Cascade District

The Cascade District is a silver mine located in La Plata county, Colorado at an elevation of 7,680 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: Cascade District
Secondary: Patented Claims: Bank, MS 1778
Secondary: Castle Rock Srpings, MS 1778
Secondary: Sarah G., MS 20762

Commodity

Primary: Silver
Tertiary: Copper
Tertiary: Lead
Tertiary: Zinc
Tertiary: Gold

Location

State: Colorado
County: La Plata
District: Cascade 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.
Administrative Organization: San Juan N. F.

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: Thomas Fife (Sarah G. Claim -
Home Office: Grants, N.M.

Owner Name: Bailey And Fife (Sarah G. Claim -
Home Office: Grants, N.M.

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: District
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Vein
Operation Type: Unknown
Year Last Production: 1925
Discovery Year: 1883
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: Polymetallic veins

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Type: R
Description: San Juan Uplift

Type: L
Description: Needle Mtns Uplift, Unnamed Faults

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Fe Oxides; Cu Carbonates; Silicification

Rocks

Name: Monzonite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Neoproterozoic

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: VEIN AND ORE SAMPLES TESTED BY SCOTT (1983) SHOW VALUES MAINLY IN AG (GENERALLY 0.2 TO 4 OZ/TON WITH HIGHS OF 8, 10, AND 28 OZ/TON) AND CU(UP TO 0.2%), WITH SECONDARY VALUES IN PB (UP TO 0.39%) AND ZN (UP TO 0.76%), MINOR AU (0.006 TO 0.31 OZ/TON

Materials

Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Galena
Gangue: Hematite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Limonite

Comments

Comment (Development): VERY LITTLE HISTORICAL INFORMATION AVILABLE ON DISTRICT, BUT APPARENTLY MINERALIZATION WAS KNOWN AT LEAST AS EARLY AS 1883 BASED ON DATES OF CLAIM SURVEYS AND NOTE BY BURCHARD (1884), WHO THOUGHT VEINS TO BE OF CONTACT CHARACTER RELATED TO LIME-STONE AND PORPHYRIES, BUT THIS TYPE IS MORE CHARACTERISTIC OF LA PLATA (CALIFORNIA) DISTRICT TO SW THAN TO FISSURE-VEIN TYPE AT CASCADE. DESCRIBED WORKINGS APPEAR TO BE ONLY PROSPECTS, BUT SCOTT (1983) CITES PERSONAL COMMUNICATION FROM ODEL WILEY OF FARMINGTON, NM, WHO STATED THAT SOME LOW-GRADE AG ORE HAD BEEN PRODUCED IN 1920S FROM BITTEROOT LAND SILVER STAR EXTENSION MINES THAT HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THIS DISTRICT. IN EARLY 1960S SOME ORE SARAH G. CLAIM WAS MINED BUT NOT SHIPPED. SCOTT'S (1983)SAMPLING, TESTING, AND EXAMINATION OF PROPERTIES IN 1982 WAS PART OF USGS/USBM STUDIES TO DETERMINE MINERAL POTENTIAL IN DESIGNATED WILDERNESSES AND WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS.

Comment (Location): (LAND STATUS AND ADMINISTRATIVE AREA LOCATIONS CALCULATED USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS FOR SAN JUAN N. F.). DISTRICT NOT WELL DEFINED BUT INCLUDES ANIMAS RIVER VALLEY FROM POINT APPROX TWO MILES ABOVE CASCADE CREEK CONFLUENCE TO LITTLE CASCADE CREEK CONFLUENCE; ALSO INCLUDES LITTLE CASCADE CREEK DRAINAGE, COLUMBINE LAKE, AND CASSCADE CREEK DRAINAGE BELOW PURGATORY CREEK. DISTRICT ACCESSIBLE VIA D&RGW RAILROAD UP ANIMAS RIVER; VIA TRAIL FROM ANIMAS RIVER UP CASCADE CREEK; VIA U.S. 550 NORTH FROM DURANGO OR SOUTH FROM SILVERTON. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR CONFLUENCE OF ANIMAS RIVER AND CASCADE CREEK ABOUT O.8 MILE BELOW CASCADE SIDING ON RAILROAD (SW SEC. 32, T39N, R8W). DISTRICT ALSO EXTENDS ONTO ENGINEER MOUNTAIN CREED ABOUT O.8(1960) AND MOUNTAIN VIEW CREST (1973) QUADS. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1974

