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Rico Argentine Mining Company

Producer in Dolores county in Colorado, United States with commodities Copper, Gold, Lead, Silver, Zinc
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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. Nearby scientific data
  9. Ore body information
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Mineral rights holdings
  13. Land status
  14. Ownership information
  15. Workings at the site
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10239137
MAS/MILS ID 0080330001
Record type Site
Current site name Rico Argentine Mining Company
Alternate or previous names Mountain Springs Mine, Pro Patria Mine, Revenue Mine, Atlantic Cable Mine, Silver Swan Mine, Yellow Jacket Mine, Falcon Mine, Shamrock and Atlantic Cable Mine

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Main Entrance
Geographic coordinates: -108.00875, 37.70111 (WGS84)
Elevation 2865
Location accuracy 100(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Dolores(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Rico(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Dove Creek(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Cortez(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Dolores(hydrologic unit)

Upper Colorado-Dolores(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Colorado-Dolores(hydrologic subregion)

Upper Colorado(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

San Juan 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 Colorado Dolores

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 040 N 010 W 30 Colorado

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Tertiary
Gold Tertiary
Lead Tertiary
Silver Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Argentite Unknown
Calcite Unknown
Galena Unknown
Gold Unknown
Gypsum Unknown
Polybasite Unknown
Proustite Unknown
Pyrargyrite Unknown
Pyrite Unknown
Quartz Unknown
Rhodochrosite Unknown
Silver Unknown
Sphalerite Unknown
Stephanite Unknown
Gold Unknown

Nearby scientific data

Main Entrance (1) -108.00875, 37.70111
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Strike N40W
    Dip 69E
    Thickness 3M
    Length 200M
    Width 25M
    Area 8HA
    Depth to top 10M
    Field Value
    Type of Orebody #1 REPLACEMENT
    Shape of Orebody #1 TABULAR
    Type of Orebody #2 FISSURE VEIN
    Primary mode of Origin CONT METASOMATIC
    Secondary mode of Origin HYDROTHERMAL
    Primary Ore Control FRACTURING
    Secondary Ore Control FAULTING
    Degree of Wallrock Alter. INTENSE
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #1 CARBONATE SILIC
    Strike And Dip N40W:69E
    Minimum Depth to Top 0
    Avg. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 5
    Total Surface Area (HA) 8
    Date of Last Modification 800121

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1875
Year of first production 1916

Mining district

District name Pioneer

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Patented
Type of mineral rights Located Claim

Land status

Ownership category Federal

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Rico-Argentine Mining Co.
    ID 500410
    Interest 100
    Home office Utah
    Year 1976

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Field Value
    MAS Development Schedule # 1
    Mining Record # 1
    Status of Mining Method ESTIMATE
    Mining Method ROOM AND PILLAR 10-34
    Swell Factor .26
    Percent Waste Rock 20
    Hardness of Rock HARDROCK FISSURED WITH MODERATE WATER
    Rock Characteristics ONE SYSTEM OF WEAKNESS PLANES
    Rock Support Chars. SUPPORTING
    Mine Support Chars. TIMBER
    1st Condition of Workings OPEN
    2nd Condition of Workings SEALED
    Capacity 454
    Capacity Units MT ORE/DAY
    Unit Production Cost 13.23
    Units of Production $/MT ORE
    Operating Days per Year 300
    Operating Shifts per Day 3
    Year of Information 1976

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    COLLINS, G.E., 1931, LOCALIZATION OF OREBODIES AT RICO AND R

  • Deposit

    MOUNTAIN, COLORADO, AS CONDITIONED BY GEOLOGIC STRUCTURE A

  • Deposit

    HISTORY: COLO. SCI. SOC. PR., V. 12, NO. 12, P. 407-424

  • Deposit

    CROSS, W. AND RANSOME, F.E., 1905, RICO FOLIO, COLORADO: USG

  • Deposit

    ATLAS, FOLIO 130, 20P.

