The La Sal District is a copper and silver mine located in Montrose county, Colorado at an elevation of 5,361 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: 5,361 Feet (1,634 Meters)
Commodity: Copper, Silver
Lat, Long: 38.31111, -108.94889
Map: View on Google Maps
La Sal District MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: La Sal District
Secondary: Paradox Valley District
Secondary: Patented Claims: Red Chief, MS 13029a
Secondary: Red Chief Mill Site, MS 13029b
Secondary: Cashin, MS 13030a
Secondary: Maude, MS 13030a
Secondary: Titon, MS 13030a
Secondary: Titon Mill Site, MS 13030b
Secondary: Humboldt, MS 13031a
Secondary: Angel, MS 13031a
Secondary: Bennie, MS 13031a
Secondary: Maude Mill Site, MS 130 31b
Secondary: Sunrise, MS 16001
Secondary: Cliff Dweller, MS 17486
Secondary: Rainbow, MS 17487
Secondary: Queen of the West, MS 18541a
Secondary: Paradox, MS 18541a
Secondary: Bay City, MS 18541a
Secondary: White Chief, MS 18541a
Secondary: General Lee, MS 18541a
Secondary: Way Up, MS 18541a
Secondary: Morgan, MS 18541a
Secondary: Isabella, MS 18541a
Secondary: Colorado, MS 18541a
Secondary: Paradox Mill Site, MS 18541b
Secondary: Michigan, MS 19163
Secondary: Horse Shoe, MS 19163
Secondary: Red Rock, MS 19163
Secondary: Red Bird, MS 19163
Secondary: Malachite, MS 19164
Commodity
Primary: Copper
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Gold
Secondary: Lead
Tertiary: Zinc
Tertiary: Uranium
Tertiary: Antimony
Tertiary: Arsenic
Tertiary: Manganese
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: New Star Corp. (Cashin Mine)
Home Office: Provo, Ut.
Years: 1981 -
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: District
Operation Category: Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1899
Year Last Production: 1975
Discovery Year: 1896
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: Canyon Lands
Mineral Deposit Model
Not available
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Type: R
Description: Paradox Basin Fold And Fault Belt, La Sal Centers
Type: L
Description: Paradox Valley Graben, Unnamed Faults
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Oxidation Of Cu Sulfides To Carbonates And Oxide
Rocks
Not available
Analytical Data
Analytical Data: CU-AG ORES CONTAINED 6 TO 8% CU, 2.6 TO 8 OZ/TON AG, TRACE AU, 0.7% PB, AND 2% ZN. HIGH-GRADE CRUDE ORE FROM CASHIN MINE CONTAINED 12% CU AND 68 OZ/TON AG. OTHER HIGH-GRADE CRUDE ORE AVERAGED 12.5% CU AND 134 OZ/TON AG. FORMER LEACHING OPERATION AT CASHIN MINE YIELDED AVERAGE 3.5% CU AND 28 OZ/TON AG. ONE SHIPMENT OF NATIVE CU CONTAINED 89% CU AND 77 OZ/TON AG.
Materials
Ore: Tennantite
Ore: Copper
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Chrysocolla
Ore: Cuprite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Argentite
Ore: Silver
Ore: Bornite
Ore: Amalgam
Gangue: Dolomite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Kaolinite
Gangue: Limonite
Comments
Comment (Workings): MAJOR MINES DEVELOPED BY HILLSIDE DRIFT TUNNELS WITH INCLINED WINZES DOWN VEIN AND OFF WHICH AS MANY AS THREE LEVELS DEVELOPED. SURFACE LEACH PONDS.
Comment (Production): PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD. ANNUAL FIGURES UNAVAILABLE FOR 1896-1912 AS HENDERSON'S (1926) TABLES INCLUDE PROBABLE SMALL PRODUCTION FROM OTHER DISTRICTS. NO APPARENT PRODUCTION IN DISTRICT IN 1918, 1921, 1923-1936, 1948-1953, 1955-1956, 1959, 1961-1963, 1965-1971, 1973, AND AFTER 1975. PB PRODUCED ONLY IN 1944. FIGURES FOR PLACER AU IN DISTRICT WERE TABULATED IN HENDERSON (1926) AND IN VANDERWILT (1947); BECAUSE THESE PLACERS MAY ACTUALLY HAVE BEEN LOCATED ON DOLORES RIVER NE OF DISTRICT, PLACER PRODUCTION FIGURES ARE NOT INCLUDED IN AU PRODUCTION SHOWN IN TABLE.
