The Tomahawk Mine is a gold and silver mine located in La Plata county, Colorado at an elevation of 10,761 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: 10,761 Feet (3,280 Meters)
Commodity: Gold, Silver
Lat, Long: 37.43, -108.05583
Map: View on Google Maps
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Tomahawk Mine MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Tomahawk Mine
Secondary: Patented Claims: Little Kate, MS 8964
Secondary: Little Jane, MS 12239
Secondary: Ground Hog, MS 12901
Secondary: Trail, MS 12901
Secondary: Klondike, MS 12901
Secondary: Ben Hill, MS 12918
Secondary: Surprise, MS 12918
Secondary: Clydesdale, MS 12967
Secondary: Side Cut, MS 13607
Secondary: Bluff, MS 13607
Secondary: Castaway, MS 13607
Secondary: Columbine, MS 13611
Secondary: Tomahawk No. 1, MS 18533a
Secondary: Tomahawk No. 2, MS 18533a
Secondary: Excelsior, MS 18533a
Secondary: Tomahawk Mill Site, MS 18533b
Secondary: American Eagle, MS 18711
Secondary: Unpatented Claims: Mile Hi Uranium Nos. 1-4
Secondary: Basin Creek Uranium Nos. 1-2
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Copper
Secondary: Lead
Tertiary: Zinc
Tertiary: Tellurium
Tertiary: Uranium
Tertiary: Manganese
Tertiary: Antimony
Location
State: Colorado
County: La Plata
District: California (La Plata) 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
Owner Name: Thomas Kelly (Estate)
Home Office: Durango, Co.
Years: 1934 -
Owner Name: George Strauss And Frank Head
Home Office: Oklahoma
Years: 1934 -
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Vein
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1892
Year Last Production: 1934
Discovery Year: 1892
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
Form: PINCH AND SWELL
Structure
Type: R
Description: San Juan Uplift, Four Corners Platform
Type: L
Description: La Plata Dome
Alterations
Not available
Rocks
Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Eocene
Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Eocene
Analytical Data
Analytical Data: 33740 LB (SEP. 1934), 1.71 OZ/TON AU, 11.9 OZ/TON AG, 1.8% CU, 1.4% ZN, 0.6% MN. NELSON-MOORE AND OTHERS (1978) REPORT CHANNEL SAMPLES CONTAINING 0.02 TO 0.38% U308.
Analytical Data: 17148 LB (DEC. 1925), 1.7 OZ/TON AU, 7.3 OZ/TON AG, 1.8% CU, 1.8% ZN
Analytical Data: 22296 LB (NOV. 1923), 0.92 OZ/TON AU, 5.6 OZ/TON AG, 2% ZN
Analytical Data: 28750 LB (NOV. 1923), 1.81 OZ/TON AU, 7.3 OZ/TON AG, 1.5% CU, 2% ZN
Analytical Data: 22828 LB (AUG. 1923), 2.35 OZ/TON AU, 8.9 OZ/TON AG, 1.5% CU, 1.3% ZN
Analytical Data: 968 LB (AUG. 1923), 8.95 OZ/TON AU, 19.3 OZ/TON AG, 2% ZN
Analytical Data: CLYDESDALE VEIN PYRITIC ORE, 2.1 OZ/TON AU AND 1.4 OZ/TON AG. SMELTER RETURNS FROM TOMAHAWK ORE: 942 LB (NOV. 1922), 0.84 OZ/TON AU, 23.7 OZ/TON AG, 2.6% CU, 1.6% ZN
Analytical Data: LITTLE JANE ORE NEAR K.P. SHAFT, 0.50 OZ/TON AU AND 1 OZ/TON AG
Analytical Data: MCCAUSLAND'S (1936) TABULATED ASSAYS: LITTLE JANE HIGH-GRADE QUARTZ, 21.86 OZ/TON AU AND 12.8 OZ/TON AG
Materials
Ore: Gold
Ore: Galena
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Ore: Enargite
Ore: Covellite
Ore: Sphalerite
Gangue: Quartz
Comments
Comment (Location): (LAND STATUS AND ADMINISTRATIVE AREA LOCATIONS CALCULATED USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS FOR SAN JUAN N. F.). ON SOUTH SLOPE OF DIORITE PEAK ALONG AND NE OF BASIN CREEK IN TOMAHAWK BASIN, 2.15 MILES NNE OF LA PLATA TOWNSITE (UNSURVEYED SECTIONS). ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1974
Comment (Production): PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD. FIGURES UNKNOWN FOR YEARS PRIOR TO 1902, BUT PRODUCTION CONSIDERED SMALL. NO PRODUCTION REPORTED FOR 1903-1906, 1910, 1912-1916, 1918, 1920-1921, 1923, 1927-1933, AND AFTER 1934. ESTIMATED AU AND AG FOR 1934 CALCULATED FROM REPORTED ORE TONNAGE AND GRADE (MCCAUSLAND, 1936).
