Puzzle Deposit

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

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.

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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