johnsocu@geo.oregonstate.

edu
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Cuitis L. }ohnson, Economic ueology Fielu Tiip Repoit
Submitteu to: Bi. }ohn Billes, 0iegon State 0niveisity, Naich 14
th
, 2u14


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The Almeua mine is a past-piouucing base anu
piecious metal mine locateu within the ualice
mining uistiict of }osephine County, 0iegon
(Figuie 1). Biscoveiy of the ueposit uates to ap-
Figuie 1. Elevation map of 0iegon illustiating the
location of the Almeua mine, }osephine County. Nap
couitesy of uoogle.
pioximately 1894, when a seiies of claims weie
stakeu on anu aiounu the ueposit that eventu-
ally became the Almeua Consoliuateu Nining
Commany in 19u6. Najoi uevelopment anu
mining activities began aiounu this time, anu
continueu inteimittently until 1917. Piouuc-
tion iecoius exist foi the time peiiou between
1911-1916, wheie the mine piouuceu 16,619
tons of oie at an aveiage giaue of 1.28% Cu,
2.91 oz.ton Ag, u.u9 oz.ton Au, anu uniepoit-
eu giaues of leau anu zinc (Rogeis, 1976).
Fiom 1917-194u, mining activity was
uoimant although seveial companies evaluateu
the piopeity but nevei followeu up with fui-
thei exploiation oi uevelopment. In 194u, a
small opeiation mineu 287 tons of oie foi a to-
tal of 6uu lbs. Cu, 27S oz. Ag, anu 6u2 oz. Au.
Since 194u a numbei of companies, incluuing
Kennecott Exploiation have uiilleu anu evalu-
ateu the histoiic mine without any plans of put-
ting it back into piouuction. Total iemaining
non-NI-4S-1u1 compliant uiill inuicateu ie-
seives aie 6uu,uuu tons at an aveiage giaue of
u.uSS oz.ton Au, anu 1.2u oz.ton Ag (Stiick-
lei, 1987). Coppei, leau, anu zinc values weie
not calculateu in this estimate foi unknown
ieasons.
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The Almeua mine occuis within the Westein
}uiassic Belt of the Klamath Nountains of
southwestein 0iegon. Age ielationships anu
lithologies inuicate a peiiou of iepeateu accie-
tionaiy events beginning in the miuule Paleo-
zoic anu continuing thiough the Nesozoic.
Buiing this time, majoi islanu aic volcanic


Figuie 2. Nap illustiating the location of the
Almeua mine with iespect to the contact between
the ualice anu Rogue Foimations (Botz, 1971).
Almeua Nine
March 2014 Economic Geology Field Trip Report pg. 2


anu seuimentaiy iocks, as well as ophiolite se-
quences weie accieteu onto the westein mai-
gin of Noith Ameiica. }uiassic anu Cietaceous
gabbioic to gianitic intiusive iocks intiuue all
accieteu units, with extiusive equivalents that
aie collectively iefeiieu to as the Rogue volcan-
ics. These volcanic units aie confoimably ovei-
lain by inteibeuueu gieywacke anu shale of the
ualice foimation (Stiicklei, 1987).
Sulfiue mineialization within the Almeua
mine is associateu with quaitz-seiicite-pyiite
alteiation of the felsic to inteimeuiate composi-
tion Rogue volcanics along the uppei contact
with the ualice foimation (Figuie 2). This zone
of mineialization is locally iefeiieu to as the
"Big Yank Loue", anu is continuous foi ovei
twenty miles along the NNE-stiiking, SE-
uipping contact between the confoimable units
(Stiicklei, 1987). Bacite poiphyiy uikes of }u-
iassic to Cietaceous age aie also common along
this contact (Ciuz, 1981).
Nineialization occuis in two main styles at
the Almeua Nine. The fiist, which was mineu in
the eaily 19uus is a high-giaue oie teimeu
"coppei oie with baiite", that occuis as lenses
up to 6u ft. in wiuth. 0ie mineials consist of
massive chalcopyiite, chalcocite, covellite, ga-
lena, anu sphaleiite, while gangue mineials aie
pieuominantly quaitz, baiite, anu pyiite. A se-
conu bioau zone of "siliceous golusilvei" oie is






















