Utahlite Hill (SC 2) Mine Claim Variscite Gemstone Mine Lucin Utah famous area

Description

UTHALITE HILL (SC 2) MINE CLAIM
The Utahlite Hill (SC 2) mine claim consists of one (1) unpatented lode claim covering 20.66 acres on federal land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
The SC 2 claim is located in the Utahlite Hill District in Box Elder County, Utah (near the Nevada border) which is one of the premier variscite mining locations in the United States.
Utahlite Hill is located near the Lucin and Tecoma Mining Districts which have been major producers of gold, silver, lead, and copper.
The SC 2 claim was a former producer of variscite with an operating open pit in the 2016 timeframe – which has been partially reclaimed.
Just to the north are two active variscite mines known historically as the Edison and Bird Mine and Sentinel Mine.
Old reports indicate that the variscite deposits are located on bedding planes which extend underneath the SC 2 claim.
Location and Access:
from Salt Lake City, Utah, drive north / west on US Interstate 84 to Highway 30 (west) and drive to the Grouse Creek Road Exit and go south for 2 miles.
There is turnoff to the west that will take you right to the claim (about 0.6 mile).
Roads are very good.
About 2 hour 45 drive from Salt Lake City.
GPS Coordinates:
Lat:
41.399729° Long: -113.905283° (Location of Former Producing Open Pit)
Mining and Exploration Potential:
Developing the Utahlite Hill deposits for either scandium or variscite are the best options.
Variscite mining would be the easiest option since it would require little processing and the material mined could be sold directly on the internet or to collectors.
Variscite is an opaque, green gem and lapidary material used for jewelry and decoration.
V
ariscite is a
hydrated aluminum phosphate, AlPO
4
•2H
2
O.
Some of the pieces can be combined with quartz or other materials.
These combination pieces can be found in belt buckles, bracelets, earrings and other pieces.
Some of the nodules are so high value they are sought by collectors.
We heard that one of the nearby mines found a specimen worth ,000 recently.
Jewelry grade variscite can sell for {{detail_product_description}}.75 per carat (0.2 grams).
If you haven’t looked at variscite specimens – do a google image search and check out the specimens – they are amazingly beautiful!
Some of the best specimens are labeled from ‘Lucin, Utah’ – which is this area.
We recovered some rough specimens on the claim area (see pictures).
Additional variscite deposits could be located with geophysics, soil sampling, trenching or even drilling.
The SC 2 claim sits on an exposed outcrop of limestone surrounded by alluvial deposits.
There is potential for more variscite discoveries under shallow alluvial cover.
In addition to prospecting for more gem and lapidary grade variscite, there is the potential for a scandium rare earth deposit at the SC 2 claim.
Scandium is a metal that is used for alloying aluminum and steel.
It increases the melting temperature and strength of alloys.
Right now scandium prices are about ,000 to ,000 per kilogram.
Scandium is found in minerals associated with variscite and other phospates such as crandallite.
Scandium values at Utahlite Hill have been assayed at 100 ppm to 1,000 ppm (1 ppm = 1 gram per ton).
This would be similar value to a 1-2 oz/ton gold deposit.
There is also the potential for gold, silver, and copper in the district.
Highly altered iron-stained, sericitized rocks were found on the claim.
The Lucin District
sometimes includes Utahlite Hill and is located in Box Elder County,
Utah on the Utah / Nevada border within and around the Pilot Range of mountains.
The main copper and silver deposits were discovered in 1868.
Native copper and native silver and hornsilver were mined in the early years. Early shipments from the Tecoma mine had grades of 60% lead, and 140 oz/ton silver.
One shipment of hornsilver in the district ran 400 oz/ton silver.
The Tecoma property sold for 5,000 in gold coin in 1872 and a larger company and town were organized.
Several thousand tons of 45% lead and 35 oz/ton silver were shipped from the new company.
The town (Buel City) had about 500 inhabitants.
Between 1886 to 1910 the copper mine on Copper Mountain was the main focus of the district.
The district declined after 1935 (when the aerial tram stopped working).
There was small scale mining until about 1955.
The Copper Mountain Mine has approximately 150 million lbs of copper in remaining reserves at 2.5% grades.
There has been speculation of a larger sulphide copper ore body at depth somewhere in the district which has not been discovered yet.
Phosphate minerals like variscite and turquoise are sometimes found near or above large copper porphyry deposits.
The Utahlite Hill Variscite Deposits:
Variscite was discovered on Utahlite Hill in 1902.
The early mines were in production until about 1911.
Mining then extended east to the Sentinel claims (just north of our claim) for another 5-10 years.
The main mines were the Utahlite, Protection Lode, Greenback Lode, and Sentinel.
The Utahlite deposits go through periodic cycles of interest depending on the demand for specialty lapidary and jewelry materials (which is currently good).
There has been speculation that the same intrusives driving the mineralization in the main Lucin District could have been driving the Utahlite Hill deposits.
If so, there could be larger deposits to find at deeper levels or under alluvial cover.
There is current mining activity to the north on the Seahawk and Anthis claims.
These cover the Edison and Bird mine (Seahawk) and the Sentinel Mine (Anthis).
