Rock Creek

The Rock Creek is a copper and silver mine located in Sanders county, Montana.

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: Rock Creek

Commodity

Primary: Copper
Primary: Silver

Location

State: Montana
County: Sanders
District: Cabinet Mountains Area

Land Status

Land ownership: National Wilderness
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: Patented minerals in Cabinet Mountains Wilderness

Holdings

Type: Patented

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: ASARCO
Info Year: 2009
Years: 1974 - 1999

Owner Name: Bear Creek Mining company (Kennecott)
Info Year: 2009
Years: 1963 - 2000

Owner Name: Revett Silver Company
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Spokane, WA
Info Year: 2009

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Deposit
Operation Category: Occurrence
Deposit Type: Sediment hosted copper-silver
Operation Type: Unknown
Discovery Year: 1963
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: M

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Northern Rocky Mountains

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Sediment-hosted Cu
Model Name: Sediment-hosted Cu, Revett

Orebody

Form: Tabular

Structure

Type: L
Structure: anticline

Type: L
Structure: Moran Fault

Type: L
Structure: Copper Lake Fault

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Quartzite
Role: Host
Description: Predominantly quartzite with interbedded siltite and argillite.
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Proterozoic

Name: Siltstone
Role: Host
Description: Siltite with interbedded argillite and quartzite.
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Proterozoic

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Bornite
Ore: Chalcocite
Ore: Silver
Gangue: Chlorite

Comments

Comment (Identification): *****SEE Rock Creek Project (Plant) Deposit ID 10284559 for additional info

Comment (Deposit): SEDIMENT-HOSTED CU, REVETT

Comment (Location): Political location in record was Lincoln county. However, lat/long fall 2 km inside adjacent Sanders county. Original coordinates were: lat/long NAD27 48-4-12N 115-39-36W (48.07 -115.66); UTM N E Z11N; PLSS line# : Meridian- , TWNSHP , RNG , Sect , Sect_fract . Boleneus et al, 2005 coordinates NAD27 48.0795 -115.6767 were used here, and in duplicate record 10294559. County name was changed to Sanders.

References

Reference (Deposit): Couture, Jean-Francois and Tanaka, William, 2005, Independent Technical Report on the Rock Creek Cu-Ag Project, Montana, U.S.A., prepared for Revett Silver Company in 2004, updated in 2005: SRK Consulting 3UR006.01 ? Revett Silver Company ? Rock Creek Cu-Ag project, Montana, Independent Technical Report, 71 p [http://www.revettminerals.com/revProRockCreekReports.php, accessed January 5, 2010]
URL: http://www.revettminerals.com/revProRockCreekReports.php

Reference (Deposit): Boleneus, D.E., Appelgate, L.M., Stewart, J.H., and Zientek, M.L., 2005, Stratabound Copper-Silver Deposits of the Mesoproterozoic Revett Formation, Montana and Idaho; USGS Scientific Investigations Report 2005?5231, cuag_deposit.txt.

Reference (Geology): Harrison, J.E. 1972. Precambrian belt basin of northwestern United States: its geometry, sedimentation and copper occurrences. Geological Society of America Bulletin 83: 1,215-1,240.

Reference (Geology): Hayes, T.S., and M.T. Einaudi. 1986. Genesis of the Spar Lake stratabound copper-silver deposit, Montana: Part I controls inherited from sedimentation and preore diogenesis. Economic Geology. 81:1899- 1931.

Reference (Geology): Balla, J.C. 2000. Geologic Comparison of the Troy Mine/Spar Lake Deposit and the Rock Creek Mine/Rock Creel Deposit, Northwestern Montana. Unpublished report, Steling Mining Company, 97 pages

Reference (Geology): Hayes, T.S. 1983. Geologic studies on the genesis of the Spar Lake stratabound copper-silver deposit, Lincoln County, Montana. Dissertation for Ph.D submitted to the Department of Applied Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford. November 1983. Typescript

Reference (Deposit): ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, MARCH, 1989

Reference (Geology): Hayes, T.S., and Balla, J.C. 1986. Troy Mine, In Geological Association of Canada, Mineralogical Association of Canada, Canadian Geophysical Union joint annual meeting, 1986, Ottawa, Ontario, 10pgs.

Principal Gold Districts of Montana

In Montana, 54 mining districts have each have produced more than 10,000 ounces of gold. The largest producers are Butte, Helena, Marysville, and Virginia City, each having produced more than one million ounces. Twenty seven other districts are each credited with between 100,000 and one million ounces of gold production. Read more: Principal Gold Districts of Montana.