Yellow Jacket Mine

The Yellow Jacket Mine is a lead, zinc, and silver mine located in Dolores county, Colorado at an elevation of 9,341 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: Yellow Jacket Mine
Secondary: Patented Claims: Phoenix, MS 362
Secondary: Pelican, MS 363
Secondary: Yellow Jacket, MS 374

Commodity

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

Location

State: Colorado
County: Dolores
District: Pioneer (Rico) 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: San Juan N. F.

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: Rico-Argentine Mining Co.
Home Office: Salt Lake City, Ut.
Years: 1946 -

Owner Name: Markey Brothers
Home Office: Rico, Co.
Years: 1946 -

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1880
Year Last Production: 1946
Discovery Year: 1877
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: Polymetallic replacement

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Type: R
Description: San Juan Uplift, Paradox Basin

Type: L
Description: Rico Dome, Yellow Jacket Fault, Nellie Bly Fault, Last Chance Fault

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Oxidation Of Galena To Cerussite

Rocks

Name: Latite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Paleocene

Name: Latite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Pennsylvanian

Name: Latite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Paleocene

Name: Latite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Pennsylvanian

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: ELECTRON-PROBE ANALYSIS SHOWED 39.1% CU, 5.0% ZN, 1.0% FE, 0.8% AG, 15.5% SB, 8.4% AS, 28.1% S.
Analytical Data: ORE ASSAYS FROM 1920S: 3.4 TO 7.396 OZ/TON AG, 10.41 TO 22% PB, 11 TO 21.19% ZN, 0.025 TO 0.775% CU, 0.0034 TO 0.013 OZ/TON AU. ORE ASSAYS FROM 1940S: 5.32 TO 5.45 OZ/TON AG, 17 TO 19.08% PB, 25.47 TO 30% ZN, 0.38 TO 0.81% CU, 0.005 TO 0.01 OZ/TON AU. TETRAHEDRITE-TENNANTITE-BEARING SPHALERITE FROM GRAY COPPER STOPE ON NO. 5 LEVEL CONTAINED 0.8% AG AND LESS THAN 0.1% BI

Materials

Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Pyrolusite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Calcite

Comments

Comment (Workings): MINE DEVELOPED ON SIX LEVELS. RANSOM'S (1901) SECTION OF UPPER LEVELS SHOWS NO.1 PORTAL DRIVEN NW FOR ABOUT 250 FT, JOINING GRAND VIEW SHAFT AND WINZE AND GRAND VIEW NO.4 WORKINGS; STOPES AND RAISES ABOVE TUNNEL. NO.2 (WOODS) LEVEL LOCATED ABOUT 175 FT BELOW NO. 1 LEVEL AND DRIVEN NW FOR ABOUT 230 FT, WITH SEVERAL STOPES, 30-FT WINZE TO SHORT SUBLEVEL, AND 110-FT PARTLY INCLINED WINZE TO 170-FT-LONG STOPED STAR LEVEL. NO. 3 (300-FT, ELEV 9690) LEVEL DRIVEN ABOUT 160 FT NW; NO. 3.5 (300-FT, ELEV 9670) LEVEL LOCATED 140 FT SW OF NO. 3 (MCKNIGHT, 1974, PL.2), EXTENT UNKNOWN. NO.4 (400-FT, ELEV 9618) LEVEL DRIVEN NW WITH MAIN BRACHCHES TO NORTH AND SW, NUMEROUS RAISES, 3800 FT APPROX TOTAL EXTENT OF TUNNELS AND DRIFTS. NO.5 (500-FT, ELEV 9510) LEVEL DRIVEN NW WITH SEVERAL MAJOR BRANCHES AND RAISES, 2800 FT APPROX TOTAL EXTENT OF TUNNELS AND DRIFTS. NO.6 (700-FT, ELEV 9340) LEVEL DRIVEN N 25 W FOR 320 FT, THENCE N 40 E FOR 450 FT TO FACE, WITH 190-FT BRACH TUNNEL DRIVEN N 57 W AT 390 FT

Comment (Workings): ALONG NE BRANCH; 190-FT-LONG LAST CHANCE TUNNEL DRIVEN N 85 W OFF SHORT BRANCH NEAR PORTAL.

