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Revenue-Virginius Mine

Producer in Ouray county in Colorado, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Arsenic, Copper, Lead, Zinc
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10264384
MAS/MILS ID 80910004
Record type Site
Current site name Revenue-Virginius Mine
Alternate or previous names Revenue Tunnel Group of Mines

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Main Entrance
Geographic coordinates: -107.7494, 37.9739 (WGS84)
Elevation 2300
Location accuracy 100(meters)
(click for info)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Colorado Ouray

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
New Mexico 043 N 008 W 21 Colorado

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Arsenic Secondary
Copper Tertiary
Lead Tertiary
Zinc Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Ankerite Unknown
Barite Unknown
Calcite Unknown
Chalcopyrite Unknown
Fluorite Unknown
Galena Unknown
Pyrite Unknown
Rhodochrosite Unknown
Rhodonite Unknown
Sericite Unknown
Sphalerite Unknown
Tennantite Unknown
Tetrahedrite Unknown

Nearby scientific data

Main Entrance (1) -107.7494, 37.9739
ListMap

Ore body information

  • Strike N45E
    Dip 65W
    Thickness 1.5M
    Width 1200M
    Length 1400M
    Field Value
    Type of Orebody #1 FISSURE VEIN
    Shape of Orebody #1 IRREGULAR
    Type of Orebody #2 REPLACEMENT
    Type of Orebody #3 FISSURE VEIN
    Primary mode of Origin HYDROTHERMAL
    Secondary mode of Origin CONT METASOMATIC
    Primary Ore Control FOLDING
    Secondary Ore Control CONTACT ZONE
    Degree of Wallrock Alter. MODERATE
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #1 UNKNOWN
    Strike And Dip N45E
    Avg. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 3
    Date of Last Modification 840313

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF THE SAN JUAN TUFF AND THE SILVERTON SERIES IS 2.75.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1876
Discoverer William Feland
Mining method Open Stope - Overhand
Year of first production 1876
Milling method Flotation

Mining district

District name Sneffels

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Patented

Land status

Ownership category Mixed

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Revenue-Virginius Mining Co.
    ID 503528
    Interest 100
    Home office Boulder, Co 80302
    Year 1990
    Last year 1986
  • Type Owner
    Owner Albert E. Reynolds and John H. Maugham
    Interest 100
    Year 2013
    First year 1880
  • Type Owner
    Owner Descendants of Albert Reynolds
    Year 2013
  • Type Owner
    Owner Star Mine Operations, LLC
    Home office Ouray, CO
    Year 2013
  • Type Owner
    Owner Silver Star Resources
    Home office http://slvrstar.com/ (website accessed 18-NOV-2013) 1675 Larimer Street, Suite 820 Denver, CO 80202 USA Phone: (303)534-6500 Fax: (303)534-0102
    Year 2013
  • Type Unknown
    Owner Sunshine Precious Metals, Inc.
    Home office Allan R Young 5956 Sherry Ln. Ste. 1621 Dallas TX 75225-0000 (214) 265-1377
    Year 2013
    First year 1980

Comments on the ownership information

  • REVENUE-VIRGINIUS MINING CO. ADDRESS: 250 ARAPAHOE (SUITE 305 PARK WEST BLDG), BOULDER, CO 80302 HECLA MINING CO. WROTE OFF DEVELOPMENT OF MINE AND DROPPED LEASE IN NOVEMBER 1986.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1981
    Inferred 907,000mt ore
    Demonstrated 907,000mt ore
    Indicated 907,000mt ore
    Total resources 1,814,000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Lead 2 wt-pct Lead Trace 1981
    Arsenic 1 wt-pct Arsenic Major 1981

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • SALISBURY 7/28/80 MEMO SHOWS SILVER IS SECOND COMMODITY. RANCHERS EXPL & DEVELOP HAD DEVELOP PLANS (MNG ENG., MARCH, 80, P.262). NO CURRENT DATA EXISTS

