The Wagon Wheel Gap Fluorspar Mine is a fluorine-fluorite mine located in Mineral county, Colorado at an elevation of 8,799 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: 8,799 Feet (2,682 Meters)
Commodity: Fluorine-Fluorite
Lat, Long: 37.74611, -106.82583
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.
Wagon Wheel Gap Fluorspar Mine MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Wagon Wheel Gap Fluorspar Mine
Secondary: Claims: Sierra Vista 1-6
Secondary: Ms 20278
Commodity
Primary: Fluorine-Fluorite
Tertiary: Gold
Tertiary: Silver
Tertiary: Zinc
Location
State: Colorado
County: Mineral
District: Wagon Wheel Gap District
Land Status
Land ownership: Private
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.
Holdings
Not available
Workings
Type: Underground
Ownership
Owner Name: Colorado Fuel And Iron Corp. (Cfandi)
Home Office: Pueblo, Co.
Years: 1975 -
Owner Name: Boyles Brothers
Home Office: Salt Lake City, Ut.
Years: 1975 -
Production
Year: 1946
Description: Ap_Grade: ^Crude Ore, 36.13% Fluorspar
Year: 1945
Description: Ap_Grade: ^Crude Ore, 42.13% Fluorspar
Year: 1948
Description: Ap_Grade: ^Crude Ore, 33.47% Fluorspar
Year: 1947
Description: Ap_Grade: ^Crude Ore, 27.13% Fluorspar
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1913
Year Last Production: 1950
Discovery Year: 1911
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
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
Not available
Structure
Type: R
Description: San Juan Volcanic Field, Creede Caldera, Mountahope Caldera, La Garita Caldera
Type: L
Description: Creede Caldera Ring Fracture Zone, Postulated Wagon Wheel Gap Volcanic Center
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Alteration Of Fluorite To Rare Fluorides; Alteration Of Pyrite To Limonite And Hematite
Rocks
Name: Rhyolite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Oligocene
Name: Rhyolite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Oligocene
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Fluorite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Hematite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Chalcedony
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Halloysite
Comments
Comment (Deposit): MINERALIZATION OCCURS IN FISSURE VEIN STRIKING N 80 E AND SEVERAL SUBPARALLEL FRACTURES DIPPING 70 TO 80 SE ALONG EAST MARGIN OF CREEDE CALDERA IN VOLCANICS BELIEVED TO BE OF LOCAL ORIGIN. FAULT DISPLACES OLDER WAGON WHEEL GAP VOLCANICS ON SOUTH AGAINST CARPENTER RIDGE RHYOLITE TUFF ON NORTH. VEIN WIDTH VARIABLE FROM AVERAGE 6 TO 8 FT TO MAXIMUM 35 FT. FLUORITE OCCURS AS 1) WHITE, GRANULAR MASSES; 2) YELLOW-GREEN TO BLUE-GREEN TO PURPLE ENCRUSTATIONS ON WALL ROCK FRAGMENTS; 3) BANDED FLUORITE ON VEIN WALLS; 4) MASSIVE VEIN FILLING; 5) CRYSTALLINE MATERIAL IN WATER COURSES. COARSE CRYSTALLINE AND EUHEDRAL BARITE COMMON IN UPPER 25 FT OF DEPOSIT. WALL ROCK CONTAINS FINELY DISSEMINATED PYRITE ALTERED TO LIMONITE AND HEMATITE. DEPOSIT ALSO CONTAINS RARE FLUORIDE ALTERATION MINERALS GEARKSUTITE AND FIRST DESCRIBED OCCURRENCE OF CREEDITE (EMBEDDED IN HALLOYSITE). TRAVERTINE DEPOSITED BY HOT SPRINGS IN VALLEY NW OF MINE CONTAINED 0.22% FLUORINE AND APPRECIABLE BA AND ZN. DEPOSIT COULD HAVE
Comment (Deposit): BEEN FORMED AFTER ERUPTION OF FISHER QUARTZ LATITE (LATE OLIGOCENE) SIMILAR TO CREEDE DISTRICT OR LATER IN MIOCENE OR PLIOCENE DURING ERUPTION OF HINSDALE FM BASALT FLOWS.
