Dixie Mine

Past Producer in Clear Creek county in Colorado, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Zinc, Lead, Copper
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. Nearby scientific data
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Land status
  12. Production statistics
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10287137
MAS/MILS ID 0080190010
Record type Site
Current site name Dixie Mine
Alternate or previous names Dixie Tunnel, M & M Tunnel, M & M shaft, Sweet Marie

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Main Entrance
Geographic coordinates: -105.61198, 39.71582 (WGS84)
Elevation 2956
Location accuracy 10(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Clear Creek(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Idaho Springs(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Denver West(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Denver(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Clear(hydrologic unit)

South Platte(hydrologic accounting unit)

South Platte(hydrologic subregion)

Missouri(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Clear Creek

Comments on the location information

  • Adits and shafts are in sec. 7, T 4 S, R 73 W, and Sec. 12, T 4 S, R 74 W, on Ute Creek, about 5 miles SW of Idaho Springs.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Zinc Critical Primary
Lead Primary
Copper Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Gold values predominate other metals.
  • Gangue contains carbonate minerals.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Electrum Ore
Galena Ore
Polybasite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore
Tennantite Ore
Marcasite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Nearby scientific data

Main Entrance (1) -105.61198, 39.71582

Economic information

Comments on the geologic information

  • Three fissure veins, the Little Helen, M & M, and Dixie, strike NE and dip steeply to the NW.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No

Mining district

District name Chicago Creek area
District name Central City

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Production statistics

  • Year 1954
    Period 1936-54
    Material ore
    Ore mined 31765.05mt
    Accuracy Accurate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Minor Zinc Zinc 42866.74mt
    Minor Lead Lead 38506.36mt
    Minor Copper Copper 1532.68mt
    Trace Silver Silver 1798061.13g
    Major Gold Gold 551993.47g

Comments on the production information

  • Complete production data from 1936 to 1954 show total gold production of 17,747 oz, silver of 57,809 oz, copper of 3,379 lb, lead of 84,892 lb, and zinc of 93,505 lb from 32,275 tons of ore.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Report dated 1957 estimates ~55,000 tons of ore worth $1.7 million in the ground.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    OWNER:WESTERN STATES MINING REF: MAS

  • Deposit

    Harrison, J. E., and Wells, J. D., 1959, Geology and ore deposits of the Chicago Creek area, Clear Creek County, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 319, 92 p.

  • Deposit

    Sunshine Mining Co. Colorado exploration files, unpublished data, Colorado Geological Survey.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 03-FEB-84 Intermountain Field Operations Center (IFOC) U.S. Bureau of Mines
Updater 03-JAN-06 Beach, Richard A. Colorado Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Current status (per MSHA)

StatusAbandoned since 10/09/2020
MSHA mine ID0505126
Mine name (MSHA)Dixie Mine
Current operatorTeton Drilling, Inc.
Current controller (parent)Steve Jones; Mike Jones; James T Wilson
Mine typeSurface (Metal / non-metal)

Inferred by coordinate + name similarity (187 m, 1.00 match). Confirm against MSHA if precision matters — non-USGS-curated cross-references may occasionally point at a neighbouring mine.

Open MSHA's Mine Data Retrieval System for inspections, accidents, and violations for this mine.

External references

Authoritative Colorado resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.