The Big Creek Mine is a copper mine located in Carbon county, Wyoming at an elevation of 7,759 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: 7,759 Feet (2,365 Meters)
Commodity: Copper
Lat, Long: 41.1155, -106.50430
Map: View on Google Maps
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Big Creek Mine MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Big Creek Mine
Secondary: BIg Creek Pegmatite Area
Secondary: Bonanza Lode Claims 1-6 and Copper King Lode (M.S. 118)
Commodity
Primary: Copper
Tertiary: Uranium
Location
State: Wyoming
County: Carbon
District: Big Creek District
Land Status
Land ownership: BLM Administrative Area
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
Owner Name: American Mining and Development Co.
Home Office: Newcastle WY, and Washington, DC.
Info Year: 1953
Owner Name: R.H. Platt
Home Office: Encampment, WY
Info Year: 1953
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Surface-Underground
Mining Method: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Physiography
General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Wyoming Basin
Mineral Deposit Model
Model Name: Pegmatites
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Not available
Alterations
Not available
Rocks
Not available
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Chrysocolla
Ore: Bornite
Ore: Chalcocite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Malachite
Unknown: Fluorite
Unknown: Beryl
Comments
Comment (Deposit): "A 'pegmatite vein,' probably quartz, contains chalcocite, baronite. Chalcopyrite and azurite, and an occasional phantom smoky quartz crystal. Crystalized garnets have been found 'a short distance up the hill'." (Bull. 50, p. 45)
Comment (Identification): Site visit in Sept. 2009 by A. Wilson and W. Heran. "The Big Creek mine is erroneously listed as the Platt Mine on the Trent Creek topographic map" (Hausel and Sutherland, 2000, p. 217.
Comment (Location): "On Big Creek, southeast of Encmpment, on the Platt Ranch" (Bull. 50, p. 45) [erroneously labeled Platt Mine on Trent Creek topo]
Comment (Workings): At least 3 caved (as of 1953) adits. (DMEA-3092)
Comment (Deposit): "Some of the best copper specimens of massive chalcocite and bornite found in the state have come from this mine. The deposit occurs in a pink granite pegmatite. This pegmatite also contains common terminated quartz prisms. Much of the quartz is translucent, but specimens of excellent, trasnparent quartz similar to those found in Hot Springs County, Arkansas, are also found and relatively common." (Bull. 71, p. 217)
References
Reference (Deposit): Houston, R.S., 1961, The Big Creek pegmatite area, Carbon County, Wyoming: Geological Survey of Wyoming Preliminary Report No. 1., 11 p., 1 pl.
Pages: p. 10.
Reference (Deposit): R. E. PLATTE, ENCAMPMENT, WYO. 9-18-73
Reference (Deposit): AEC PRELIM.FIELD INV., AIRBORNE RA ANOMALIES
Reference (Deposit): DMEA Docket No. 3092, 51 p. http://minerals.usgs.gov/dockets/scans/wy/dmea/3092_DMEA.pdf
URL: http://minerals.usgs.gov/dockets/scans/wy/dmea/3092_DMEA.pdf
Reference (Deposit): Hausel, W.D., 1993, Guide to the geology, mining districts, and ghost towns of the Medicine Bow Mountains and Snowy Range Scenic Byway: Geological Survey of Wyoming Public Information Circular No. 32, 53 p.
Pages: p. 33..
Reference (Deposit): Hausel and Sutherland, 2000, WGS Bull. 71, 268 p.
Pages: p. 42-43, 217.
Reference (Deposit): Osterwald and others, 1966, WGS Bull. 50, p. 45.
Pages: p. 45.
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