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Oak Creek (Ilse) District

Past Producer in Custer county in Colorado, United States with commodities Lead, Silver, Zinc, Uranium, Gold
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Alteration
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Production statistics
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10311024
Record type District
Current site name Oak Creek (Ilse) District

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -105.2264, 38.19695 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Custer(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Hardscrabble Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Canon City(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Pueblo(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Arkansas(hydrologic unit)

Upper Arkansas(hydrologic accounting unit)

Upper Arkansas(hydrologic subregion)

Arkansas-White-Red(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Pike and San Isabel 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 Custer

Comments on the location information

  • Wet Mountains. Northwest of McKenzie Junction (State Highways 96 and 165). 12 miles northeast of Silver Cliff and 16 miles southwest of Florence.

Commodities

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

Comments on the commodity information

  • Cerussite and phosgenite noted at the Terrible mine near Ilse by Eckel (1961).
  • The Terrible mine at the northwest end of the mineralized area is the largest historic producer.
  • Lead occurs as cerusite (lead carbonate) lenses and masses in northwest-trending faults and fractures. No sulfide ore noted. Lead may be remobilized from older stratabound exhalative sulfide deposits at depth, similar to sulfide deposits known in the Grape Creek district a few miles to the northwest of Ilse.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cerussite Ore
Phosgenite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) carbonate and iron-oxide

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 30
USGS model code 11d
Deposit model name Thorium-rare-earth veins

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss > Migmatite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss > Orthogneiss
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleoproterozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -105.2264, 38.19695
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description northwest trending faults

Comments on the geologic information

  • Cerusite is hosted in fault zones. The main zone at the Terrible mine strikes N. 20-25 W. and dips 60 SW (Hunter, 1915). In the fault zones that contain mineralization, granite and granitic gneiss host rock is brecciated, altered, and iron-stained. Smaller mines and prospects in the southern part of the district near Stevens Gulch and Lead Mountain are along a fault striking about N50W.
  • Ore is restricted to shoots. Large areas along the major faults are altered with carbonate and iron oxide but contain no cerusite.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

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

Mining district

District name Oak Creek (Ilse) District

Production statistics

  • Year 1915
    Period 1879-1915
    Material ore
    Ore mined 227000mt
    Accuracy Estimate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major ore mined Lead Lead 8wt-pct
  • Year 1943
    Period 1940-1943
    Material cerusite ore
    Ore mined 36mt
    Accuracy Estimate

Comments on the production information

  • Reports of total district production vary from $500,000 to over $1,000,000 worth of lead. Information is based on Hunter (1915). U.S. mint reports up to 1895 showed production from the Terrible mine of $759,717 woth of lead. Other smaller mines in the district also produced lead ore.
  • None of the mines have been worked to great depth.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • See MRDS entry for Terrible Mine. Resources, however, are not fully defined for the district.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Eckel, E.B., 1961, Minerals of Colorado, a 100-year record: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1114, 399 p.

  • Deposit

    Hunter, J.F., 1915, Some cerusite deposits in Custer county, Colorado, in Contributions to economic geology: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 580, P. 25-37.

  • Deposit

    VANDERWILT, J.W., 1947, MINERAL RESOURCES OF COLORADO: COLORADO MINERAL RESOURCES BOARD, P. 69

  • Production

    VANDERWILT, J.W., 1947, MINERAL RESOURCES OF COLORADO: COLORADO MINERAL RESOURCES BOARD, P. 69

  • Production

    Hunter, J.F., 1915, Some cerusite deposits in Custer county, Colorado, in Contributions to economic geology: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 580, P. 25-37.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 04-MAR-2005 Keller, John W. Colorado Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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.