The Madonna Mine is a lead, zinc, and silver mine located in Chaffee county, Colorado at an elevation of 10,751 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
Elevation: 10,751 Feet (3,277 Meters)
Commodity: Lead, Zinc, Silver
Lat, Long: 38.52917, -106.31170
Map: View on Google Maps
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.
Madonna Mine MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Madonna Mine
Commodity
Primary: Lead
Primary: Zinc
Primary: Silver
Location
State: Colorado
County: Chaffee
District: Monarch
Land Status
Not available
Holdings
Not available
Workings
Not available
Ownership
Owner Name: Utze Lode Co (Harold R. Koster of Salida, CO, Treasurer & Mine Mgr, )
Info Year: 1957
Owner Name: Colorado Smelting Co. (organized by Anton Eilers)
Info Year: 1957
Years: 1883 -
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Underground
Discovery Year: 1878
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Physiography
General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Southern Rocky Mountains
Mineral Deposit Model
Not available
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Not available
Alterations
Not available
Rocks
Name: Quartzite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Devonian
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Malachite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Galena
Ore: Cerussite
Ore: Smithsonite
Ore: Calamine
Ore: Cerargyrite
Ore: Argentite
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Limestone
Gangue: Dolomite
Gangue: Quartz
Comments
Comment (Workings): "The mine workings, as of 1950, consist of seven adit levels, numbered 0 to 6, eight intermediate or sublevels, many raises and winzes, and at least 12,000 feet of drifts and crosscuts. The vertical distance from the zero, or surface, level to the lowest workings, the 384-foot sublevel, is about 1,525 feet. The old mine workings from zero to the no. 5 level have been largely or entirely inaccessible for many years. Access to the mine and haulage of ore for the past 35 years have been chiefly through the no. 6 level, the portal of which is only a short distance above the valley floor and is easily reached. Plate 11 shows the outline of the main ore bodies and the mine workings, and the principal geologic features from the no. 6 level down to the 384-foot sublevel. To avoid confusion, most of the old workings above the no. 6 level are not shown on this map but they may be seen on plate XXI of the report by Crawford (1913)." [PP-289, p. 84]
Comment (Orebody): The principal ore minerals are cerussite, free gold, smithsonite, calamine, cerargyrite, argentite, residual grains of silver-bearing galena, and malachite.
Comment (Deposit): Many deposit details (ore grade, geology, structure) can be found in PP-289, p. 83-85.
Comment (Commodity): Before 1913 ores from Madonna were lead, silver, gold, and zinc, with some copper. (PP-289, p. 81)
Comment (Location): Mostly in W2 of Sec. 4. See Dings and Robinson, pl. 1, #s 98-104.
Comment (Production): 50% of district's production came from the Madonna Mine (PP-289, p. 44)
Comment (General): The Madonna mine was the principal reason for the establishment in 1883 of the Colorado Smelter at Pueblo, and for many years the Madonna mine supplied a large part of the ores treated there. (PP-289, p. 83)
Comment (General): The Madonna mine was worked continuously from 1883 to 1894, under the management of Eilers, by the Colorado Smelting Co., which included the former operators. After 1895 the mine was worked intermittently by various lessees until the Utze Lode Co. acquired the property in 1945 from the Eiler family. In 1908 the mine was leased to the Monarch-Madonna Mining Co., which started driving a lower tunnel, no. 6 level, which in 1953 was the principal means of access to the mine. From 1945 to 1953 the Utze Lode Co. did considerable exploratory work on and below the no. 6 level and produced some ore. (PP-289, p. 83).
Comment (Production): The total value of the Madonna ore has been about $6,000,000, of which lead accounts for about $3,575,000, silver $1,430,000, zinc $735,000, gold $225,000, and copper $35,000. These figures were obtained by adding the values obtained by Crawford (1913, p. 239) for the period 1883-1901 to the value of the production recorded by the Bureau of Mines for the period 1902-51. The production figures 22 for this latter period were kindly furnished by A. J. Martin, Statistics Branch, Economics Division, Denver, and the values calculated by the authors. Production was greatest during the period 1883-94, when two-thirds of the total was produced. Most of the rest was obtained during the period 1902-20. In the past 30 years, somewhat less than 2,500 tons of crude ore has been mined. (PP-289, p. 83-84).
References
Reference (Deposit): MINE MAP REPO # 401297 405851
Reference (Deposit): CONSV. DIV. COMP. DATE, 1,64
Reference (Deposit): DMEA RECORDS
Reference (Deposit): Crawford, R. D., 1913, Geology and ore deposits of the Monarch and Tomichi districts, Colorado: Colo. Geol. Survey Bull. 4, 317 p.
Reference (Deposit): VANDERWILT, 1947, COLO. MIN. RES. BOARD
Reference (Deposit): Dings and Robinson, 1957, USGS PROF. PAPER 289.
Pages: pl. 1, #s 98-104, pl. 11, p. 83-85.
Colorado Mining Photos
Check out this collection of Colorado's best historic mining photos: Incredible Photos of Colorado Mining Scenes.
