Independence Mine

The Independence Mine is a silver, copper, and gold mine located in Albany county, Wyoming at an elevation of 9,039 feet.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Independence Mine
Secondary: Centennial Ridge District

Commodity

Primary: Silver
Primary: Copper
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Platinum
Tertiary: Nickel
Tertiary: Palladium
Tertiary: Rhodium
Tertiary: Osmium
Tertiary: Iridium

Location

State: Wyoming
County: Albany
District: Centennial Ridge District

Land Status

Land ownership: National Forest
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.
Administrative Organization: Medicine Bow National Forest

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Type: Underground

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Southern Rocky Mountains

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Form: DISSEMINATIONS AND PODS IN FRACTURES AND BRECCIA, QUARTZ VEINS

Structure

Type: R
Description: Mullen Creek-Nash Fork Shear Zone

Type: L
Description: Shear Zones

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Silicification

Rocks

Name: Amphibolite
Role: Host
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Neoproterozoic

Name: Amphibolite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Neoproterozoic

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: AU=2.7 PPM, AG=7.5 PPM, PT=9.3 PPM, IR=15.8 PPM, RH=1.04 PPM, OS=3.4 PPM IN ORE SAMPLE. ASSAYS GAVE 0.34-12.3 PPM AU, 2.7-7.5 PPM AG, 0.44-9.3 PPM PT, 0.66 PPM PD. (ALL NUMBERS CONVERTED TO PPM FROM OZ/TON)

Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Limonite

Comments

Comment (Location): ON WEST BANK OF MIDDLE FORK LITTLE LARLMIE RIVER. IN MEDICINE BOW NATIONAL FOREST

Comment (Workings): 1 ADIT, 3 DRIFTS

Comment (Deposit): MINERALIZATION PRECEEDED SHEARING AND REMOBILIZATION WAS INSIGNIFICANT. CU AND FE STAINING ARE ABUNDANT; UNPUBLISHED MODEL NAME: NEW RAMBLER CU-AU-PGE.

Comment (Commodity): TRACE CU AND NI FOUND IN ASSAY

Comment (Production): PRODUCTION FIGURES NOT GIVEN; PRESUMED SMALL

Comment (Identification): Not to be confused with Independence Mine in the Keystone area.

Comment (Deposit): "Workings of the Independence Mine are in the same shear zone as those of the Kentucky Derby, and mineralization is quite similar. The mine was opened as a crosscut tunnel which extends about 95 feet into the shear zone and cuts five sulphide enriched "veins". At the second vein, a distance of about 45 feet from the portal, a drift was driven some 25 feet to the southwest along the mineralized trend where it deviates to the south for nearly 50 feet before it again intersects the first "vein" encounted in the main crosscut. The drift then parallels this "vein" for another 45 feet. Gold, silver, and the platinum metals are all associated with the sulphides which occur as fracture and breccia fillings, pods, and small grains disseminated though tectonites. Available assay values range widely both as a function of sample source and assayer (Table 1). Osterwald (1959, p. 75 and 135) lists the following values from "mine-run ore": 0.08 oz gold, 0.22 oz silver, 0.27 oz platinum, 0.46 oz iridium, 0.0302 oz rhodium, and 0.1002 oz osmium per ton of ore. NRRI tests on sulphide samples from the second "vein" failed to show any platinum group metals, but 0.01 oz gold aond 0.08 oz silver per ton and traces of copper and nickel were reported." (McCallum, 1968, p. 11)

References

Reference (Deposit): HAUSEL, W.D., 1989, THE GEOLOGY OF WYOMING'S PRECIOUS METAL LODE AND PLACER DEPOSITS: GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF WYOMING BULLETIN 68, P. 97-99.
Pages: p. 97-99.

Reference (Deposit): HAUSEL, W.D., 1980, GOLD DISTRICTS OF WYOMING: GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF WYOMING REPORT OF INVESITGATIONS 23, P. 36.
Pages: p. 36.

Reference (Deposit): MCCALLUM, M.E., 1968, THE CENTENNIAL RIDGE GOLD-PLATINUM DISTRICT, ALBANY COUNTY, WYOMING: GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF WYOMING PRELIMINARY REPORT 7, P. 9, 11.
Pages: p. 11, pl. 1.

Reference (Deposit): OSTERWALD, F.W., OSTERWALD, D.B., LONG, J.S., JR., AND WILSON, W.H., 1959, MINERAL RESOURCES OF WYOMING (REVISED ED.): GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF WYOMING BULLETIN 50, P. 81, 151.
Pages: p. 81, 151.

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