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South Rock Creek area

Past Producer in Saguache county in Colorado, United States with commodity Iron
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Alteration
  7. Host and associated rocks
  8. Nearby scientific data
  9. Geologic structures
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Production statistics
  12. Bibliographic references
  13. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10311032
Record type Deposit
Current site name South Rock Creek area
Alternate or previous names Alder limonite deposit

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -105.99809, 38.38473 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Saguache(county)

Colorado(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Wellsville(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Canon City(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Pueblo(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

San Luis(hydrologic unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic accounting unit)

Rio Grande Headwaters(hydrologic subregion)

Rio Grande(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bureau of Land Management(Bureau of Land Management CO)

Bureau of Land Management CO BLM(Type of land area)

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Saguache

Comments on the location information

  • Located near the base of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, near Poncha Pass. The Alder limonite deposit (Harber and Tesch, 1959) is between branches of Decker Creek. "South Rock Creek area" is shown on a map of mining districts but is not described (Ellis and others, 1983).

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • A small iron deposit. Thought to be a surficial "bog iron" deposit.

Alteration

  • (Local) bog iron

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment
    Rock unit name bog iron
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Quaternary

Nearby scientific data

(1) -105.99809, 38.38473
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Sangre de Cristo Fault

Comments on the geologic information

  • Yellow, red, and brown to black limonite is exposed in several outcrops trending northeast for about 250 m along the north and south branches of Decker Creek. Parts of the deposit are almost pure limonite, other areas are mixed sand, gravel, and limonite. Some areas characterized by angular to sub-angular fragments of Proterozoic rocks cemented with limonite.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Significant Yes

Production statistics

  • Year 1943
    Material iron ore
    Ore mined 50mt
    Accuracy Estimate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Iron Iron 22mt 45wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • The ore is not a clean source of iron.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Harber, C.M., and Tesch, W.J., Jr., 1959, Reconnaissance of iron occurrences in Colorado, U.S. Bureau of Mines Information circular 7918, 82 p.

  • Names

    Ellis, C.E., Hannigan, B.J., and Thompson, J.R., 1983, Mineral investigation of the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness Study Area, Alamosa, Custer, Fremont, Huerfano, and Saguache Counties, Colorado, U.S. Bureau of Mines MLA 65-83, 190 p.

  • Geology

    Harber, C.M., and Tesch, W.J., Jr., 1959, Reconnaissance of iron occurrences in Colorado, U.S. Bureau of Mines Information circular 7918, 82 p.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 27-JUN-05 Keller, John W. Colorado Geological Survey
Editor 16-NOV-11 Wilson, Anna B U.S. Geological Survey Changed from district to deposit record. This is not a district.

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.