The Oro District is a silver and gold mine located in Montrose county, Colorado at an elevation of 5,919 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: 5,919 Feet (1,804 Meters)
Commodity: Silver, Gold
Lat, Long: 38.27, -108.41194
Map: View on Google Maps
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Oro District MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Oro District
Secondary: Naturita District
Secondary: Cottonwood Placers
Secondary: Pinon Placers
Secondary: Patented Claims: Philadelphia Placer, MS 1535
Secondary: Square Deal Placer, MS 2517
Secondary: Monitor Placer, MS 2518
Secondary: Rockford Placer, MS 2519
Secondary: Wall Street Placer, MS 2520
Secondary: Lauer Placer, MS 2521
Secondary: Goulding Placer, MS 4568
Secondary: Akers Placer, MS 4568
Secondary: Green Placer, MS 4569
Secondary: Annie Placer, MS 4570
Secondary: Rose Placer, MS 4570
Secondary: Mary Ann Placer, MS 4571
Secondary: Emma Placer, MS 4572
Secondary: Thompson Placer, MS 5217
Secondary: Judson Placer, MS 5217
Secondary: Mansanita Placer, MS 5218
Secondary: Hobbs Placer, MS 5219
Secondary: United States Placer, MS 6097e
Secondary: Gold Queen Placer, MS 6097
Secondary: Rock Gap Placer, MS 2533
Secondary: Kentucky Placer, MS 2534
Secondary: Oro (Naturita) Placer District
Commodity
Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold
Location
State: Colorado
County: Montrose
District: Oro (Naturita) 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
Not available
Ownership
Not available
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: District
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Placer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1883
Year Last Production: 1963
Discovery Year: 1883
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: Canyon Lands
Mineral Deposit Model
Not available
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Type: R
Description: Paradox Basin Fold And Fault Belt, Uncompahgre Uplift
Type: L
Description: Nucla Syncline
Alterations
Not available
Rocks
Name: Sand and Gravel
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Gold
Ore: Silver
Comments
Comment (Deposit): SAN MIGUEL RIVER BETWEEN COTTONWOOD CREEK AND NATURITA CREEK CHARACTERIZED BY CANYON CUT THROUGH CUT JURASSIC AND CRETACEOUS SEDIMENTARY ROCKS--BURRO CANYON AND DAKOTA FORMING UPPER RIM AND MORRISON FM FORMING CANYON WALLS AND BOTTOM. MOST OF PLACER CUTS OBSERVED ON AIRPHOTOS APPEAR TO BE IN ANY OF SEVERAL TERRACE LEVELS FLANKING RIVER. PARKER (1974) DESCRIBES TWO TERRACES AT COTTONWOOD CREEK LYING 27 TO 45 FT ABOVE RIVER WITH BEDROCK AT 12 TO 20 FT ABOVE RIVER, AND ABOUT 190 FT ABOVE RIVER WITH BEDROCK AT 140 FT ABOVE RIVER. BEDROCK FLOORS OF TERRACES SHOW LITTLE RELIEF AS BEDS HAVE ONLY VERY SLIGHT DIP AND LAYERS HAD BEEN STRIPPED TO NEAR-DIP SLOPES. AU IN LOWER TERRACE AND IN MODERN STREAM BAR WAS EXTREMELY SMALL AND WELL FLATTENED. COARSEST PARTICLE FROM 21 SAMPLES WEIGHED 0.25 MG, ESTIMATED TO BE 750 FINE. AU CONCENTRATED IN UPPER 2 TO 3 FT OF MODERN BARS WITH BEST VALUES FREQUENTLY ON INSIDE BANKS OF SHARP BENDS. APPARENTLY ON TERRACE DEPOSITS, SOME AU REPORTEDLY WAS RECOVERED
Comment (Deposit): BY LIFTING SLABS OF BEDROCK. SOURCE OF AU AND AG IS UPSTREAM MINERALIZED AREAS AT TELLURIDE, OPHIR, AND MT. WILSON.
