Summitville Mine

The Summitville Mine is a gold mine located in Rio Grande county, Colorado at an elevation of 11,768 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

Name: Summitville Mine

State:  Colorado

County:  Rio Grande

Elevation: 11,768 Feet (3,587 Meters)

Commodity: Gold

Lat, Long: 37.4361, -106.59720

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.


Satelite image of the Summitville Mine

Summitville Mine MRDS details

Site Name

Primary: Summitville Mine


Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver


Location

State: Colorado
County: Rio Grande
District: Summitville


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.


Holdings

Type: Fee Ownership
Type: Located Claim
Type: Patented


Workings

Type: Surface


Ownership

Owner Name: USA EPA Region 8
Company ID: 570077
Info Year: 1995

Owner Name: Colorado Reclamation Board, State Of Colorado
Company ID: 503684
Home Office: Colorado
Info Year: 1994


Production

Year: 1988
Description: Mt Ore 2222600 Mt Ore Per Year
Year: 1987
Description: Mt Ore 2721600 Mt Ore Per Year
Year: 1986
Description: Mt Ore 2177300 Mt Ore Per Year
Year: 1985
Description: Mt Ore 1244700 Mt Ore Per Year


Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Plant
Plant Type: Leach
Operation Type: Surface
Mining Method: Open Pit
Milling Method: Heap Leach-Electrowin
Year First Production: 1986
Discovery Year: 1873
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: S


Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Southern Rocky Mountains


Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Epithermal quartz-alunite Au


Orebody

Not available


Structure

Not available


Alterations

Not available


Rocks

Not available


Analytical Data

Not available


Materials

Not available


Comments

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Q1 RESERVES ARE REMAINING MINABLE RESERVES AS OF JAN. 1988. . ACTUAL ORE GRADES ARE 1.5085 GRAMS PER MT FOR GOLD AND 7.1313 GRAMS PER MT FOR SILVER.

Comment (Deposit): THE MSHA.DBF, 1995 LISTS TWO # FOR THIS OPERATION: THEY ARE 0500739 & 0570077, THE LAST # IS ENTERED AS THE MILS RES_ID. THE MINES I.D. IS 0503684, THIS IS PROBOBLY AN EARLY MSHA #.

Comment (Workings): PROBABLE CERCLA (SUPERFUND) SITE. NOT PRESENTLY ON NPL. ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS INCLUDE LEACH PAD CONTAINING WATER CONTAMINATED WITH CYANIDE AND HEAVY METALS. NO CONTACT NAME OR NUMBER. TOTAL MINE ACREAGE IS 11,500 ACRES. MINE HAS TWO KINDS OF ORE: HARD, VUGGY SILICA ORE, AND SOFT CLAYEY ORE. ALL DATA WERE COMPILED FROM COMPANY ANNUAL REPORTS AND USBM FILES.

Comment (Economic Factors): ACTUAL FEED GRADES FOR GOLD AND SILVER ARE 0.0001094 GRAMS PER LITER FOR GOLD AND 0.0002952 GRAMS PER LITER FOR SILVER.

Comment (Ownership): THE SITE WAS ABANDONED IN 1992 WHEN SUMMITVILLE CONSOLIDATED MINING CO. FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): STARTED OPER. JUNE 1986. HEAP LEACH OPERATION. 1988 PROD.= 90,000 OZ. AU ; 1988 RESERVES= 744,924 OZ. CONT. AU. 1989 PROD.= 32,569 OZ. AU FROM 281,000 MT LEACHED. 1989 RESERVE = 155,000 CONT.OZ.AU. PEFR RECIEVED MARCH 1989.WILL BE INCLUDED IN 1992 AU AVAIL.STUDY 1991 RES.= 897,000 ST (814,000 MT) @ .045 OZ/ST (1.54 G/MT) TAKEN FROM GALACTIC 1990 ANN. REP. - (8 JUNE 93) 1/88 BOM MINABLE RESERVE = 7,575,000 MT AT 1.51 G AU, 7.13 G/MT. NOTE: AG GRADE FROM QUANTITY MATRIX 1

Comment (Production): ACTUAL OUTPUT IS 12,965.7326 GRAMS PER DAY. UNIT PRODUCTION COST IS IN TERMS OF $ PER GRAM OF CONTAINED GOLD.

Comment (Production): MILL RECOVERY DOES NOT REFLECT TOTAL RECOVERY OF MINERAL VALUE FROM THE HEAP, ONLY MILL RECOVERY FROM CYANIDE SOLUTION. TOTAL RECOVERY FROM HEAP THROUGH MILLING IS 70 PERCENT FOR GOLD AND 17 PERCENT FOR SILVER.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): ACTUAL RESERVE GRADE IS 1.3028 GRAMS PER MT. AS OF 1996, THE RESERVES ARE DEPLETED.


References

Reference (Deposit): SKILLINGS' MINING REVIEW, 2-20-93, P.22.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): PUBLISHED RESERVE FROM GALACTIC RESOURCES LTD. 1987 ANNUAL

Reference (Reserve-Resource): REPORT. VOL. 1, P. 4.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): 1990 GALACTIC RESOURCES ANN.REP.; PG.7

Reference (Deposit): REF:COLO DIV OF MINES 1972 SUM REF:COLO BU OF MINE 1942-4

Reference (Deposit): OWN:UNION PACIFIC CORP OP:SUMMITVILLE,INC,1972

Reference (Deposit): MINING WORLD NEWS, MAR/APR 1993, P.12.

Reference (Deposit): ROCKY MTN PAY DIRT, 5-93, P.4A.

Reference (Deposit): PAY DIRT 7-93, P.7B.

Reference (Deposit): MINING ENGINEERING, V145 N11, 11-93, P.1377.

Reference (Deposit): ROCKY MTN PAY DIRT, 4-93, P.14A.

Reference (Deposit): THE DENVER POST, 2-21-93.

Reference (Deposit): AMERICAN METAL MARKET, 2-23-93.

Reference (Deposit): ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, 3-93, P.16BB.


Colorado Mining Photos

Placer mines at Cripple Creek, Colorado ca. 1892

Check out this collection of Colorado's best historic mining photos: Incredible Photos of Colorado Mining Scenes.