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Du Pont Tunnel

Prospect in Gunnison county in Colorado, United States with commodities Niobium (Columbium), REE, Titanium, Metal, Iron, Manganese, Thorium, Zinc, Phosphorus-Phosphates
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10014564
MRDS ID D011389
Record type Site
Current site name Du Pont Tunnel

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -107.06701, 38.25944 (WGS84)
Elevation 2573
Relative position 20.7 MILES S 22 W FROM GUNNISON
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Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Gunnison

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 046N 002W 11 SE OF NE OF NW Colorado

Comments on the location information

  • NEAR NW BASE OF IRON HILL ON SOUTH SIDE OF DELDORADO CREEK, 2 MILES SE OF POWDERHORN AND 0.85 MILE NW OF IRON HILL SUMMIT. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1976

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Niobium (Columbium) Primary
REE Secondary
Titanium, Metal Tertiary
Iron Tertiary
Manganese Tertiary
Thorium Tertiary
Zinc Tertiary
Phosphorus-Phosphates Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Pyrochlore Ore
Anatase Gangue
Apatite Gangue
Barite Gangue
Bastnaesite Gangue
Biotite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Fluorite Gangue
Ilmenite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Monazite Gangue
Phlogopite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Rutile Gangue
Sphene Gangue
Synchisite Gangue
Zircon Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Oxidation Of Pyrite To Hematite And Goethite; Oxidation Of Rhodochrosite(?) To Mn Oxides

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Carbonatite, Intrusive
    Rock unit name Carbonatite
    Rock description Carbonatite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Carbonatite, Intrusive

Nearby scientific data

(1) -107.06701, 38.25944
ListMap

Geologic structures

Type Description Terms
Regional Gunnison Uplift, San Juan Volcanic Field
Local Iron Hill Alkalic Complex, Cimarron Fault, Powderhorn Stock

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Both metallic and non-metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant No
Discovery year 1956
Discovery method Ore-Mineral In Place

Mining district

District name White Earth (Powderhorn) District

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Humphreys Mineral Industries, Inc., Denver, Co. And Raymond Kaiser Engineers, Inc., Oakland,
    First year 1983
  • Type Owner
    Owner Buttes Oil And Gas Co.
    Home office Oakland, Ca.
    First year 1983

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 111.25M
    Overall length 111.25M

Comments on the workings information

  • 365-FT-LONG TUNNEL DRIVEN GENERALLY SE; NUMEROUS DRILL HOLES

Comments on development

  • INTEREST IN NB2O5 PRODUCTION.
  • FOLLOWING ATTEMPTS TO MINE VERMICULITE IN AREA IN 1930S AND 1940S, MINNESOTA INVESTORS TURNED POWDERHORN PROPERTY OVER TO HUMPHREYS ENGINEERING COMPANY, WHO CONDUCTED TI EXPLORATION AND DRILLING AND PERFECTED PROCESS FOR PRODUCTION OF PEROVSKITE CONCENTRATES. IN 1956, HUMPHREYS INTERESTED DUPONT IN PROPERTY. DUPONT'S CHIEF GEOLOGIST, ROBERT GROGAN, RECOGNIZED IRON HILL AS A CARBONATITE BASED ON HIS EXAMINATION OF AFRICAN CARBONATITES. FOLLOWING ITS ACQUISITION OF PROPERTY IN 1956, DUPONT BEGAN NB EXPLORATION, INCLUDING DRILLING AND TUNNEL DRIVING IN 1957-1958. ENGINEERING STUDY ON MINING AND CONCENTRATING METHODS AND COSTS DONE BY STEARNS-ROGER, AND ORE DRESSING STUDY DONE BY COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES RESEARCH INSTITUTE. BUTTES OIL AND GAS ACQUIRED PROPERTY IN 1968 AND BEGAN INTENSIVE STUDIES, INCLUDING GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYING, DRILLING, MARKET STUDIES, COMPUTER ORE RESERVE ANALYSES, AND ECONOMIC MODELLING, MOSTLY AIMED AT TIO2 PRODUCTION WITH BY-PRODUCT RARE EARTHS BUT WITH CONTINUED

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
USGS Mineral Resources Data System MRDS D011389

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    HEDLUND, D.C., AND OLSON, J.C., 1975, GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE POWDERHORN QUADRANGLE, GUNNISON AND SAGUACHE COUNTIES, COLORADO: USGS MAP GQ-1178.

  • Deposit

    THOMPSON, J.V., 1983, ECONOMIC POTENTIAL OF THE CARBONATITE AND ALKALIC STOCK AT POWDERHORN, GUNNISON COUNTY, COLORADO, IN HANDFIELD, R.C., ED., GUNNISON GOLD BELT AND POWDERHORN CARBONATITE FIELD TRIP GUIDEBOOK: DREGS, P. 32-42.

  • Deposit

    OLSON, J.C., AND HEDLUND, D.C., 1981, ALKALIC ROCKS AND RESOURCES OF THORIUM AND ASSOCIATED ELEMENTS IN THE POWDERHORN DISTRICT, GUNNISON COUNTY, COLORADO: USGS PROF. PAPER 1049-C.

  • Deposit

    COLORADO DIV. MINES INF. REPTS.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit CARBONATITE STOCK LIES WEST OF CENTER OF IRON HILL COMPLEX, INTRUDED BETWEEN PYROXENITE ON NE AND SE AND SHEARED GRANITE AND DUBOIS FELSITE ON SW. STEEPLY DIPPING TO VERTICAL FOLIATION IS MARKED BY APATITE-RICH SEAMS OR SEGREGATIONS, BY PHLOGOPITE-BIOTITE SEAMS, OR BY STRAINED AND DEFORMED CARBONATE CRYSTALS. TEXTURE VARIES FROM COARSE GRAINED TO PEGMATITIC TO FINE GRAINED. PYROCHLORE IS DISSEMINATED THROUGH STOCK AND CARBONATITE DIKES AS TINY, WEAKLY ZONED, OCTAHEDRAL CRYSTALS. CONTAINED RADIOACTIVITY COULD BE DUE TO TH IN PYROCHLORE OR TO MONAZITE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-FEB-1984 Schwochow, Stephen D. Colorado Geological Survey