ORE CHANNELS

CH
by D P

at east gintic
tintic in the property of the east gintic tintic de this ridge attain altitudes of feet or more the long-
company in a small limestone area surrounded est gulches and canyons have a northeasterly trend and in
by rhyolite is a mineralized outcrop underlain by a small the main follow lines weakened by faulting
ore body from which over 50 carloads of silver lead ore vater is rather scarce there are no perennial streams
water
were mined and shipped in earlier days evidently this in the east gintic
tintic mountains springs and wells in debris
ore body incited development in neighboring ground which filled depressions in the impervious volcanic rocks furnish
led to the discovery of the famous ore bodies of the gintic tintic the water supply
standard mine this mine has today what is in all proba- range of formations
bility the largest proved silver lead ore bodies in the united erosion has exposed a great range of formations in the
states naturally the discovery of this immense and rich tintic mining area they consist of sedimentary intrusive
gintic
ore mass incited developments all over the east gintic tintic area and extrusive rocks
the sedimentary rocks exposed belong to the ca cars
the east gintic
tintic mining region except a few small lime- brian ordovician devonian and carboniferous system s
7

stone areas is overlain by a thick flow of rhyolite a clayey

rock that was laid down prior to the period of ore deposit- the gintic quartzite of lower cambrian age
tintic qua b is the lowest
ion evidently due to its clayey nature the fissures that formation shown it extends along the west base of the th
range and is over feet thick overlying tilethe
entered this rock were soon obliterated so that ore solutions
could not penetrate it and hence veins are not traceable at are about feet of limestone ranging in age from mid-
the surface obviously then the prospecting for new ore dle cambrian to upper mississippian
the main limestone mass lies east of the quartzite
bodies is speculative and should depend in a large part on intrusion it
a detailed study of the district especially embracing the and north and northeast of a large
is irregular in outline and it covers an area of about six
i

iro bable location and habits of the principal mineralized

probable
square miles it is bordered and capped to the north and
fissures the ore channels
tuffs flows so
east by rhyolite and and
the geology and ore deposits of gintic tintic have been A few small isolated patches of limestone crop out in
well described by careful and competent observers in the
publications of the united states geological survey and the rhyolite area the lime stones vary in color texture and
composition they are from light gray to bluish black from fram
only enough of these subjects will be gone into here to en-
able the reader to obtain a comprehensive picture of tin dense to coarse grained and are alternate beds of
tics ore channels
bics sandy dol and pure lime stones the lime stones in
contact with the are more or less metamor-
th tintic mining district embraces an area roughly
the gintic phosed A zone of metamorphic limestone extends continu-
five miles north south by six miles east west on the east
the main
ously from tile body to the carisa stock and
and west slopes of the central portion of the east gintic tintic the rhyolite
mountains in juab and utah counties about sixty miles
farther northeastward and disappears beneath tile I
1

south of salt lake city utah

flow
the mining area include nion
the first discovery of ore in the gintic tintic district was the igneous rocks in
rhyolite dikes and rhyolite
stocks and dikes a few small
de in 1869 in the sunbeam mine along a fissure in the
nade breccia
brec s
cias and
and flows there is no evidence of
and tuffs similarity of
nion soon after that other mines were opened up in the age of the igneous rocks in this district but
ais rock and rich shipping ore was found cropping out in
this age farther cast
east suggests
these rocks to those of known
the
ie limestone area north of the onte since then the
onre that they are tertiary and
growth of the district has been steady for over fifty years stock is exposed north south
it has
lt as been a continuous producer mo most t of the old mines the wain
main
elliptical in outline and cov-
i cast of silver city it is rudely
aree still shipping ore and today it ra n ks as one of the main
ranks ers an area of about three square miles A minor nion
re producing areas of utah
ire main stock near the carisa mine
curves stock lies northeast of the bodies ot
of
the main ridge of the east gintic tintic mountainsthrough farther northeast are outcrops of small
small at the
and wobbles in a general northwesterly direction gb while these dik elike bodies are
wee heart of the mining areaarca and the crest of this ridge es the zuma and iron king show
sho A

