Valley Queen Mine

The Valley Queen Mine is a gold and silver mine located in Conejos county, Colorado at an elevation of 9,862 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: Valley Queen Mine
Secondary: Valley Queen Group
Secondary: Patented Claims: Valley Queen, MS 2371
Secondary: Valley King, MS 7134
Secondary: Unpatented Claims: Gold Wedge
Secondary: Snowstorm
Secondary: Chelan
Secondary: Texas
Secondary: Shasta
Secondary: Ajax
Secondary: Ajax Nos. 1-10
Secondary: Platoro Tunnel
Secondary: Platoro Tunnel Site

Commodity

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

Location

State: Colorado
County: Conejos
District: Ute (Platoro) 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

Type: Underground

Ownership

Owner Name: Coronado Silver Corp.
Home Office: Antonito, Co.
Years: 1974 -

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

Model Name: Epithermal quartz-alunite Au

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Type: R
Description: San Juan Volcanic Field

Type: L
Description: Platoro Caldera, Summitville Caldera, Platoro Fault Zone, Cornwall Block

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: All Wallrock Is Silicified To Some Extent Within Vein And Up To 6.5 Ft Into Footwall And Up To 16.5 Ft Into Hanging Wall. In Hanging Wall Zones, All Material Within 1.6 Ft Of Vein Is Completely Silicified. Sericite Progressivly Prominent At 1.6 To 6.5 Ft And Dominant From 6.5 To 26 Ft. At 13 Ft, Kaolinite Prominent. At 26 Ft, Rock Shows Regional Argillization.

Rocks

Name: Quartz Latite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age in Years: 29.800000+-
Dating Method: K-Ar
Age Young: Oligocene

Name: Quartz Latite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age in Years: 29.800000+-
Dating Method: K-Ar
Age Young: Oligocene

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Silver
Ore: Proustite
Ore: Miargyrite
Ore: Marcasite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Zinkenite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Electrum
Ore: Pyrrhotite
Ore: Pyrargyrite
Ore: Covellite
Ore: Chalcocite
Ore: Molybdenite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Polybasite
Ore: Digenite
Gangue: Anhydrite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Chalcedony
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Deposit): 75 NE TO 55 SW. APPARENTLY SOME CYMOID LOOP DEVELOPMENT WITH SPLITTING AND JOINING OF SUBSIDIARY VEINS. MAMMOTH-REVENUE VEIN AND VALLEY QUEEN VEIN (APPARENTLY) FOUND IN FOOTWALL; PAROLE VEIN FOUND IN HANGING WALL. VEIN ZONE COMPOSED OF THREE TYPES OF MATERIAL. FIRST TYPE IS QUARTZ AND SULFIDE ORE IN CENTER OF STRUCTURE. WIDE AREAS ARE HIGHLY BRECCIATED, OFTEN VUGGY WITH WATER-COURSE RESIDUES OF MO AND FE OXIDES. BRECCIATION DECREASED OR ABSENT IN NARROWER PARTS. ORE APPEARS AS RIBBONS OF FINE-GRAINED QUARTZ AND FINE-GRAINED PYRITE/MARCASITE INTERSPERSED WITH WHITE QUARTZ CONTAINING DISSEMINATED PYRITE/MARCASITE AND LATE GANGUE MINERALS. HIGHER GRADE ORE GENERALLY FOUND WHERE SULFIDES CONTAIN RELATIVELY LESS MARCASITE. LOW-MARCASTLE HIGH-GRADE ORE SHOWS AG/AU RATIOS OF 50:1 TO 100:1; HIGH-MARCASITE LOWER GRADE ORE SHOWS RATIO OF 10:1. HIGHER METAL VALUES USUALLY FOUND IN CENTER OF HANGING WALL PORTIONS. SECOND TYPE OF MATERIAL IS BROKEN, HIGHLY ALTERED WALLROCK IN SLABS AND BRECCIA

Comment (Location): MINE LOCATED SOUTH OF CONEJOS RIVER ON NW SIDE OF TOWN. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN ARE FOR SHAFT IN NE SE SW SEC. 15 (SECTIONS PROJECTED INTO UNSURVEYED AREA). ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1975

