The Cliffdweller Mine is a copper and silver mine located in Montrose county, Colorado at an elevation of 5,449 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: 5,449 Feet (1,661 Meters)
Commodity: Copper, Silver
Lat, Long: 38.31611, -108.95167
Map: View on Google Maps
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Cliffdweller Mine MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Cliffdweller Mine
Secondary: Cliff Dweller Mine
Secondary: Patented Claims: Titon, MS 13030a
Secondary: Cliff Dweller, MS 17486
Secondary: Rainbow, MS 17487
Secondary: General Lee, MS 18541a
Secondary: White Chief, MS 18541a
Secondary: Colorado, MS 18541a
Secondary: Isabella, MS 18541a
Secondary: Morgan, MS 18541a
Secondary: Way Up, MS 18541a
Secondary: Bay City, MS 18541a
Secondary: Queen of the West, MS 18541a
Secondary: Paradox, MS 18541a
Secondary: Paradox Mill Site, MS 18541b
Commodity
Primary: Copper
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Gold
Tertiary: Arsenic
Tertiary: Lead
Tertiary: Zinc
Tertiary: Antimony
Location
State: Colorado
County: Montrose
District: La Sal (Paradox Valley) 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
Not available
Ownership
Owner Name: Harold Bowen
Years: 1975 -
Owner Name: Nicolas Murphy
Years: 1975 -
Production
Year: 1937
Description: Ap_Grade: ^6% Cu, 2.6 Oz/Ton Ag, 0.01 Oz/Ton Au, 0.7% Pb, 2% Zn
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year Last Production: 1975
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S
Physiography
General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Colorado Plateaus
Physiographic Section: Canyon Lands
Mineral Deposit Model
Not available
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Type: R
Description: Paradox Basin Fold And Fault Belt
Type: L
Description: Paradox Anticline, Paradox Valley Graben, Unnamed Faults
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Oxidation Of Cu Sulfides To Carbonates And Oxide
Rocks
Name: Shale
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Jurassic
Analytical Data
Analytical Data: ORE SHIPMENT IN 1937 CONTAINED 6% CU, 2.6 OZ/TON AG, 0.01 OZ/TON AU, 0.7% PB, 2% ZN
Materials
Ore: Tennantite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Amalgam
Ore: Cuprite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Bornite
Ore: Argentite
Ore: Silver
Ore: Copper
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Dolomite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Kaolinite
Comments
Comment (Location): CLAIMS LIE ACROSS LA SAL CREEK AND ONTO NYSWONGER MESA ABOUT 2.8 MIES ABOVE CONFLUENCE WITH DOLORES RIVER 3.7 MILES SSE OF PARADOX AND 3.4 MILES WNW OF BEDROCK. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR PRINCIPAL TUNNEL IN NW SW NE SEC. 22. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1975
Comment (Commodity): ORE MINERALS DESCRIBED ONLY AS SIMILAR TO THOSE IN CASHIN MINE
Comment (Production): PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD. FIGURES UNAVAILABLE FOR YEARS PRIOR TO 1937 AND FOR YEARS BETWEEN 1937 AND 1974.
Comment (Workings): CDM RECORDS FOR 1937 DESCRIBE WORKINGS AS MAIN (UPPER) TUNNEL DRIVEN 300 FT WITH 18-FT INCLINED WINZE NEAR PORTAL; STOPES. LOWER TUNNEL DRIVEN AS DRIFT FOR 528 FT, WITH RAISE TO UPPER LEVEL AT 475 FT FROM PORTAL. NEW 100-FT ADIT DRIVEN IN 1974-1975.