Comment (Development): HISTORY OF DISTRICT TIED CLOSELY TO HISTORY OF CASHIN MINE, WHERE FIRST DEPOSITS DISCOVERED IN 1896; HOWEVER, NO ACTIVE DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION TOOK PLACE UNTIL 1898 OR 1899. CONSIDERABLE CU AND AG HAD BEEN PRODUCED BY 1905. CASHIN GROUP CLAIMS SURVEYED ALONG CASHIN AND CLIFFDWELLER VEINS IN 1899 AND PATENTED IN 1900 BY JAMES N. MCBRIDE. ADJACENT CLAIMS ALONG EXTENSIONS OF THESE VEINS WERE SURVEYED IN 1905 AND PATENTED IN 1906 BY L. W. AND J. R. GALLOWAY. IN 1910-1912, LA SAL COPPER MINING COMPANY PATENTED ADDITIONAL CLAIMS ALONG VEIN EXTENSIONS AND PRODUCED ORE. CASHIN PROPERTY SOLD IN 1918-1919 TO MICHIGAN-COLORADO COPPER COMPANY. DUE TO HIGH TRANSPORTATION COSTS IN EARLY YEARS, ONLY HIGH-GRADE SULFIDE AND NATIVE CU ORE COULD BE MINED. SMALL LEACH PLANT AND SMELTER AT CASHIN SITE PRODUCED MATTE IN EARLY 1900S USING PYRITE FROM OPHIR AND COAL FROM OVENS WEST OF NATURITA. INTERMITTENT PRODUCTION TOOK PLACE BY VARIOUS OPERATORS FROM 1922-1946. FURTHER EXPLORATION/DEVELOPMENT AND
Comment (Deposit): AND INTERLOCKING GRAINS; (4) UNIFORM DISTRIBUTION OF SCATTERED MINERALS IN HOST SULFIDES; (5) ABSENCE OF EVIDENCE OF SUPERGENE ENRICHMENT. WEIR AND PUFFETT (1981) STUDIED CU DEPOSITS IN LA SAL MTNS INTRUSIVE CENTERS AND CONCLUDED THAT THEY COULD NOT HAVE BEEN OF SYNGENETIC ORIGIN BECAUSE OF THEIR WIDE STRATIGRAPHIC OCCURRENCE. DUE TO SIMILARITY OF THOSE WITH THE CASHIN DEPOSITS, DEPOSITION SUGGESTS BASEMENT SOURCE WITH ASCENDING HYDROTHERMAL SOLUTIONS (HYPOGENE). ALL CU DEPOSITS IN AREA MAY BE RELATED TO HYDROTHERMAL PHASE OF LA SAL MTNS INTRUSIONS. SOLUTIONS MOVING OUTWARD FROM IGNEOUS CENTERS ALONG LISBON VALLEY FAULT SYSTEM WOULD BE DILUTED BY CONNATE WATERS WITHIN SEDIMENTARY ROCKS, SO THAT ORES WOULD BE OF LOW-TEMPERATURE (TELETHERMAL) TYPE. OCCURRENCE OF PYROBITUMEN WITH CU MINERALS AT CASHIN MINE SUGGESTS THAT SOME CU MAY HAVE BEEN PRECIPITATED BY H2S DERIVED FROM UNDERLYING PETROLIFEROUS PENNSYLVANIAN ROCKS.
