Cumberland Mine

The Cumberland Mine is a gold and silver mine located in La Plata county, Colorado at an elevation of 11,401 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: Cumberland Mine
Secondary: Patented Claims: Cumberland, MS 2376
Secondary: Judge Lamb, MS 2357
Secondary: Cumberland Tunnel
Secondary: Cumberland Mill
Secondary: Cumberland Basin area

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Tertiary: Zinc
Tertiary: Lead
Tertiary: Copper

Location

State: Colorado
County: La Plata
District: La Plata (California) District

Land Status

Land ownership: National Forest
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.
Administrative Organization: San Juan N. F.

Holdings

Type: Located Claim

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: Tippecanoe Mining
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Maine
Info Year: 1997
Years: 1997 -

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Vein
Operation Type: Underground
Year First Production: 1878
Year Last Production: 1921
Discovery Year: 1878
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Colorado Plateaus
Physiographic Section: Navajo Section

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Polymetallic veins

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Type: R
Description: San Juan Uplift, Four Corners Platform

Type: L
Description: La Plata Dome

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Oxidation Of Cu Sulfides; Formation Of Clay

Rocks

Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Paleocene

Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Paleocene

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Stephanite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Chalcocite
Ore: Proustite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Gold
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Pyrargyrite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Argentite
Gangue: Dickite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Barite

Comments

Comment (Development): CUMBERLAND AND SNOWSTORM DEPOSITS DISCOVERED IN 1878 AND PRODUCED LITTLE ORE TILL 1884 WHEN SIGNIFICANT PRODUCTION BEGAN. CUMBERLAND AND JUDGE LAMB CLAIMS COVER MAJOR VEINS AT CUMBERLAND MINE BUT SNOW STORM MINING AND MILLING CO. SURVEYED ADDITIONAL CLAIMS AROUND SNOWSTORM PROPERTY IN 1885: LADY DOUGLASS (MS 2378); WRAY (MS 2379), NORTH STAR (MS 2380), MORNING STAR (MS 2381), AND REBECCA (MS 2382). DURING LATTER 1880S, 30-STAMP MILL BUILT BUT WAS NOT SUITED TO TREATING ORE. MINES IDLE IN 1890S BUT CUMBERLAND REVIVED IN 1900 AND AGAIN IN 1909. MILL AND OTHER SURFACE BUILDINGS IN RUINS BY 1937.

Comment (Production): PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD. PRODUCTION UNKNOWN BUT CONSIDERED SMALL FOR EARLY YEARS 1878-1883. ONLY COMBINED AU AND AG VALUE REPORTED FOR 1886-1889; NO ORE TONNAGE FIGURE CITED FOR 1889. ORE TONNAGES CITED EITHER AS CRUDE ORE SOLD OR AS ORE SOLD OR TREATED (MILLED). NO PRODUCTION REPORTED FOR 1890-1899, 1912-1916, 1919-1920, AND AFTER 1921.

Comment (Workings): MINE DEVELOPED BY FOUR LEVELS: UPPER LEVEL IS 130 FT BELOW TOP OF MOUNTAIN, 200 FT LONG, AND LARGELY INACCESSIBLE; SECOND LEVEL IS 140 FT BELOW UPPER LEVEL AND 220 FT LONG, INACCESSIBLE. THIRD LEVEL IS 270 FT BELOW SECOND LEVEL, DRIVEN N 40 E FOR 90 FT, THENCE N 60 E FOR 740 FT TO FACE, WITH RAISES AT 90, 410, AND 680 FT FROM PORTAL, ONE RAISE CONNECTING TO SECOND LEVEL. FOURTH (LOWEST) LEVEL IS CROSSCUT TUNNEL 720 FT BELOW SECOND LEVEL, DRIVEN S 60 E FOR 150 FT, THENCE GENERALLY S 35 E FOR 530 FT; AT 550 FT FROM PORTAL, 930-FT DRIFT DRIVEN GENERALLY N 70 E, WITH WINZE AT 740 FT AND RAISE AT 780 FT ALONG DRIFT. UPPERMOST WORKING IS 100-FT-LONG OPEN CUT NEAR TOP OF MOUNTAIN. Lower Crosscut (Tunnel No. 4) portal is at 11,520 ft. el, Tunnel No. 3 is at 11,970 ft. el.

Comment (Deposit): COUNTRY ROCK CONSISTS OF NORTH- TO NE-DIPPING, UNMETAMORPHOSED CUTLER AND DOLORES FM RED BEDS INTRUDED BY DIORITE-MONZONITE PORPHYRY SILLS AND DIKES AND TRAVERSED BY CUMBERLAND VEIN, WHICH TRENDS N 60 TO 80 E WITH PREVAILING STEEP NW DIP. ON THIRD LEVEL, VEIN FOLLOWS STRONG FRACTURE THROUGH BLEACHED AND SILICIFIED SHALE, MUDSTONE, AND SANDSTONE AND PORPHYRY, CONTAINS 4 TO 6 INCHES OF QUARTZ AND MINERALIZATION. VEIN WIDENS TO 5 TO 10 FT WHERE IT CROSSES PORPHYRY MASSES AND CONTAINS SILICIFIED BRECCIA AND MINABLE ORE. ON FOURTH LEVEL, VEIN ZONE CONSISTS OF SHEARED AND ALTERED MUDSTONE WALLROCK UP TO 12 FT WIDE AND CONTAINS ONE OR MORE VEINS OF VUGGY QUARTZ, BARITE, AND BLEBS OF ORE MINERALS. ONE LARGE VUG CONTAINED LARGE AMOUNT OF AURIFEROUS CLAY (DICKITE).

Comment (Location): AT SE END OF CUMBERLAND BASIN AND ON WEST SLOPE OF CUMBERLAND MTN, 4.35 MILES NE OF LA PLATA TOWNSITE (UNSURVEYED SECTION). Adit on topo matches location shown on fig. 39, p. 111 of MLA 2-92 and adit on pl. 2 of PP-219.

Comment (Ownership): From deleted record 10215654 (MAS 0080670067): Tippecanoe ownership info. Located Claim.

Comment (Reference): Reference to Southwestern Paydirt is not in USGS format and needs to be verified.

References

Reference (Production): ECKEL AND OTHERS, 1949, P. 107 (AS COMPILED FROM DIRECTOR OF MINE REPTS., USGS/USBM RECORDS, AND PRIVATE UNPUB. ENGINEER'S REPT.)

Reference (Deposit): REED, J.R., 1936, REPORT ON THE CUMBERLAND MINE, CUMBERLAND BASIN, LA PLATA COUNTY, COLORADO: UNPUB. ENG. REPT., 2 P.

Reference (Deposit): BLM MINERAL SURVEYS MS 2376, 2357, 2378, 2379, 2380, 2381, 2382

Reference (Deposit): ECKEL, E.B., AND OTHERS, 1949, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE LA PLATA DISTRICT, COLORADO: USGS PROF. PAPER 219, P. 73-74, 106-108, PL.18.

Reference (Deposit): Neubert and others, 1992, Mineral Appraisal of the San Juan National Forest, Colorado: USBM MLA 2-92, p. 111, fig. 39; p. 123-125.

Reference (Deposit): Southwestern Paydirt, no. 694, April 1997, 12.

Colorado Mining Photos

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