Miners Queen Mine

The Miners Queen Mine is a copper and molybdenum mine located in Skamania county, Washington at an elevation of 1,949 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: Miners Queen Mine
Secondary: Columbia Gold and Copper Mine
Secondary: Silver Star

Commodity

Primary: Copper
Primary: Molybdenum
Secondary: Silver
Secondary: Gold
Tertiary: Tungsten

Location

State: Washington
County: Skamania
District: Washougal 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: In Gifford Pinchot National Forest

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: I. W. Mcmahon, Portland, Oreg.
Years: 1956 -

Owner Name: Plexus Resources Corp.
Years: 1992 -

Production

Year: 1952
Material type: ORE CU
Description: Ap_Grade: ^Averaged 3.4% Cu

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Discovery Year: 1895
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Pacific Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Cascade-Sierra Mountains
Physiographic Section: Northern Cascade Mountains

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Form: STOCKWORK, DISSEMINATED IN BRECCIA BODIES

Structure

Type: L
Description: E-W Structures Are Mineralized. Breccia Is Cut By A Complex Series Of Post-Mineral Faults

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Potassic, Phyllic, Argillic, And Propylitic Outward From Center Of Deposit. Silicification Is Ubiquitous In Breccia Zone. Quartz-Sericite And Propylitic Zones Are Very Narrow

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: BEST ORE SHOWS ABOUT 3% CU. ZONE OF COPPER MINERALIZATION CONTAINS 0.1-0.72% CU. 5 DRILL CORES NEAR MINE WORKINGS ASSAYED 0.65-3.11% CU, WITH 170 FT OF CORE AVERAGING 0.67% CU. BRECCIA ZONES SHOWED 0.07-14.30% CU (AVERAGE 1.30%) AS WELL AS TR-0.02 OZ/TON AU, 0.03-0.17 OZ/TON AG. MO IS TOO SPARSE TO BE SIGNIFICANT. AU:CU = 0.004 OZ:1%

Materials

Ore: Pyrrhotite
Ore: Wolframite
Ore: Bornite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Molybdenite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Malachite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Chlorite
Gangue: Epidote
Gangue: Sericite
Gangue: Tourmaline
Gangue: Kaolinite

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Discovery Year: 1890'S

Comment (Deposit): DEPOSIT HAS BEEN GIVEN THE INFORMAL NAME OF A BRECCIA PIPE CU DEPOSIT, FOR WHICH THERE IS NO PUBLISHED MODEL. DEPOSIT IS IN BRECCIAS AND NORTHEAST-TRENDING FRACTURE ZONES NEAR NORTH EDGE OF SILVER STAR PLUTON. HIGHLY BRECCIATED AREAS CONTAIN ABOUT 1% CU, WHEREAS AREAS BETWEEN HAVE RELATIVELY FRESH, SLIGHTLY FRACTURED ROCK THAT CONTAINS LESS THAN 0.10% CU. ALTERATION AND MINERALIZATION ARE POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH THE DEGREE OF BRECCIATION

Comment (Deposit): MRDS RECORDS D000684, W017887 HAVE BEEN MERGED WITH THIS RECORD AND DELETED. PROPERTY CONSISTS OF 8 UNPATENTED CLAIMS

Comment (Commodity): THE MO AND W OCCUR LOCALLY IN SOME TOURMALINE BRECCIA BODIES

Comment (Production): ONLY SHIPMENT MADE OFFROM THE MINE. SHIPPED TO THE TACOMA SMELTER.

Comment (Development): LITTLE KNOWN OF EARLY HISTORY; ONLY SHIPMENT MADE IN 1952. IN 1955, THE USBM EVALUATED MINERALIZATION WITH 5 DIAMOND DRILL HOLES TOTALING 628 FT AND EXAMINED ACCESSIBLE WORKINGS. FROM 1974-1977, PROPERTY WAS BEING INVESTIGATED BY AMACO AS A PORPHYRY COPPER PROSPECT. PLEXUS WAS DOING MAPPING, GEOCHEMISTRY, DRILLING, AND BASELINE STUDIES IN 1992

Comment (Workings): 155 FT ADIT WITH SEVERAL SHORT LATERALS. 4 SHORT ADITS 20-85 FT LONG, 2 35-FT SHAFTS, NOW FILLED WITH WATER

Comment (Geology): COPPER IS PRESENT IN POTASSIC AND PHYLLIC ZONES. THERE ARE MANY OTHER BRECCIAS IN AREA. GRANT (1976) INDICATED THAT THIS IS A HIGH-LEVEL MINERALIZING SYSTEM.

Comment (Deposit): LOCATION MAP AND PLAN MAP OF MINE WORKINGS IN MOEN (1977). GEOLOGIC MAP OF SILVER STAR AREA IN GRANT (1969) ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Comment (Reserve-Resource): GRANT (1969) BELIEVED THE AREA WAS FAVORABLE FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION

Comment (Location): ALONG MINER'S CREEK, A TRIBUTARY TO COPPER CREEK. UNSURVEYED.

References

Reference (Analytical Data): 1952

Reference (Deposit): GRANT, A.R., 1969, CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL CONTROLS FOR BASE METAL DEPOSITION IN THE CASCADE RANGE OF WASHINGTON: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 58, P. 88-90.

Reference (Deposit): HUNTTING, M.T., 1956, INVENTORY OF WASHINGTON MINERALS - PART II, METALLIC MINERALS: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 37, V. 1, P. 78.

Reference (Deposit): MOEN, W.S., 1977, ST. HELENS AND WASHOUGAL MINING DISTRICTS OF THE SOUTHERN CASCADES OF WASHINGTON: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES INFORMATION CIRCULAR 60, P. 43-46.

Reference (Deposit): HOLLISTER, V.F., 1979, PORPHYRY COPPER-TYPE DEPOSITS OF THE CASCADE VOLCANIC ARC, WASHINGTON: MINERALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, V. 11, P. 25-26.

Reference (Deposit): ASHLEY, R.P., AND PETERSON, J.A., 1991, FIELD EXAM WITH PLEXUS RESOURCES CORP.

Reference (Deposit): GRANT, A.R., 1976, REPORT OF EVALUATION, MINERAL RESOURCE ANALYSIS STUDY ON UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE LAND, STATE OF WASHINGTON: UNPUB. REPORT PREPARED FOR U.S. FOREST SERVICE - REGION 6, CONTRACT NO. 004724N, P. 23.

Reference (Deposit): PHILLIPS, W.M., 1987, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE VANCOUVER QUADRANGLE, WASHINGTON AND OREGON: WASHINGTON DIVISION OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES OPEN-FILE REPORT 87-10, SCALE 1:100,000.

Reference (Deposit): DERKEY, R.E., GULICK, C.W., AND LINGLEY, W.S., JR., 1993, WASHINGTON'S MINERAL INDUSTRY - 1992: WASHINGTON GEOLOGY, V. 21, NO. 1, P. 3-25.

Reference (Production): MOEN (1977)

Washington Gold

"Where to Find Gold in Washington" looks at the density of modern placer mining claims along with historical gold mining locations and mining district descriptions to determine areas of high gold discovery potential in Arizona. Read more: Where to Find Gold in Washington.