Rasmussen Ridge Mine

The Rasmussen Ridge Mine is a phosphorus-phosphates mine located in Caribou county, Idaho at an elevation of 6,808 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: Rasmussen Ridge Mine
Secondary: Rasmussen Ridge, East Slope
Secondary: Rasmussen Ridge, Southwest Slope

Commodity

Primary: Phosphorus-Phosphates
Tertiary: Vanadium
Tertiary: Uranium
Tertiary: REE
Tertiary: Fluorine-Fluorite

Location

State: Idaho
County: Caribou
District: Blackfoot River 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: Caribou National Forest

Holdings

Type: Patented
Type: Federal Lease

Workings

Type: Surface

Ownership

Owner Name: Stauffer Chemical Co.
Percent: 100.0
Info Year: 1984

Owner Name: U.S. Bureau Of Land Management Lease (Forest Service Land)
Percent: 100.0
Info Year: 1984

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Deposit
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: Bedded - Phosphate
Operation Type: Surface
Mining Method: Open Pit
Milling Method: Washing
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: M

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Basin And Range Province
Physiographic Section: Great Basin

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Phosphate, upwelling type

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Type: R
Structure: Snowdrift Anticline

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Chert
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Permian

Name: Shale
Role: Host
Description: Phosphatic Shale
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Permian

Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Permian

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: STAUFFER CHEMICAL CO. SAYS UPPER ORE BED AVG. 29 % P2O5 AND LOWER BED ABOUT 26 % P2O5
Analytical Data: RANDOM SAMPLES RANGE 29 - 34 % P2O5 ( SECTION 26 )
Analytical Data: 106 SAMPLES FROM STRATIGRAPHIC SECTION GAVE 35.7 % P2O5 MAX ( SECTION 16 )

Materials

Unknown: Calcite
Unknown: Sericite
Unknown: Quartz
Unknown: Pyrite
Unknown: Montmorillonite
Unknown: Limonite
Unknown: Kaolinite
Unknown: Dolomite
Unknown: Collophane
Unknown: Chalcedony
Unknown: Orthoclase

Comments

Comment (Reserve-Resource): GARRAND RESERVES ARE FOR THE FOLLOWING ORE BLOCKS: LANES CREEK NW QUAD: 15D-24D LOWER VALLEY QUAD: 27H-28H UPPER VALLEY QUAD: 8B GRADE OF INDICATED AND INFERRED RESOURCE IS 23% P205.

Comment (Location): MINE SITE ALSO IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS: UPPER VALLEY QUAD; SEC 25 T6S R43E; WAYAN WEST 7.5 MIN. QUAD; SECS 9,10,15,16,22, AND 23, T.65., R 43 E. RASMUSSEN RIDGE SITE IS OWNED BY STAUFFER CHEMICAL COMPANY. UPON ORE DEPLETION AT THE WOOLEY VALLEY MINE (199) STAUFFER WILL BEGIN MINING AT RASMUSSEN RIDGE. LOCATED ON U.S.FOREST SERVICE LANDS.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): STARTED 2 YEARS AGO. 25 YEAR LIFE AT CURRENT RATE FROM 3-93.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): M1=N/CUM MATRIX 1 COLUMN 1 REPRESENTS MEASURED RESERVES AVAILABLE FOR MINING FROM THE SURFACE TO 72MJDOWN-DIP. 90% PROBABILITY. . MATRIX 1 COLUMN 2 REPRESENTS INDICATED RESOURCE FROM 72M TO 288 M DOWN-DIP. 75% PROBABILITY LEVEL. . MATRIX 1 COLUMN 3 REPRESENTS INFERRED RESOURCE FROM 288M TO 504M DOWNDIP. . 72M IS THE DOWN DIP LIMIT OF MINING DETERMINED BY STRIPPING RATIO LIMIT OR POINT WHERE UNALTERED ORE IS ENCOUNTERED AT A LOWER GRADE.

Comment (Workings): 5 PITS WILL TOTAL 20,740 FT IN LENGTH, AVE. 400 FT IN WIDTH, AND BE UP TO 500 FT DEEP

Comment (Development): 1160 ACRE LEASE ( 1975 )

References

Reference (Deposit): KING, D., PERSONAL COMMUNICATION (STAUFFER CHEMICAL CO.) 1984

Reference (Deposit): 1927 RECON G. R. MANSFIELD, PROF. PAPER 152

Reference (Deposit): HOVELAND, D., GENERAL PHOSPHATE INFORMATION, 1984.