associateu with silicification anu pyiitization of
the Rogue volcanics stiatigiaphically below anu
lateial to massive sulfiue lenses. Accoiuing to
uiilling by Kennecott Exploiation, this seconu-
aiy golusilvei mineialization is low giaue anu
uiscontinuous (Stiicklei, 1987).
Faulting ciosscuts both styles of mineializa-
tion at the Almeua mine, anu likely iesulteu
fiom two sepaiate events. The oluest set of
stiuctuies aie shallow to moueiately south-
uipping, anu the youngei set is steeply noith-
uipping anu ciosscuts the oluei fault set. No ua-
ta to ueteimine ielative motion, oi fault style is
available. The majoiity of eaily piouuction by
the Almeua Consoliuateu Nining Company was
of a massive sulfiue lense bounueu by the oluei
south-uipping faults (Stiicklei, 1987)(Figuie S).
@@@A 6@=G; 3JK=DL+C@3BK
The Klamath Noutains fielu tiip foi the 0iegon
State 0niveisity's Economic ueology couise in-
cluueu a stop at a ioau outciop acioss the
Rogue Rivei fiom the Almeua mine (Figuie 4).
Buiing this stop, stuuents weie taskeu with
making obseivations about the alteiation, min-
eialization, host iocks, anu anything else peiti-
nent to unueistanuing the natuie of the oie ue-
posit.
Fielu obseivations weie collecteu in a sys-
tematic way, emphasizing mineialogy, alteiati-
Figuie S. Noith-south cioss section thiough the Almeua mine illustiating oie bouies anu stiuctuial con-
tiols. Couitesy of 0iegon ueology.
March 2014 Economic Geology Field Trip Report pg. 3



on, stiatigiaphy anu stiuctuie of each of the
units fiom hanu lens to outciop scale.
The ioau outciop is appioximately 8u m
wiue anu Su m high, anu is uistinct compaieu to
suiiounuing iock because of its highly weath-
eieu coloiing (Figuie 4).




Figuie 4. Photogiaphs of the Almeua mine woikings
acioss the Rogue Rivei (top) fiom the highly weath-
eieu outciop of the alteieu Rogue volcanics (bot-
tom).

Peivasive quaitz-seiicite-pyiite alteiation has
been stiongly weatheieu to hematite, goethite,
anu jaiosite, inuicating a supeigene fluiu pB of
aiounu 2. These alteieu anu stiongly weatheieu
iocks aie the Rogue volcanics, which ielatively
unalteieu aie oiiginal gieen to white, equigian-
ulai Bacite lavas with 1-2mm plagioclase phe-
nociysts, anu mafics alteieu to chloiite. The al-
teieu poitions of the Rogue volcanics iange
fiom ieu, oiange, yellow, to white anu giay ue-
penuing on uegiee of alteiation. Samples con-
tain up to 2% uisseminateu pyiite, visible seiici-
te up to 1mm, anu have less than 1u% oiiginal
quaitz phenociysts. Aieas with intense silicifica-
tion have up to 1u% quaitz veins by volume.
0veiall, this unit is uesciibeu as peivasively
quaitz-seiicite-pyiite alteieu uacite. Stiatigia-
phically above the alteieu section of the Rogue
volcanics lies a small, mostly coveieu section of
unalteieu shales anu muustones of the ualice
foimation. Nineialization is hosteu in a small
u.Sm semimassive sulfiue lens along the bounu-
aiy between the Rogue volcanics anu a late uike.
The sulfiue lens consists of 8u% walliock, 1u%
pyiite, 2% galena anu 1% sphaleiite. Zone of
baiite aie founu neai to this semi-massive sul-
fiue lens.
Two late unalteieu uikes cioss cut the ioau
outciop, anu uo not cut one anothei so no age
ielationship can be ueteimineu. Both sets of
uikes appeai to be post-mineialization anu aie
mostly unalteieu. The laigest uike is an anuesite
with an 8 m thickness, N2uE stiike, anu 7u east
appaient uip. It intiuues along the contact be-
tween the ualice foimation anu the Rogue vol-
canics, immeuiately above the mineializeu sul-
fiue lens. The smallei uike has an appaient
stiike of appioximately N1uE, anu an appaient
uip of 6S west. It is uesciibeu as a chloiite al-
teieu, gieen to giey poiphyiitic uacite, with
6u% plagioclase phenociysts, 2u% giounumass,
1S% mafic mineials, S% quaitz, anu 2% uissem-
inateu pyiite.
The alteieu Rogue volcanics aie cut by a se-
iies of faults that uip to the west anu appeai to
stiike neaily N-S. Faults aie compiiseu of zones
~u.S-1m wiue sheaieu anu fiactuieu Rogue vol-
canic mateiial. The ielationship between faults
anu late uikes at this outciop is uncleai.
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The Almeua mine is classifieu as a volcanogen-
ic massive sulfiue (vNS) type ueposit that
foimeu syngenetically between the ueposition