Comment (Development): DEPOSIT LOCATED IN EARLY 1890S BY AUGUST EKBURG; FIRST LOCATION WAS LITTLE KATE. TOMAHAWK MINING CO. ORGANIZED IN 1904, CONSOLIDATED MINING CLAIMS, BUILT 20-STAMP MILL TO WORK UNSHIPPABLE LOW-GRADE ORES, BUT MILL WAS NOT VERY SUCCESSFUL. CYANIDIZATION NOT VERY SUCCESSFUL DUE TO COMPLEXITY OF LITTLE-KNOWN TELLURIDE ORES. PROPERTY IDLED IN 1911, BUT WORKED INTERMITTENTLY FROM 1911 TO 1934.
Comment (Deposit): Discovery Year: EARLY 1890S
Comment (Workings): MINE DEVELOPED BY TOMAHAWK, GROUND HOG, AND LITTLE JANE TUNNELS AND BY LITTLE KATE TUNNEL (SEE LITTLE KATE MINE RECORD FOR DESCRIPTION). TOMAHAWK CROSSCUT TUNNEL DRIVEN N 15 E FOR 1100 FT, WITH DRIFTS AT 970 FT FROM PORTAL DRIVEN N 78 E FOR 800 FT AND GENERALLY WEST FOR 1250 FT. GROUND HOG TUNNEL LOCATED 720 FT NW OF TOMAHAWK PORTAL, DRIVEN N 17 W FOR 215 FT, THENCE INTO DRIFT ON GROUND HOG VEIN AT VARIABLY N 16 TO 60 E FOR 420 FT TO CAVED AREA: RAISE ON SHORT SUBSIDIARY DRIFT AT 130 FT ALONG GROUND HOG DRIFT; AT 260 FT ON DRIFT, SECOND DRIFT DRIVEN ON CLYDESDALE VEIN VARIABLY N 83 E TO S 80 E FOR 300 FT, WITH 20-FT RAISE AT 35 FT AND 45-FT RAISE AT 120 FT ALONG CLYDESDALE DRIFT. LITTLE JANE TUNNEL LOCATED 1100 FT NNW OF TOMAHAWK PORTAL, DRIVEN N 71 E FOR 180 FT ALONG LITTLE JANE VEIN TO FACE. SURPRISE TUNNEL LOCATED 1300 FT NNW OF TOMAHAWK PORTAL, DRIVEN N 42 E FOR 90 FT ON SURPRISE VEIN TO FACE. SEVERAL OTHER SHORT TUNNELS AND OPEN CUTS.
Comment (Deposit): COUNTRY ROCK CONSISTS OF CUTLER FM RED BEDS INTRUDED BY DIORITE-MONZONITE PORPHYRY SILLS AND BY DIORITE OF DIORITE PEAK STOCK. TWO SETS OF VERTICAL MINERALIZED FRACTURES CUT DIORITE AND TREND APPROX EAST-WEST (TOMAHAWK, CLYDESDALE) AND NE-SW (SURPRISE, GROUND HOG, LITTLE JANE, CASTAWAY, NIGHT WATCH). FISSURES RANGE FROM 0.25 TO 10 FT WIDE, AVERAGING 3 TO 4 FT, AND SHOWING TENDENCY TO PINCH AND SWELL WITHIN SHORT DISTANCES AND SPLIT OFF INTO WALLS. THOSE CUTTING DIORITE CHARACTERIZED BY SILICIFIED CENTRAL PARTS FLANKED BY SOFT ALTERED WALLROCK. INTERSECTION OF LITTLE JANE AND GROUND HOG VEINS FORMED SMALL BUT HIGH-GRADE CHIMNEY DEPOSIT.
References
Reference (Deposit): COLORADO DIV. MINES INF. REPTS.
Reference (Deposit): BLM MINERAL SURVEYS MS 8964, 12239, 12901, 12918, 12967, 13607, 13611, 18533A&B, 18711
Reference (Deposit): NELSON-MOORE, J.L., AND OTHERS, 1978, RADIOACTIVE MINERAL OCCURRENCES OF COLORADO AND BIBLIOGRAPHY: CGS BULL. 40, P. 206.
Reference (Deposit): ECKEL, E.B., AND OTHERS, 1949, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE LA PLATA DISTRICT, COLORADO: USGS PROF. PAPER 219, P. 73-76, 169-171, PL. 29.
Reference (Deposit): BECKER, C.M., 1934, REPORT ON THE TOMAHAWK AND BLACK DIAMOND PROPERTIES, SAN JUAN DISTRICT, LA PLATA, COLORADO: UNPUB. ENG. REPT., 5 P.
Reference (Deposit): MCCAUSLAND, ROSS, 1936, TOMAHAWK-BLACK DIAMOND MINES, DURANGO, COLORADO: UNPUB. ENG. REPT., 22 P.
Reference (Production): ECKEL AND OTHERS, 1949, P. 169 (AS COMPILED FROM USGS AND USBM RECORDS); MCCAUSLAND, 1936 (FIGURES FOR 1934)
Colorado Mining Photos
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