surface mine workings at

tabblis hes the boondry line of utah and juab counties ero
lishes that they are much larger at depth
on has sculptured the district in such a manner that the
sion
great importance of the
Po graphy is rather rugged gintic
typography tintic valley to the wp
hect important intrusion
thegintic districtis the latest known
has
nas an elevation of feet goshen valley to the east is therefore alit kusiv into all
about reach in the tintic and it is is
ottoo feet high while portions of the main fridae
other rocks with which it is in contact behe
ovations of over
elevations feet and the principal peaks along
economically the most important rock in this area for the 3 the
small dik elike bodies of cropping
propping
ore deposits occur along veins in this rock and are also out in the rhyolite area several miles to the northeast of
found in the adjacent sedimentary rocks and porphyriesries the main mass and which as proved by mine workings are
along fissures faults and fracture zones intimately asso much larger at depth
socia ted with the 4 and indications of doming with a northeast trend
that the exposed south of mammoth is a in the limestone area of east gintic
tintic roughly parallel to the
large intrusion only partly exposed and continues north- long axis of the exposed mass and to the major
easterly for several miles not far beneath the surface is set of fissures developed therein
strongly supported by the following facts rhyolite flows cover the northern part and nearly all of
1 metamorphism 6 a zone
P hism of the lime stones along the east gintic
tintic section of the mining district no ore has
striking northeast from its contact with the main mass of Evid etly due to its clayey nature
been found in this rock evidently
mineral izing solutions
the rhyolite acted as a dam to the mineralizing
2 the
small stock of near the carisa structural features
mine northeast of the main stock there is evidence that the large stock of
south of mammoth has
domed the sedimentary
rocks and it is probable
4
14
that sediments and lavas
t 44 at higher horizons now
4
t iz
removed
demov ed by erosion
were domed over this
intrusive body further-
more domingt with a
northeast trend is indicat-
U
W
raz OZ
ed in the lime stones of
Q
h va east gintic
tintic
YO folds are generally
na
7
largely concealed by the
rocks but a large
volcanic rocks
synclinal fold in the west
on 0 part of the limestone area
north of the exposed
L mes 17
za nite intrusion is fairly
7 rn well defined this syn-
0- 1 cline trends north and
pitches northward the
west limb dips very steep-
s ren v
9 cast and includes
ly to the east
theC four ore channels
th
known as the gemini
it N
mammoth go godiva
diva and
3
iron blossom th
thee
east
cast
ea ton
to J limb has a relatively low
V
dip farther east from the
v wv axis of the syn cline the
syncline
W sr
lie nearly flat and
ilk
hyo beds
ta TIC T RD
then turn gently upward
al becia and assume a general
A 1
4
northeasterly strike ind-
icating an stru-
Z cture trending northeast
Z
early 0
fissuring an faulmi
andd fati lint
ve J
jrsn F17 V jita
are other imimportantt stru-
L
41
ctural features in thed
the di-
is
0
strict most of these di-r
took e pro
place prior
X turbances
sturbances iod
period
per
to anandd during the
there has
tr intrusions
of indru fis
hs
ah q OH 4
been
also be en consid erable
considerable
suring and faulting
faulki subs-
of
01
L ali equent to the intrusions
cintr
the fisser
N the in talie
ne
ing and faul fing
faulting
U
Z ri 0
o
D and it
in the ad
ao
IZ caused main
jacent rocks
1
I NILE
ly by coo ling
cooling
0 7 subs-
the fractures
in the
t
equent to intrusion
cm ore channels
geologic map and section showing Tin ticH
 and in the rocks within the limits of influence of that rich and valuable ore bodies are found in quart
the nion
tile have a northeasterly trend and are roughly gra
granites igneous rocks of all kinds pure and impure lime
goranites
Zlong axis of the
parallel to the lono intrusion they
ihey stones and sandstones except in rocks so plastic and clayey
i
are plainly due to contraction strain 0 origina
riginating
ting in the in- that openings cannot exist at all or only for a short time
trusive mass subsequent to its consolidation contraction thus preventing the penetration of ore solutions
of the not only caused the fissures but also it seems to be a fact then that alter
after ore solutions once
necessitated settling 6 along some of these which then devel- penetrated a fissure that bolens volens ore deposition must
oped into faults generally of small displacement take place in one place or another along this fissure irre-
there is evi lence that this faulting continued after the
evidence spective
spec tive of the character of the wall rock types
period of numerous of these fissures and ore deposits vary in the most remarkable fashion in
aults attained great depth they then became lines of least some cases where the vein walls are readily replaceable the
resistance to the upward pressing 6 ore solutions rising from ore solutions penetrate the wall rocks intensely and in fa-
the plutonic hearth of the magma the ore solut- vorable places build up large ore masses with irregular and
ions penetrated these shrinkage fissures and faults and indistinct limits in other cases where the walls are not
their hasure connections in the adjacent rocks along their
readily soluble and replaceable the solutions deposit ore
journey they deposited ore and gangue minerals by replace-
over a long stretch along the vein replacing as much ma-
ment and allin b along
tilling 6 the most favorable places and ef- terial as they can and fill and impregnate pores cavities
fected other changes in the wall rocks
and other interstitial spaces then there are cases espe-
importance of shrinkage features cially if the ore solutions are highly concentrated where
the shrinkage fractures and faults in the they fill with ore clear cut veins without bringing about a
and in the adjacent rocks are then the mineralized and conspicuous change in the enclosing rocks
mineral izing fissures and hence they are economically the
mineralizing the indispensable features in the formation of ore bodies
most important structural features in the gintic tintic district are fractures fissures or other openings in rocks pene-
this assertion is sufficiently proved by the fissure veins trated and mineralized by ore solutions thus composing
in the which obviously were caused by shrink- veins
age are mineralized and contain valuable ore deposits to ture
temperature
be sure tempera pressure con
conditions
di eions and the
furthermore there can be no reasonable doubt that the makeup
chemical make up of the ore solutions and also the phy-
complicated zones known as the gemini mammoth godi- sical chemical and structural features of the wall rocks all
va and iron blossom ore channels which so far produced function more or less in ore deposition and in order to
the bulk of fintics cs ore are also due mainly to the contract- mine intelligently and on account of their great economic
ion of the intrusion for all of these ore channels importance the features in a mine or in the mines of a dis-
are intimately associated with the mineralized northeasterl- trict that localize ore deposition and form ore shoots or
y fissures in the bonanzas should be understood as much as is possible
Y