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Field Value
    MAS Development Schedule # 1
    Mining Record # 1
    Status of Mining Method PROPOSED
    Mining Method OVERHAND SHRINKAGE 10-67
    Percent Recovery 85
    Hardness of Rock HARDROCK FISSURED WITH MODERATE WATER
    Rock Characteristics ONE SYSTEM OF WEAKNESS PLANES
    Rock Support Chars. SUPPORTING
    Mine Support Chars. OPEN STEEL SETS
    Capacity 227
    Capacity Units MT ORE/DAY
    Unit Production Cost 65.67
    Units of Production $/MT ORE
    Operating Days per Year 250
    Operating Shifts per Day 2
    Year of Information 1983

Comments on other economic factors

  • CONCENTRATOR LISTED IS ACTUALLY THE CAMP BIRD MILL WHICH IS ASSUMED TO BE THE CUSTOM MILL IN THIS EVALUATION
  • THE ORE IS CUSTOM MILLED ELSEWHERE AND THERE IS NO MILL AT THE MINE SITE
  • Paulson (Ouray Co. Historical Society) describes the Revenue Mill; "By 1896 the Revenue Mill was processing 300 tons of ore per day. Water for the mill was taken from the drainage box in the tunnel. The water temperature was 60 degrees Fahrenheit all year long, which allowed the mill to operate in the winter without the water freezing." Therefore, for at least some of the mine's life there was a mill on site. The mill burned down in the 1920s.

Reference information

Links to other databases

Agency Database name Acronym Record ID Notes
U.S. Bureau of Mines Minerals Availability System MAS 80910004
Mine Safety and Health Administration MSHA MSHA 503528

Bibliographic references

  • General

    Paulson, Don, 2013, History of the Revenue Mine, Ouray Historical Society; accessed 18-nov-2013 at http://ouraynews.com/index.php/ouray/31-ouray-events/796-history-of-the-revenue-mine

  • Ownership

    Silver Star Resources, 2013, Company Website, accessed 18-nov-2013 at http://slvrstar.com/Projects.html

  • Reserve-Resource

    RANCHER'S EXPLOR & DEVEL CORP 1981 ANNUAL REPORT

  • Deposit

    BURBANK,W.S. STRUCTURAL CONTROL OF ORE DEPOSITION IN THE RED MOUNTAIN, SNEFFELS, AND TELLURIDE DISTRICTS OF THE N JUAN MOUNTAINS, COLORADO. COLORADO SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY PROCEEDINGS, VOLUME 14, NO. 5, 1941, 120 PP.

  • General

    Colorado Department of Natural Resources, Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining & Safety, Mining Data: accessed 18-NOV-2013 at http://mining.state.co.us/Reports/MiningData/Pages/SearchByMine.aspx

  • General

    WAR MINERALS REPORT, APRIL 1943, 17 PP.

  • General

    HITE, ALAN G. DEPOSIT SUMMARY REPORT, ZINC, CAMP BIRD MINE, OURAY COUNTY, COLORADO. NOV. 1980, 46 PP. PROPERTY UPDATED JUL 1990.

  • Deposit

    RANCHERS EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION. 1981 ANNUAL REPORT, 1982 ANNUAL REPORT, 1982 10-K REPORT, 1983 ANNUAL REPORT

  • Deposit

    LARSON, ROBERT, PROJECT MANAGER OF REVENUE-VIRGINIUS MINE, RANCHERS EXPLORATION & DEVELOPMENT CORP. PERSONAL COMMUNICATION, FEB. 2, 1984.

