Gordon Mine, Twin Lakes Mining District, Lake County, Colorado, USAi

Regional Level Types
Gordon Mine	Mine
Twin Lakes Mining District	Mining District
Lake County	County
Colorado	State
USA	Country

The Gordon or Gordon-Tiger mine is situated on a spur of Mount Elbert, just west of Twin Lakes. It has been worked intermittently by various companies and individuals for over thirty-five years, and a considerable amount of gold is reported to have been taken out. Reliable information regarding the character or value of the ore mined is not available, nor can a great deal be learned by examination at the present time.

The property has been developed through four levels, all of which are in the Twin Lakes quartz monzonite porphyry. The vein strikes S. 65° W. in the lower levels, and dips to the northwest at an angle of 50° to 55°. It is well defined. The width varies from three to eight feet within short intervals. Gouge is present on both walls, but usually is thicker on the hanging wall. Three quartz porphyry dikes are cut by the third level, and one by the second, all of them being softened, altered, and slightly pyritiferous. They clearly are older than the vein, which cuts through them.

The vein consists of a white or gray quartz gangue carrying free gold associated with pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite and an occasional small mass of sphalerite. The ore shoot is very irregular and the ore occurs chiefly in bunches. The policy of past operators has been to remove only the rich pockets, hence the stoping operations may best be described by the term “gophering.” At the time of examination it was almost impossible to find more than small masses of ore in place, and owing to the caved condition of many parts of the mine, not even that much could be seen. The material on the dumps gave some information, but such material is very unreliable.

Occurrences of native gold in a matrix of galena and sphalerite are said to have been not uncommon in the lower levels, and several such specimens were seen by the writer in the possession of parties living nearby. Their exact locations in the mine are not known.