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Sheep Creek Deposit

Prospect in Meagher county in Montana, United States with commodities Cobalt, Copper, 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. Alteration
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mineral rights holdings
  15. Land status
  16. Ownership information
  17. Reserves and resources
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10246058
MAS/MILS ID 0300590138
Record type Site
Current site name Sheep Creek Deposit

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Ore Body
Geographic coordinates: -110.913, 46.783 (WGS84)
Elevation 1798
Location accuracy 100(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Meagher(county)

Montana(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Strawberry Butte(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

White Sulphur Springs(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

White Sulphur Springs(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Smith(hydrologic unit)

Upper Missouri(hydrologic accounting unit)

Missouri-Marias(hydrologic subregion)

Missouri(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Helena-Lewis and Clark 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 Meagher

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Montana Principal 012 N 006 E 24 Montana

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Cobalt Critical Primary
Copper Primary
Silver Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Bornite Ore
Barite Gangue
Pyrite Unknown

Alteration

  • (Local) silicification

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock unit name Newland Formation
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
    Rock unit name Newland Formation

Nearby scientific data

Ore Body (1) -110.913, 46.783
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Name Upper Zone
    General form Tabular to ovoid
    Strike Roughly flat
    Dip 20 degrees SW
    Thickness 7.62M
    Length 792.48M
    Width 396.24M
    Depth to top 106.68M
  • Name Lower Zone (see Geology comments)
    General form Tabular to ovoid
    Length 792.48M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Sulfide bedding

Comments on the geologic information

  • Ore found along bedding, with some crosscutting sulfides.
  • Upper Zone: Length 2,600 ft., thickness 9 to 43 ft., width 1,300, depth to ore 350 ft. avg.
    Lower Zone: Length >2,600 ft., thickness 8 to 41 ft., depth to ore 1,161 to 1,357 ft.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1985

Comments on exploration

  • Cominco states that recovery tests on ore from the Lower Zone have been very good, but tests of recoveries from the Upper Zone have been disappointing (190). Drill intersects from the Lower Zone include 20 ft grading 11% Cu and 6 ft grading 12% Cu.
  • TintinaGold Resources Inc. holds ~5,775 acres in mining leases on private land plus 56 mining claims.Drilling:
    Hole
    From (m)
    To (m)
    Width (m)
    Width (ft)
    Cu %
    Co %
    Upper Copper Zone
    DDH SC10-001
    118.26
    125.00
    6.74
    22.1
    3.44
    0.18
    DDH SC10-002
    131.31
    138.77
    7.46
    24.5
    2.48
    0.36
    DDH SC10-003
    131.88
    139.50
    7.62
    25.0
    3.21
    0.17
    DDH SC10-004
    107.90
    118.41
    10.51
    34.5
    3.03
    0.15
    Lower Copper Zone
    DDH SC10-003
    350.02
    351.69
    1.67
    5.6
    3.24
    0.05
    DDH SC10-004
    414.00
    418.05
    4.05
    13.3
    10.84
    0.03
  • Quote from TintinaGold: The first four holes drilled encountered a shallow tabular zone of copper-rich zone, (the ?Upper Copper Zone‟), with bands of massive chalcopyrite concentrated within a fine grained massive pyritic sulfide layer in a shale and debris flow conglomerate host (see Figure 2 through Figure 6, below). In addition, deeper drilling in SC10-003, SC10-004 and SC10-005 encountered a deeper zone, (the ?Lower Copper Zone‟), with high concentrations of copper and cobalt in sulfide layers. SC10-005 lies 570 meters east of SC10-004, and in an area where the Upper Copper Zone is eroded away. Drilling has begun on SC10-006 and targets additional mineralization situated 2.3 kilometers southeast of SC10-005.