  • Deposit

    CROSS, W. AND SPENCER, A.C., 1900, GEOLOGY OF THE RICO MOUNT

  • Deposit

    COLORADO: USGS 21ST ANNUAL REPORT, PT. 2, P. 7-165

  • Deposit

    HUBBELL, A.H.,1927, RICO REVIVED: ENG. AND MIN. JOUR., V. 12

  • Deposit

    NO. 8, P. 317-321

  • Deposit

    MCKNIGHT, E.T.,1933, RICO DISTRICT, IN COLORADO: 16TH INT. G

  • Deposit

    CONG., GUIDEBOOK 19, 63-66

  • Deposit

    -------,1974, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE RICO DISTRICT,

  • Deposit

    COLORADO: USGS PROF. PAPER 723, 100P.

  • Deposit

    RANSOME, F.L.,1901, THE ORE DEPOSITS OF THE RICO MOUNTAINS,

  • Deposit

    COLORADO: USGS 22ND ANNUAL REPORT, PT. 2, P. 229-397

  • Deposit

    RICKARD, T.A., 1896, THE ENTERPRISE MINE, RICO, COLORADO: AM

  • Deposit

    INST. MIN. AND MET. TR., V. 26, P. 906-980

  • Deposit

    VARNES, D.J., 1947, RICO MINING DISTRICT, DOLORES COUNTY, IN

  • Deposit

    VANDERWILT, J.W., ED., MINERAL RESOURCES OF COLORADO: STAT

  • Deposit

    COLO., MINERAL RES. BD., P. 414-416

  • Deposit

    WISSER, E., 1960, RICO, COLORADO, IN RELATION OF ORE DEPOSIT

  • Deposit

    DOMING IN THE NORTH AMERICAN CORDILLERA: GEOL. SOC. AMER.

  • Deposit

    P. 40-46

  • Deposit

    URANIUM INFORMATION FROM PRR 1741 10/53

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit RICO ARGENTINE MINING CO. JUNE 1976 THE OPERATIONS IN THIS DISTRICT ARE TEMPORARILY INACTIVE E FOR SURFACE LEACHING OF THE DUMPS FOR SILVER AND GOLD. THE RICO ARGENTINE MINING CO (R-A) HAS CONSOLADATED MOST O FAVORABLE PROPERTIES IN THE DISTRICT AND HAS OPERATED A LA NUMBER OF MINES UNDER VARIOUS NAMES LOCATION: THE CODED LOCATION IS THE REVENUE MINE ONE OF TH GROUP DEPOSIT: THE MINERALIZED FAULTS STRIKE MORE OR LESS N-S TH AND DIP DIRECTION IS EXTREMELY VARIABLE THOUGH GENERALLY N VERTICAL. THE DIMENSIONS OF THE VEIN VARIES WITH THE HOST VEINS IN SANDSTONES AND SHALES ARE THIN THOUGH OCCASSIONAL IN GRADE (GOLD),THE REPLACEMENT ZONES (MANTOS) ARE CONSIDE WIDER AND ARE CODED ON THE DEPOSIT RECORD. MATRIX: RESERVES MAY BE EXHAUSTED NO DATA IS AVAILABLE AND MINING HAS STOPPED MINING: CAPACITY WAS 272 TONNE/DAY (300 TPD) BENEFICIATION: CAPACITY WAS 159 TONNE/DAY (175 TPD) NO COST DATA AVAILABLE - MINE CLOSED ENVIROMENTAL: DOLORES WILD RIVER ACT AREA A PREPRODUCTION PERIOD OF TWO YEARS WOULD BE REQUIRED TO R OPERATIONS IF ORE INDICATIONS WERE DISCOVERED. MILLING CAPITOL COST ESTIMATED AT $10,000 PER TPD OF CAPAC FOR A NEW MILL INFORMATION REGARDING URANIUM: RADIOACTIVITY 5XBG. URANIU MINERALIZATION OCCURES IN A PYRITE-QUARTZ AGGREGATE INTE WITH THE SANDSTONE. ASSAY ON GRAB 0.009% U308.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 27-FEB-1984 Nettleton U.S. Bureau of Mines

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.