Grape Creek/Greenhorn District

The Grape Creek/Greenhorn District is a copper, zinc, gold, lead, and silver mine located in Fremont county, Colorado at an elevation of 7,001 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: Grape Creek/Greenhorn District
Secondary: See: Hellgate Claims
Secondary: Bear Claims Old Conac Property
Secondary: Wagner-Grape Creek Lode
Secondary: Dawson gold project
Secondary: Copper King Mine

Commodity

Primary: Copper
Primary: Zinc
Primary: Gold
Primary: Lead
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Barium-Barite
Secondary: Thorium

Location

State: Colorado
County: Fremont
District: Grape Creek/Greenhorn 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

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Year: 1945
Time Period: 1943-1945
Mined: 4144.000 mt
Material type: ore

Deposit

Record Type: District
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1943
Year Last Production: 1945
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

Model Name: Stratabound Precambrian sulfide, Colorado and Wyoming

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Type: R
Description: Northern Wet Mountains

Type: L
Description: Shear Zone Strikes N 55-60 W, Dips Vertically; "Mill Creek" Fault; Offshoots Of Ilse Fault

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Kaolinization

Rocks

Name: Granitoid
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Paleoproterozoic

Name: Gneiss
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Paleoproterozoic

Name: Schist
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Paleoproterozoic

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Thorite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Silver
Ore: Gold
Ore: Galena
Ore: Chalcopyrite

Comments

Comment (Commodity): This district is defined by base and precious metal mineralization in certain horizons within metamorphic package. Major exploration work was conducted at the Dawson gold project area within the district in the 1980s and 1990s.

Comment (Geology): Mineralized layers in schist and gneiss generally trend east-west, but are contorted by folding. Mineralization may be more intense along fold hinges. The district is zoned, with gold and copper dominated mineralization in the eastern area (Dawson gold project), and zinc-lead dominated in the west.

Comment (Geology): Mineralized zones at the Dawson Project in the eastern part of the district strike generally east-west and dip steeply south.

Comment (Location): The district is at the northern end of the Wet Mountains. The eastern part of the district, including the Dawson gold project, is about 4 miles southwest of Canon City and three miles south of Royal Gorge. Scattered small deposits make up the western part of the district, stretching past Copper Gulch to the Arkansas River near Spikebuck.

Comment (Production): THERE WAS EARLIER PRODUCTION IN THIS AREA, BUT NO RECORDS HAVE BEEN FOUND AS TO QUANTITIES, GRADES, ETC. There may also have been later production. Quantities above are from Vanderwilt, 1947.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Significant goldresources/reserves were outlined at the drilled area of the Dawson project in the eastern part of the district during the 1980s and 1990s. 339,000 short tons of ore grading 0.3 to 0.4 ounces per ton gold were calculated in one estimate, based on limited drilling and surface sampling. Grades of over 5 percent base metals are reported in the western part of the district.

Comment (Workings): ADITS AND SHAFTS, PROSPECT PITS

References

Reference (Deposit): Sheridan, D.M., Raymond, W.H., Taylor, R.B., and Hasler, J.W., 1990, Metallogenic map of stratabound exhalative and related occurrences in Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-1971, scale 1:1,000,000

Reference (Deposit): Sunshine Mining Co. Colorado exploration files, unpublished data, Colorado Geological Survey.

Reference (Deposit): VANDERWILT, J.W., 1947, MINERAL RESOURCES OF COLORADO: COLORADO MINERAL RESOURCES BOARD, P. 85-86.

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

Reference (Deposit): TAYLOR, R.B., SCOTT, G.R., WOBUS, R.A. AND EPIS, R.C., 1975, RECONNAISSANCE GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE ROYAL GORGE QUADRANGLE, FREMONT AND CUSTER COUNTIES, COLORADO: USGS MAP I-869, 1:62,500

Reference (Deposit): USBM MINERAL EXAMINATION FILE

Reference (Deposit): COKER, R.J., 1982, MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE ARKANSAS CANYON PLANNING UNIT WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON THE FORMER GRAPE CREEK WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS AND THE MCINTYRE HILLS WILDERNESS STUDY AREA: US BLM MINERAL REPORT, P. 87-90

Reference (Production): VANDERWILT, 1947

Reference (Deposit): Heinrich, E.W., 1981, Precambrian tungsten and copper-zinc skarn deposits of south-central Colorado: Colorado Geological survey Resource Series 21, 115 p.

Colorado Mining Photos

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