Comment (Deposit): QUARTZ OR QUARTZ-PYRITE VEINS ASSOCIATED WITH GENERALLY EAST-WEST-OR NW-SE-TRENDING FAULTS AND FRACTURES CUT PRECAMBRIAN TWILIGHT GNEISS AND DEVONIAN-MISSISSIPPIAN LIMESTONES ON WEST AND SW FLANKS OF WEST NEEDLE MTNS OR NEEDLE MTNS UPLIFT. STRUCTRUES CUT ACROSS GENERALLY NE TRENDS OF GNEISSIC FOLIATION AND WEST TO WNW DIPS OF OVERLYING CARBONATES.FAULT ZONES AND FRACTURES COULD BE EXTENSIONS OF STRUCTURES WESTWARD FROM NEEDLE MOUNTAINS DISTRICT OR SE FROM RICO MTNS AREA. ACCORDINGLY, MINERALIZATION COULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH TERTIARY INTRUSIVES IN EACH DISTRICT. SINCE MINERALIZED STRUCTURES CUT BOTH PRECAMBRIAN AND LOWER PALEOZOIC ROCKS, AGE OF MINERALIZATION PROBABLY TERTIARY RATHER THAN PRECAMBRIAN.

Comment (Workings): SURFACE PROSPECT PITS; SHORT HILLSIDE ADITS; SEVERAL SHAFTS

Comment (Deposit): DISTRICT APPARENTLY COVERED BY ONLY SEVERAL PATENTED AND UNPATENTED CLAIMS. INDIVIDUAL RECORDS PREPARED FOR THREE PROBABLE PRODUCTIVE PROPERTIES (SARAH G. CLAIM, BITTEROOT MINE, SILVER STAR EXTENSION MINE) AND FOR FOUR OTHER DESCRIBED PROPERTIES THAT SHOWED SIGNIFICANT METAL VALUES (BANK CLAIM, CASTLE ROCK SPRINGS CLAIM, TWO UNNAMED PROSPECTS. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

References

Reference (Deposit): BARKER, FRED, 1969, PRECAMBRIAN GEOLOGY OF THE NEEDLE MOUNTAINS, SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO: USGS PROF. PAPER 644-A.

Reference (Deposit): CROSS, WHITMAN, AND HOLE, A.D., 1910, DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGINEER MOUNTAIN QUADRANGLE: USGS FOLIO 171.

Reference (Deposit): SCOTT, D.C., 1983, MINERAL INVESTIGATION OF THE WEST NEEDLE WILDERNESS STUDY AREA AND THE BLM WEST NEEDLE CONTIGUOUS WILDERNESS STUDY AREA, LA PLATA AND SAN JUAN COUNTIES, COLORADO: USBM MLA 35-83.

Reference (Deposit): HENDERSON, C.W., 1926, MINING IN COLORADO, A HISTORY OF DISCOVERY, DEVELOPMENT, AND PRODUCTION: USGS PROF. PAPER 138. P. 177-178.

Reference (Deposit): BURCHARD, H.C., 1884, COLORADO--LA PLATA COUNTY, IN REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE MINT, UPON THE PRODUCTION OF PRECIOUS METALS IN THE UNITED STATES DURING THE CALENDAR YEAR 1883: GPO, P. 368-376.

Reference (Deposit): BLM MINERAL SURVEYS MS 1778, 1779, 20762.

Reference (Deposit): STEVEN, T.A., AND OTHERS, 1974, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE DURANGO QUADRANGLE, SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO: USGS MAP I-764.

Reference (Deposit): COLORADO DIV. MINES INF. REPT.

Colorado Mining Photos

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