Denver City Mine

The Denver City Mine is a zinc, copper, and silver mine located in Saguache county, Colorado at an elevation of 9,019 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

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Site Name

Primary: Denver City Mine
Secondary: Patented Claim: Denver City
Secondary: Ms 11792

Commodity

Primary: Zinc
Primary: Copper
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: Gold
Tertiary: Selenium
Tertiary: Tellurium

Location

State: Colorado
County: Saguache
District: Green Mountain (Iris) 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.

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Type: Underground

Ownership

Owner Name: Lanyon Zinc Co.
Years: 1906 -

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Discovery Year: 1898
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

Not available

Orebody

Form: LENTICULAR

Structure

Type: R
Description: Gunnison Uplift; San Juan Volcanic Field

Type: L
Description: Gunnison Gold Belt, Iris Syncline, Lulu Fault, Gold Basin Stock

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Near Best Mineralization, Calcite Occurs As Alteration Replacement And Interstratifies With Sulfides And Tuffaceous Material. Quartz-Chlorite (Propylitic) Alteration Is Partly Sericitic. Silicification (Replacement And Veining) Ranges From Minor To Predominant. Some Argillization.

Rocks

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

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

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

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: PARTIAL EXTRACTION ANALYSIS OF DUMP SAMPLE YIELDED 1.4 % CU, 0.24 % PB, 2.7 % ZN, 0.46 OZ/TON AG, 0.04 OZ/TON AU, 1.25 OZ/TON SE, 0.11 OZ/TON TE. PARTIAL EXTRACTION ANALYSIS OF MINERALIZED CORE SAMPLE (IRIS NO. 3 HOLE) CONTAINED AS MUCH AS 0.2 % CU, 2.4 % ZN, AND 0.4 % PB.

Materials

Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Chlorite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Pyrrhotite
Gangue: Sericite

Comments

Comment (Deposit): SCHWARZ (1906) BELIEVED DEPOSIT WAS A CHIMNEY OCCURRING AT INTERSECTION OF SEVERAL FRACTURES. NEWER INTERPRETATION OF GUNNISON GOLD BELT DEPOSITS LED DROBECK (1979) TO POSTULATE SYNGENETIC SUBMARIN

Comment (Workings): MINE DEVELOPED BY 176-FT SHAFT INITIALLY VERTICAL BUT INCLINED BELOW SECOND LEVEL. LEVEL 1 AT 86 FT HAS DRIFTS OF UNKNOWN LENGTH NORTH AND SOUTH OF SHAFT. LEVEL2 AT 111 FT HAS 30-FT DRIFT SOUTH OF SHAFT. LEVEL 3 AT 136 FT IS MOST EXTENSIVELY DEVELOPED, WITH 150 FT OF DRIFT NORTH-SOUTH AND 10 FT OF DRIFT EAST-WEST. LEVEL 4 AT BOTTOM OF SHAFT HAS 25-FT DRIFT NORTH OF SHAFT AND SOUTH DRIFT OF UNKNOWNLENGTH

Comment (Deposit): MINERALIZATION DEVELOPED IN FRAGMENTAL FACIES OF QUARTZ-EYE RHYOLITE TUFF WITHIN SEQUENCE OF MASSIVE RHYOLITE TUFFS CONTAINING CHERT BEDS. RHYOLITE OR FELSITE SEQUENCE LIES ON SW LIMB OF IRIS SYNCLINE AND IS TRUNCATED BY NW-TRENDING LULU FAULT THAT DISPLACES FELSITE ON NE AGAINST METASEDIMENTARY SEQUENCE ON SW. QUARTZ-EYE RHYOLITE CONTINUES TO NW BUT IS OFFSET BY FOUR NE-TRENDING TERTIARY-AGE BLOCK FAULTS. BOTH MAIN ROCK UNITS INTRUDED BY AMPHIBOLITE (METAGABBRO?) DIKES AND SILLS. MINERALIZATION CONSISTS OF MASSIVE SPHALERITE-PYRITE-CHALCOPYRITE LENS AND MINOR MASSIVE CALCITE WITH DISSEMINATED SULFIDES. ORE SHOWS STRATIGRAPHIC ZONING FROM SPHALERITE-RICH ON SW TO CHALCOPYRITE-RICH ON NE, SUGGESTING STRATIGRAPHIC TOP TO SW. MASSIVE SULFIDE USUALLY SHOWS ALTERNATING PYRITE-RICH AND SPHALERITE-RICH LAMINAE; STRONGER ORE ALSO LAMINATED WITH CALCITE. GEOCHEMICAL TRAVERSES SHOW CU ANOMALY LYING STRATIGRAPHICALLY BELOW ZN ANOMALY WHICH LIES STRATIGRAPHICALLY BELOW SE ANOMALY (DROBECK, 1979).

Comment (Location): ALONG UNNAMED TRIBUTARY OF LONG GULCH, 2.4 MILES SSE OF GREEN MOUNTAIN AT IRIS ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1976)

References

Reference (Deposit): 7) BLM MINERAL SURVEY MS 11792

Reference (Deposit): OLSON, J.C., 1976, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE IRIS QUADRANGLE, GUNNISON AND SAGUACHE COUNTIES, COLORADO: USGS MAP GQ-1286

Reference (Deposit): DROBECK, P.A., 1981, PROTEROZOIC SYNGENETIC MASSIVE SULFIDE DEPOSITS IN THE GUNNISON GOLD BELT, COLORADO, IN EPIS, R.C., AND CALLENDER, J.F., EDS., WESTERN SLOPE COLORADO: NEW MEXICO GEOL. SOC. 32D FIELD CONF. GUIDEBOOK, P. 279-286.

Reference (Deposit): DROBECK, P.A., 1979, GEOLOGY AND TRACE ELEMENT GEOCHEMISTRY OF A PART OF THE GUNNISON GOLD BELT, COLORADO: COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES M.SC. THESIS T-2251, P. 22-47.

Reference (Deposit): SCHWARZ, T.E., 1906, REPORT ON THE DENVER CITY PROPERTY, SAGUACHE COUNTY, COLORADO: COLORADO STATE PLANNING COMM. UNPUB. REPT., S.P.

Reference (Deposit): 5) AFIFI, A.M., 1981, STRATIGRAPHY, PETROLOGY, AND STRUCTURE OF PRECAMBRIAN METAVOLCANIC ROCKS IN THE IRIS DISTRICT, GUNNISON AND SAGUACHE COUNTIES, COLORADO, IN EPIS, R.C., AND CALLENDER, J.F., EDS., WESTERN SLOPE COLORADO: NEW MEXICO GEOL. SOC. 32D FIELD CONF. GUIDEBOOK, P. 287-292.

Reference (Deposit): 6) RIESMEYER, W.D., 1978, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE DENVER CITY AREA: UNPUB. MAP.

Colorado Mining Photos

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