Comment (Deposit): SECTION OF NE-DIPPING LOWER AND MIDDLE HERMOSA FM LIMESTONE, SANDSTONE, AND SHALE INTRUDED BY HORNBLENDE LATITE PORPHYRY AND CUT (SOUTH TO NORTH) BY GENERALLY EAST-WEST-TRENDING LAST CHANCE, YELLOW JACKET, AND NELLIE BLY FAULTS ON NORTH FLANK OF RICO DOME. STRUCTURE COMPLICATED BUT GENERALLY ORE DEPOSITS OCCUR AS MINERALIZED FAULTS AND FRACTURES TRENDING N 50 TO 80 W, DIPPING STEEPLY NE TO VERTICAL TO STEEPLY SW AND CONTAINING LOW-GRADE PB-ZN PYRITIC ORE. PARALLEL SUBSIDIARY FRACTURES AND SOME CROSS FRACTURES (BEDDING FAULTS) ARE ALSO MINERALIZED. TWO OR THREE LIMESTONE BEDS IN MIDDLE HERMOSA FM CONTAIN REPLACEMENT SULFIDES NEAR FAULT ZONES. ORES WERE OXIDIZED FROM NO.1 THROUGH STAR LEVELS, LESS THOROUGHLY OXIDIZED BELOW STAR LEVEL, UNOXIDIZED ON NO.3 LEVEL.

Comment (Deposit): Discovery Year: LATE 1870S

Comment (Production): PARTIAL PRODUCTION RECORD. FIGURES UNAVAILABLE FOR YEARS PRIOR TO 1923. NO PRODUCTION REPORTED FOR 1927, 1931-1939, 1941-1944, AND AFTER 1946.

Comment (Location): (LAND STATUS AND ADMINISTRATIVE AREA LOCATIONS CALCULATED USING GIS OVERLAY ANALYSIS FOR SAN JUAN N. F.). NORTH OF SILVER CREEK ON SE SIDE OF SW PROJECTION OF TELESCOPE MTN. ELEV AND LAT-LONG GIVEN (NO. 6 PORTAL) ARE FROM MCKNIGHT, 1974, PL. 1 (1930 BASE). ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1975

Comment (Development): THIS AREA WAS SITE OF SOME OF DISTRICT'S EARLIEST MINES. CLAIMS SURVEYED IN 1880. ALTHOUGH OXIDIZED ORES EASILY EXPLOITED ON UPPER LEVELS, LOWER LEVELS CONTAINED DIFFICULT SPHALERITIC ORES THAT LATER BECAME EXPLOITABLE AFTER PERFECTION OF FLOTATION PROCESS FOR SEPARATING PB AND ZN SULFIDES. MINES IN THIS AREA WERE REVIVED IN 1920S BY FALCON LEAD MINING CO., IDLE AFTER 1930, REVIVED AGAIN IN 1940S BY RICO-ARGENTINE MINING CO.

References

Reference (Deposit): BLM MINERAL SURVEYS MS 362, 363, 364

Reference (Deposit): COLORADO DIV. MINES INF. REPTS. AND ANNUAL OPERATOR REPTS.

Reference (Production): COLORADO DIV. MINES ANNUAL OPERATOR REPTS.

Reference (Deposit): RANSOME, F.L., 1901, THE ORE DEPOSITS OF THE RICO MOUNTAINS, COLORADO: USGS 22D ANN. REPT., PT. 2, P. 375-379.

Reference (Deposit): MCKNIGHT, E.T., 1974, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE RICO DISTRICT, COLORADO: USGS PROF. PAPER 723, P. 89-91, PL. 2.

Reference (Deposit): PRATT, W.P., AND OTHERS, 1969, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE RICO QUADRANGLE, DOLORES AND MONTEZUMA COUNTIES, COLORADO: USGS MAP GQ-797.

Reference (Deposit): CROSS, WHITMAN, AND RANSOME, F.L., 1905, DESCRIPTION OF THE RICO QUADRANGLE: USGS FOLIO 130.

Colorado Mining Photos

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