Du Pont Tunnel

The Du Pont Tunnel is a niobium (columbium) mine located in Gunnison county, Colorado at an elevation of 8,442 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

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Site Name

Primary: Du Pont Tunnel

Commodity

Primary: Niobium (Columbium)
Secondary: REE
Tertiary: Titanium, Metal
Tertiary: Iron
Tertiary: Manganese
Tertiary: Thorium
Tertiary: Zinc
Tertiary: Phosphorus-Phosphates

Location

State: Colorado
County: Gunnison
District: White Earth (Powderhorn) District

Land Status

Land ownership: BLM Administrative Area
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

Type: Underground

Ownership

Owner Name: Buttes Oil And Gas Co.
Home Office: Oakland, Ca.
Years: 1983 -

Owner Name: Humphreys Mineral Industries, Inc., Denver, Co. And Raymond Kaiser Engineers, Inc., Oakland,
Years: 1983 -

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Prospect
Operation Type: Unknown
Discovery Year: 1956
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: L

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Southern Rocky Mountains

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Type: R
Description: Gunnison Uplift, San Juan Volcanic Field

Type: L
Description: Iron Hill Alkalic Complex, Cimarron Fault, Powderhorn Stock

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Oxidation Of Pyrite To Hematite And Goethite; Oxidation Of Rhodochrosite(?) To Mn Oxides

Rocks

Name: Intrusive Carbonatite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Cambrian

Name: Intrusive Carbonatite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Late Cambrian

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Pyrochlore
Gangue: Phlogopite
Gangue: Apatite
Gangue: Sphene
Gangue: Synchisite
Gangue: Magnetite
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Zircon
Gangue: Biotite
Gangue: Anatase
Gangue: Fluorite
Gangue: Bastnaesite
Gangue: Monazite
Gangue: Ilmenite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Rutile

Comments

Comment (Deposit): CARBONATITE STOCK LIES WEST OF CENTER OF IRON HILL COMPLEX, INTRUDED BETWEEN PYROXENITE ON NE AND SE AND SHEARED GRANITE AND DUBOIS FELSITE ON SW. STEEPLY DIPPING TO VERTICAL FOLIATION IS MARKED BY APATITE-RICH SEAMS OR SEGREGATIONS, BY PHLOGOPITE-BIOTITE SEAMS, OR BY STRAINED AND DEFORMED CARBONATE CRYSTALS. TEXTURE VARIES FROM COARSE GRAINED TO PEGMATITIC TO FINE GRAINED. PYROCHLORE IS DISSEMINATED THROUGH STOCK AND CARBONATITE DIKES AS TINY, WEAKLY ZONED, OCTAHEDRAL CRYSTALS. CONTAINED RADIOACTIVITY COULD BE DUE TO TH IN PYROCHLORE OR TO MONAZITE.

Comment (Workings): 365-FT-LONG TUNNEL DRIVEN GENERALLY SE; NUMEROUS DRILL HOLES

Comment (Development): FOLLOWING ATTEMPTS TO MINE VERMICULITE IN AREA IN 1930S AND 1940S, MINNESOTA INVESTORS TURNED POWDERHORN PROPERTY OVER TO HUMPHREYS ENGINEERING COMPANY, WHO CONDUCTED TI EXPLORATION AND DRILLING AND PERFECTED PROCESS FOR PRODUCTION OF PEROVSKITE CONCENTRATES. IN 1956, HUMPHREYS INTERESTED DUPONT IN PROPERTY. DUPONT'S CHIEF GEOLOGIST, ROBERT GROGAN, RECOGNIZED IRON HILL AS A CARBONATITE BASED ON HIS EXAMINATION OF AFRICAN CARBONATITES. FOLLOWING ITS ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY IN 1956, DUPONT BEGAN NB EXPLORATION, INCLUDING DRILLING AND TUNNEL DRIVING IN 1957-1958. ENGINEERING STUDY ON MINING AND CONCENTRATING METHODS AND COSTS DONE BY STEARNS-ROGER, AND ORE DRESSING STUDY DONE BY COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES RESEARCH INSTITUTE. BUTTES OIL AND GAS ACQUIRED PROPERTY IN 1968 AND BEGAN INTENSIVE STUDIES, INCLUDING GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYING, DRILLING, MARKET STUDIES, COMPUTER ORE RESERVE ANALYSES, AND ECONOMIC MODELLING, MOSTLY AIMED AT TIO2 PRODUCTION WITH BY-PRODUCT RARE EARTHS BUT WITH CONTINUED

Comment (Development): INTEREST IN NB2O5 PRODUCTION.

Comment (Location): NEAR NW BASE OF IRON HILL ON SOUTH SIDE OF DELDORADO CREEK, 2 MILES SE OF POWDERHORN AND 0.85 MILE NW OF IRON HILL SUMMIT. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1976

References

Reference (Deposit): COLORADO DIV. MINES INF. REPTS.

Reference (Deposit): HEDLUND, D.C., AND OLSON, J.C., 1975, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE POWDERHORN QUADRANGLE, GUNNISON AND SAGUACHE COUNTIES, COLORADO: USGS MAP GQ-1178.

Reference (Deposit): THOMPSON, J.V., 1983, ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF THE CARBONATITE AND ALKALIC STOCK AT POWDERHORN, GUNNISON COUNTY, COLORADO, IN HANDFIELD, R.C., ED., GUNNISON GOLD BELT AND POWDERHORN CARBONATITE FIELD TRIP GUIDEBOOK: DREGS, P. 32-42.

Reference (Deposit): OLSON, J.C., AND HEDLUND, D.C., 1981, ALKALIC ROCKS AND RESOURCES OF THORIUM AND ASSOCIATED ELEMENTS IN THE POWDERHORN DISTRICT, GUNNISON COUNTY, COLORADO: USGS PROF. PAPER 1049-C.

Colorado Mining Photos

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