March 2014 Economic Geology Field Trip Report pg. 4





















of the Rogue volcanics anu ualice foimation.
vNS-type ueposits aie stiata-bounu accumula-
tions of sulfiue mineials that piecipitateu onto
the sea flooi fiom ciiculating hyuiotheimal flu-
ius ielateu to islanu aic volcanism (Figuie S).
The Almeua mine is gioupeu within the bimou-
al-felsic subgioup of vNS-type ueposits, which
aie pieuominantly hosteu in felsic volcanic
iocks such as the Rogue foimation (Stiicklei,
1987). This style of ueposit is chaiacteiistic of a
lowei stockwoik veineu zone of pieuominantly
chalcopyiite anu pyiite, an uppei zone of biec-
ciateu to massive pyiite, sphaleiite, galena,
hematite, anu baiite, anu a moie oxiuizeu, stiati-
foim zone (Fianklin et al., 2uuS). Piecipitateu
sulfiue lenses at Almeua foimeu in this way, anu
weie then accieteu onto the westein maigin of
Noith Ameiica uuiing the Nesozoic.
Since the last iecoiueu piouuction in the
194us many exploiation gioups have piospect-
eu anu evaluateu the Almeua mine, uue to the
high giaue massive sulfiue oie that has been
mineu in the past. Kennecott Exploiation uiilleu
17 uiamonu uiill holes within the claim block in
the miu-198us, but nevei followeu up uue to
pooi uiilling iesults. The establishment of the
wilu anu scenic coiiiuoi of the Rogue Rivei has
halteu significant exploiation anu fuithei uevel-
opment, so it is unlikely that the Almeua mine
will evei see piouuction again. Bowevei, mas-
sive sulfiue mi- neialization similai to that at the
Almeua mine has been tiaceu along the contact
of the ualice foimation anu Rogue foimation foi
ovei 2u miles. Theie is a high piobability that
high-giaue base anu piecious metal mineializa-
tion still iemains along the contact within }ose-
phine County at uepth, but it will iequiie a com-
pany willing to tackle the iuggeu teiiain of the
Klamath Nountains anu the challenging peimit-
ting piocess in the state of 0iegon.
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Ciuz, E.B. (1981). Repoit on the Almeua Ninei-
al Piopeity, }osephine County, foi Blue Bia-
monu Eneigy Resouices Ltu. 0npublisheu,
Comanche Petioleum. Retiieveu fiom 0iegon
B0uANI online iepoit uatabase, 2u14.
Fianklin, }. N., uibson, B. L., }onasson, I. R., &
ualley, A. u. (2uuS). volcanogenic massive
sulfiue ueposits. Economic ueology 1uuth an-
niveisaiy volume, 98, S2S-S6u.
Botz, P. E. (1971). ueology of loue golu uistiicts
in the Klamath Nountains, Califoinia anu 0i-
egon. 0S uoveinment Piinting 0ffice.
Rogeis, T. (1976). Pieliminaiy Repoit on the
ueology of the Almeua Nine, }osephine Coun-
ty, 0iegon. 0npublisheu, Texasgulf Westein
Inc. Retiieveu fiom 0iegon B0uANI online
iepoit uatabase, 2u14.
Stiicklei, N.B. (1987) The Almeua Beposit. 0n-
publisheu, Repoit by Litho-Logic Resouices.
Retiieveu fiom 0iegon B0uANI online iepoit
uatabase, 2u

Figuie S. Simplifieu schematic uiagiam of the gen-
eially accepteu mouel foi foimation of volcanogen-
ic massive sulfiue ueposits. Couitesy of uentoi Re-
souices.