  • Deposit

    POINTS,JIM, MANAGER OF FEDERAL RESOURCES CORPORATION, OURAY, COLORADO. PERSONAL COMMUNICATION, FEB. 6, 1984.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit WAR MINERALS REPORT, APRIL 1943, 17 PP. HITE, ALAN G. DEPOSIT SUMMARY REPORT, ZINC, CAMP BIRD MINE, OURAY COUNTY, COLORADO. NOV. 1980, 46 PP. PROPERTY UPDATED JUL 1990.
General History of the Revenue Mine by Don Paulson, Curator Ouray County Historical Society Saturday, 23 February 2013 03:39 Part 1 of 2: The Star Mining Company has recently reopened the Revenue Mine, one of the largest and most historic mines in Ouray County. The history of this mine begins with the 1876 platting of the Virginius Lode by William Feland. The Virginius is located about eight miles west of Ouray at over 12,000 feet in Governor Basin. The Virginius changed hands several times over the next few years until it was sold in 1880 to Albert E. Reynolds and John H. Maugham for $100,000, quite a princely sum for the time. Reynolds had been a sutler (a civilian seller of goods to military forces in the field) in Indian Territory, an operator of Indian trading posts and the owner of a large cattle ranch in Texas. Reynolds immediately brought former acquaintances to help him with the Virginius. John Ashenfelter, the famous Ouray freighter, came to Ouray at the request of Reynolds. Ashenfelter soon became the largest freighter in Ouray County. Hubbard Reed, with the help of his brothers Caleb and David, managed most of Reynolds' mining interests from 1880 to 1901. Under Reed’s management the Virginius and its successor, the Revenue Mine, were wildly successful. In the fall of 1888 Reynolds and Reed switched the Virginius, now known as the Caroline Mining Company, from steam power to electrical power. The electricity (direct current) was produced in three plants on Canyon Creek and powered by Pelton Water Wheels. They also had a coal fired electrical power plant in Ouray that was used when the water flow in Canyon Creek was too low to turn the Pelton Wheels. Transportation was greatly helped in 1883 when Otto Mears completed a toll road to the mine and in 1886 when the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad completed their branch to Ouray. Reed worked tirelessly to get the Mears toll road improved and made free. He finally succeeded in 1890 when Mears relinquished control of the road for what he considered a token payment. In 1888 Reynolds started construction of the Revenue Tunnel. This was the first mining tunnel designed to drain vertical shafts and remove the ore at a much lower level. The 7,741 foot tunnel was completed in 1893 when it struck the Virginius vein 2000 feet below the Virginius Mine. Now ore could be fed by gravity to the Revenue Tunnel and hauled out without hoisting it to the surface. A large 60-stamp concentrating mill was built at the tunnel portal. By 1896 the Revenue Mill was processing 300 tons of ore per day. Water for the mill was taken from the drainage box in the tunnel. The water temperature was 60 degrees Fahrenheit all year long, which allowed the mill to operate in the winter without the water freezing. The Revenue Tunnel Mining Company produced more than $300,000 in profit during each of the next eight years. The Revenue operated three four-story boarding houses which each held 100 miners. The boarding houses had electric lights in each room, were heated by steam and had reading rooms and indoor plumbing. The men were fed well and ate off china plates. In 1905 the Revenue was the first Colorado Mine to use electricity to power its mine cars and light its interior. Hubbard Reed resigned in 1901 and Reynolds retired to Salt Lake City in 1911. By the time of Reynolds’ death in 1921 the Revenue Mine had produced gold and silver ore worth more than $28 million.
General History of the Revenue Mine by Don Paulson, Curator Ouray County Historical Society Saturday, 23 February 2013 03:39 Part 2 of 2: Over the next several decades the Revenue Mine was leased to a series of mining companies with varying success. The mine received a terrible blow when the mill burned in the 1920s. Attempts to reopen the Revenue occurred about every decade into the 1990s with each group confirming the ore potential that everyone knew was still there. It seemed that just as the Revenue was to again start producing, silver prices fell and the companies backed out or defaulted on their leases. Until recently the mine was still wholly owned by the descendants of Albert Reynolds. The Ouray mining community hopes that the latest endeavors by Star Mining will bring the Revenue back to its former glory.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 1995-03-07 Frandsen U.S. Bureau of Mines
Updater 2013-11-18 Wilson, Anna B U.S. Geological Survey Revised slightly based on news reports of mine accident on 17-nov-2013.