Comment (Location): PRINCIPAL PART OF DISTRICT (CASHIN AND CLIFF DWELLER MINES) LIES ON SW SIDE OF PARADOX VALLEY ALONG LA SAL CREEK ON SW SIDE OF NYSWONGER MESA ABOUT 2.5 TO 2.8 MILES ABOVE DOLORES RIVER CONFLUENCE; ACCESSIBLE VIA TRAIL DOWN LA SAL CREEK FROM COLORADO RTE 90 SOUTH FROM PARADOX. OTHER PART OF DISTRICT (SUNRISE MINE) LIES ON NE SIDE OF PARADOX VALLEY ON RIM BELOW CARPENTER RIDGE; ACCESSIBLE VIA ROAD AND TRAILS NE FROM PARADOX. LATTER PORTION OF DISTRICT LIES ON ROC CREEK (1960) QUAD. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR DISTRICT'S PRINCIPAL MINE, CASHIN, IN SE NW SE SEC. 22, T47N, R19W. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1975
Comment (Development): REHABILITATION CONDUCTED BY CASHIN COPPER CORP IN 1955, INTERSTATE OIL AND GAS IN 1962, GOLD BAR RESOURCES IN 1963-1965, AND AUSTIN SMITH IN 1972 WHO SHIPPED DUMP ORE TO LEACH PLANT IN LISBON VALLEY, UTAH, BUT NO VALUES WERE RECOVERED. IN 1981, NEW STAR CORP ACQUIRED PROPERTY, DID EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT, AND SHIPPED TRIAL LOT OF ORE THAT WAS UNSUCCESSFULLY MILLED. WORK AT CLIFF DWELLER MINE CONSISTED OF SHIPPING DUMP ORE AND DRIVING NEW ADIT AS LATE AS 1975.
Comment (Deposit): BLM CLAIM RECORDS ASSIGN DISTRICT NAME "LA SAL" TO MINERAL SURVEYS 13029, 13030, 13031, 16001, AND 18541, AND DISTRICT NAME "PARADOX VALLEY" TO MINERAL SURVEYS 17486, 17163, AND 19164; BUT LA SAL AND LA SAL AND LA SAL CREEK ARE COMMON NAMES USED FOR AREA. INDIVIDUAL RECORDS PREPARED FOR FOLLOWING MINES: CASHIN, CLIFF DWELLER, MORNING STAR, SUNRISE. ADDITIONAL REFERENCES: (11) VANDERWILT, J.W., 1947, MINERAL RESOURCES OF COLORADO: COLORADO STATE MINERAL RESOURCES BD., P. 153; (12) HENDERSON, C.W., 1926, MINING IN COLORADO, A HISTORY OF DISCOVERY, DEVELOPMENT, AND PRODUCTION, USGS PROF. PAPER 138, P. 181-182; (13) SHOEMAKER, E.M., 1956, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE ROC CREEK QUADRANGLE, COLORADO: USGS MAP GQ-83. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT
Comment (Commodity): COPPER PITCH DEFINED AS MIXTURE OF TENORITE, MALACHITE, CHRYSOCOLLA, LIMONITE, AND MN OXIDES
Comment (Deposit): DEPOSITS OCCUR IN WINGATE AND SANDSTONE AND CHINLE FM ON FLANKS OF PARADOX VALLEY ANTICLINE. ALTHOUGH FLANKS OF FOLD ARE CHARACTERIZED BY NUMEROUS GRABEN-TYPE NORMAL FAULTS TRENDING NW-SE AND DOWNTHROWN ON NE, CU-AG DEPOSITS ARE LOCALIZED IN VEINS ALONG FAULTS TRENDING GENERALLY N 20 E (CLIFFDWELLER), N 35 E (SUNRISE), AND N 45 E (CASHIN), POSSIBLY REPRESENTING ESTENSIONS OF SALT INTRUSIVE BULGES FROM INTERIOR OF PARADOX VALLEY. CASHIN AND CLIFFDEWELLER ORES CHARACTERIZED BY ARGENTIFEROUS CU SULFIDES, CU ARSENIDES, NATIVE CU AND NATIVE AG. REPLACEMENT ORE CONSISTS OF CHALCOPYRITE REPLACING SAND GRAINS, IN TURN REPLACED BY CHALCOCITE; MINOR ASSOCIATED SPHALERITE. VEIN ORE CONSISTS OF DOLOMITE FILLING VEIN AND CEMENTING BRECCIA OF SPHALERITE, GALENA, CHALCOPYRITE, ANDFINE-GRAINED INTERGROWTH OF CHALCOPYRITE AND UNKNOWN SULFIDE. LATER LUZONITE AND COVELLITE CUT AND REPLACE GANGUE AND EARLY SULFIDES. ARBOREAL MASSES OF ARGENTIFEROUS NATIVE CU WEIGHING 400 TO 500 LB REPORTEDLY OCCURRED IN