Reference (Geology): EMIGH, G. D., 1958, PETROGRAPHY, MINERALOGY AND ORIGIN OF PHOSPHATE PELLETS IN THE PHOSPHORIA FORMATION: IDAHO BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, PAMPHLET NO. 114, 60 P.

Reference (Deposit): POWELL, J. D., 1974, EVALUATION OF PHOSPHATE RESOURCES IN SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO: IDAHO BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, INFORMATION CIRCULAR NO. 25, 33 P.

Reference (Deposit): SERVICE, A. L., AND PETERSEN, N. S., 1967, AN EVALUATION OF THE WESTERN PHOSPHATE INDUSTRY AND ITS RESOURCES (IN FIVE PARTS) TRENDS AND OUTLOOK: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES, REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS 6935, 131 P.

Reference (Deposit): THOMPSON, M. E., 1953, DISTRIBUTION OF URANIUM IN RICH PHOSPHATE BEDS OF THE PHOSPHORIA FORMATION: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 988-D, P. 45-65.

Reference (Deposit): SERVICE, A. L. AND POPOFF, C. C., 1964, AN EVALUATION OF THE WESTERN PHOSPHATE INDUSTRY AND ITS RESOURCES (IN FIVE PARTS), 1. INTRODUCTORY REVIEW: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES, REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS 6485, 86 P.

Reference (Deposit): DAY, R. L., 1973, TRENDS IN THE PHOSPHATE INDUSTRY OF IDAHO AND THE WESTERN PHOSPHATE FIELD: IDAHO BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, PAMPHLET 155, 63 P.

Reference (Deposit): CARTER, RUSSELL A., 1978, AN INTEGRATED INDUSTRY - PHOSPHATE MINING AND MILLING IN IDAHO: MINING ENGINEERING, V. 30,

Reference (Deposit): LI, TA M., 1978, SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO PHOSPHATE MINING: HOW AN ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT DISTORTS GROWTH PLANS: MINING ENGINEERING, V. 30, NO. 1, P. 25-28.

Reference (Deposit): RULE, A. R., D. E. KIRBY, AND D. C. DAHLIN, 1978, RECENT ADVANCES IN BENEFICIATION OF WESTERN PHOSPHATES: MINING ENGINEERING, V. 30, NO. 1, P. 37-40.

Reference (Deposit): MCKELVEY, V.E., 1953B, STRATIGRAPHIC SECTIONS OF THE PHOSPHORIA FORMATION IN IDAHO, 1947-1948, PT. 2: USGS CIRC. 301.

Reference (Deposit): MANSFIELD, G.R., 1927, GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF PART OF SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO: USGS PROF. PAPER 152.

Reference (Deposit): DAVIDSON, D.F., 1953, STRATIGRAPHIC SECTIONS OF THE PHOSPHORIA FORMATION IN IDAHO, 1949, PT. 2: USGS CIRC. 305.

Reference (Deposit): RIOUX, R.L., 1975, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE UPPER VALLEY QUAD., CARIBOU COUNTY, IDAHO, USGS MAP GQ-1194.

Reference (Deposit): SERVICE, A. L., 1966, AN EVALUATION OF THE WESTERN PHOSPHATE INDUSTRY AND ITS RESOURCES (IN FIVE PARTS), 3. IDAHO: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES, REPORT OF INVESTIGATIONS 6801, 201 P.

Reference (Geology): MARTIN, G. W., 1958, MINERALOGY OF PHOSPHATE OOLITES: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, V. 53, NO. 8, DECEMBER, P. 1046-1048.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): GARRAND, L. J., 1975, PHOSPHATE STUDY SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO, FOR U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, CARIBOU NATIONAL FOREST, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CONTRACT NO. 50-820: GARRAND CORP.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, AND FOREST SERVICE, 1978, FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT/ DEVELOPMENT OF PHOSPHATE RESOURCES IN SOUTHEASTERN IDAHO, FOUR VOLUMES.

Reference (Deposit): BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, 1974, RASMUSSEN RIDGE MINING AND RECLAMATION PLAN, POCATELLO OFFICE FILE 22P.

Reference (Deposit): MC DIVITT, J. F., 1956, ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF PHOSPHATE AND OTHER MINERALS IN SOUTHERN IDAHO: IDAHO BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, PAMPHLET NO. 111, 48 P.

Reference (Deposit): THOMPSON, M. E., 1954, FURTHER STUDIES OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF URANIUM IN RICH PHOSPHATE BEDS OF THE PHOSPHORIA FORMATION: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1009-D, P. 107-122

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