Madonna Mine

The Madonna Mine is a lead, zinc, and silver mine located in Chaffee county, Colorado at an elevation of 10,751 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: Madonna Mine  

State:  Colorado

County:  Chaffee

Elevation: 10,751 Feet (3,277 Meters)

Commodity: Lead, Zinc, Silver

Lat, Long: 38.52917, -106.31170

Map: View on Google Maps

Satelite View

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Satelite image of the Madonna Mine

Madonna Mine MRDS details

Site Name

Primary: Madonna Mine


Commodity

Primary: Lead
Primary: Zinc
Primary: Silver


Location

State: Colorado
County: Chaffee
District: Monarch


Land Status

Not available


Holdings

Not available


Workings

Not available


Ownership

Owner Name: Utze Lode Co (Harold R. Koster of Salida, CO, Treasurer & Mine Mgr, )
Info Year: 1957

Owner Name: Colorado Smelting Co. (organized by Anton Eilers)
Info Year: 1957
Years: 1883 -


Production

Not available


Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Underground
Discovery Year: 1878
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N


Physiography

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


Mineral Deposit Model

Not available


Orebody

Not available


Structure

Not available


Alterations

Not available


Rocks

Name: Quartzite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Devonian


Analytical Data

Not available


Materials

Ore: Malachite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Galena
Ore: Cerussite
Ore: Smithsonite
Ore: Calamine
Ore: Cerargyrite
Ore: Argentite
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Limestone
Gangue: Dolomite
Gangue: Quartz


Comments

Comment (Workings): "The mine workings, as of 1950, consist of seven adit levels, numbered 0 to 6, eight intermediate or sublevels, many raises and winzes, and at least 12,000 feet of drifts and crosscuts. The vertical distance from the zero, or surface, level to the lowest workings, the 384-foot sublevel, is about 1,525 feet. The old mine workings from zero to the no. 5 level have been largely or entirely inaccessible for many years. Access to the mine and haulage of ore for the past 35 years have been chiefly through the no. 6 level, the portal of which is only a short distance above the valley floor and is easily reached. Plate 11 shows the outline of the main ore bodies and the mine workings, and the principal geologic features from the no. 6 level down to the 384-foot sublevel. To avoid confusion, most of the old workings above the no. 6 level are not shown on this map but they may be seen on plate XXI of the report by Crawford (1913)." [PP-289, p. 84]

Comment (Orebody): The principal ore minerals are cerussite, free gold, smithsonite, calamine, cerargyrite, argentite, residual grains of silver-bearing galena, and malachite.

Comment (Deposit): Many deposit details (ore grade, geology, structure) can be found in PP-289, p. 83-85.

Comment (Commodity): Before 1913 ores from Madonna were lead, silver, gold, and zinc, with some copper. (PP-289, p. 81)

Comment (Location): Mostly in W2 of Sec. 4. See Dings and Robinson, pl. 1, #s 98-104.

Comment (Production): 50% of district's production came from the Madonna Mine (PP-289, p. 44)

Comment (General): The Madonna mine was the principal reason for the establishment in 1883 of the Colorado Smelter at Pueblo, and for many years the Madonna mine supplied a large part of the ores treated there. (PP-289, p. 83)

Comment (General): The Madonna mine was worked continuously from 1883 to 1894, under the management of Eilers, by the Colorado Smelting Co., which included the former operators. After 1895 the mine was worked intermittently by various lessees until the Utze Lode Co. acquired the property in 1945 from the Eiler family. In 1908 the mine was leased to the Monarch-Madonna Mining Co., which started driving a lower tunnel, no. 6 level, which in 1953 was the principal means of access to the mine. From 1945 to 1953 the Utze Lode Co. did considerable exploratory work on and below the no. 6 level and produced some ore. (PP-289, p. 83).

Comment (Production): The total value of the Madonna ore has been about $6,000,000, of which lead accounts for about $3,575,000, silver $1,430,000, zinc $735,000, gold $225,000, and copper $35,000. These figures were obtained by adding the values obtained by Crawford (1913, p. 239) for the period 1883-1901 to the value of the production recorded by the Bureau of Mines for the period 1902-51. The production figures 22 for this latter period were kindly furnished by A. J. Martin, Statistics Branch, Economics Division, Denver, and the values calculated by the authors. Production was greatest during the period 1883-94, when two-thirds of the total was produced. Most of the rest was obtained during the period 1902-20. In the past 30 years, somewhat less than 2,500 tons of crude ore has been mined. (PP-289, p. 83-84).


References

Reference (Deposit): MINE MAP REPO # 401297 405851

Reference (Deposit): CONSV. DIV. COMP. DATE, 1,64

Reference (Deposit): DMEA RECORDS

Reference (Deposit): Crawford, R. D., 1913, Geology and ore deposits of the Monarch and Tomichi districts, Colorado: Colo. Geol. Survey Bull. 4, 317 p.

Reference (Deposit): VANDERWILT, 1947, COLO. MIN. RES. BOARD

Reference (Deposit): Dings and Robinson, 1957, USGS PROF. PAPER 289.
Pages: pl. 1, #s 98-104, pl. 11, p. 83-85.


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