Wet Mountains District

The Wet Mountains District is a lead, silver, zinc, and copper mine located in Custer county, Colorado.

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: Wet Mountains District
Secondary: Greenhorn

Commodity

Primary: Lead
Primary: Silver
Primary: Zinc
Primary: Copper

Location

State: Colorado
County: Custer
District: Wet Mountains District

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Year: 1916
Time Period: 1906-1916?

Deposit

Record Type: District
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant:

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Stratabound Precambrian sulfide, Colorado and Wyoming

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Type: L
Description: ENE-striking sulfide zones

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: calc-silicate assemblage

Rocks

Name: Granite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Mesoproterozoic

Name: Migmatite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Paleoproterozoic

Name: Amphibolite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Paleoproterozoic

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Galena

Comments

Comment (Reserve-Resource): The resource numbers are from the Marion mine only. Resource quantities at the other deposits in the district have not been estimated. It appears that this district is underexplored and present significant potential for zincc, copper, and silver. Grades of up to 50 oz/ton silver are reported at places but no formal estimate of average silver grade was made for the 1956 resource estimate (data from unpublished Sunshine Mining Co. exploration files, Colorado Geological Survey).

Comment (Location): The largest known deposit is the Marion mine. Other deposits include the Amethyst mine and the Dewey prospect.

Comment (Production): Production was in the early 20th century. Exact figures not known. Workings are fairly extensive at the Marion mine.

Comment (Commodity): Proterozoic stratabound-exhalative sulfide deposits (Sheridan and others, 1990).

Comment (Geology): Sulfide lenses are hosted in gahnite-, garnet-, cordierite- and sapphirine-bearing calc-silicate gneiss unit within a xenolith of Paleoproterozic gneisses enclosed within the Mesoproterozoic San Isabel Granite. Similar setting as the Sedalia, Betty, and Cotopaxi mines.

Comment (Geology): Mineralized lenses strike NE or ENE and dip 45-60 degrees northwest. Mineralized widths are from 1 to 8 meters. The Marion deposit consists of two mineralized zones exposed in workings over a vertical depth of about 110 m. Surface exposures of the mineralized zone are about 200 m long. The larger of the Marion lenses, known as the "Sam Davis vein", averages 5 m in width. The other lens, possibly a faulted segment, is about 1.3 m wide.

Comment (Geology): Sapphirine occurs at the Marion mine, the Amethyst prospect, and an unnamed prospect in the district.

Comment (Location): Amethyst Creek and Saint charles River area, west of San Isabel in the Wet Mountains.

References

Reference (Deposit): Heinrich, E.W., 1981, Precambrian tungsten and copper-zinc skarn deposits of south-central Colorado: Colorado Geological survey Resource Series 21, 115 p.

Reference (Geology): Raymond, W.H., Leiggi, P.A., and Sheridan, D.M., 1980, Sapphirine in Precambrian rocks associated with stratabound sulfide deposits, Custer County, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1513, 22 p.

Reference (Deposit): Sunshine Mining Co. Colorado exploration files, Colorado Geological Survey unpublished data

Reference (Deposit): Sheridan, D.M., Raymond, W.H., Taylor, R.B., and Hasler, J.W., 1990, Metallogenic map of stratabound exhalative and related occurrences in Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-1971, scale 1:1,000,000.

Colorado Mining Photos

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