Comment (Commodity): ORE MINERALS LISTED ABOVE ARE REPORTED FROM MAMMOTH-REVENUE MINE, AND ALTHOUGH NOT ALL ARE SPECIFICALLY NOTED AT OTHER MINES IN DISTRICT, THEY ARE GENERALLY APPLICABLE TO THEM (BIRD, 1973). ARSENOPYRITE REPORTED BY PATTON (1917) CITED FOR ENTIRE DISTRICT. PETZITE (TELLURIDE) REPORTED BY PATTON IN GILMORE AND PLATORO DISTRICTS WAS PROBABLY MISIDENTIFIED SULFIDE (BIRD, 1973). MINOR PRODUCTION OF CU AND PB UNCERTAIN DUE TO LACK OF OLDER PRODUCTION RECORDS.

Comment (Development): LAST REPORTED ACTIVITY WAS PUMPING, REHABILITATION, AND SAMPLING IN 1974

Comment (Deposit): VALLEY QUEEN IS NORTHERNMOST OF THREE MINES DEVELOPED ON SOUTH MOUNTAIN-PLATORO FAULT, LARGEST OF SEVERAL QUARTZ-PYRITE VEIN ZONES IN PLATORO FAULT ZONE. FAULT HAS BEEN INTERPRETED AS EXTENDING NW EITHER ON TREND WITH OR JOINING SOUTH MOUNTAIN FAULT OF SUMMIT AND DECATUR WEST DISTRICTS, AND SE INTO BIG LAKE RADIAL FRACTURE SYSTEM. FAULT TRENDS GENERALLY N 30 W WITH 80 TO 90 SW DIP. DUE TO MOVEMENT ON CORNWALL RESURGENT BLOCK IN FOOTWALL, STEEPER PORTIONS OF FAULT CONTAIN WIDER MINERALIZED ZONE THAN LESS STEEPLY DIPPING PORTIONS. DISPLACEMENT DECREASES SE FROM STUNNER PASS TO FOREST KING MTN-MAMMOTH MTN SADDLE. NORTH PART OF VEIN ZONE EXCEEDS 150 FT IN THICKNESS BUT DECREASES TO 50 FT SOUTH OF INTERSECTION WITH ENE-TRENDING EMMA CROSS-FAULT. IN MAMMOTH-REVENUE MINE, VEIN IS ACTUALLY VEIN ZONE CONSISTING OF NETWORK OF INTERWOVEN VEINS GENERALLY PARALLELING MAJOR FAULT BUT WITH CONSIDERABLE VARIATIONS, FROM N 0 TO 25 W IN STRIKE AND 85 NE TO 70 SW IN DIP. LESSER VEINS DIP VARIABLY FROM

Comment (Deposit): LENSES NEAR FOOTWALL. THIRD TYPE OF MATERIAL IS POST-MINERALIZATION, UNSILICIFIED, INCOMPETENT FAULT GOUGE TOWARD FOOTWALL.

Comment (Workings): 125-FT VERTICAL SHAFT WITH 50-FT CROSSCUT DRIVEN EASTWARD

References

Reference (Deposit): PATTON, H.B., 1917, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE PLATORO-SUMMITVILLE MINING DISTRICT, COLORADO: CGS BULL. 13.

Reference (Deposit): LIPMAN, P.W., 1974, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE PLATORO CALDERA AREA, SOUTHEASTERN SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS, SOUTHWESTERN COLORADO: USGS MAP I-828.

Reference (Deposit): BIRD, W.H., 1972, MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE PLATORO CALDERA COMPLEX, SOUTHEAST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS, COLORADO: MTN. GEOLOGIST, V. 9, NO. 4, P. 379-387.

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

Reference (Deposit): BLM MINERAL SURVEYS MS 2371, 7134

Reference (Deposit): BIRD, W.H., 1973, THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE PLATORO CALDERA COMPLEX AND ITS RELATED MINERAL DEPOSITS, SOUTHEAST SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS, COLORADO: COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES THESIS T-1440.

Colorado Mining Photos

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