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Bluebird Chromium Occurrence

Limestone, Montana

45.3885°N 109.9621°W

Mine Overview

The Bluebird Chromium Occurrence is near Limestone, Montana. Historically the site has been associated with the Stillwater Mining District which is now part of the Gallatin National Forest. The site was first discovered in 1939. Ore mineralization has been found at this location and the size of the deposit is estimated to be small, however the precise grade, tonnage, and extent of the mineralization are not known. There has been no production and little to no activity other than routine claim maintenance since the mineral discovery. The ore mined is composed of chromite with waste material consisting primarily of olivine. The ore body has a lenticular or lens shaped form 457.20 meters (1,500.00 feet) long and 0.98 meters (3.22 feet) thick. The host rock in this area is peridotite from the Lower Cretaceous epoch 145.00 to 100.50 million years ago. The Middle Rocky Mountains physiographic province of the Rocky Mountain System characterize the geomorphology of the surrounding area.

Site identification and general characteristics. Learn about USGS mines.

  • Chromium Primary Commodity
  • Palladium, Platinum, and Rhodium Secondary Commodity
  • Site Record Type?
  • Occurrence Development Status?
  • Surface Operation Type?
  • 1939 Year Discovered?
  • Metallic Site Commodity Type?
  • Small Mine Size?
Bluebird Chromium Occurrence Near Limestone, Montana

Bluebird Chromium Occurrence Near Limestone, Montana

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Mine Names

  1. Name? Status?
  2. Bluebird Current, Previous

Commodities

Additional textual information about a site or mine.

  1. Commodity Type Importance
  2. Chromium Metallic Primary
  3. Palladium Metallic Tertiary
  4. Platinum Metallic Tertiary
  5. Rhodium Metallic Tertiary

Location Info

  1. Continent Country State County
  2. North America The United States Montana Sweet Grass

Notes

UNSURVEYED. IN CUSTER NATIONAL FOREST.

ON WEST SIDE OF CATHEDRAL CREEK. DEPOSIT ALONG NORTH SLOPE OF BLUEBIRD PEAK.

Meridian / Township / Range Description

  1. Meridian? Township? Section? Aliquot?
  2. Montana Principle Meridian T.5S R.14E Sec. 23 NE
  3. Montana Principle Meridian T.5S R.14E Sec. 22 -

Land Status

Land status information.

  1. Land Status? Admin Area?
  2. National Forest -

Mining Districts

Formal or informal mining district names.

  1. District
  2. Stillwater Mining District

Workings

PROSPECT PITS AND TRENCHES

Concentration Process

Processes that concentrated or enriched the mineralization of the mine.

  1. Concentration Process
  2. Crystal Settling

Geology

AGE OF STILLWATER COMPLEX IS 2, 705 +/-4 MA BASED ON U-LEAD SYSTEMATICS ON ZIRCON-BADDELEYITE (PREMO AND OTHERS, 1990).

Materials

Minerals or other materials present in the mine.

  1. Role? Material?
  2. Gangue/Waste Olivine
  3. Ore Chromite

Orebody

Characteristics of the ore body.

  • Length:
  • Thickness: 0.98 meters (3.22 feet)
  • Strike: north 75 east
  • Dip: 60 southeast

Rocks

Geological materials at the site.

  1. Class? 1st Order Name? 2nd Order Name? 3rd Order Name? 4th Order Name? Most Specific Name? Begin Time End Time Description?
  2. Host Rock Plutonic Rock Ultramafic Intrusive Rock Peridotite - Peridotite Lower Cretaceous Lower Cretaceous -
  3. Mineralization - - - - - Neoarchean Neoarchean -

Structure

Geologic structural features affecting or characterizing the site or mine.

  1. Scale Description
  2. Local Small Faults Offset Chromitite Zone
  3. Regional The Stillwater Complex Is Exposed Along The Northern Margin Of The Beartooth Uplift, One Of Several Laramide Basement-Cored Ranges That Make Up The Rocky Mountain Foreland Of South-Central Montana (foose And Others, 1961: Kulik And Schmidt, 1988)

Tectonic

Tectonic setting in which the site or deposit is situated.

  1. Setting?
  2. Tectonic Setting At Time Of Emplacement Of The Stillwater Complex Is Unknown- The Complex Was Emplaced Shortly After A Major Regional, Subduction-Related Magmatic Event That Culminated In Emplacement Of The 2-73-2-79 Ga Granitoid Suite In The Batholith Exposed In The Beartooth Uplift (wooden And Others, 1991)- However, There Is No Evidence That The Magmatism That Formed The Stillwater Complex Is Related To Convergent Margin Tectonics And Magmatism

Physiography

Physiographic area where the resource is found.

  1. Division Province? Section
  2. Rocky Mountain System Middle Rocky Mountains -

Analytical Data

Results of chemical or mineralogical analysis on materials at or near the site

  1. Line? Analysis Data?
  2. 1 CR2O3 IN USBM SAMPLES RAN 1.71-39.99%. ANALYSIS OF B CHROMITITE YIELDED 460 PPB PT, 120 PPB PD, 310 PPB RH. CR2O3 CONTENT: AVERAGE 18% CHROMITE

Model

Mineral deposit model of the site.

  1. Name? USGS Model Code? BC Model Code? Mark 3 model code?
  2. BUSHVELD CHROMIUM 2A - -

Ore Control

Controls on emplacement of ore such as faults or other structural features.

  1. Text?
  2. Crystal Settling In Large Magma Chamber

Nearby Deposits

Other deposits in the same region.

  1. Bluebird Cr-Pt Chromium Occurrence

    • Chromium commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Sweet Grass, Montana
    • 0.24 miles
    Read More

  2. Bluebird Nickel-Copper Copper Occurrence

    • Copper commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Sweet Grass, Montana
    • 0.35 miles
    Read More

  3. Intial Nickel-Copper Copper Occurrence

    • Copper commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Sweet Grass, Montana
    • 0.67 miles
    Read More

  4. Initial Cr-Pt Platinum Occurrence

    • Platinum commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Sweet Grass, Montana
    • 0.77 miles
    Read More

  5. West Fork East Adit

    • Palladium commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Sweet Grass, Montana
    • 0.78 miles
    Read More

  6. Dow Palladium Occurrence

    • Palladium commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Sweet Grass, Montana
    • 1.06 miles
    Read More

  7. Groundhog Chromium Mine

    • Chromium commodity Site type Mine status
    • Sweet Grass, Montana
    • 1.73 miles
    Read More

  8. West Fork Group

    • Chromium commodity Site type Prospect status
    • Sweet Grass, Montana
    • 2.21 miles
    Read More

  9. West Fork Cr-pt Tuttle Chromium Occurrence

    • Chromium commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Sweet Grass, Montana
    • 2.38 miles
    Read More

  10. West Fork Palladium Occurrence

    • Palladium commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Sweet Grass, Montana
    • 2.43 miles
    Read More

Nearby Places

Nearby Mining Districts

Nearby Lands

Footnotes

* Mine bounds on map indicate the general area that a mine occupies. For an detailed map, refer to the overseeing BLM field office.

** The mine central point is based on an average of the mine's bounding box(es) and does not necessarily fall on the claim itself.

1 World-class significance is determined by total endowment of the contained commodity. This includes all past production and remaining reserves. Each commodity is considered separately and commodities cannot be combined to arrive at a significant size. The tonnage thresholds are from the mine model grade-tonnage studies. As of June 2008, many entries were classified as significant under less strict rules.

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