The Big Cottonwood Mine is a iron mine located in Salt Lake county, Utah at an elevation of 9,751 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: 9,751 Feet (2,972 Meters)
Commodity: Iron
Lat, Long: 40.58278, -111.58417
Map: View on Google Maps
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Big Cottonwood Mine MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Big Cottonwood Mine
Secondary: Mountain Lake Group
Secondary: Great Western Mines
Commodity
Primary: Iron
Secondary: Copper
Tertiary: Tungsten
Location
State: Utah
County: Salt Lake
District: Big Cottonwood 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
Type: Underground
Ownership
Owner Name: Great Western Mines Co.
Home Office: Ogden, Ut.
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1875
Year Last Production: 1907
Discovery Year: 1875
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S
Physiography
General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Middle Rocky Mountains
Physiographic Detail: Wasatch Mountains
Mineral Deposit Model
Not available
Orebody
Form: IRREGULAR
Structure
Type: R
Description: Vinta-Cottonwood Arch, Sevier Overthrust Belt, Cordilleran Hingeline
Type: L
Description: Grizzly Thrust Fault
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Calc-Silicate Zone Of Skarn Environment, Oxidation
Rocks
Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Oligocene
Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Mississippian
Analytical Data
Analytical Data: 1.67% CU, 60% RECOVERY OF FE FROM THE ORE
Materials
Ore: Magnetite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Bornite
Gangue: Talc
Gangue: Epidote
Gangue: Brucite
Gangue: Phlogopite
Gangue: Chlorite
Gangue: Tremolite
Gangue: Actinolite
Gangue: Garnet
Gangue: Serpentine
Gangue: Forsterite
Comments
Comment (Development): SURFACE RIGHTS ARE OWNED BY WASATCH NATIONAL FOREST. METALURGICAL TESTING BY THE USBM IN 1970, USING STRAIGHT MAGNETIC SEPARATION AND FLOTATION SUCCESSFULLY REMOVED COPPER AND SULFUR FROM IRON ORE. GRINDING TO-100 MESH WAS NECESSARY.
Comment (Commodity): MOSTLY AN IRON (MAGNETITE) PROSPECT WITH LOW GRADE COPPER ASSOCIATED
Comment (Location): TOWNSHIP IS UNSURVEYED. MINE LOCATION IS MISLABELED ON 7.5 TOPOGRAPHIC MAP OF THE BRIGHTON QUADRANGLE ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1983
Comment (Production): SMALL SHIPMENTS WERE MADE IN 1875. IN 1907 SMALL SHIPMENTS OF COPPER ORE WERE SENT TO THE TINTIC SMELTER
Comment (Reserve-Resource): BULLOCK, K.C., 1970
Comment (Deposit): Discovery Year: LATE 1800'S
Comment (Deposit): DEPOSIT IS A LOW-GRADE COPPER-BEARING MAGNETITE METASOMATIC REPLACEMENT DEPOSIT. THE NORTH ORE BODY IS CRESCENT SHAPED, 375 FT LONG, 50 FT THICK, AND STRIKES EAST-WEST. THE SOUTH ORE BODY STRIKES NNW FOR 315 FT AND IS 20 FT THICK. THE THIRD ORE BODY IS UNDERGROUND, STRIKE, NNW, AND IS OF UNDETERMINED EXTENT
Comment (Workings): THE PORTAL OF THE MINE IS CUT IN GRANODIORITE, THE ADIT EXTENDS SW FOR 700 FT IN GRANODIORITE. THEN A CROSSCUT PASSES THROUGH 110 FT 8F SKARN. A DRIFT THEN CUTS ABOUT 30 FT OF MAGNETITE
Comment (Geology): SOME UNUSUAL BORATES, LUDWIGITE AND MAGNESIOLUDWIGITE, ARE ABUNDANT. OTHER, UNUSUAL MINERALS SUCH AS EPHOSITE, SUSSEXITE, XANTHOPHYLLITE, AND HYDROMAGNESITE MAY ALSO BE PRESENT. CARBONATES FORM A ROOF PENDANT SUSPENDED BETWEEN THE ALTA STOCK TO THE NORTHWEST AND THE CLAYTON PEAK STOCK TO THE SOUTHEAST. THE SKARN ZONE IS ABOUT 50 FT THICK.
References
Reference (Deposit): JAMES, L.P., 1979, GEOLOGY, ORE DEPOSITS, AND HISTORY OF THE BIG COTTONWOOD MINING DISTRICT, SALT LAKE COUNTY, UTAH: U.G.M.S. BULL. NO. 114.
Reference (Deposit): CALKINS, F.C., AND BUTLER, B.S., 1943, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE COTTONWOOD-AMERICAN FORK AREA, UTAH: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROF. PAPER, NO. 201.
Reference (Deposit): BUTLER, B.S., LOUGHLIN, G.F., HEIKES, V.C., AND OTHERS, 1920, THE ORE DEPOSITS OF UTAH: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROF. PAPER, NO. 111.
Reference (Deposit): BAKER, A.A., CALKINS, F.C., CRITTENDEN, M.D., JR., AND BROMFIELD, C.S., 1966, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE BRIGHTON QUADRANGLE, UTAH: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GEOL. QUAD. MAP GQ-534
Reference (Deposit): BULLOCK, K.C., 1970, IRON DEPOSITS OF UTAH: U.G.M.S. BULL. 88, P. 72
Reference (Deposit): CRAWFORD, A.L., AND BURANEK, A.M., 1957, TUNGSTEN RESERVES DISCOVERED IN THE COTTONWOOD-AMERICAN FORLE MINING DISTRICTS. UTAH: UTAH GEOL. AND MIN. SURVEY REPRINT NO. 55
Reference (Production): BULLOCK, K.C., 1970
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