Selected Mining Districts of Utah by Carl L. Ege Headframe of Centennial Eureka mine, Tintic mining district. ISBN 1-55791-726-4 MISCELLANEOUS PUBLICATION 05-5 UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY a division of Utah Department of Natural Resources 2005 STATE OF UTAH Jon Huntsman, Jr., Governor DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Michael Styler, Executive Director UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Richard G. Allis, Director PUBLICATIONS contact Natural Resources Map/Bookstore 1594 W. North Temple telephone: 801-537-3320 toll-free: 1-888-UTAH MAP website: http://mapstore.utah.gov email: [email protected] THE UTAH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY contact 1594 W. North Temple, Suite 3110 Salt Lake City, UT 84116 telephone: 801-537-3300 website: http://geology.utah.gov Although this product represents the work of professional scientists, the Utah Department of Natural Resources, Utah Geological Survey, makes no warranty, expressed or implied, regarding its suitability for any particular use. The Utah Department of Natural Resources, Utah Geological Sur- vey, shall not be liable under any circumstances for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages with respect to claims by users of this product. The Utah Department of Natural Resources receives federal aid and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex, age, national origin, or disability. For information or complaints regarding discrimination, contact Executive Director, Utah Department of Natural Resources, 1594 West North Temple #3710, Box 145610, Salt Lake City, UT 84116-5610 or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 1801 L. Street, NW, Wash- ington DC 20507. Printed on recycled paper 1/05 CONTENTS Introduction . .1 What is a mining district? . .1 How many mining districts are there in Utah and are they still active . .1 What mineral resources are mined in Utah’s most productive mining districts . .1 What are the most common types of ore deposits found in Utah’s mining districts? . .1 What about landownership and safety issues? . .2 Selected Mining Districts . .3 Gold Hill (Clifton) . .3 Spor Mountain . .6 Bingham (West Mountain) . .9 Ophir . .12 Mercur (Camp Floyd) . .14 Tintic . .16 Mountain Lake . .19 Big Cottonwood . .21 Little Cottonwood . .23 American Fork . .25 Park City . .26 San Francisco . .29 Iron Springs . .31 Silver Reef (Harrisburg) . .33 Principal Uranium Districts . .35 White Canyon . .35 Lisbon Valley . .37 Acknowledgments . .38 Selected Bibliography . .39 Glossary . .43 APPENDICES APPENDIX A Descriptive List of Minerals . .45 APPENDIX B Generalized Geologic Time Scale . .56 APPENDIX C Mineral Resources of the Selected Mining Districts . .57 BOX ELDER CACHE Bear 84 Lake 89 15 Logan 30 STATE OF UTAH N Brigham 16 City Great RICH 10 0 10 20 30 40 miles WEBER Salt 15 Ogden 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 kilometers Lake MORGAN DAVIS 84 80 TOOELE SUMMIT DAGGETT Bountiful 80 Wendover SALT Big Cottonwood 80 Bingham SALT Park City LAKE LAKE 191 (West Mountain) CITY Sandy Park City Tooele 15 WASATCH Vernal Ophir Lehi Little Cottonwood Gold Hill 40 (Clifton) Mercur Utah American Fork (Camp Floyd) Lake Provo 40 Duchesne Faust r "Pony 36 UTAH e Express" 15 iv Road Tintic 191 R 6 Santaquin 6 JUAB Eureka DUCHESNE Spor Mountain Nephi 6 Price 174 15 CARBON UINTAH MILLARD 89 Delta EMERY 6 GRAND 191 Manti n 50 e e 266 r 50 Castle Dale G 6 50 SANPETE 70 Fillmore Sevier 237 Salina 10 Lake 70 15 Richfield er 191 iv R 21 89 24 70 SEVIER Moab BEAVER Milford PIUTE WAYNE San Francisco Loa Hanksville Beaver Lisbon Valley o IRON d GARFIELD ra lo 15 o 130 C Monticello Iron Springs Panguitch 666 Parowan White Canyon 56 Cedar City SAN JUAN 95 WASHINGTON 89 KANE Silver Reef 191 San Riv (Harrisburg) Lake Ju er an Leeds Powell St. George 15 Kanab 89 Location of Selected Mining Districts of Utah INTRODUCTION Whether you are a geologist, history buff, or rockhound, this booklet will be a helpful guide to Utah’s mining districts. The booklet is divided up into three parts: the first part pro- vides general information on what a mining district is, how many mining districts are in Utah, types of mineral deposits found at these districts, and landownership issues. The second part includes individual mining-district discussions containing information on location, produc- tion, history, geology, mineralogy, and current/future operations. The third part includes a glossary of geologic terms and other useful resources in the appendices, such as a descriptive list of minerals found in the districts, geologic time scale, and a list of mineral resources of the mining districts. What is a mining district? districts in this booklet were selected because they have been the most productive districts in Utah. A mining district is a collection of mines that have been located and worked