The Cumberland Mine is a gold and silver mine located in La Plata county, Colorado at an elevation of 11,401 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: 11,401 Feet (3,475 Meters)
Commodity: Gold, Silver
Lat, Long: 37.44611, -108.01250
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.
Cumberland Mine MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Cumberland Mine
Secondary: Patented Claims: Cumberland, MS 2376
Secondary: Judge Lamb, MS 2357
Secondary: Cumberland Tunnel
Secondary: Cumberland Mill
Secondary: Cumberland Basin area
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Tertiary: Zinc
Tertiary: Lead
Tertiary: Copper
Location
State: Colorado
County: La Plata
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
Type: Located Claim
Workings
Not available
Ownership
Owner Name: Tippecanoe Mining
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Maine
Info Year: 1997
Years: 1997 -
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Vein
Operation Type: Underground
Year First Production: 1878
Year Last Production: 1921
Discovery Year: 1878
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
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Oxidation Of Cu Sulfides; Formation Of Clay
Rocks
Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Paleocene
Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Paleocene
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Stephanite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Chalcocite
Ore: Proustite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Gold
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Pyrargyrite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Argentite
Gangue: Dickite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Barite
Comments
Comment (Development): CUMBERLAND AND SNOWSTORM DEPOSITS DISCOVERED IN 1878 AND PRODUCED LITTLE ORE TILL 1884 WHEN SIGNIFICANT PRODUCTION BEGAN. CUMBERLAND AND JUDGE LAMB CLAIMS COVER MAJOR VEINS AT CUMBERLAND MINE BUT SNOW STORM MINING AND MILLING CO. SURVEYED ADDITIONAL CLAIMS AROUND SNOWSTORM PROPERTY IN 1885: LADY DOUGLASS (MS 2378); WRAY (MS 2379), NORTH STAR (MS 2380), MORNING STAR (MS 2381), AND REBECCA (MS 2382). DURING LATTER 1880S, 30-STAMP MILL BUILT BUT WAS NOT SUITED TO TREATING ORE. MINES IDLE IN 1890S BUT CUMBERLAND REVIVED IN 1900 AND AGAIN IN 1909. MILL AND OTHER SURFACE BUILDINGS IN RUINS BY 1937.
Comment (Production): PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD. PRODUCTION UNKNOWN BUT CONSIDERED SMALL FOR EARLY YEARS 1878-1883. ONLY COMBINED AU AND AG VALUE REPORTED FOR 1886-1889; NO ORE TONNAGE FIGURE CITED FOR 1889. ORE TONNAGES CITED EITHER AS CRUDE ORE SOLD OR AS ORE SOLD OR TREATED (MILLED). NO PRODUCTION REPORTED FOR 1890-1899, 1912-1916, 1919-1920, AND AFTER 1921.
Comment (Workings): MINE DEVELOPED BY FOUR LEVELS: UPPER LEVEL IS 130 FT BELOW TOP OF MOUNTAIN, 200 FT LONG, AND LARGELY INACCESSIBLE; SECOND LEVEL IS 140 FT BELOW UPPER LEVEL AND 220 FT LONG, INACCESSIBLE. THIRD LEVEL IS 270 FT BELOW SECOND LEVEL, DRIVEN N 40 E FOR 90 FT, THENCE N 60 E FOR 740 FT TO FACE, WITH RAISES AT 90, 410, AND 680 FT FROM PORTAL, ONE RAISE CONNECTING TO SECOND LEVEL. FOURTH (LOWEST) LEVEL IS CROSSCUT TUNNEL 720 FT BELOW SECOND LEVEL, DRIVEN S 60 E FOR 150 FT, THENCE GENERALLY S 35 E FOR 530 FT; AT 550 FT FROM PORTAL, 930-FT DRIFT DRIVEN GENERALLY N 70 E, WITH WINZE AT 740 FT AND RAISE AT 780 FT ALONG DRIFT. UPPERMOST WORKING IS 100-FT-LONG OPEN CUT NEAR TOP OF MOUNTAIN. Lower Crosscut (Tunnel No. 4) portal is at 11,520 ft. el, Tunnel No. 3 is at 11,970 ft. el.
Comment (Deposit): COUNTRY ROCK CONSISTS OF NORTH- TO NE-DIPPING, UNMETAMORPHOSED CUTLER AND DOLORES FM RED BEDS INTRUDED BY DIORITE-MONZONITE PORPHYRY SILLS AND DIKES AND TRAVERSED BY CUMBERLAND VEIN, WHICH TRENDS N 60 TO 80 E WITH PREVAILING STEEP NW DIP. ON THIRD LEVEL, VEIN FOLLOWS STRONG FRACTURE THROUGH BLEACHED AND SILICIFIED SHALE, MUDSTONE, AND SANDSTONE AND PORPHYRY, CONTAINS 4 TO 6 INCHES OF QUARTZ AND MINERALIZATION. VEIN WIDENS TO 5 TO 10 FT WHERE IT CROSSES PORPHYRY MASSES AND CONTAINS SILICIFIED BRECCIA AND MINABLE ORE. ON FOURTH LEVEL, VEIN ZONE CONSISTS OF SHEARED AND ALTERED MUDSTONE WALLROCK UP TO 12 FT WIDE AND CONTAINS ONE OR MORE VEINS OF VUGGY QUARTZ, BARITE, AND BLEBS OF ORE MINERALS. ONE LARGE VUG CONTAINED LARGE AMOUNT OF AURIFEROUS CLAY (DICKITE).
Comment (Location): AT SE END OF CUMBERLAND BASIN AND ON WEST SLOPE OF CUMBERLAND MTN, 4.35 MILES NE OF LA PLATA TOWNSITE (UNSURVEYED SECTION). Adit on topo matches location shown on fig. 39, p. 111 of MLA 2-92 and adit on pl. 2 of PP-219.
Comment (Ownership): From deleted record 10215654 (MAS 0080670067): Tippecanoe ownership info. Located Claim.
Comment (Reference): Reference to Southwestern Paydirt is not in USGS format and needs to be verified.
References
Reference (Production): ECKEL AND OTHERS, 1949, P. 107 (AS COMPILED FROM DIRECTOR OF MINE REPTS., USGS/USBM RECORDS, AND PRIVATE UNPUB. ENGINEER'S REPT.)
Reference (Deposit): REED, J.R., 1936, REPORT ON THE CUMBERLAND MINE, CUMBERLAND BASIN, LA PLATA COUNTY, COLORADO: UNPUB. ENG. REPT., 2 P.
Reference (Deposit): BLM MINERAL SURVEYS MS 2376, 2357, 2378, 2379, 2380, 2381, 2382
Reference (Deposit): ECKEL, E.B., AND OTHERS, 1949, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE LA PLATA DISTRICT, COLORADO: USGS PROF. PAPER 219, P. 73-74, 106-108, PL.18.
Reference (Deposit): Neubert and others, 1992, Mineral Appraisal of the San Juan National Forest, Colorado: USBM MLA 2-92, p. 111, fig. 39; p. 123-125.
Reference (Deposit): Southwestern Paydirt, no. 694, April 1997, 12.
Colorado Mining Photos
Check out this collection of Colorado's best historic mining photos: Incredible Photos of Colorado Mining Scenes.