Comment (Deposit): CHINLE FM RED BEDS UNDERLYING WINGATE. ORE AT SUNRISE MINE WAS MAINLY MASSIVE CHALCOPYRITE WITH LESSER AMOUNTS OF INTERGROWN CHALCOPYRITE, BORNITE, AND LUZONITE (UPPER LEVEL), AND MASSIVE CHALCOCITE FILLING VEINS AND OPEN FRACTURES (LOWER LEVEL). OXIDIZED ORE CHARACTERIZED BY CU PITCH, SELECTIVELY REPLACING LUZONITE IN CENTERS OF COLLOFORM MASSES. 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 OF 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
References
Reference (Deposit): HALL, R. G., 1903, SECONDARY ENRICHMENT IN COPPER VEINS: ENG. MINING JOUR., V. 75, NO. 8, P. 288.
Reference (Deposit): BLM MINERAL SURVEYS MS 13029A&B, 13030A&B, 13031A&B, 16001, 17486, 17487, 18541A&B, 19163, 19164
Reference (Production): VANDERWILT, 1947, P. 153; COLORADO DIV. MINES ANNUAL OPERATOR REPTS.; USBM MINERAL YEARBOOKS 1946-1966; HENDERSON, 1926, P. 182.
Reference (Deposit): COLORADO DIV. MINES INF. REPTS. AND ANNUAL OPERATOR REPTS.
Reference (Deposit): FISCHER, R. P., 1936, PECULIAR HYDROTHERMAL COPPER-BEARING VEINS OF THE NORTHEASTERN COLORADO PLATEAU: ECON. GEOLOGY, V. 31, NO. 6, P. 571-599.
Reference (Deposit): GOTT, G. B., AND ERICKSON, R. L., 1952, RECONNAISSANCE OF URANIUM AND COPPER DEPOSITS IN PARTS OF NEW MEXICO, COLORADO, UTAH, IDAHO, AND WYOMING: USGS CIRC. 219, P. 4-5.
Reference (Deposit): COFFIN, R.C., 1921, RADIUM, URANIUM, AND VANADIUM DEPOSITS OF SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO: CGS BULL. 16, P. 219-220.
Reference (Deposit): EMMONS, W. H., 1906, THE CASHIN MINE, MONTROSE COUNTY, COLORADO: USGS BULL. 285, P. 125-128.
Reference (Deposit): WITHINGTON, C. F., 1955, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE PARADOX QUADRANGLE, COLORADO: USGS MAP GQ-72.
Reference (Deposit): CARTER, W. D., AND GUALTIERI, J.L., 1957, LA SAL CREEK AREA, COLORADO AND UTAH, IN GEOLOGIC INVESTIGATIONS OF RADIOACTIVE DEPOSITS--SEMIANNUAL PROGESS REPORT, DECEMBER 1, 1956 TO MAY 31, 1957: AEC TEI-690, P. 84-94.
Reference (Deposit): WEIR,G. W., AND PUFFETT, W. P., 1981, INCOMPLETE MANUSCRIPT ON STRATIGRAPHY AND STRUCTURAL GEOLOGY AND URANIUM-VANADIUM AND COPPER DEPOSITS OF THE LISBON VALLEY AREA, UTAH-COLORADO: USGS OPEN-FILE REPT. OF-81-39.
Colorado Mining Photos
Check out this collection of Colorado's best historic mining photos: Incredible Photos of Colorado Mining Scenes.
