Magmont West Mine, Bixby, Iron County, Missouri, USAi

Regional Level Types
Magmont West Mine	Mine
Bixby	Village
Iron County	County
Missouri	State
USA	Country

The Magmont-West area is in southeastern Missouri, approximately 90 mi southeast of St. Louis, along the western edge of the Viburnum Trend, or new Lead Belt. During a Precambrian copper-iron exploration program begun in 1956 by American Zinc Company, lead-zinc mineralization was encountered in the Upper Cambrian Bonneterre Formation. Subsequent to 1973 evaluation, which showed that copper-iron mineralization in the West Dome area was uneconomical, emphasis was shifted to exploring for lead-zinc mineralization in the southeastern and southcentral portion of the project area.

Drilling through 1977 resulted in discovery, in sections 15 and 16, of an estimated 2 to 3 million tons of lead-zinc-copper mineralization of a grade comparable to that currently being mined along the Viburnum Trend. Geologic studies indicate that specific shallow-water lithologies show a high positive relationship with ore-grade mineralization. Such lithologies in the northern portion of the mine area suggest that this area may warrant additional drilling.

The Magmont-West mine is in T. 34 S., R. 2 W., in Dent and Iron Counties, approximately 90 mi southwest of St. Louis. The mine area is on the western margin of the northern part of the New Lead Belt, or Viburnum Trend mining district, where continuous mineralization extends from the St. Joe Minerals Number 28 mine on the north to the Ozark Lead Company's Sweetwater mine at the south, a distance of over 30 mi.

The mine property is bounded on the north, northeast, and east by land owned by St. Joe Minerals Corporation. The main Magmont properties (Cominco American-Dresser Industries and the Buick mine holdings (Homestake Mining Company) adjoin the mine to the east and south. Magmont-West is connected by a two-mile underground development drift from the Magmont workings to the east.