Vixen District

Site Name

Primary: Vixen District
Secondary: Patented Claims: Bancroft Placer, MS 2243
Secondary: Remington Placer, MS 2244
Secondary: Lizzie F. Placer MS 2245
Secondary: Index Placer, MS 2246
Secondary: Little Louise Placer, MS 2247
Secondary: Vixen Placer District

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Commodity

Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold

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Location

State: Colorado
County: Montrose
District: Vixen District

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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.

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Not available

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: District
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Placer
Operation Type: Unknown
Discovery Year: 1885
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

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Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Colorado Plateaus
Physiographic Section: Canyon Lands

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Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Type: R
Description: Paradox Basin Fold And Fault Belt, Uncompaghre Uplift

Type: L
Description: Nucla Syncline

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Alterations

Not available

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Rocks

Name: Sand and Gravel
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Silver

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Comments

Comment (Deposit): SAN MIGUEL RIVER AND DOLORES RIVER HAVE DISSECTED NEARLY FLAT-LYING MORRISON FM (JURASSIC) SEDIMENTS, LEAVING TERRACE GRAVELS AND FLOOD-PLAIN ALLUVIUM. UPPER RIM OF ADJACENT MESAS CAPPED BY BURRO CANYON FM AND DAKOTA SANDSTONE (EARLY CRETACEOUS). BETWEEN RED CANYON AND ROC CREEK, FLOOD PLAIN WIDENS TO PERMIT MEANDERING OF RIVER AND FORMATION OF TERRACE AND FLOOD-PLAIN DEPOSITS. AREA CORRESPONDS TO SLIGHT SYNCLINAL FLEXURE (ASSOCIATED WITH NUCLA SYNCLINE) THAT HAS KEPT MORE RESISTANT WINGATE SANDSTONE SLIGHTLY DEEPER, PERMITTING RIVER TO MEANDER AT EXPENSE OF MORE EASILY ERODIBLE SHALE AND SILTSTONE OF KAYENTA FM. AT BOTH ENDS OF DISTRICT, CANYON IS NARROW AND CONTAINS FEW OR NO FLOOD-PLAIN DEPOSITS WHERE RIVER HAS CUT INTO WINGATE. MCKAY'S (1955) GEOLOGIC MAP SHOWS TERRACE GRAVEL AT 20 TO 40 FT ABOVE FLOOD PLAIN AND MAJOR TERRACE AT 60 TO 85 FT ABOVE RIVER. MAJOR BENCHES LIE JUST BELOW RED CANYON, AT MESA CREEK CONFLUENCE, AND AT ROC CREEK CONFLUENCE. PRINCIPAL BENCHES PROBABLY

Comment (Deposit): CONTROLLED BY POSITION OF HARD RESISTANT LAYERS IN KAYENTA AND CARMEL FMS AND ENTRADA SANDSTONE, PERMITTING EASY WORKING AND CLEANING OF GRAVEL-BEDROCK CONTACT. GOLD DERIVED FROM MINERALIZED AREAS IN UPPER SAN MIGUEL RIVER VALLEY AROUND TELLURIDE, OPHIR, AND TO LESSER EXTENT FROM MT WILSON AREA.

Comment (Workings): MOST OPERATIONS PROBABLY WERE SLUICES. PRINCIPAL HYDRAULIC OPERATION AT MESA CREEK USED 4-MILE-LONG HANGING FLUME ELEVATED 100 TO 400 FT ABOVE RIVER. 6-FT-WIDE BY 4-FT-DEEP FLUME SUPPORTED BY WOOD BRACKETS ANCHORED TO CLIFF BY 1.25-INCH-DIAM PINS. IN ONE SECTION, TO GET AROUND ROCK OVERHANG, FLUME WAS SUSPENDED FROM PINS FASTENED OVERHEAD.

Comment (Deposit): NO INDIVIDUAL RECORDS PREPARED DUE TO LACK OF DESCRIPTIONS OF OPERATIONS. LONE TREE PLACER DESCRIPTION IS ESSENTIALLY SAME AS DISTRICT RECORD. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Comment (Location): CLAIMS LIE ALONG DOLORES RIVER FROM POINT JUST BELOW RED CANYON CONFLUENCE TO POINT 0.5 MILE ABOVE ROC CREEK CONFLUENCE; PLACER OPERATIONS LOCATED AS FAR AS ONE MILE BELOW ROC CREEK. DISTRICT ACCESSIBLE VIA COLORADO RTE 141 ALONG DOLORES AND SAN MIGUEL RIVERS NW FROM NATURITA AND URAVAN AND SE FROM GATEWAY. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR MESA CREEK CONFLUENCE, APPROX CENTER OF DISTRICT (S2 S2 SE SEC. 02, T48N, R18W). ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1975

Comment (Development): PLACERS MAY HAVE BEEN DISCOVERED AS EARLY AS LATE 1870S. CLAIMS SURVEYED BY W.H. REMINGTON IN 1885. IN 1886 SEVERAL COMPANIES WERE FORMED TO WORK PLACERS. IN 1887 MESA CREEK PROPERTIES ACQUIRED BY MONTROSE PLACER MINING COMPANY. FOLLOWING ENCOURAGING PROSPECTING OF GRAVEL AT MESA CREEK, COMPANY BEGAN CONSTRUCTION OF ELEVATED, HANGING FLUME TO BRING WATER FROM FARTHER UP VALLEY TO BEGIN HYDRAULIC OPERATION. COFFIN'S (1921) MAP SHOWS HYDRAULIC BRIDGE (AT LOWER END OF FLUME) CROSSING RIVER AT PLACER SITE 0.5 MILE BELOW MESA CREEK. FLUME BUILT BY COL. N.P. TURNER IN 1889-1890. OPERATION WORKED ONLY TWO YEARS AS GRAVELS PROVED LESS EXTENSIVE AND LESS PAYING THAN COMPANY'S ESTIMATES. POSSIBLY SOME-SCALE INTERMITTENT PRODUCTION THROUGH 1930S, BUT COUNTY PLACER PRODUCTION STATISTICS DO NOT DISTINGUISH DISTRICTS.

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References

Reference (Deposit): LEARNED, E.A., 1981, THE HANGING FLUME OF DOLORES RIVER CANYON, MONTROSE COUNTY, COLORADO, IN EPIS, R.C., AND CALLENDER, J.F., EDS., WESTERN SLOPE COLORADO--WESTERN COLORADO AND EASTERN UTAH: NEW MEXICO GEOL SOC. 32D FIELD CONF. GUIDEBOOK, P. 337.

Reference (Deposit): ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, 1887, V. 44, NO. 15, P. 263.

Reference (Deposit): BLM MINERAL SURVEYS 2243, 2244, 2245, 2246, 2247

Reference (Deposit): PARKER, B.H., JR., 1974, GOLD PLACERS OF COLORADO: COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES QUART., V. 69, NO. 4, P. 172-184.

Reference (Deposit): MCKAY, E.J., 1955, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE RED CANYON QUADRANGLE, COLORADO: USGS MAP GQ-58.

Reference (Deposit): ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, 1890, FLUME WORK OF THE MONTROSE PLACER MINING COMPANY: ENG. MINING JOUR., V.49, NO. 20, P. 563-565.

Reference (Deposit): COFFIN, R.C., 1921, RADIUM, URANIUM, AND VANADIUM DEPOSITS OF SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO: CGS BULL. 16.

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