Comment (Development): VEIN PROBABLY FIRST LOCATED IN 1890S OR EARLY 1900S IN SEARCH FOR AG AND AU ON POSSIBLE FAULT EXTENSIONS FROM CREEDE DISTRICT. PURPLE FLUORITE APPARENTLY MISTAKEN FOR AMETHYST. LOW AG AND AU CONTENT DID NOT GENERATE MUCH INTEREST. FLUORITE RECOGNIZED IN 1911 BY S.B. COLLINS, PRESIDENT OF AMERICAN FLUORSPAR MINING CO., WHICH MADE FIRST SHIPMENT IN 1913. PROPERTY BOUGHT BY CF&I IN 1924, AND METALLURGICAL-GRADE FLUORSPAR USED AS FLUX AT PUEBLO STEEL MILL.
Comment (Workings): THREE TUNNELS (WILSON, INTERMEDIATE, MAIN)
Comment (Location): ON HILLSIDE EAST OF GOOSE CREEK 2 MILES SW OF WAGON WHEEL GAP ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1976
Comment (Production): PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD. INTERMITTENT PRODUCTION FROM 1913 TO 1950. NO CDM RECORDS PRE 1916 OR FOR 1917-18, 1921, 1923, 1932-34 1936. 1938. FIGURES UNAVAILABLE FOR 1915, 1928, 1935, 1937, 1939-41, 1949-50, BUT PRODUCTION CLASSIFIED AS SMALL. NO APPARENT PRODUCTION IN 1914, 1932-33, 1938. CDM RECORDS CITE EQUAL AMOUNTS OF MILLED ORE AND CRUDE ORE FOR 1943-46.
References
Reference (Deposit): STEVEN, T.A., AND LIPMAN, P.W., 1973, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE SPAR CITY QUADRANGLE, MINERAL COUNTY, COLORADO: USGS MAP GQ-1052.
Reference (Deposit): LUNT, H.F., 1915, A FLUORSPAR MINE IN COLORADO: MINING SCI. PRESS, P. 925-926 (12/18/15).
Reference (Deposit): LARSEN, E.S., AND WELLS, R.C., 1916, SOME MINERALS FROM THE FLUORITE-BARITE VEIN NEAR WAGON WHEEL GAP, COLORADO: NATL. ACAD. SCI., V. 2, P. 360.
Reference (Production): COLORADO DIV. MINES ANN. OPERATOR REPTS. (1916-50); AURAND, 1920 (1913-17)
Reference (Deposit): AURAND, H.A., 1920, FLUORSPAR DEPOSITS OF COLORADO: CGS BULL. 18, P. 61-67.
Reference (Deposit): EMMONS, W.H., AND LARSEN, E.S., 1913, THE HOT SPRINGS AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF WAGON WHEEL GAP, COLORADO: ECON. GEOLOGY, V. 8, P. 235-246.
Reference (Deposit): COLORADO DIV. MINES ANN. OPERATOR REPTS. AND INSP. REPTS.
Reference (Deposit): VAN ALSTINE, R.E., 1947, FLUORSPAR INVESTIGATIONS--WAGON WHEEL GAP DEPOSIT, MINERAL COUNTY, IN VANDERWILT, J.W., MINERAL RESOURCES OF COLORADO: COLORADO MINERAL RESOURCES BD., P. 465.
Reference (Deposit): BRADY, B.T., 1975, MAP SHOWING FLUORSPAR DEPOSITS IN COLORADO: USGS MAP MR-70, P. 13-14.
Reference (Deposit): BURCHARD, E.F., 1934, FLUORSPAR DEPOSITS IN WESTERN UNITED STATES: AIME TRANS., V. 109, P. 370-396.
Colorado Mining Photos
Check out this collection of Colorado's best historic mining photos: Incredible Photos of Colorado Mining Scenes.
