<br />CARIBOU-GRAND ISLAND DISTRICT
<br />It/2 miles south\vest of Eldora, is a large stock of man-
<br />zoniteporphyry of group 3 and a small stock of coalse]}•
<br />porphyritic quartz monzmnite of group 0 (pl. 7 and fig.
<br />12). To the east and north of Eldora there are se+•eral
<br />east+vard-trending dikes of hornblende monzonite poI•-
<br />phyry and hornblende and biotite andesite, which form
<br />part of an.estettsive dike system that can be traced east
<br />fot• many miles.
<br />The best known veins of the district are about half a
<br />mile sotltlt of Eldora. They contain tellurides and
<br />have been described by Lindgren ° and Rickard.T They
<br />have a general east-west trend, are commonly 1 to 3
<br />feet wide, and consist of sheeted zones containing several
<br />Ital•ro+c seams of ore. TJIe outcrops of the veins are very
<br />inconspicuous and are more likely to be indicated by
<br />depressions than by prominent outcrops.
<br />The valuable metals in the ore are chiefly gold and
<br />u little silver; the valuable minerals are tellurides of
<br />gold, of which sylvanite and petzite are believed to bc:
<br />the Inost important. The tellurides occur as small
<br />specks in afine-grained "horn" quarti or in greenish
<br />1oscoelite, rarely as well-crystallized mittet•als. Sparse
<br />shall grains of pyrite are present in the altel•ed country
<br />rock. 1lfolybdenite is moderately abundant but is in
<br />most places extremely fine-grained and intergrown with
<br />barite, Its presence in dumps is indicated by deep-blue
<br />stains, which were thought by Lindgren to be i]se-
<br />mannite. The chief gangue minerals are barite, quartz,
<br />roscoelite, and hm•n quar[•r.. The horn quartz is the
<br />most abundant, but barite is also abundant. Roscoelite
<br />is very prominent in the ores of the Dfogul tunnel and
<br />the Enterprise mine. It forms dark yello\v-green
<br />masses intergrown with quartz or irregularly dis-
<br />tributed iu the ore. and in many places contains visible
<br />speck of the tellurides. Some of [he roscoelite is inter-
<br />groo'n +\•ith pyrite and may be surrounded and invaded
<br />by fine granular quartz with some adularia. 'hhe wall
<br />rock close to the veins is largely altered to sericite and
<br />contains disseminated pyrite. Vugs are fairly com-
<br />mon in the vein and are frequently occupied by cn•stals
<br />of gangue minerals. Lindgren believed that these de-
<br />posits were not formed at great depth and that the
<br />origina' surface could not have been much different
<br />from the ganera] ]erel of the peneplain marked by the
<br />high ridge lines of the region.
<br />A fe\v mines near Lost Lake, 21/z miles \vest of El-
<br />dora, have had a small output. 1ltost of the ore has
<br />come from the Nor\cay, .lta \~, and Revenge veins near
<br />the intersections of the northeastward-trending Nor-
<br />+\'ay and I+la R' with the north\cestward-trending Re-
<br />venge. (.See pl. 3.) Small bodies of high-grade tel•
<br />luride ore have been mined on these three veins, and
<br />° LIn~Fren, \caldemnr. Come FoIJ and hm FSlen dcpoAits of Boulder
<br />Counq', Colo.: Econ. Ccolo6y. col. ^_. pU. 454-480. IOOi.
<br />' Rickn rd, '1•. A., 1'he Veins of Boulder County and Rnlgoorlie: .\m
<br />fmt. )tin. EnF Trnns., vol. 33, aa. 587-568, 3003.
<br />197
<br />it is repotted that most of the output has come from tlm
<br />Na•\+•ay and i\fa \'V veins. The Revenge shaft +vas full
<br />of water in 1938 and had not been \vorked since 1914,
<br />but development +vas being carried at in the Norway
<br />tunnel.
<br />REPRESE\TATI OE ~IINES
<br />The Enterprise vein ° crops out at an nltitude of about
<br />9,400 feet on the north side of Spencer -Iountain about.
<br />half a mile south of Eldora. It is developed by a shaft
<br />about 400 feet deep with 5 levels and about 1,200 feet
<br />of drifts, The i\Iogul and S\cathmore tunnels cut +chat
<br />is supposed to be the Enterprise vein at greater depth.
<br />The vein fissure according to Rickard is about 5 feet
<br />wide and is traversed by numerous small seams of darh-
<br />gray horn quartz. This quartz contained enough tel-
<br />luride, chiefly petzite, throughout a 2- to 21/•z-foot \cidth
<br />of vein to yield an average of 2 ounces of gold to the
<br />ton locally. About 1,800 tons of ore from the Etttel•-
<br />prise shaft, treated in the Bailey mill at Eldora in 169fi
<br />and 1897, is said to hove averaged about $10.80 per ton,
<br />mainly in gold.
<br />The Mogul tunnel; the portal of which is near El-
<br />dora station, extends southwest and south for more
<br />than 1,400 feet and cuts a Itltmber of easterly to nol•tll-
<br />easterly telluride veins, most of which are only slightly
<br />mineralized. It cuts the Enterprise vein 000 feet belo++•
<br />•.I-le outcl•op. Ore taken from the 1\Iogul tunnel in 1005
<br />is said to have averaged about nn ounce of gold to the
<br />ton. Ore from this tunnel oll the Enterprise vein is
<br />said to have averaged behceen 1 and 2 omtces to the ton.
<br />Eluch sloping has been done along one of the telluride
<br />veins for a distance of about 400 feet.
<br />The Swathmore tunnel, a shat distance above Eldora,
<br />trends southward and cuts the Enterprise and three
<br />other veins. Ore in the bins showed horn quartz, fine-
<br />grained p}'rite, and some roscoelite. Tellurides m'e said
<br />to be present in nat•row seams of horn quartz one-six-
<br />teenth to one-ei 11th of an inch \eide cutting the
<br />roscoelite.
<br />CARIBOU-GRAND ISLAND DISTRICT
<br />The Caribou-Grand Island district lies in the \cest-
<br />central part of Boulder County, at an altitude of about
<br />:0,000 feet, at the head of Coon Trail Creek. It is
<br />about 20 miles west of Boulder and about 4 miles north-
<br />north\vest of Nederland, frmn \chich.it is easily accessi-
<br />ble by road. The rich silver ores of the district were
<br />discovered in 1S60 by 1Villiant \lartin, George Little,
<br />and Samuel Conger. Conger \cas better known for his
<br />discovery of the tungsten district to the east many years
<br />later. In 1310 a wagon road \cas constructed to the
<br />district and shipments commenced to Blackha\ck, 20
<br />miles a\vay. Dlining developed rapidly during the nest
<br />Bnslln, G. S., and HIII, ]. \L, ou clt., p. 788.
<br />Llcm.
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