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Patented
Type of mineral rights Located Claim
Type of mineral rights Private Lease

Land status

Ownership category Mixed

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Cominco Resources
    Interest 100
    Year 1995
  • Type Owner
    Owner Cominco Resources And Utah International Jv
    Interest 100
    Year 1988

Comments on the ownership information

  • COMINCO GAINED FULL OWNERSHIP POSSIBLY SOMETIME IN 1993.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Name Upper Zone
    Estimate year 1989
    Measured 5000000short tons
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Cobalt cobalt 0.1 wt-pct Cobalt Primary 1989
    Copper copper 2.5 wt-pct Copper Primary 1989
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1996
    Total resources 4000000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper Cu 4 wt-pct Copper Major 1996
    Cobalt Co 0.1 wt-pct Cobalt Primary 1996
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1998
    Inferred 4000000metric tons
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper copper 4 wt-pct Copper Primary 1998
  • Type In-situ
    Name Upper Zone
    Estimate year 2011
    Inferred 8677000metric tons
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Silver silver 12.1 g/mt Silver Secondary 2011
    Cobalt cobalt 0.11 wt-pct Cobalt Primary 2011
    Copper copper 2.15 wt-pct Copper Primary 2011
  • Type In-situ
    Name Lower Zone
    Estimate year 1989
    Measured 2000000short tons
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper copper 6 wt-pct Copper Primary 1989

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • TintinaGold Resources reports NI 43-101 compliant resources of "The Upper Copper Zone at Sheep Creek contains an Inferred resource of 7 MMT grading 2.4% Cu, 0.12% Co, and 12.3 g/tonne Ag at a 1.5% Cu cut-off grade based on an assumed copper price of $2.50/lb." (Cutoff grade 1.5%) At a cutoff grade of 0.75% Cu + 8,677,000 metric tons 2.15% Cu, 0.11% Co, 12.1 G/g Ag.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Reserve-Resource

    COMINCO LTD. 1995 ANNUAL REPORT, P37.

  • Exploration

    TintinaGold Resources Inc., November 10, 2010, TintinaGold expands land position at its Sheep Creek property, Montana, USA: TintinaGold Resources Inc. News Release.

  • Reserve-Resource

    TintinaGold Resources Inc., January 6, 2011, TintinaGold reports Initial Inferred copper-cobalt-silver resource on its Sheep Creek property, Montana, USA: TintinaGold Resources Inc. News Release, Web publication accessed January 10, 2011 at, http://tintinagold.com/images/2052TintinaGold%20-%20NR-Sheep%20Creek%20Initial%20Inferred%20Resource-%20Jan-6-2010%20(FINAL)%20.pdf

  • Deposit

    AVERY, D.W. U.S. BUREAU OF MINES UNPUBLISHED MONTANA DIRECTORY.

  • Exploration

    Tintagold Resources Inc., November 16, 2010, TintinaGold intersects 8.72% Copper and 0.11% Cobalt over 6.35 meters on its Sheep Creek property, Montana, USA: Tintagold Resources Inc. News Release.

  • Deposit

    COMINCO LTD. 1993 ANNUAL REPORT, P35.

  • Deposit

    COMINCO RESOURCES INTERNATIONAL, 1993 ANNUAL REPORT, P6.

  • Deposit

    Cominco Ltd, 1989, 1988 Annual Report

  • Deposit

    Cominco American Resources Incorporated BHP Utah International Incorporated. Sheep Creek Project, Meagher County, Montana. Dec. 1988, 4 pp.

  • Deposit

    Cominco Resources International Limited. Fact Sheet Sheep Creek, Montana. May 1989.

  • Deposit

    Cominco Resources Reports Encouraging Results at Sheep Creek, Montana, Copper Cobalt Property. July 14, 1987.

  • Deposit

    Cominco Resources Reports High Grade Copper Intercept. June 6, 1988.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
General This is probably a better record for Sheep Creek than Dep_ID 10048815. It has newer and more complet information, but that one has been tagged significant by someone else. I also tagged this as significant.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 27-APR-98 Buckingham, David A. U.S. Bureau of Mines
Updater 07-JAN-11 Causey, J. Douglas U.S. Geological Survey Major additions from companies working on project and unpublished USBM report.

Beyond USGS

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

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