Cheyenne District

The Cheyenne District is a zinc, fluorine-fluorite, lead, gold, and silver mine located in El Paso county, Colorado at an elevation of 9,199 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: Cheyenne District  

State:  Colorado

County:  El Paso

Elevation: 9,199 Feet (2,804 Meters)

Commodity: Zinc, Fluorine-Fluorite, Lead, Gold, Silver

Lat, Long: 38.7475, -104.91111

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 Cheyenne District

Cheyenne District MRDS details

Site Name

Primary: Cheyenne District
Secondary: St. Peters Dome District


Commodity

Primary: Zinc
Primary: Fluorine-Fluorite
Primary: Lead
Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Thorium
Secondary: Gemstone
Secondary: REE
Tertiary: Uranium
Tertiary: Niobium (Columbium)
Tertiary: Beryllium
Tertiary: Titanium, Metal
Tertiary: Tin


Location

State: Colorado
County: El Paso
District: Cheyenne (St. Peters Dome) 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

Owner Name: Kramer Mines, Inc. (Timberline And Other F Properties)
Home Office: Denver, Co.
Years: 1945 -


Production

Not available


Deposit

Record Type: District
Operation Category: Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1910
Year Last Production: 1945
Discovery Year: 1901
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

Not available


Structure

Type: R
Description: Front Range Uplift, Pikes Peak Batholith

Type: L
Description: Mt Rosa Intrusive Center, Ute Pass Fault, Manitou Park Half Graben, Emerald Valley Fault


Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Wallrock Silicification In Veins; Alteration Of Fluorite/Cryolite To Rare Mineral Assemblage; Alteration Of Siderite To Hematite And Limonite.


Rocks

Name: Syenite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Neoproterozoic


Analytical Data

Not available


Materials

Ore: Cryolite
Ore: Xenotime
Ore: Astrophyllite
Ore: Thorite
Ore: Fergusonite
Ore: Columbite
Ore: Topaz
Ore: Zircon
Ore: Fluorite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Riebeckite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Pyrochlore
Gangue: Fayalite
Gangue: Apatite
Gangue: Anatase
Gangue: Cassiterite
Gangue: Nacrite
Gangue: Chlorite
Gangue: Chalcedony
Gangue: Sphene
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Allanite
Gangue: Rutile
Gangue: Bertrandite


Comments

Comment (Commodity): GEM AND MINERAL SPECIMENS INCLUDE MANY OF THE METALS LISTED ABOVE. W REPORTED BUT UNVERIFIED.

Comment (Production): TOTAL ESTIMATED FLUORSPAR PRODUCTION BY KRAMER MINES, 1944-45, CONSISTING OF 8500 ST FROM TIMBERLINE, 7000 ST FROM LEYTE OPEN PIT, 600 ST FROM MATTIE B., WITH MINOR BY-PRODUCT RECOVERY OF PB, ZN, AU, AND AG. TOTAL INTERMITTENT GEM AND MINERAL SPECIMEN COLLECTING CONSIDERED SMALL.

Comment (Deposit): DISTRICT ORIGINALLY NAMED CHEYENNE IN CLAIM RECORDS, BUT IS MORE COMMONLY KNOWN BY POPULAR COLLECTORS' NAME OF ST. PETERS DOME. DETAILED RECORDS PREPARED FOR PRINCIPAL FLUORSPAR MINES (EUREKA, DUFFIELDS, MATTIE B., TIMBERLINE), FOR U/TH PROPERTIES (BLUE BIRD, DOROTHY O., ST. PETERS DOME NO. 1, TRAIL MINES PROSPECT), FOR STOVE MOUNTAIN MINERAL LOCALITY. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Comment (Location): DISTRICT LIES IN AREA OF ST. PETERS DOME, SUGARLOAF MOUNTAIN, AND STOVE MOUNTAIN IN UPPER REACHES OF LITTLE FOUNTAIN CREEK, ROCK CREEK, AND SOUTH CHEYENNE CREEK. ACCESSIBLE FROM COLORADO SPRINGS AND CRIPPLE CREEK BY CRIPPLE CREEK ROAD AND GOLD CAMP ROAD. DISTRICT ALSO EXTENDS ONTO MANITOU SPRINGS QUAD. LAT-LONG GIVEN IS FOR ST. PETERS DOME. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1981)

Comment (Deposit): SOUTHEASTERN PART OF PIKES PEAK BATHOLITH INTRUDED BY SMALL STOCKS AND PLUGS OF MT. ROSA GRANITE AND FAYALITE GRANITE, AND CUT BY PRECAMBRIAN PEGMATITE, APLITE, RIEBECKITE-SYENITE LAMPROPHYRE DIKES, AND BY LATER (TERTIARY?) LAMPROPHYRE. SOUTH PART OF DISTRICT CUT BY SEVERAL NE-TRENDING ARCUATE FAULTS SUBCONCENTRIC TO SE SIDE OF MT ROSA INTRUSIVE CENTER. PRINCIPAL EPITHERMAL QUARTZ-FLUORSPAR-SULFIDE VEINS LOCALIZED IN N-TRENDING LATE (TERTIARY?) SHEAR ZONE CONTAINING EN ECHELON FRACTURES, PROGRESSING EASTWARD FROM SOUTH TO NORTH AND FLANKED BY WEAKER, DISCONTINUOUS, PARALLEL BELTS OF FRACTURES. SOME CONTAIN LATE LAMPROPHYRE DIKES. STEVEN (1949) RECOGNIZED TWO PERIODS OF VEIN DEPOSITION: 1) EARLY, FINELY GRANULAR TO CHALCEDONIC QUARTZ, STAINED GREEN BY DISSEMINATED CHLORITE, OCCASIONALLY BRECCIATED AND RECEMENTED; AND 2) FIRST-STAGE DEPOSITION FOLLOWING STRONG SHEARING AND FAULTING, CHARACTERIZED BY GRANITIC WALLROCK AND BRECCIA FRAGMENT SILICIFICATION; PRINCIPAL COARSE CRYSTALLINE

