Stone City Clay Deposit

The Stone City Clay Deposit is a fire clay (refractory) and kaolin mine located in Pueblo county, Colorado at an elevation of 5,600 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: Stone City Clay Deposit

Commodity

Primary: Fire Clay (Refractory)
Primary: Kaolin
Tertiary: Aluminum

Location

State: Colorado
County: Pueblo
District: Turkey Creek District

Land Status

Land ownership: Military Reservation
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

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1906
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Interior Plains
Physiographic Province: Great Plains Province
Physiographic Section: Colorado Piedmont

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Type: R
Description: Front Range Uplift, Pikes Peak Batholith, Canon City Embayment, Denver Basin

Type: L
Description: Red Creek (Turkey Creek) Anticline; Conner Canyon Displacement

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Shale
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Cretaceous

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: SAMPLE 24 ANALYZED BY U.S. ZINC CO.
Analytical Data: SAMPLE 21 ANALYZED BY MELLON INST.
Analytical Data: FOLLOWING ANALYSES FROM WAAGE (1953) ARE CRY CREEK CANYON MEMBER CLAY SAMPLES HAVING AT LEAST 35 % AL203, THE MINIMUM REQUIRED BY USBM FOR CONSIDERATION AS POSSIBLE SOURCE OF AL. SAMPLES 17, 19, 22, 23, 35, 41, 43, 49, 51, 53, 56, AND 62 WERE ANALYZED BY CF&I CORP.
Analytical Data: 33, 35.51, 44.25, 2.22, 1.28, 0.72, 0.01, 15.10
Analytical Data: 32, 36.35, 45.49, 1.03, 1.27, 0.44, 0.02, 15.02
Analytical Data: 24, 35.8, 49.0, 0.8, NR, NR, NR, 13.9
Analytical Data: 41, 39.4, 48.6, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR
Analytical Data: 35, 35.0, 50.0, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR
Analytical Data: 23, 41.30, 56.30, 1.37, NR, NR, 0.40, NR
Analytical Data: 22, 36.88, 50.30, 1.23, NR, NR, 0.36, 10.60
Analytical Data: 21, 35.21, 47.77, 0.55, 1.32, 0.60, 0.39, 14.58
Analytical Data: 19, 40.57, 56.20, 0.76, 1.21, 0.29, 0.33, NR
Analytical Data: SAMPLES 32, 33, 34, 66, 71, 72, 73, 76, AND 78 ANALYZED BY USGS. EACH SET OF VALUES IS SAMPLE NO., % AL203, % FE203, % TIO2, % CAO, % MGO, % LOI (NR=NOT RECORDED): 17, 35.34, 58.93, 2.78, 0.87, 0.42, 1.06, NR
Analytical Data: 34, 35.81, 46.47, 1.55, 1.39, 0.08, 0.01, 14.45
Analytical Data: 62, 36.66, 47.7, NR, NR,
Analytical Data: 56, 38.1, 47.7, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR
Analytical Data: 53, 35.0, 50.0, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR
Analytical Data: 51, 36.0, 51.0, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR
Analytical Data: 49, 36.0, 50.0, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR
Analytical Data: 43, 35.0, 49.0, NR, NR, NR, NR, NR

Materials

Ore: Kaolinite

Comments

Comment (Deposit): DAKOTA AND PURGATOIRE FORMATIONS FORM RESISTANT CAPPING OF BOOTH MTN. ON CREST AND FLANKS OF SE-PLUNGING RED CREEK ANTICLINE. DIPS UP TO 15 DEG ON SW LIMB. SW SIDE OF NOSE CHARACTERIZED BY MONOCLINAL FOLDING AND MINOR STRIKE FAULTING. THREE FAULT ZONES (KNOWN AS CONNER CANYON DISPLACEMENT) HERE HAVE ENOUGH DISPLACEMENT TO HAVE HALTED EXTENT OF CLAY MINING. MOST IMPORTANT REFRACTORY CLAYS HAVE COME FROM FLINT AND PLASTIC CLAYS IN DRY CREEK CANYON MEMBER OF DAKOTA SANDSTONE. REPRESENTATIVE FLINT CLAYS CONTAIN OVER 30 % AL203 (AVE. AT LEAST 35 %), 45 TO 53 % SIO2, AND LESS THAN 5 % FUSIBLE IMPURITIES. NONSANDY FLINT CLAY CONTAINS 44.25 TO 51 % SIO2, AVE. 48.73 %, AND 33.51 TO 39.40 % AL203, AVE. 35.69 %, ABOUT 1 % EACH FE203 AND TIO2, AND LESS THAN 0.25 % EACH CAO AND MGO. REPRESENTATIVE ANALYSES OF SEMIPLASTIC CLAY CONTAIN 50 TO 51 % SIO2, 27.61 TO 33.32 % AL203, LESS THAN 0.75 % EACH MGO AND CAO, 0.95 TO 1.00 % TIO2, 0.06 TO 1.36 % FE203. REPRESENTATIVE PLASTIC CLAY ANALYSES

Comment (Deposit): CONTAIN 50.79 TO 54.7 % SIO2, 28.30 TO 31.24 % AL203. AVERAGE ANALYSIS OF PLASTIC CLAY FROM UPPER SANDSTONE UNIT OF DAKOTA CONTAINS 59.51 % SIO2, 26.33 % AL203, 1.63 % FE203, 0.28 % CAO, 0.69 % MGO.

Comment (Workings): SURFACE QUARRIES, UNDERGROUND ROOM-AND-PILLAR MINES

Comment (Location): ON BOOTH MOUNTAIN NORTH AND NE OF STONE CITY. MOST OF THE MINES ARE LOCATED IN THE SECTIONS LISTED ABOVE BUT DEPOSITS ARE FOUND IN E2 OF THIS TWP AND IN WEST THIRD OF T18S, R66W. LAT-LONG GIVEN IS COMMON SEC. CORNER ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1978)

Comment (Reserve-Resource): WAAGE (1953)

Comment (Development): FIRE CLAYS WERE PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS MINED IN DISTRICT FROM EARLY 1900'S. DURING WORLD WAR II, DISTRICT WAS EXAMINED AS DOMESTIC SOURCE OF STRATEGIC MINERALS, NAMELY NONBAUXITIC ALUMINUM (HIGH-ALUMINA CLAY).

References

Reference (Deposit): WAAGE, K.M., 1953, REFRACTORY CLAY DEPOSITS OF SOUTH-CENTRAL COLORADO: USGS BULL. 993

Reference (Deposit): SCHWOCHOW, S.D., 1981, INVENTORY OF NONMETALLIC MINING AND PROCESSING OPERATIONS IN COLORADO: CGS MAP SER. 17

Reference (Deposit): TRAVER, W.M., JR., 1947, INVESTIGATIONS OF STRATEGIC MINERAL RESOURCES, IN VANDERWILT, J.W., MINERAL RESOURCES OF COLORADO: COLO. STATE MINERAL RESOURCES BAORD, PT. 3, P. 482

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