Mineral Evolution Database
Created and maintained by the Mineral Evolution Project in partnership with RRUFF and mindat.
Mineral locality data provided by mindat.org



The Mineral Evolution database is currently under development.

The goal of this page is to present localities at which the mineral is found, and estimates of the oldest possible geologic age of the minerals at these localities.


Locality Name:
Wickes Mining District, Jefferson Co., Montana, USA

Oldest recorded age at locality: 60
Youngest recorded age at locality: 5.3

mindat Locality ID: 52382
mindat URL: http://www.mindat.org/loc-52382.html

Tectonic Settings:

Total number of sublocalities beneath "Wickes Mining District, Jefferson Co., Montana, USA": 4
Total number of bottom-level sublocalities: 4

Number of Child Localities: 4
Child Localities:
Alta Mine (Silver King; Peck Mill; North Alta)
Comet Mine (Rumley; Gray Eagle)
Gregory Mine
Minah Mine (Mina Mine)

Latitude: 0°0'0"N
Longitude: 0°0'0"E
Decimal Degree (lat, lon): 0,0

AThis mineral is Anthropogenic.
GThis mineral is directly dated.
BThis mineral is reported as having this age.
YThis mineral is using an age reported as an element mineralization period.
OThis mineral is using an age calculated from all data at the locality.
RThe age displayed for this mineral originates from a different, non-child locality.
PThe age displayed for this mineral is the range of ages for this mineral at all of this locality's children.
This mineral's age has not yet been recorded.

This Mineral list contains entries from this locality, including sub-localities. Minerals in bold are reported by mindat.org as occurring directly at this locality, and do not occur at any children (sublocalities) of this locality.

Elements at this locality, including sub-localities: Al As Au Bi C Cu Fe H K Mn O Pb S Sb Si Zn 

Elements from minerals reported directly at this locality: As Bi C Cu Fe Mn O Pb S Sb 

Structural Groups for minerals in this locality: 
AragoniteArsenopyriteBaryteBournoniteChalcopyriteClayCopperCovelliteMicaNone
PyriteQuartzRocksaltSphaleriteStibniteTetrahedrite

15 IMA Minerals at location:
Alabandite  (*)Anglesite  (*)Arsenopyrite  (*)Bismuthinite  (*)Bournonite  (*)
Cerussite  (*)Chalcopyrite  (*)Covellite  (*)Galena  (*)Gold  (*)
Muscovite  (*)Pyrite  (*)Quartz  (*)Sphalerite  (*)Tetrahedrite-(Zn)  (*)
Mineral nameStructural GroupsIMA FormulaMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)# of Sublocalities containing mineralLOCALITY IDs, not mindat ids# of localities containing mineral
Alabandite  (*)RocksaltMnS605.30312
Anglesite  (*)BarytePb(SO4)605.302734
Arsenopyrite  (*)ArsenopyriteFeAsS605.309052
Bismuthinite  (*)StibniteBi2S3605.301935
Bournonite  (*)BournoniteCuPbSbS3605.301089
Cerussite  (*)AragonitePb(CO3)605.304979
Chalcopyrite  (*)ChalcopyriteCuFeS2605.33229760,229761,22976227198
Covellite  (*)CovelliteCuS605.304165
Galena  (*)RocksaltPbS605.34229759,229760,229761,22976224243
Gold  (*)CopperAu605.34229759,229760,229761,22976230554
Muscovite  (*)Mica ClayKAl2(Si3Al)O10(OH)2605.3122975917380
Pyrite  (*)PyriteFeS2605.34229759,229760,229761,22976239462
Quartz  (*)QuartzSiO2605.34229759,229760,229761,22976261156
Sphalerite  (*)SphaleriteZnS605.34229759,229760,229761,22976221482
Tetrahedrite-(Zn)  (*)TetrahedriteCu6(Cu4Zn2)Sb4S13605.33229759,229760,2297625317



Locality Notes from all Ages at Locality:
Age IDLocality Notes
Giersdorf_00000882Boulder batholith in western Montana extends from a few miles south of Helena to about 20 miles south of Butte. The northern part of the hatholith includes most of the batholith north of the latitude of Boulder and a narrow strip near the east margin of the batholith south of Boulder. This area lies between the Elkhorn mountains on the east and the rather broad, high-level surface making up the Continental Divide on the west. Although the area is mountainous, the topography is not rugged but is characterized by smoothly rounded ridges commonlya bout 1,000 feet above the major valleys. Most of the higher valleys were occupied by glaciers in the Pleistocene epoch, but typical alpine cirques are rare. The localities listed here are the Uranium deposits found within the Boulder Batholith.


1 Ages assigned to this locality:

Excel IDMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)Age as listed in referenceDating MethodAge InterpretPrioritized?Sample SourceSample NumRun NumAge from other LocalityDated MineralMinerals explicitely stated as having this ageAge applies to these ElementsMinDat Locality IDDated Locality (Max Age)Location as listed in referenceReferenceReference DOIReference IDAge Notes
Giersdorf_00000882605.360-paleocene  alaskite  Yes U166261W. Wilson Mine (Liverpool Mine), Clancy-Lump Gulch Mining District, Jefferson Co., Montana, USAW. Wilson MineBecraft (1956)10.2113/gsecongeo.51.4.362EG51_362The age for the Uranium deposits of the Boulder Batholith are described as being post-Alaskite of 60 Ma and pre-Dacite, which is described as being early Oligocene by one of the author's references up to Miocene by another.


SampleSource LocalityReference URL


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