Comment (Geology): DISTRICT LIES ON ARCHLIKE JOINTED STRUCTURE IN GRANITE WITH THREE PROMINENT JOINT SETS: 1) FIRST SET TRENDS NORMAL TO GRANITE BELT AND STRIKES NW WITH VERTICAL TO STEEP NE DIPS; 2) SECOND GROUP DEFINES ARCHLIKE STRUCTURE WITH VARIABLE NE STRIKES AND SE DIPS; 3) THIRD GROUP APPROXIMATELY PARALLELS GRANITE BELT WITH VERTICAL TO STEEP DIPS. ALL SETS CUT BY LATE N-TRENDING SHEARS AND MINOR FAULTS.

Comment (Deposit): FLOURITEDEPOSITED AS BRECCIA FILLING INTERGROWN WITH QUARTZ, SOME BRECCIATION AND RECEMENTATION BY LATER FIRST-STAGE FLUORITE; SECOND STAGE DEPOSITION OF FINELY GRANULAR WHITE QUARTZ, PINK BARITE, AND BASE-METAL SULFIDES WITH SOME AU AND AG; THIRD-STAGE DEPOSITION OF COARSE CRYSTALLINE QUARTZ VEINLETS WITH MINOR SPECULAR HEMATITE. GEM AND MINERAL SPECIMENS OCCUR MAINLY IN MIAROLITIC CAVITIES IN GENERALLY NNE-TO NENE-TRENDING PEGMATITES AND IN VARIABLY TRENDING RIEBECKITE-SYENITE DIKES. ASSEMBLAGE OF RAE AND FLUORINE MINERALS GENETICALLY RELATED TO ORIGINAL FLUORINE-ENRICHED MAGMA. GEM-AND RAE-BEARING PEGMATITES ARE PRECAMBRIAN IN AGE, BUT STEVEN BELIEVES QUARTZ-FLUORITE-SULFIDE VEINS TO BE TERTIARY (?) (MIOCENE) IN AGE.

Comment (Workings): FLUORSPAR MINES OPERATED BY SEVERAL SHAFTS, TUNNELS, AND OPEN PIT. MINERAL COLLECTION SITES WORKED BY SMALL OPEN CUTS AND DIRECTLY FROM OUTCROPS AND FLOAT.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): STEVEN, 1949

Comment (Development): DISTRICT'S FIRST FLUORSPAR PRODUCED IN 1910-11 FROM HUGHES BOSS CLAIM (DUFFIELDS DEPOSIT). FLUORSPAR MINES INACTIVE FROM 1918 TO WORLD WAR II WHEN REOPENED BY KRAMER MINES, PRODUCING IN 1944-45 FROM TIMBERLINE, LEYTE OPEN PIT (DUFFIELDS DEPOSIT), AND MATTIE B., WITH MINOR RECOVERY OF PB, ZN, AU, AND AG. UNUSUAL AND RARE MINERALS DISCOVERED IN LATE 1800S. INTERMITTENT COLLECTING CONTINUES TO PRESENT. STOVE MOUNTAIN LOCALITY ESPECIALLY NOTED FOR CRYOLITE AND RARE FLUORINE ALTERATION MINERALS, GEM ZIRCON, SMOKY QUARTZ, BASTNAESITE, RIEBECKITE, ASTROPHYLLITE, GENTHELVITE (ONLY KNOWN WORLD OCCURRENCE), AND PROBABLE FIRST COLORADO DISCOVERIES OF FERGUSONITE AND COLUMBITE.


References

Reference (Deposit): GLASS, J.J., AND ADAMS, J.W., 1953, GENTHELVITE CRYSTAL FROM EL PASO COUNTY, COLORADO: AM. MINERALOGIST, V. 38, NOS. 9 AND 10, P. 858-860. & &

Reference (Deposit): PAULY, HANS, 1954, WEBERITE FROM PIKES PEAK, COLORADO: AM. MINERALOGIST, V. 39, NOS. 7 AND 8, P. 669-674. & &

Reference (Deposit): NELSON-MOORE, J.L., AND OTHERS, 1978, RADIOACTIVE MINERAL OCCURRENCES OF COLORADO AND BIBLIOGRAPHY: CGS BULL. 40, P. 141-142.

Reference (Production): STEVEN, 1949

Reference (Deposit): TRIMBLE, D.E., AND MACHETTE, M.N., 1979, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE COLORADO SPRINGS-CASTLE ROCK AREA, FRONT RANGE URBAN CORRIDOR, COLORADO: USGS MAP I-857-F.

Reference (Deposit): FINLAY, G.I., 1916, DESCRIPTION OF THE COLORADO SPRINGS QUADRANGLE: USGS FOLIO 203.

Reference (Deposit): STEVEN, T.A., 1949, GEOLOGY AND FLUORSPAR DEPOSITS OF THE ST. PETERS DOME DISTRICT, COLORADO: COLORADO SCI. SOC. PROC., V. 15, NO. 6, P. 259-284.

Reference (Deposit): PEARL, R.M., 1965, COLORADO GEM TRAILS AND MINERAL GUIDE: DENVER, SAGE BOOKS, P. 171-180. & &

Reference (Deposit): OVER, EDWIN, JR., 1929, SOME MINERAL LOCALITIES OF EL PASO COUNTY: ROCKS AND MINERALS, V. 4, NO. 4, P. 106-107 & &


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.