There was mining activity from about 2014 to 2016 on the SC 2 claim.
We feel that there is unmined potential along the bedding planes of the Phosphoria Formation underlying the claim.
Given the shallow nature of the open pit this could be easily accessed.
Regional Geology:
The SC 2 claim is located in the Basin and Range physiographic province.
The Basin and Range province covers most of Nevada and western Utah and consists of narrow NE trending mountain ranges between flat, arid valleys and basins.
Utahlite Hill is about 7 miles north of the Pilot Range which crosses the Nevada/ Utah border.
The Copper Mountain mine in the Lucin District is 12 miles SW of Utahlite Hill.
Deposits are related to the Patterson Pass monzonite intrusive of Laramide Age (~70 Ma).
The Tecoma District on the Nevada / Utah border is a high grade silver-lead-zinc and gold district that is also related to the intrusives of the Pilot Range.
Local Geology:
The Utahlite Hill variscite mines are found in the Permian Rex Chert Member of the Phosphoria Formation.
The host rock is heavily brecciated (broken up) in the vicinity of the mineral occurrence.
There is a steeply dipping, northwest striking fault along Utahlite Hill that may have provided good permeability for fluids carrying phosphate and other ions from the underlying Meade Peak Member of the Phosphoria Formation.
The phosphate fluids replaced limestone and in open spaces formed crystals of metavariscite, variscite, quartz and several other minerals.
Available Reports:
Blue, Donald, ‘Geology and Ore Deposits of the Lucin Mining District, Box Elder County, Utah and Elko County, Nevada’, Master of Science Thesis, University of Utah.
1960.
Marty, Joe, Howard, Donald, Barwood, Henry, ‘Minerals of the Utahlite Claim, Lucin, Box Elder County, Utah’, Utah Geological Survey, 1999.
‘Geologic Resources of Box Elder County, Utah’, Utah Geological and Mineral Survey, 1989.
Shubat, M.A., ‘Scandium Bearing aluminum phosphate deposits of Utah’, Report of Investigation 209, Utah Geological and Mineral Survey, 1988.
International Gem Society, Variscite:
https://www.gemsociety.org/article/variscite-jewelry-and-gemstone-information/
FAQ
Why Utah?
Utah is a well-managed, mining friendly state with one of the largest historical producing copper mines in the world:
Bingham Canyon.
Utah also has extensive deposits of gold, silver, lithium, uranium, iron ore, and rare earths.
Utah is well known for semi-precious stones, gemstones and lapidary materials – variscite, topaz and red emerald being some of the most famous Utah gemstones.
Utah has many active junior and major mining companies.
Utah is 66% owned by the federal government and much of this land is available for claim staking.
This means some of the best mining ground in the world is open to small prospectors – a very unique situation.
Also, the Utah Geological Survey has an excellent website and the geologists there are very helpful to small prospectors.
Utah – along with Nevada and Arizona is really one of the best places in the US and maybe the world to mine.
Why Buy a Claim?
Buying a claim is a great way to get started in mining and prospecting.
Buying a claim that is professionally staked reduces your upfront work and the risk of making a mistake on your paperwork or in the field.
Our claims are in areas with historical mining activity and most have numerous pits, shafts, and adits to explore.
Finding these claims takes lots of research that is already done for you.
The best place to find gold is where people have already found it!
Why Us?
I have been working in mineral exploration in the southwestern United States and Alaska for 16 years.
I have co-founded four junior mining companies and managed numerous drilling and exploration projects.
I have worked with large and small mining companies and know what types of projects they are looking for that can be advanced by small prospectors.
I have also worked on small hardrock production projects.
I usually try to find claims that have known high grade veins that can be produced and that also have some exploration upside.
We stand by our claims and fix any problems that come up.
We can also help you with your annual filings.
All our claims have a BLM serial number and can be found on the U.S. BLM MLRS website database.
We hire the same professional claim staking companies that the large mining companies hire and all the claims have professionally drafted and accurate maps.
We also have current assays from ALS Minerals on most of our claims.
How is ownership of the claim transferred?
Ownership of mining claims is transferred with a Quit Claim Deed which we prepare.
We pay all claim transfer fees and file the claim transfer paperwork with the BLM and Box Elder County
.
The BLM takes about 2-3 weeks to process the claim transfer (Quit Claim) and register the claim in your name.
The Box Elder County Recorder usually take 1-2 weeks to return the recorded Quit Claim Deed.
Once the transfer is complete we will send you all the original documents including the file stamped Quit Claim Deed, the original location notices and claim maps.
How Much are the
Annual Claim Fees?
The BLM charges a 5 per claim annual maintenance fee which is due on September 1
st
each year.
The BLM fees can be paid online through their claim management portal.
Box Elder County requires that a Notice of Intent to Hold form is filed the first year by Nov 1
st
along with payment of the recording fee of plus per claim.
If you own less than 10 mining claims you can qualify for a waiver of the annual maintenance fee by filing a Small Miner’s Waiver.
However, the Small Miner’s Waiver requires that you perform 0 in labor or improvements on the claim each year.
More Information
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Also, I usually have additional pictures, reports and other information related to the claims.