Edison Lithium Mine

Keystone, South Dakota

43.8821°N 103.4055°W

Mine Overview

The Edison Lithium Mine is near Keystone, South Dakota. Historically the site has been associated with the Keystone Mining District which is now part of the Black Hills National Forest. The Edison Lithium Mine was closed at the time of data entry with no known plans to re-open. Production size when active was considered to be small. The ore mined is composed of feldspar, muscovite and spodumene with waste material consisting primarily of pyrite, calcite and quartz. The ore body is irregularly shaped of unknown dimensions. Associated rock in this area is pegmatite from the Neoproterozoic era 1.00 to 0.54 billion years ago. The Black Hills of the Interior Plains characterize the geomorphology of the surrounding area.

Site identification and general characteristics. Learn about USGS mines.

Lithium Primary Commodity
Beryllium, Feldspar, and Mica Secondary Commodity
Site Record Type^?
Mine Development Status^?
1917 First Year Of Production^?
Small Production Size^?
Metallic Site Commodity Type^?
Small Mine Size^?

Mine Names

Name^? Status^?
Edison Mine Current
Bull Consolidated Previous
Hector Fraction Previous
Sitting Bull Mine Previous
Gold Star Claims Previous

Owner Name and Address

Lithium Corporation of America

Type: Operator

Thomas Edison

Type: Owner

Commodities

Additional textual information about a site or mine.

Commodity Type Importance
Lithium Metallic Primary
Beryllium Metallic Secondary
Feldspar Non-Metallic Secondary
Mica Non-Metallic Secondary
Tantalum Metallic Secondary

Deposit

4 OR MORE COALESING PEGMATITES HAVING 2 ZONES. SPODUMENE CRYSTALS UP TO 8 FEET LONG. BULL CON DIKE IS 450 FEET NORTH OF THE EDISON.

Location Info

Pennington , South Dakota County / State

Continent Country State County
North America The United States South Dakota Pennington

Notes

ADJACENT PARTS OF SECTION 16

Meridian / Township / Range Description

Meridian^? Township^? Section^? Aliquot^?
Black Hills Meridian T.2S R.6E Sec. 16 NE
Black Hills Meridian T.2S R.6E Sec. 9 -

Land Status

Land status information.

Land Status^? Admin Area^?
National Forest Black Hills National Forest

Mining Districts

Formal or informal mining district names.

District
Keystone Mining District

Workings

SURFACE & UNDERGROUND MINING. 12 DIAMOND DRILL HOLES ON THE EDISON, 1 ON THE BULL CON. 2, 114. 5 FEET OF TEST HOLES.

Materials

Minerals or other materials present in the mine.

Role^? Material^?
Gangue/Waste Albite
Gangue/Waste Calcite
Gangue/Waste Holmquistite
Gangue/Waste Hornblende
Gangue/Waste Pyrite
Gangue/Waste Quartz
Ore Beryl
Ore Feldspar
Ore Muscovite
Ore Spodumene

Orebody

Characteristics of the ore body.

Rocks

Geological materials at the site.

Class^? 1st Order Name^? 2nd Order Name^? 3rd Order Name^? 4th Order Name^? Most Specific Name^? Begin Time End Time Description^?
Associated Rock Plutonic Rock Pegmatite - - Pegmatite Neoproterozoic Neoproterozoic -
Host Rock Plutonic Rock Pegmatite - - Pegmatite - - -
Mineralization - - - - - Neoproterozoic Neoproterozoic -

Tectonic

Tectonic setting in which the site or deposit is situated.

Setting^?
Southern Black Hills

Physiography

Physiographic area where the resource is found.

Division Province^? Section
Interior Plains Great Plains Province Black Hills

Alteration

Mineralogical and chemical alteration at or near the site, which may help to indicate the geographic extent of the geological processes producing the mine.

Type^? Alterations
Local The Core Spodumene Crystals Range From Fresh To Highly Altered

Nearby Deposits

Other deposits in the same region.

Nearby Places

Keystone (1.11 miles away)
Rockerville (5.74 miles away)
Hill City (9.13 miles away)
Colonial Pine Hills (9.76 miles away)
Hermosa (11.08 miles away)
Custer (12.51 miles away)
Johnson Siding (14.08 miles away)
Silver City (16.03 miles away)
Rapid City (16.22 miles away)
Fairburn (16.64 miles away)
Rapid Valley (17.92 miles away)
Green Valley (18.06 miles away)
Blackhawk (19.20 miles away)
Pringle (21.10 miles away)
Summerset (21.48 miles away)
Nemo (22.11 miles away)
Piedmont (24.16 miles away)

Nearby Mining Districts

Keystone Mining District (0 miles away)
Spokane Mining District (1.85 miles away)
Hill City Mining District (4.26 miles away)
Spring Creek Area (5.40 miles away)
Ivanhoe Mining District (6.43 miles away)

Nearby Lands

Black Hills National Forest (0 miles away)
Mount Rushmore National Memorial (1.21 miles away)
Black Elk Wilderness (1.91 miles away)

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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