Comment (Workings): APPARENTLY ALL SURFACE CUTS--SLUICING AND AT LEAST ONE HYDRAULIC CUT
Comment (Deposit): BLM CLAIM RECORDS ASSIGN DISTRICT NAME "ORO," BUT AREA HAS BEEN KNOWN BY POPULAR NAME OF "NATURITA." PHILADELPHIA PLACER (MS 1535) WAS ASSIGNED DISTRICT NAME OF "CHIPETA," BUT IS INCLUDED WITH ORO DISTRICT DUE TO COINCIDENCE OF LOCATION. NO INDIVIDUAL RECORDS PREPARED DUE TO LACK OF DESCRIPTIONS FOR PLACER OPERATIONS AND UNCERTAINTY AS TO EXACT NUMBER AND LOCATION OF OPERATIONS. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; 4 OTHER SRC
Comment (Development): FIRST PLACER CLIAMS IN DISTRICT WERE SURVEYED IN 1883 AND PATENTED IN 1886 BY W.H. BRYANT AND OTHERS. REMAINING CLAIMS WERE SURVEYED AND PATENTED FROM 1886 TO 1890 BY THERON STEVENS, LEWIS GREENE, AND BY H.C., J.C., AND THOMAS GOULDING. EXTENT OF DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION FROM 1883 TO 1886 IS UNKNOWN. BY 1886, FOUR BRITISH COMPANIES CONTROLLED PLACERS, AMONG WHICH U.S. GOLD PLACERS COMPANY WAS MOST ACTIVE. VANDERWILT RECORDED AS MANY AS 40 SMALL-SCALE PLACER OPERATIONS WORKED ON THE RIVER FROM 1932 TO 1949.
Comment (Location): PLACER CLAIMS EXTEND FOR ABOUT 10 MILES ALONG SAN MIGUEL RIVER FROM PINON (COTTONWOOD CREEK CONFLUENCE) TO POINT JUST EAST OF NATURITA (NATURITA CREEK CONFLUENCE). DISTRICT ACCESSIBLE VIA COLORADO RTE 90 UP SAN MIGUEL RIVER EAST FROM NATURITA OR DOWN COTTONWOOD CREEK SW FROM MONTROSE. CLAIMS ALSO EXTEND ONTO REDVALE (1964) AND NATURITA (1964) QUADS. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR PROBABLE HYDRAULIC CUT (DETERMINED FROM AIRPHOTOS) ON HIGH TERRACE ON SOUTH SIDE OF SAN MIGUEL RIVER 0.65 MILE WNW FROM PINON IN SE SW NE SE. 4, T46N, R14W. DISTRICT ALSO EXTENS WEST ONTO NUCLA (1960) QUAD; ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1975
Comment (Production): PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD. FIGURES AND EXACT YEARS OF PRODUCTION BETWEEN 1883 AND 1932 UNKNOWN BECAUSE DISTRICT FIGURES WERE NOT TABULATED SEPARATELY. NO APPARENT PRODUCTION IN 1943-1944, 1950-1953, 1955-1962, AND AFTER 1963. DISTRICT PRODUCTION FOR 1932-1945 WAS TABULATED BY VANDERWILT; OTHER FIGURES CREDITED TO SAN MIGUEL PLACERS IN USBM MINERAL YEARBOOKS.
References
Reference (Deposit): PARKER, B.H., JR., 1974, GOLD PLACERS OF COLORADO: COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES QUART., V. 69, NO. 4, P. 172-184.
Reference (Deposit): VANDERWILT, J.W., 1947, MINERAL RESOURCES OF COLORADO: COLORADO STATE MINERAL RESOURCES BD., V. 154-155.
Reference (Deposit): BLM MINERAL SURVEYS MS 1535, 2517, 2518, 2519, 2520, 2521, 4568, 4569, 4570, 4571, 4572, 5217, 5218, 5219, 6097 , 2533, 2534
Reference (Deposit): HENDERSON, C.W., 1926, MINING IN COLORADO, A HISTORY OF DISCOVERY, DEVELOPMENT, AND PRODUCTION: USGS PROF. PAPER 138, P. 181-182.
Reference (Production): VANDERWILT, 1947, P. 154; USBM MINERAL YEARBOOKS 1946-1963
Colorado Mining Photos
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