faulting, And Ultrabasic Intrusions

Ore body information

  • General form MEANDERING
    Thickness 3M
    Width 800M
    Depth to top 0M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fluvial Mechanical Concentration Of Heavy Minerals To Form Paystreaks

Comments on the geologic information

  • REG.COM: COUNTRY ROCKS WERE FOLDED AT END OF CRETACEOUS. EROSION DURING TERTIARY GAVE RISE TO PLACERS ALONG PRESENT STREAM COURSES PARTICULARLY DOWNSTREAM FROM ULTRAMAFIC SOURCES.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant No
Discovery year 1557
Discoverer Natives, And Spanish Colonizers
Year of first production 1778
Production years 1778 - 1971 (EST)

Mining district

District name Upper San Juan - Atrato River District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Choco - Pacifico Mining Co.

Production statistics

  • Year 1971
    Period 1778 - 1971
    Material PT
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^(Est), Concentrates: 87 % Pt, 1 1/2 % Ir, 1 % Pd, 8 % Fe, 1 % Cu
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Copper Copper 1wt-pct
    Iron Iron 8wt-pct
    Palladium PGE 1wt-pct
    Iridium PGE 2wt-pct
    Platinum PGE 87wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • AMOUNT OF AU PRODUCTION PROBABLY SIMILAR IN MAGNITUDE TO PLATINUM; PRESENT PRODUCTION OF CHOCO - PACIFICO IS 13,000 TOZ PT P.A. AND BY NATIVE PANNING 10,000 TO 15,000 TOZ ANNUALLY

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • AT PRESENT PRICES (PT, $135 TOZ; AU, $60 TOZ), DREDGIBLE RESERVES MAY BE 10 YEARS MINING AT PRESENT RATE OF 12.5 MILLION CUBIC YARDS P. A., EMPLOYING 5 DREDGES. NATIVE "MAZAMORREO" MAY CONTINUE INDEFINITELY.
  • NOT QUANTIFIABLE. EXPLORATION RECOMMENDED FOR POSSIBLE EXTENTION OF PAY STREAKES, ALSO FOR POSSIBLE PLATINUM - CHROMITE LODE DEPOSITS IN ULTRABASIC SOURCE ROCKS.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Length 50000M
    Overall depth 30M

Comments on the workings information

  • EXTENSIVE DREDGING ALONG SAN JUAN, IRO, CONDOTO, OPOGADO, AND TAMANA RIVERS, AND IN SEVERAL INTERFLUVE BENCH DEPOSITS

Comments on development

  • IN ADDITION, THOUSANDS OF NATIVES HAND - WASH SANDS AND GRAVELS IN HEADWATER TRIBUTARIES, CONTRIBUTING TO REGIONAL EXPLORATION ; ECON.COM: COMMODITY PRICES, TENOR, DREDGIBILITY IN LOWER PARTS OF STREAMS, LAND OWNERSHIP, AND LOCAL POLITICS

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    SINGEWALD, Q., 1950, MINERAL RESOURCES OF COLOMBIA, USGS BULL. 964 B

  • Deposit

    WOKITTEL, R., 1961, GEOLOGIA ECONOMICO DEL CHOCO, BOL. GEOL., V. 7, PP 119 - 162

  • Deposit

    MERTIE, J. B., 1969, ECON. GEOL. OF THE PLATINUM METALS, USGS PP. 630

  • Deposit

    1950 COMPILE SINGEWALD, Q., USGS BULL. 964B

  • Deposit

    1961 COMPILE WOKITTEL, R., COLOMBIAN GEOL. SURV.

  • Deposit

    1969 COMPILE MERTIE, J. B., USGS PP 630

  • Deposit

    PRIVATE, CHOCO - PACIFICO MINING CO., SUBSIDIARY OF INTERNATIONAL MINING CORP., N. Y.

  • Production

    J. A. SWAN, CHOCO PACIFICO MINING CO., R. WOKITTEL (1961)

  • Reserve-Resource

    J. A. SWAN, PRODUCTION SUPERINTENDENT, CHOCO - PACIFIC MINING CO.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit STREAM CHANNEL DEPOSITS WITH PAYSTREAKS COMMONLY WIDER THAN PRESENT CHANNELS; PT: AU RATIOS VARY WIDELY FROM STREAM TO STREAM, FROM 2:1 TO 1:22
Deposit ULTRABASIC INTRUSIVES GAVE RISE TO PLATINUM GROUP METALS. INTERMEDIATE INTRUSIVES GAVE RISE TO THE COMMINGLED GOLD ESPECIALLY IN AREAS TO NORTH AND SOUTH OF DOMINANTLY PLATINUM AREA.
Deposit First Production Year: 1778, INCREASING SUBSTANTIALLY AFTER 1915 WITH INTRODUCTION OF DREDGE
Deposit Discovery Year: 1557, AS UNKNOWN INERT METAL ASSOCIATED WITH GOLD

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-1972 Irving, Earl M. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site