Creede Formation Mine

Creede, Colorado

37.8794°N 106.9381°W

Mine Overview

The Creede Formation Mine is near Creede, Colorado. Historically the site has been associated with the Creed Mining District which is now part of the Rio Grande National Forest. The site was first discovered in 1973. The Creede Formation Mine is a underground mining operation. Mine operations consist of underground workings. There is one known shaft. The mining method is room and pillar. As of 1981 there were two known tabular shaped ore bodies one of which extends 1,520 meters (4,986 feet) long, 310 meters (1,017 feet) wide, and 60 meters (196 feet) thick. The Southern 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.

Silver Primary Commodity
Barium-Barite and Manganese Secondary Commodity
Site Record Type^?
Mine Development Status^?
Underground Operation Type^?
1973 Year Discovered^?
Significant Significance^?
Metallic Site Commodity Type^?

Mine Names

Name^? Status^?
Creede Formation Current
Bachelor Mountain Previous

Owner Name and Address

Homestake Mining Company

650 Calif. Street San Francisco, California 94108

Type: Owner-Operator
Stake: Significant

Minerals Engineering Company

950 17th Denver, Colorado 80202

Type: Owner
Stake: Significant

Commodities

Additional textual information about a site or mine.

Commodity Type Importance
Silver Metallic Primary
Barium-Barite Non-Metallic Tertiary
Manganese Metallic Tertiary

Deposit

NOTE: DATA TO COMPLETE FILE NOT PRESENTLY OBTAINABLE HOWEVER THE EVALUATOR FEELS THAT MINERALS ENGINEERING AND HOMESTAKE MINING WILL BE RELEASING MORE INFORMATION ON THE DEPOSIT BY THE END OF 1981.

Location Info

Mineral , Colorado County / State

Continent Country State County
North America The United States Colorado Mineral

Meridian / Township / Range Description

Meridian^? Township^? Section^? Aliquot^?
New Mexico Meridian T.42N R.1W Sec. 24 NE
New Mexico Meridian T.42N R.1W Sec. 23 -

Land Status

Land status information.

Land Status^? Admin Area^?
National Forest -

Mining Districts

Formal or informal mining district names.

District
Creed Mining District

Workings

Workings at the site.

Underground Workings #1

Type: Underground
Mining Method: Room And Pillar
Status of Mining Method: Proposed
Capacity: 1524 mt ore/day
Operating Days Per Year: 250

Geology

THE CREEDE FORMATION CONSISTS OF SEVERAL DISTINCT FACIES, EACH OF WHICH SHOWS MANY LOCAL VARIATIONS. THIN-BEDDED TUFFACEOUS LAKE DEPOSITS, LARGELY SHALE AND SANDSTONE WITH SOME TUFF BEDS, CONSTITUTE THE PREDOMINATE FACIES. THESE ROCKS INTERTONGUE MARGINALLY WITH FLUVIATILE SANDSTONE AND CONGLOMERATE BEDS. VOLCANIC BRECCIAS, TRAVERTINE AND CALCAREOUS TUFA, AND BENTONITE BEDS ALSO PRESENT. THE OREBODY IN THE CREEDE FORMATION IS A SILVER REPLACEMENT OF CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL IN FLUVIAL DEBRIS. THE MATERIAL IS VERY POORLY SORTED, BOULDERS TO 2 METERS, AND FOLLOWS OLD CHANNELS ON BACHELOR MOUNTAIN. THE GRADE RANGES FROM 68-617 PPM SILVER AT THICKNESSES FROM 4. 8-8. 0 METERS. (GENTRY, SEPTEMBER 1976).

NATIVE SILVER OCCURS WITH MANGANGSE MINERALS.

Materials

Minerals or other materials present in the mine.

Role^? Material^?
Unknown Acanthite
Unknown Barite
Unknown Calcite
Unknown Manganite
Unknown Pyrolusite
Unknown Quartz
Unknown Silver

Orebody

Characteristics of the ore body.

Length:
Width: 310.00 meters (1,017.06 feet)
Top Depth: 100.00 meters (328.08 feet)
Thickness: 60.00 meters (196.85 feet)
Type of Wallrock: intermediate argillic
Wallrock Alteration: moderate
Ore Control: igneous, lithology
Unconsolidated Material Thickness: 5 meters average
Ore Record Modified: 1981-07-21

Area: 90.00 hectares (222.39 acres)
Ore Record Modified: 1991-04-18

Physiography

Physiographic area where the resource is found.

Division Province^? Section
Rocky Mountain System Southern Rocky Mountains -

Exploration

A TOTAL OF 73 ROTARY AND CORE HOLES HAVE BEEN DRILLED ON THE PROPERTY (AS OF JAN 1981).

Holdings

Mineral rights ownership information.

Type^?
Located Claim; Patented

Reserve-resource

R1=M1C1. ESTIMATED THAT 30% OF PROVEN + PROBABLE RESERVES ARE CLAS-SIFIED AS PROVEN. MINERALIZED AREA WAS DIVIDED INTO NORTH, CENTRAL, & SOUTH BLOCKS. ONLY CENTRAL BLOCK WAS USED IN THE MINING AND ECONOMIC ANALYSES BECAUSE OF INCOMPLETE DATA FOR THE OTHER AREAS. AFTER MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO THE GEOLOGIC RESERVES FOR MINING RECOVERY AND DILUTION, THE PROVEN AND PROBABLE MINABLE RESERVES WERE CALCULATED TO BE 3, 348 MILLION SHORT TONS AT A GRADE OF 6. 39 OZ/SHT SILVER (1980 SECTION FORM 10-K P 4.).

Nearby Deposits

Other deposits in the same region.

Nearby Places

Creede (2.18 miles away)
Cathedral (15.83 miles away)

Nearby Mining Districts

Creed Mining District (0 miles away)
Bondholder Mining District (5.59 miles away)

Nearby Lands

Rio Grande National Forest (0 miles away)
La Garita Wilderness (3.59 miles away)
Gunnison National Forest (5.04 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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