The Copper Hill Mine is a copper and silver mine located in La Plata county, Colorado at an elevation of 9,980 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: 9,980 Feet (3,042 Meters)
Commodity: Copper, Silver
Lat, Long: 37.40028, -108.07278
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.
Copper Hill Mine MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Copper Hill Mine
Secondary: Gold Eagle
Secondary: Delaware Claims
Commodity
Primary: Copper
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Gold
Secondary: Platinum
Secondary: Palladium
Location
State: Colorado
County: La Plata
District: California (La Plata) District
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.
Administrative Organization: San Juan N. F.
Holdings
Not available
Workings
Type: Surface/Underground
Ownership
Owner Name: La Plata Mines Co.
Years: 1932 -
Production
Year: 1917
Time Period: 1911-1917
Material type: AU
Description: Cp_Grade: ^0.19 Oz/Ton (6.5 Ppm)
Year: 1917
Time Period: 1911-1917
Material type: AG
Description: Cp_Grade: ^0.025 Oz/Ton (860 Ppb)
Year: 1917
Time Period: 1911-1917
Material type: ORE CU AG
Description: Cp_Grade: ^4.8% Cu, 1.97 Oz/Ton Ag
Year: 1913
Material type: AG
Description: Ap_Grade: ^2.9% Cu, 1.25 Oz/Ton Ag
Year: 1913
Material type: ORE CU AG
Description: Ap_Grade: ^4.1% Cu, 1.83 Oz/Ton Ag
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1911
Year Last Production: 1917
Discovery Year: 1902
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S
Physiography
General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Colorado Plateaus
Physiographic Section: Navajo Section
Mineral Deposit Model
Not available
Orebody
Form: POD, VEINS, DISSEMINATED GRAINS
Structure
Type: R
Description: San Juan Uplift. Four Corners Platform. Northeast-Trending Fracture Zone
Type: L
Description: Short Discontinuous Faults Of Small Displacement, Intense Late-Stage Fracturing. La Plata Dome >15 Mi Diameter
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Extreme Potassic Metasomatism, Sericitized And Felspathized Porphyry. Fe Oxidation, Oxidation Of Cu Sulfide
Rocks
Name: Syenite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Paleocene
Name: Syenite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Permian
Name: Syenite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Permian
Analytical Data
Analytical Data: 0.08% CU, 0.0034 OZ PT (120 PPB) (FROM TUNNEL). USBM SAMPLE FROM GLORY HOLE: 1.87% CU, 0.49 OZ/TON AG (17 PPM), 0.005 OZ/TON PT (170 PPB). ESTIMATED TENOR OF CRUDE ORE IN PLACE: 2-4% CU, 0.02-0.06 OZ/TON (0.7-2 PPM) PT, 0.02-0.04 (0.7-1.4 PPM) OZ/TON PD, 0.14-0.76 (4.8-26 PPM) OZ/TON AG
Analytical Data: 1.87% CU, 0.49 OZ/TON AG (17 PPM), 0.005 OZ/TON PGM (170 PPB) (FROM AREA SURROUNDING GLORY HOLE)
Analytical Data: PT=0.24, 0.14 OZ/TON (8.23, 4.8 PPM), PD=0.30, 0.12 OZ/TON (10.3, 4.1 PPM), CU=17.66, 13.1%, AU=0.04, 0.01 OZ/TON (1.37, 0.34 PPM), AG=1.21, 2.52 OZ/TON (41.5, 86.4 PPM) (2 CHALCOPYRITE SAMPLES, ECKEL). 370 PPB PT, 450 PPB PD (FROM MINE DUMP)
Materials
Ore: Magnetite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Bornite
Ore: Hematite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Marcasite
Ore: Enargite
Ore: Chalcocite
Ore: Malachite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Fluorite
Gangue: Sanidine
Gangue: Garnet
Gangue: Apatite
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Ankerite
Comments
Comment (Workings): PLAN OF TUNNELS AND GLORY HOLE OF COPPER HILL MINE IN ECKEL, P. 105. UPPER TUNNEL DRIVEN S55E FOR 100 FT TO GLORY HOLE, WITH BRANCH TUNNELS AGGREGATING 735 FT. LOWER TUNNEL LOCATED 410 FT SW OF UPPER PORTAL AND DRIVEN N75E FOR 280 FT, THEN 260 FT AT N5E TO GLORY HOLE
Comment (Deposit): PT MAY BE PRESENT ELSEWHERE IN THE DISTRICT BUT HAS BEEN FOUND ONLY AT COPPER HILL THUS FAR ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT
Comment (Deposit): RECORD D003065 HAS BEEN MERGED AND DELETED.