Comment (Deposit): COVELLITE CUT AND REPLACE GANGUE AND EARLY SULFIDES. ARBOREAL MASSES OF ARGENTIFEROUS NATIVE CU WEIGHED 400 TO 500 LB AND REPORTEDLY OCCURRED IN RED BEDS (CHINLE FM) UNDERLYING WINGATE. ALTHOUGH SOME AGE RELATIONS WERE INCONCLUSIVE, FISCHER (1936) PROPOSED GENERAL PARAGENESIS: EARLY BARITE(?); PYRITE, EARLY CHALCOPYRITE, SPHALERITE, GALENA, CHALCOPYRITE INTERGROWTH; BORNITE, CHALCOCITE, TENNANTITE(?), UNKNOWN SILVERY WHITE MINERAL; (BRECCIATION OF ORE BY POSSIBLE FAULT MOVEMENT); DOLOMITE (CEMENTING); LUZONITE, COVELLITE. FISCHER (1936) BELIEVED NATIVE CU AND CU ARSENIDES TO BE HYPOGENE ORIGIN. LINES OF EVIDENCE FOR HYPOGENE ORIGIN OF FINE-GRAINED CHALCOCITE: (1) REPLACEMENT OF SPHALERITE SIMULTANEOUSLY BY GALENA, BORNITE, CHALCOCITE, AND OTHER MINERALS; (2) REPLACEMENT INDEPENDENT OF FRACTURING; (3) GRANULAR TEXTURE AND INTERLOCKING GRAINS; (4) UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION OS SCATTERED MINERALS IN HOST SULFIDES; (5) ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE OF SUPERGENE ENRICHMENT.
Comment (Deposit): CLIFFDWELLER DEPOSIT DESCRIBED ONLY AS SIMILAR TO CASHIN MINE. DEPOSIT OCCURS IN WINGATE SANDSTONE ON SW LIMB OF PARADOX VALLEY ANTICLINE. ALTHOUGH FLANK OF FOLD IS CHARACTERIZED BY NUMEROUS GRABEN-TYPE NORMAL FAULTS TRENDING NW-SE AND DOWNTHROWN ON NE, CASHIN-CLIFFDWELLER DEPOSITS LOCALIZED IN VEINS ALONG TWO FAULTS TRENDING GENERALLY N 26 E (CLIFFDWELLER) AND N 45 E (CASHIN), POSSIBLY REPRESENTING EXTENSIONS OF SALT INTRUSIVE BULGES FROM INTERIOR OF PARADOX VALLEY (SIMILAR TO FAULT AT SUNRISE MINE ON NORTH SIDE OF VALLEY). ORES CHARACTERIZED BY ARGENTIFEROUS CU SULFIDES, CU ARSENIDES, NATIVE CU AND NATIVE AG. REPLACEMENT ORE CONSISTS OF SHORT BLADED AGGREGATES OF CHALCOPYRITE REPLACING SAND GRAINS, IN TURN REPLACED BY COVELLITE; MINOR ASSOCIATED SPHALERITE. VEIN ORE CONSISTS OF DOLOMITE FILLING VEIN AND CEMENTING BRECCIA OF SPHALERITE, GALENA, CHALCOPYRITE, AND FINE-GRAINED INTERGROWTH OF CHALCOPYRITE AND UNKNOWN SULFIDE; SOME ORE CARRIES BORNITE AND CHALCOCITE. LATER LUZONITE AND
References
Reference (Deposit): EMMONS, W.H., 1906, THE CASHIN MINE, MONTROSE COUNTY, COLORADO: USGS BULL. 285, P.125-128.
Reference (Deposit): COFFIN, R.C., 1921, RADIUM, URANIUM, AND VANADIUM DEPOSITS OF SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO: CGS BULL. 16, P.219-220.
Reference (Deposit): WITHINGTON, C.F., 1955, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE PARADOX QUADRANGLE, COLORADO: USGS MAP GQ-72.
Reference (Deposit): FISHCER, R.P., 1936, PECULIAR HYDROTHERMAL COPPER-BEARING VEINS OF THE NORTHEASTERN COLORADO PLATEAU: ECON. GEOLOGY, V. 31, NO. 6, P.588.
Reference (Deposit): COLORADO DIV. MINES INF. REPTS. AND ANNUAL OPERATOR REPTS.
Reference (Deposit): BLM MINERAL SURVEYS MS 13030A, 17486, 17487, 18541A&B
Reference (Production): COLORADO DIV. MINES ANNUAL OPERATOR REPTS.; USBM 1954 MINERALS YEARBOOK
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