Rock Springs Placer Co. Mine

The Rock Springs Placer Co. Mine is a gold mine located in Moffat county, Colorado at an elevation of 6,329 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: Rock Springs Placer Co. Mine

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver

Location

State: Colorado
County: Moffat
District: Fourmile (Timberlake Creek) District

Land Status

Land ownership: Federal
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: Rock Springs Placer Co.

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Placer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1892
Discovery Year: 1891
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Wyoming Basin

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Type: R
Description: Washakie Basin

Type: L
Description: Washakie Basin

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Sand and Gravel
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Holocene

Name: Sand and Gravel
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Deposit): FARNSWORTH'S ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION STATED THAT THE HIGHER PAYING ZONES IN AREA LIE IN SLIGHTLY CONSOLIDATED GRAVELS BENEATH IRON OXIDE-CEMENTED CONGLOMERATE AND ABOVE LAYER OF "BLUE CLAY," (NOW INTERPRETED AS EOCENE BEDROCK). AU CONCENTRATIONS IN TERRACE AND MANTLE DEPOSITS APPEAR LIMITED TO LEVEL BELOW THE PROMINENT CONGLOMERATE OR "CAP ROCK," WHICH WAS INTERPRETED BY PARKER (1974) AND THEOBALD AS A DELTAIC FAN IN EITHER THE TIPTON TONGUE OF GREEN RIVER FM (EOCENE) OR CATHEDRAL BLUFFS MEMBER OF WASATCH FM (EOCENE). MODERN PLACERS THUS WERE DERIVED FROM EOCENE FOSSIL BEACH AND ALLUVIAL PLACERS AND PROBABLY BEGAN FORMING IN LATE PLIOCENE OR PLEISTOCENE TIME. AGE OF MINERALIZATION CITED FOR DEPOSIT DEPENDS ON UNIT WORKED--EOCENE FOR BEDROCK OPERATIONS OR QUATERNARY FOR TERRACE, STREAM BED, AND MANTLE OPERATIONS. THIS DEPOSIT CONSISTS OF TERRACE GRAVELS 2 TO 20 FT THICK, AVERAGING 9 FT. THOSE NEAR MOUTH OF TIMBERLAKE CREEK PROBABLY HAVE BEEN INFLUENCED BY DEPOSITION ALONG FOURMILE CREEK.

Comment (Development): ACCORDING TO SNOW (1895), AU WAS FIRST DISCOVERED ON FOURMILE CREEK IN 1891 BY HUGH MORRISON, AN ASPEN PROSPECTOR ON HIS WAY TO UINTA MTNS. MORRISON ALSO PROSPECTED HEADS OF FOURMILE, WILLOW, AND SLATER CREEKS. SATISFIED WITH AU POTENTIAL, HE AND GEORGE ALBERT RETURNED EARLY NEXT YEAR TO LOCATE CLAIMS ON FOURMILE CREEK, DRY, SCANDINAVIA, AND BIGHOLE GULCHES, AND BEGAN SLUICING OPERATIONS ON FOURMILE CREEK. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, J.G. EDWARDS AND F.A. HINMAN FORMED ROCK SPRINGS PLACER CO. AND STARTED OPERATIONS ON 700 ACRES OF MESA LAND ABOVE FOURMILE CREEK. PROBABLE SITE OF FIRST HYDRAULIC WORKINGS IN DISTRICT.

Comment (Location): ALONG TIMBERLAKE CREEK JUST ABOVE CONFLUENCE WITH FOURMILE CREEK. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1974)

References

Reference (Deposit): HOOVER, HERBERT C., 1897, GEOLOGY OF THE FOUR-MILE PLACER MINING DISTRICT (MOFFAT COUNTY), COLORADO: ENG. MINING JOUR., V. 63, P. 510.

Reference (Deposit): SNOW, E.P., 1895, THE FOURMILE PLACER FIELDS OF (MOFFAT COUNTY), COLORADO AND WYOMING: ENG. MINING JOUR., V. 60, P. 102-105

Reference (Deposit): TWETO, OGDEN, 1976, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE CRAIG 1X2 QUADRANGLE, NORTHWESTERN COLORADO: USGS MAP I-972

Reference (Deposit): PARKER, B.H., JR., 1974, THE PLACERS OF MOFFAT COUNTY, IN GOLD PLACERS OF COLORADO: COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES QUART., V. 69, NO. 4, P. 150-168.

Colorado Mining Photos

Check out this collection of Colorado's best historic mining photos: Incredible Photos of Colorado Mining Scenes.