Comment (Development): UNPATENTED CLAIMS STAKED NEAR MINE AS EARLY AS 1902. MINE WORKED BY COPPER HILL MINING CO. IN 1911-1917. LA PLATA MINES CO. TOOK CONTROL BETWEEN 1927 AND 1932, DID DEVELOPMENT WORK BUT PRODUCED NO ORE. MOST OF THE PRODUCTION WAS FROM THE GLORY HOLE.
Comment (Reserve-Resource): REMAINING ORE MUCH LOWER GRADE THAN THAT ALREADY MINED. VALUES FALL OFF SHARPLY AWAY FROM GLORY HOLE. MERTIE (1969) INDICATES NO POTENTIAL FOR PGE
Comment (Location): UNSURVEYED. IN SAN JUAN NATIONAL FOREST. IN LA PLATA MOUNTAINS ON COPPER HILL, RIDGE BETWEEN BEDROCK AND BOREN CREEKS SOUTHWEST OF LA PLATA RIVER AND 0.5 MI WEST-NORTHWEST OF LA PLATA TOWNSITE
Comment (Deposit): STOCKWORK CHALCOPYRITE VEINLETS ARE UP TO 2 IN. WIDE. PERIPHERAL TO STOCKWORK ARE QUARTZ-PYRITE-FLUORITE-TELLURIDE VEINS. DEPOSIT IS ON NORTHEAST BORDER OF STOCK. SYENITE STOCK FROM GIBBS PEAK TO COPPER HILL INTRUDED, METAMORPHOSED, AND PARTLY REPLACED CUTLER FM. CLASTIC ROCKS. IRREGULAR GRAINS AND MASSES OF CHALCOPYIRTE ARE DISSEMINATED IN METAMORPHIC ROCK, WHICH IS CUT BY CLOSELY SPACED NORTH- TO NE-TRENDING VEINLETS OF CHALCOPYRITE, HEMATITE, MAGNETITE, AND PYRITE, SLIGHTLY OXIDIZED. BETTER ORE FOUND IN ZONE OF INTENSE FRACTURING WHERE COUNTRY ROCK WAS REPLACED BY ORTHOCLASE. EXACT NATURE OF PGE IS UNCERTAIN - COULD OCCUR AS DISCRETE PARTICLES IN CHALCOPYRITE OR IN SOLID SOLUTION; UNPUBLISHED MODEL NAME: SYENITE-HOSTED CU-AG-PGE.
Comment (Production): NO PRODUCTION RECORDED FOR 1915-1916 AND AFTER 1917
References
Reference (Deposit): ECKEL, E.B., 1938, COPPER ORES OF THE LA PLATA DISTRICT, COLORADO, AND THEIR PLATINUM CONTENT: COLORADO SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY PROCEEDINGS, V. 13, NO., 12, P. 647-664.
Reference (Deposit): PAGE, N.J, CLARK, A.L., DESBOROUGH, G.A., AND PARKER, R.L., 1973, PLATINUM-GROUP METALS, IN BROBST, D.A., AND PRATT, W.P., EDS., UNITED STATES MINERAL RESOURCES: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 820, P. 540.
Reference (Production): ECKEL, 1949
Reference (Deposit): ECKEL, E.B., 1949, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE LA PLATA DISTRICT, COLORADO: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 219, P. 56, 63-65, 105-106.
Reference (Deposit): MERTIE, J.B., JR., 1969, ECONOMIC GEOLOGY OF THE PLATINUM METALS: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 630, P. 95.
Reference (Deposit): WERLE, J.L., IKRAMUDDIN, MOHAMMED, AND MUTSCHLER, F.E., 1984, ALLARD STOCK, LA PLATA MOUNTAINS, COLORADO - AN ALKALINE ROCK-HOSTED PORPHYRY COPPER-PRECIOUS METAL DEPOSIT: CANADIAN JOURNAL OF EARTH SCIENCES, V. 21, P. 630-641.
Colorado Mining Photos
Check out this collection of Colorado's best historic mining photos: Incredible Photos of Colorado Mining Scenes.
