The Picket Pin is a platinum and palladium mine located in Sweet Grass county, Montana at an elevation of 10,000 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: 10,000 Feet (3,048 Meters)
Commodity: Platinum, Palladium
Lat, Long: 45.44944, -110.05028
Map: View on Google Maps
Satelite View
MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.
Picket Pin MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Picket Pin
Commodity
Primary: Platinum
Primary: Palladium
Secondary: Copper
Secondary: Nickel
Tertiary: Antimony
Tertiary: Cobalt
Tertiary: Iridium
Tertiary: Gold
Tertiary: Arsenic
Location
State: Montana
County: Sweet Grass
District: In Stillwater Complex
Land Status
Land ownership: National Forest
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: Anaconda Co.
Years: 1980 -
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Occurrence
Operation Type: Unknown
Discovery Year: 1936
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: M
Physiography
General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Middle Rocky Mountains
Mineral Deposit Model
Not available
Orebody
Form: LENSES, PODS, PIPES, DISSEMINATED
Structure
Type: R
Description: The Stillwater Complex Is Exposed Along The Northern Margin Of The Beartooth Uplift, One Of Several Laramide Basement-Cored Ranges That Make Up The Rocky Mountain Foreland Of South-Central Montana (Foose And Others, 1961: Kulik And Schmidt, 1988)
Type: L
Description: Cross Faults Offset Sulfide Bearing Zone
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Plagioclase Is Altered To Clinozoisite-Epidote, Pyroxene To Chlorite-Calcite-(Talc)- Magnetite-Quartz, Pyrrhotite To Pyrite
Rocks
Name: Anorthosite
Role: Host
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Neoarchean
Name: Anorthosite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Cretaceous
Analytical Data
Analytical Data: 6.1% NI, 14.6% CU, 0.2% CO, 1.4 PPM IR, 35 PPM PT, 44 PPM PD, 3.6 PPM AU IN SULFIDE-RICH SAMPLE (BOUDREAU AND MCCALLUM). 0.58% CU, 0.21% NI, 2.5 PPM PT (+IR, RU, RH), 2.5 PPM PD, 0.22 PPM AU (HOWLAND AND OTHERS). OZ/TON VALUES CONVERTED TO PPM
Materials
Ore: Sperrylite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Pyrrhotite
Ore: Pentlandite
Gangue: Talc
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Chlorite
Gangue: Plagioclase
Gangue: Apatite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Graphite
Gangue: Magnetite
Comments
Comment (Geology): MINERALIZING FLUIDS WERE SILICA AND ALKALI RICH WITH HCL AND HF. A LACK OF FE AND TI OXIDES INDICATES THE SULFIDES FORMED AT HIGHER SULFUR FUGACITIES. AGE OF STILLWATER COMPLEX IS 2,705 +/- 4 MA BASED ON U-PB SYSTEMATICS ON ZIRCON-BADDELEYITE (PREMO AND OTHERS, 1990)
Comment (Deposit): SULFIDE ZONE IS STRATIFIED WITHIN UPPER 150 M OF ANORTHOSITE SUBZONE II AND CAN EXTEND UP TO TROCTOLITE BUT GENERALLY ENDS ABOUT 10 M FROM TOP OF ANORTHOSITE WHERE THERE IS A DISTINCT TEXTURAL CHANGE. MINERALIZING SOLUTIONS PERCOLATED UPWARD DURING SOLIDIFICATION OF ANORTHOSITE. HOWLAND AND OTHERS NOTED THAT THE SULFIDES ARE INTERSTITIAL TO SILICATES AND PARTLY REPLACE THEM. DEPOSIT HAS HIGHER CU AND LOWER NI THAN J-M REEF; UNPUBLISHED MODEL NAME: PICKET PIN MINERALIZATION.
Comment (Workings): SAMPLING ONLY
Comment (Location): UNSURVEYED. IN CUSTER AND GALLATIN NATIONAL FORESTS. LOCATION GIVEN IS SUMMIT OF PICKET PIN MOUNTAIN; HOWEVER, DEPOSIT IS TRACEABLE ALONG STRIKE FOR 22 KM
Comment (Development): PRESENCE OF MINERALIZATION WAS KNOWN FROM NEAR HEAD OF NORTH FORK PICKET PIN CREEK IN 1930'S. SOIL GEOCHEMICAL SAMPLING PROGRAM IN 1968 DEFINED AREA OF MINERALIZATION AROUND PICKET PIN.
References
Reference (Deposit): BOUDREAU, A.E., AND MCCALLUM, I.S., 1986, INVESTIGATIONS OF THE STILLWATER COMPLEX: III. THE PICKET PIN PT/PD DEPOSIT: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, V. 81, P. 1953-1975.
Reference (Deposit): ZIENTEK, M.L., 1993, MINERAL RESOURCE APPRAISAL FOR LOCATABLE MINERALS: THE STILLWATER COMPLEX, IN HAMMARSTROM, J.M., ZIENTEK, M.L., AND ELLIOTT, J.E., EDS., MINERAL RESOURCE ASSESSMENT OF THE ABSAROKA-BEARTOOTH STUDY AREA, CUSTER AND GALLATIN NATIONAL FORESTS, MONTANA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OPEN-FILE REPORT 93-207, P. F1-F83.
Reference (Deposit): HOWLAND, A.L., PEOPLES, J.W., AND SAMPSON, EDWARD, 1936, THE STILLWATER IGNEOUS COMPLEX AND ASSOCIATED OCCURRENCES OF NICKEL AND PLATINUM GROUP METALS: MONTANA BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY MISCELLANEOUS CONTRIBUTION 7, 15 P.
Reference (Deposit): PREMO, W.R., HELZ, R.T., ZIENTEK, M.L., AND LANGSTON, R.B., 1990, U-PB AND SM-ND AGES FOR THE STILLWATER COMPLEX AND ITS ASSOCIATED SILLS AND DIKES, BEARTOOTH MOUNTAINS, MONTANA: IDENTIFICATION OF A PARENT MAGMA?: GEOLOGY, V. 18, P. 1065-1068.
Principal Gold Districts of Montana
In Montana, 54 mining districts have each have produced more than 10,000 ounces of gold. The largest producers are Butte, Helena, Marysville, and Virginia City, each having produced more than one million ounces. Twenty seven other districts are each credited with between 100,000 and one million ounces of gold production. Read more: Principal Gold Districts of Montana.
