Jones Pass Group

This is a group of eight patented mines which are located close to the Henderson Mine in Grand County. This group includes 20 Federal Mineral (unpatented) buffer claims.

Jones Pass Assessment:

Purpose: To assess the mineral potential and estimate value based on the mineral potential for a group of patented mineral claims in the Jones Pass area of Grand County. Colorado.

Location: The Jones Pass group is made up of eight-patented lode claims located in the La Plata (Williams Fork) Mining District, Grand County, Colorado. The La Plata Mining District lays between the St. Louis Peak and Williams Fork Road less Area at the headwaters of the Williams Fork River drainage. The Public Land Survey location is T3S, R76W, Section 32 and 33, 6th PM. The main concentration of claims are located approximately one mile southwest of Jones Pass on the west side of the Continental Divide.

Assess: The claims can be accessed from US Highway 40, about 7 miles west of Empire at the entrance to the Henderson Mine property, then by improved the primitive four wheel drive road four miles to Jones Pass then 2 miles on the west side of the divide to the claims. Another access route from the northwest is from the South Fork Campground on the Williams Fork River upstream (south) from the Henderson Mill on Forest Service road 138 approximately seven miles over a fair to poor four wheel drive road following the bottom of the valley (Vanderwilt, 1947, p. 97)

History: The lead, zinc, and silver veins have been prospected and mined in the Jones Pass area since 1866. The Jones Pass claim group in La Plata Mining District were located and patented in the 1884-91-time period. Shipments of small lots of silver-lead ore from Bobtail Creek at the head of Williams Fork River are reported in 1935, and 1940-43 (Vanderwilt, 1947, p.97)

Recent activity: Amoco Metals Company conducted a uranium exploration program on claims along the northeast boundary of the Vasquez Peak Wilderness Study Area in August, 1982 and AMAX, Inc. continued exploration on claims near the puzzler mine on the southern boundary of the Vasquez Peak Wilderness Study Area. Both of these projects were outside the immediate area of the Jones Pass group of claims. The La Plata mine, near the eight claims being investigated, was leased early in 1982 for silver exploration, but, due to the snowbound condition of Jones Pass through most of the summer, scheduled silver exploration was prevented and project was aborted (Theobald, et al, 1983, p.13). Some exploration for uranium has taken place in the La Plata mining district centered around a fault intersection altered Silver Plume Granite on the Ray group of location lode claims (U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1966, referenced in Bielski Mines conducted a mineral-resource survey during the years 1979-82 in the Vasques Peak Wilderness Study Area and in the St. Louis Peak and William Fork Road less areas.(Bielski and others, 1983).

Description of claims: Eight patented lode claims located in the La Plata Mining District are being investigated for mineral potential. Details of these claims are listed below

Claim Name MS No. Patented No. Patent Date

Ready Cash 1545 8935 3/17/1884

Helping Hand 1547 8936 3/17/1884

Iron Brigade 1783 9016 4/02/1884

Vermont 1784 9015 4/02/1884

Unique 1936 10318 1/30/1886

Garfield 2203 12480 9/07/1887

Living Wonder 2204 12481 9/07/1887

Albany 6068 18756 11/09/1891

All claims are 300 ft. by 1500 ft. in size and follow a general NE trend from the Bob Tail Mine (MS 16657) at the junction of Bob Tail Creek and Minnehaha Gulch in the upper Williams Fork River Watershed and extend towards Jones Pass on the Continental divide.

Resource Potential: Select samples taken by the U.S. Bureau of Mines during the investigation into the resource potential of the La Plata Mining District ranged as high as 32 troy ounces silver, per ton and 3.0% lead and 1.8% zinc on the Ready Cash Mine (Bielski and other, 1983, p. 49-53). The above mentioned study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines concluded that the La Plata Mining District has probable and substantiated potential for either high-grade lead-zinc-silver vein deposits, or larger, lower-grade clustered vein deposits. A probable resource potential for stock work molybdenum deposits related to porphyry molybdenum type materialization exists beneath the lead-zinc-silver-rich veins. Unpublished USBM records indicate that for the years 1914-43, intermittent production from mines just west of Jones Pass totaled (gross metal content): 6,074 oz silver, 1 oz gold, 6,609 lbs lead, and 658 lbs zinc (Bielski and others, 1983 p. 7). For many of the developed deposits in the area, no production was recorded; thus the actual amount of ore produced was greater than that indicated above.

Valuation: Due to the lack of production and resource data for the mines in this district, it is difficult to estimate a mineral value for any individual mine or deposit. Given the overall probable and substantiated potential for high-grade lead-zinc-silver vein deposits as stated by the U.S. Geological survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines, the potential of discovering additional veins in the area is good.

Grand County’s valuation of the actual value is 25,190.00 for the eight claims totaling 72.49 acres (Grand County property tax files, 2008). This value does not take into account the mineral potential that exists for these claims. A reasonable valuation based on the proximity to the Henderson and Urad ore bodies, located less than four miles to the east and the potential for high-grade lead-zinc-silver vein deposits would be in the 100,000.00 to 150,000.00 ranges.

References: Vanderwilt, John W., 1947 Mineral resources of Colorado. Denver Co: Colorado Mineral Resources Board. P. 97 Theobald P.K. Bielski, A. M., Eppinger, R.G. Moss, C. K., Kreidler, T. J., Barton, H. N., 1983. Mineral resource potential of the Vasquez Peak Wilderness Study Area, and the St. Louis Peak and Williams Fork Road less Area, Clear Creek, Grand and Summit Counties, Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Field Studies Map MF-1588-A.

Bielski, A. M., Kreidler, T. J., and Hamm, L. W., 1983 Mineral investigation of the Vasquez Peak Wilderness Study Area and St. Louis Peak and Williams Fork Road less Area, Clear Creek, Grand, and Summit Counties, Colorado: U.S. Bureau of Mines Open-File Report MLA 67-83.

U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1966, Preliminary reconnaissance reports, Grand County, Colorado: Grand Junction, Colo., U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.