Contention Mine

The Contention Mine is a silver and gold mine located in Hinsdale 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

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.

Site Name

Primary: Contention Mine
Secondary: Patented Claims: Contention, MS 4694
Secondary: Mayflower, MS 9792

Commodity

Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Copper
Tertiary: Zinc
Tertiary: Manganese
Tertiary: Antimony
Tertiary: Lead

Location

State: Colorado
County: Hinsdale
District: Lake (Lake City) 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

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Vein
Operation Type: Unknown
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: San Juan Volcanic Field, San Juan Depression

Type: L
Description: San Juan-Uncompahgre Calderas, Lake City Caldera

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Silicification; Supergene Oxidation Of Argentiferous Cu Sulfide To Chalcocite And Native Ag; Sericitization

Rocks

Name: Quartz Latite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Oligocene

Name: Quartz Latite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Oligocene

Name: Quartz Latite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Oligocene

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: 2500-LB TEST SAMPLE OF PYRITE FROM LOWER ORE CONTAINED 11.34 OZ AG AND 0.28 OZ AU

Materials

Ore: Silver
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Galena
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Rhodochrosite

Comments

Comment (Production): PROBABLE PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD. FIGURES UNAVAILABLE FOR ANY PRODUCTION BEFORE OR AFTER YEARS CITED ABOVE. ESTIMATED AG FIGURES CALCULATED USING AG PRICES OF $0.94/OZ, $1.05/OZ, $0.99/OZ, AND $0.87/OZ FOR 1889, 1890, 1891, AND 1892, RESPECTIVELY, BASED ON TOTAL REPORTED PRODUCTION (IN OZ) AND REPORTED VALUE FOR HINSDALE COUNTY FOR THOSE YEARS. ESTIMATED AU FIGURES CALCULATED USING AVERAGE AU PRICE OF $20.65/OZ.

Comment (Location): CONTIGUOUS CLAIMS LIE ACROSS LAKE FORK ABOUT 700 FT NORTH OF NORTH END OF LAKE SAN CRISTOBAL AND EXTEND WEST UP MOUNTAIN SLOPE. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR PROBABLE LOWER TUNNEL ON MAYFLOWER CLAIM, IN SW SE NW SEC. 15. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1977

Comment (Deposit): MINE LOCATED JUST BEYOND NE RIM OF LAKE CITY CALDERA IN MOAT-INFILL SEQUENCE OF UNCOMPAHGRE CALDERA. VEIN FILLS RADIAL FRACTURE OR FAULT WITHIN SLACK'S (1980) BARITE/PRECIOUS METALS ASSEMBLAGE, QUARTZ-SPHALERITE ZONE. VEIN TRENDS N 60 TO 79 E, DIPS NEARLY VERTICAL. IRVING AND BANCROFT (1911) DESCRIBE UPPER ORE AS VERY RICH AG-BEARING TETRAHEDRITE WITH SOME RHODOCHROSITE, AND SOME RICH POCKETS OF NATIVE AG. LOWER WORKINGS SHOW ABUNDANT AU- AND AG-BEARING PYRITE, LESS TETRAHEDRITE, IN DENSE, VUGGY, CHALCEDONIC SILICA CONTAINING NETWORKS OF TABULAR BARITE, FINE-GRAINED NONCRYSTALLINE PYRITE, SPHALERITE, TETRAHEDRITE, AND SUBORDINATE GALENA AND CHALCOPYRITE. SECONDARY CHALCOCITE DEPOSITED ON SURFACES AND IN CRACKS OF PYRITE. DISCONTINUOUS VEIN PINCHES TO NARROW, SILICIFIED, SLIGHTLY PYRITIZED SHEETED ZONE WITH INTERVENING ORE IN SHOOTS.

Comment (Workings): LOWER TWO TUNNELS (MAYFLOWER CLAIM) DRIVEN GENERALLY WEST OR WSW ON VEIN. UPPER TUNNEL (CONTENTION CLAIM) DRIVEN GENERALLY WEST OR WSW, POSSIBLY CONNECTING WITH BLACK CROOK/ILMA WORKINGS.

References

Reference (Deposit): IRVING, J.D., AND BANCROFT, HOWLAND, 1911, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS NEAR LAKE CITY, COLORADO: USGS BULL. 478, P. 102-104.

Reference (Production): IRVING AND BANCROFT, 1911, P. 102.

Reference (Deposit): LIPMAN, P.W., 1976, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE LAKE CITY CALDERA AREA, WESTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS, SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO: USGS MAP I-962.

Reference (Deposit): LIPMAN, P.W., AND OTHERS, 1976, MULTIPLE AGES OF MID-TERTIARY MINERALIZATION AND ALTERATION IN THE WESTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS, COLORADO: ECON. GEOLOGY, V. 71, NO. 3, P. 571-588.

Reference (Deposit): SLACK, J.F., 1980, MULTISTAGE VEIN ORES OF THE LAKE CITY DISTRICT, WESTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS, COLORADO: ECON. GEOLOGY, V. 75, NO. 7, P. 963-991.

Reference (Deposit): COLORADO DIV. MINES INF. REPT.

Reference (Deposit): BLM MINERAL SURVEYS MS 4694, 9792

Reference (Deposit): BOEHMER, MAX, 1890, REPORT ON THE ADJOINING EMERALD ISLE AND CONTENTION CLAIMS: COLORADO STATE PLANNING COMM. UNPUB. REPT., 3 P.

Colorado Mining Photos

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