The Puzzle Deposit is a fluorine-fluorite mine located in Chaffee county, Colorado at an elevation of 7,749 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: 7,749 Feet (2,362 Meters)
Commodity: Fluorine-Fluorite
Lat, Long: 38.64778, -106.07278
Map: View on Google Maps
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Puzzle Deposit MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Puzzle Deposit
Secondary: Lionelle
Commodity
Primary: Fluorine-Fluorite
Tertiary: Manganese
Location
State: Colorado
County: Chaffee
District: Browns Canyon 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: Surface/Underground
Ownership
Owner Name: E. Lionelle And J. H. Lionelle
Production
Year: 1949
Time Period: 1937-1949
Mined: 393.680 mt
Material type: FLUORSPAR ORE
Description: Cp_Grade: ^Metallurgical-Grade
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1927
Year Last Production: 1949
Discovery Year: 1923
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S
Physiography
General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Southern Rocky Mountains
Mineral Deposit Model
Model Name: Fluorspar deposits (fluorite veins)
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Type: R
Description: Southern Mosquito Range, Arkansas Valley Graben
Type: L
Description: Folds, Faults; N-Trending Fault Bounding Arkansas Valley
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Silicification, Fluoritization
Rocks
Name: Gneiss
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Neoproterozoic
Name: Gneiss
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Neoproterozoic
Analytical Data
Analytical Data: ONE THIN SECTION CONTAINS ABOUT 50% CAF2
Materials
Ore: Fluorite
Gangue: Opal
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Psilomelane
Gangue: Manganite
Gangue: Goethite
Gangue: Hematite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Pyrolusite
Gangue: Kaolinite
Gangue: Montmorillonite
Comments
Comment (Development): AREA FIRST PROSPECTED IN LATE 1800'S FOR GOLD. ABOUT 1900 COPPER AND SILVER CAUSED RENEWED ACTIVITY. IN 1943 SCHEELITE WAS FOUND AND WORKED SPORADICALLY. IN 1956 THE BERYLLIUM DEPOSITS AT THE BOOMER MINE WERE LOCATED AND THE MAJOR PRODUCTION CONTINUED TO BE BERYLLIUM. MOLYBDENUM WAS FOUND IN 1917 WITH MINOR PRODUCTION
Comment (Location): NE OF HECLA JUNCTION, EAST OF US HWY 285, WEST OF ARKANSAS RIVER; NW/4 SEC. 27, T 51 N, R 8 E. INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1976)
Comment (Production): METALLURGICAL-GRADE FLUORSPAR
Comment (Deposit): THE REDSKIN STOCK IS ZONED, WITH NEARLY ALL OF THE BERYLLIUM DEPOSITS OCCURRING IN THE GRANITE-APLITE OR PORPHYRITIC GRANITE FACIES OF THE GREISENIZED REDSKIN GRANITE. EVEN THOSE DEPOSITS NOT ACTUALLY IN THE REDSKIN GRANITE ARE SPATIALLY AND GENETICALLY RELATED TO IT.
References
Reference (Production): VAN ALSTINE, R.E. (1969)
Reference (Deposit): VAN ALSTINE, R.E., 1969, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE PONCHA SPRINGS NE QUADRANGLE, CHAFFEE COUNTY, COLORADO: USGS PROFESSIONAL PAPER 626, 52 P.
Reference (Deposit): VAN ALSTINE, R.E. AND COX, D.C., 1969, FLUORSPAR MINES AND PROSPECTS, IN, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE PONCHA SPRINGS NE QUADRANGLE, CHAFFEE COUNTY, COLORADO: USGS PROFESSIONAL PAPER 626, P. 38-43
Reference (Deposit): BRADY, B.T., 1975, MAP SHOWING FLUORSPAR DEPOSITS IN COLORADO: USGS MAP MR-70, 1:500,000, TEXT
Reference (Deposit): VANDERWILT, 1947, COLO. MINERAL RES. BOARD
Reference (Deposit): CONSV. DIV. COMP. DATE, 1,64
Reference (Deposit): COLO BOM AN RPT 1949
Reference (Deposit): Sunshine Mining Co. Colorado exploration files, unpublished data, Colorado Geological Survey.
Colorado Mining Photos
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