under specific rules and guidelines created by the miners and mine operators. What mineral resources are mined in Utah’s After the Mining Act of 1872, the federal government most productive mining districts? took over administration of many of the rules and reg- Economically, the most important mineral re- ulations concerning claim staking, property owner- sources mined in Utah are copper, gold, silver, lead, ship, and mining. Some districts have defined politi- zinc, and iron. Other mineral resources mined include cal boundaries, natural boundaries (rivers or ridge beryllium, fluorspar, uranium, vanadium, molybde- crests), or no specific boundaries at all. A district can num, manganese, tungsten, antimony, bismuth, cobalt, contain hundreds of mines and can include a variety of different materials from building stone to metallic arsenic, and mercury (see appendix C for more infor- resources. mation). How many mining districts are there in What are the most common types of ore de- Utah and are they still active? posits found in Utah’s mining districts? Utah has over 150 mining districts. These dis- The most common types of ore deposits found in tricts are in a variety of geographic areas, from the Utah’s mining districts include (1) bedded replace- mountains of the Wasatch to the deserts of the Great ment deposits, (2) vein or fissure deposits, and (3) Basin. Today, many of these districts are inactive, but skarn deposits. These deposits are found in many of they could become active again if mining occurs on the mining districts throughout the state and represent any of the properties within the district. Many of the some of the most productive deposits for their miner- districts described here are considered active. The 15 al value. Bedded replacement deposit in limestone Skarn deposits in limestone Vein or fissure deposit in igneous rock F A T U L L U T A F INTRUSIVE IGNEOUS ROCK Most Common Types of Ore Deposits in Utah’s Mining Districts 2 Utah Geological Survey Bedded replacement ore deposits result when ris- What about landownership and safety ing hydrothermal (hot) fluids from a cooling magma body come into contact with favorable carbonate issues? rocks, such as limestone or dolomite. These fluids are If you venture out to any of Utah’s mining dis- generally rich in dissolved metals (gold, silver, lead, tricts, please remember to respect private property and copper, or iron) and move upward along breaks or mining claims. Seek permission from the present faults in the Earth’s crust. Chemical reactions be- landowner or mine operator before planning a visit to tween the fluids and the carbonate rock cause the met- any mining district. als to be brought out of solution, which replace the When exploring any mining district, remember to mineral composition of the original rock. stay out of abandoned mines. There are an estimated Vein or fissure ore deposits have clearly defined, 20,000 abandoned mine openings in Utah that pose a abrupt margins and are roughly tabular in shape. They variety of dangers to the unsuspecting explorer: cave- are considered the product of deposition from fluids in ins, falls, undetonated explosives, pockets of deadly open fractures or fissures. These deposits also contain air and gases, radioactivity, hazardous waste, water crystallized pockets of the vein minerals. hazards, and animals. The explorer should also be Skarn ore deposits form when cooling magma familiar with mine-dump toxicity before visiting a deep under the surface contacts limestone. The heat mining district. Some mine dumps contain elevated of the magma and fluids from the magma cause levels of toxic chemicals, such as uranium, arsenic, recrystallization of the limestone and the formation of and mercury that can be harmful if digested or in- new minerals such as garnet, diopside, and wollas- haled. tonite. Later, metal-bearing fluids from the intrusion deposit ore minerals. Selected Mining Districts of Utah 3 Selected Mining Districts Gold Hill Mining District (Clifton) The Gold Hill mine is one of the largest mines in the Gold Hill district. Explanation Location: The Gold Hill mining district h is in the northern part of the Deep Creek tc in Approximate u ta D n boundary of Mountains of western Utah in Tooele ou M district County. The district can be reached by N Shaft driving west from Salt Lake City along I-80 to Wen- h s Open pit dover, Nevada, then southwest on U.S. Highway 93A To a W for approximately 27 miles. The town of Gold Hill is 93A Adit l il Rube to the east via paved and gravel roads. Many mines H Gold mine Site are visible in the immediate area of the town. The dis- old Alvarado mine trict can also be reached by traveling south from G Tooele along Utah State Highway 36 to the Pony Gold Hill Express Road (which is a dirt road out of Faust). Turn Cane west onto the Pony Express Road; several miles past Springs Gold Hill mine mine U.S.