Virgin Valley Opalite Deposits

Site Name

Primary: Virgin Valley Opalite Deposits
Secondary: Virgin Valley Uranium Claims
Secondary: Tony Jack Group (many claim names, see 10045033)

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Commodity

Primary: Gemstone
Tertiary: Gold
Tertiary: Uranium
Tertiary: Silver

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Humboldt
District: Virgin Valley District

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Land Status

Land ownership: BLM Administrative Area
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Owner Name: Krieger, Mitchel, Ruedy, Crane, Wilson
Years: 1978 -

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Deposit
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Surface
Discovery Year: 1950
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: L

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Volcanogenic U

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Orebody

Form: BLANKET (45 DISCONTINUOUS LAYERS OPALITE)

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Structure

Type: R
Description: Reg.Struct: Caldera Structure

Type: L
Description: Caldera Structure

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Alterations

Not available

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Rocks

Name: Gravel
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Pliocene

Name: Gravel
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Pliocene

Name: Gravel
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Miocene

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Analytical Data

Analytical Data: 17 SAMPLES CONTAINED 0.02 TO .080 % U3O8 AS WELL AS OCCASSIONAL TRACES OF GOLD AND SILVER. SILVER VALUES WERE ENCOUNTERED UP TO 7 GRAMS PER METRIC TON.

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Materials

Ore: Opal
Gangue: Weeksite
Gangue: Carnotite

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Comments

Comment (Geology): SOME OPALITE LAYERS CONTAIN URANIUM. OPALITE LAYERS OCCUR PARALLEL TO BEDDING IN ASH AND TUFF AND RANGE IN THICKNESS FROM .03 TO 1 METER. LAYERS RANGE IN LENGTH FROM 2 METERS TO OVER 366 MET. MANY STAGES OF SILICIFICATION OBSERVED. OPALITE HAS A DISTINCTIVE CONCHOIDAL FRACTURE AND MAY BE GREY, BROWN, TAN, BLACK, WHITE, OR PALE GREEN. IRREGULAR LENSES OF DIATOMACEOUS EARTH TO 2 METERS THICK ARE EXPOSED FOR OVER 610 METERS ON THE APRIL FOOL CLAIMS. TUFF AND ASH BEDS CAPPED BY BASALT AND TERRACE GRAVEL. TUFF IS GREENISH-GRAY, FRIABLE, POROUS. ASH BEDS ARE THINNER, LIGHTER-COLORED AND FINER GRAINED. 45 DISCONTINUOUS LAYERS OF OPALITE WERE OBSERVED, SOME WITH ANOMALOUS AMOUNTS OF URANIUM.

Comment (Location): UTM COORDINATES MARK THE LOCATION OF THE VIRGIN VALLEY RANCH, WHICH LIES ROUGHLY IN THE CENTER OF A LARGE AREA OF CLAIMS EXTENDING OVER 3 MILES NORTH OF THE RANCH, 2 MILES SOUTH, AND ONE MILE EAST AND WEST.

Comment (Production): FLUORESCENT OPALITE, SOLD TO ROCK COLLECTORS, TO THE ULTRAVIOLET CORP, AND TO RAYTECH, INC. FROM 1937 TO 1942, AND SOME SINCE THEN, TOO.

Comment (Development): PRESENTED AS A UNIT TO INTERESTED MINING COMPANIES WITH SOME SUCCESS IN 1976

Comment (Workings): AT LEAST 3 DRILL HOLES (1980).

Comment (Deposit): URANIUM MINERALS WERE DISCOVERED BY JACK CRANE IN 1950, WHO LOCATED 52 CLAIMS BETWEEN 1950 AND 1954, ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE VIRGIN VALLEY. WEST AND NORTH OF CRANE'S GROUP, THE LONE STAR URANIUM CO. LOCATED 36 CLAIMS IN 1954 AND 1955. ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE VIRGIN VALLEY, 1/2 MILE E. OF THE VIRGIN VALLEY RANCH, M. FOSTER RELOCATED 3 OLDER CLAIMS (APRIL FOOL GROUP) IN 1932 AND THEY WERE BOUGHT FROM HIM BY H.W. WILSON IN 1942. WILSON ALSO RELOCATED SOME CLAIMS N. OF VIRGIN VALLEY RANCH IN 1976 (ANGIE GROUP), AND WILSON AND G. KRIEGER LOCATED 11 CLAIMS AROUND THE ANGIE GROUP IN 1976 (THE BARBARA AND HAL GROUP). KRIEGER ALSO LOCATED A BLOCK OF 132 CLAIMS SE OF VIRGIN VALLEY RANCH IN 1976. IN 1976, KRIEGER ET-AL. AGREED TO PROMOTE THEIR CLAIMS AS A UNIT TO INTERESTED MINING COMPANIES WITH SOME SUCCESS. DEVELOPMENT IN 1976 CONSISTED OF 188 SHALLOW BULLDOZER CUTS AND TRENCHES. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT

Comment (Commodity): 14 TO 18 TONNES OF OPALITE SINCE 1942 GREENISH-YELLOW, TRANSLUCENT, FLUORESCENT OPALITE, WHICH OCCURS AT THE TOP OF A DIATOMACEOUS EARTH BED ON THE APRIL FOOL GROUP, WAS SOLD FOR 35? PER LB. TO ROCK COLLECTORS AND THE ULTRAVIOLET CORP, IN SAN GABRIEL, CA, FROM 1937 TO 1942. AFTER H.W. WILSON PURCHASED THE GROUP, HE ALSO SOLD OPALITE TO RAYTECH, INC. IN MASSACHUSETTS. 14 TO 18 TONNES HAVE BEEN SOLD SINCE 1942.

Comment (Deposit): AN AREA NORTH OF VIRGIN VALLEY RANCH WHICH MEASURES 1/4 MILE BY 1 MILE AND 50 FT. DEEP MAY CONTAIN 14 TO 18 MILLION TONNES OF LOW-GRADE URANIUM BEARING MATERIAL AND URANIUM MINERALIZATION IN THE AREA INDICATES GOOD POTENTIAL FOR DISCOVERY OF ORE-GRADE URANIUM DEPOSIT.

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References

Reference (Deposit): CUPP, G.M. AND OTHERS, 1977 : U.S. DOE REPORT GJBX-74 (77).

Reference (Deposit): CATHRALL, J.B., ET.AL; 1978, MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE CHARLES SHELDON WILDERNESS STUDY AREA: USGS OPEN-FILE REPORT 78-1002.

Reference (Deposit): STAAZ, M.H. AND BAUER, H.L., 1949, USGS CIRCULAR 142, 7 PP. #5. HENRY, C.D., 1978, U.S. DOE, OF/GJBX-22(79).

Reference (Deposit): CASTOR, S.B. AND MITCHELL, T.P., 1980, FILED REPORT ON URANIUM OCCURRENCE.

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Nevada Gold

Nevada has a total of 368 distinct gold districts. Of the of those, just 36 are major producers with production and/or reserves of over 1,000,000 ounces, 49 have production and/or reserves of over 100,000 ounces, with the rest having less than 100,000 ounces. Read more: Gold Districts of Nevada.