The Century Mine is a gold and silver mine located in Montezuma county, Colorado at an elevation of 11,220 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: 11,220 Feet (3,420 Meters)
Commodity: Gold, Silver
Lat, Long: 37.4481, -108.06227
Map: View on Google Maps
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Century Mine MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Century Mine
Secondary: Patented Claim: Century
Secondary: MS 1097.5
Secondary: Century vein
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Location
State: Colorado
County: Montezuma
District: La Plata (California) 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: San Juan N. F.
Holdings
Not available
Workings
Not available
Ownership
Not available
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Vein
Operation Type: Underground
Year Last Production: 1896
Discovery Year: 1882
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S
Physiography
General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Colorado Plateaus
Physiographic Section: Navajo Section
Mineral Deposit Model
Model Name: Polymetallic veins
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Type: R
Description: San Juan Uplift, Four Corners Platform
Type: L
Description: La Plata Dome, Spiller Peak-Mt Moss Stock
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Oxidation Of Pyrite To Limonite
Rocks
Name: Monzonite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Jurassic
Name: Monzonite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Eocene
Name: Monzonite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Jurassic
Analytical Data
Analytical Data: ECKEL AND OTHERS' (1949) ANALYSES: SAMPLE 421 (LOWER DUMP), 0.02 OZ/TON AU AND 0.01 OZ/TON AG
Analytical Data: SAMPLE 423 (ORE PILE ON UPPER DUMP), 0.74 0Z/TON AU AND 0.40 OZ/TON AG
Analytical Data: SAMPLE 424 (SMALL ORE PILE NEAR UPPER DUMP, 0.24 OZ/TON AU AND 0.72 OZ/TON AG. OTHER VEIN SAMPLES IN CENTURY MINE AREA CONTAINED 0.01 TO 0.08 OZ/TON AU WITH HIGH OF 0.25 OZ/TON, AND TRACE TO 0.99 OZ/TON AG WITH HIGHS OF 1.74 AND 4.19 OZ/TON AG.
Materials
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Quartz
Comments
Comment (Deposit): COUNTRY ROCK CONSISTS OF GENERALLY UNMETAMORPHOSED DOLORES FM AND OTHER METAMORPHOSED JURASSIC SEDIMENTARY ROCKS INTRUDED BY DIORITE-MONZONITE PORPHYRY SILL AND APPENDAGE OF SPILLER PEAK-MT MOSS MONZONITE STOCK. SHALY BEDS SILICIFIED OR ALTERED TO HORNFELS; SANDSTONE SILICIFIED TO QUARTZITE. CENTURY VEIN TRENDS N 70 TO 80 E, DIPS 85 SE, AND IS STROnGEST IN JUNCTION CREEK SANDSTONE, TRACEABLE DOWN INTO ENTRADA SANDSTONE, BUT STOPS ABRUPTLY AT SHALE LAYER IN OVERLYING MORRISON FM. IN LOWER ADIT, VEIN IS 2- TO 5-FT-WIDE ZONE OF STRONGLY BRECCIATED QUARTZITE WITH QUARTZ AS BRECCIA-FRAGMENT CEMENT AND AS FILMS AND VEINLETS; PYRITE WIDELY BUT SPARINGLY DISTRIBUTED; VEIN WALLS SHARPLY DEFINED AND VERTICALLY SLICKENSIDED.
Comment (Workings): LOWER ADIT DRIVEN GENERALLY S 70 W FOR 500 FT ALONG VEIN TO FACE WITH 110 FT OF SUBSIDIARY DRIFTS AND CROSSCUTS. UPPER ADIT CAVED, LOCATED 50 FT ABOVE LOWER ADIT. STOPE ABOVE UPPER TUNNEL COULD HAVE BEEN EITHER OVERHAND STOPE OR SURFACE CUT. 45-FT SHAFT (POSITION UNKNOWN) AND POSSIBLE THIRD ADIT OF UNKNOWN EXTENT.
Comment (Deposit): Comment from old, now deleted, record # 10263965: "northeast-trending subparalllel qtz vein hosted in silicified Junction Creek Sandstone"
Comment (Development): DEPOSIT DISCOVERED BEFORE 1882 AND YIELDED ONE LOT OF HIGH-GRADE ORE. IN 1883, MINE PRODUCED 46.2 ST ORE. SOME DEVELOPMENT IN LATER YEARS, BUT MINE APPEARED ABANDONED BEFORE 1896.
Comment (Location): (LAND STATUS AND ADMINISTRATIVE AREA LOCATIONS CALCULATED USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS FOR SAN JUAN N. F.). IN HEADWATERS OF BEAR CREEK ON EAST SLOPE OF BANDED MTN. 3.35 MILES NORTH OF LA PLATA TOWNSITE (UNSURVEYED SECTION). ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1974
Comment (Deposit): Changed district name from California (La Plata) to La Plata (California) to eliminate confusion with other California districts. Prof. Paper 219 calls this area La Plata District.
References
Reference (Deposit): BLM MINERAL SURVEY MS 1097.5
Reference (Deposit): ECKEL, E.B., AND OTHERS, 1949, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE LA PLATA DISTRICT, COLORADO: USGS PROF. PAPER P. 67-68, 99-101.
Colorado Mining Photos
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