two of these ore channels the godiva and the iron the evi dende having a bearing on fintics
evidence cs ore channels
blossom follow northeasterly fissures which had their in- makes it clear that the northeasterly trending
ception in the nite across the contact and beyond intrusion originated the ore channels that the ore channels
through the metamorphic limestone without plain bed- occur along fissures in the and in fissures and
ding to tile the sioux ajax fault almost without interruption fracture zones in the adjacent rocks within the influence of
and with no change in strike from here they bend north- the that the principal ore channels are along fis-
erly and follow fractures which practically coincide in strike sures caused mainly by the cooling and contraction of the
with steeply dipping limestone strata probably the steeply nion magma that the ore channels belong to the lat-
dipping limestone bedding planes being the line of least est structural features distinguishable in the district and
resistance had something to do with the change of direc- that the ore channels when not diverted trend northeast-
tion of the ore channels from northeasterly to northerly erly and roughly parallel with the long axis of the intrusion
moreover
Afore over the fracture zones constituting the four ore chan- finally if the observed factsfact are correctly interpreted
nels are continuous and their continuity is not much in- and 1I believe they are it follows of course that in tlie he east
fluen ced nor interrupted by older fissures and faults
fluenced gintic mining area after a shaft has penetrated the sedi-
which they cross hence they are the latest and the last dis
tintic for the ore channels should
t mentary formations prospecting
ingui structural features in fintics cs mining area
abreh southeasterly
be south easterly n
n orthwesterly
orth westerly the shortest distance to the
resulted mainly from contraction due to cooling of the principal veins
nion
the observed facts show that the primary ore and
gangue minerals were formed by hot solution rich in silica
sulp hides and that the wall
barium and various metallic sulphides
rocks of fintics cs ore bodies are lime stones dolomites
ries and quartzite and that the rock types
porphyries
in losing the ore bodies in the west part of the district so
inclosing
farr the most favorable for ore deposition appear to be rela-
tively pure dolomites and lime stones
the first shipping ore in east gintic
tintic was discovered in
herkim er formation the rich and large ore mass of
ine herkimer
the
thee gintic tan dard mine lies in the ophir formation and
tintic standard P

tilee profitable ore of

the iron king mine occurs in a vein in
thee gintic
tintic quartzite the herkimer cr the ophir and the
Herkim
antic quartzite formations at gintic
tintic were always consid-
ered of no economic importance until the discovery of pay
or in the gintic
ore tintic standard and the iron king mine
glancing over the whole known mining fields it appears