Shoel Pit

The Shoel Pit is a mercury mine located in Humboldt county, Nevada at an elevation of 4,701 feet.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Shoel Pit
Secondary: Nevada Sulphur Co. Mine
Secondary: Black Rock Mine
Secondary: May Also Be Covered By Area Now Called Mercury Pit.

Commodity

Primary: Mercury
Tertiary: Sulfur

Location

State: Nevada
County: Humboldt
District: Sulphur District

Land Status

Land ownership: Private
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.

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: Pacific Sulphur Inc.
Years: 1967 -

Production

Year: 1957
Time Period: To 1957
Material type: HG
Description: Cp_Grade: ^12 Lb/Ton

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Hot-spring Hg

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Strong Hydrothermal Alteration

Rocks

Name: Clastic Sedimentary Rock
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Pleistocene

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: ORE AVG. 12 LB. HG/TON

Materials

Ore: Sulfur
Ore: Cinnabar

Comments

Comment (Location): LOCATION TO CENTER OF SECTION ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1972)

Comment (Development): ALTHOUGH SULPHUR HAS BEEN RECOVERED AT THE NEVADA SULPHUR MINE SINCE THE LATE 1870'S, AND THE PRESENCE OF CINNABAR- WAS NOTED, NO ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO RECOVER THE MERCURY UNTIL 1-941, AT WHICH TIME A SMALL 2-PIPE RETORT ERECTED BY HANSEN, RE-ED AND MILLER FAILED TO RECOVER ANY MERCURY. IN 1943 J. D. EDM-ONDSON, AFTER RETORTING SEVERAL FLASKS, INSTALLED A 15-TON ROT-ARY FURNACE AND RECOVERED 70 FLASKS FROM ORE CONTAINING 7-12 L-B/TON. SOME ORE WAS PROCESSED BY H. C. CROFOOT IN THE 1950'S B-Y USING A FLOTATION PROCESS TO SEPARATE CINNABAR AND SULPHUR.

Comment (Deposit): MERCURY ORE OCCURS IN A SEQUENCE OF FINE CONGLOMERATE, SANDSTONE, SILTSTONE AND TUFFACEOUS SEDIMENTS. IN THE MINER-ALIZED AREA, THE ROCKS ARE BRECCIATED, SILICIFIED AND LEACHED -AND CONSIST OF OPAL AND CHALCEDONY FRAGMENTS. CINNABAR OCCURS -AS PATCHY DISSEMINATIONS AND COATINGS ON SULFUR CRYSTALS AND A-S COATINGS ON BRECCIA CLASTS. VEINS OF ALUNITE AND OPAL ALSO C-ONTAIN CINNABAR.

Comment (Workings): WORKINGS CONSIST OF 3 LARGE OPEN PITS ALIGNED IN A NORTH-SOUTH DIRECTION WITH THE CENTRAL PIT CONTAINING THE MERCU-RY ORE. THE CINNABAR-BEARING AREAS WERE DEVELOPED BY CROSSCUTS-, ADITS, AND SEVERAL TRENCHES.

Comment (Deposit): SURFACE WORKINGS ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; 3 FIELD OBSERV

References

Reference (Deposit): WILLDEN, 1964, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY, NEVADA: NBMG BULL. 59

Reference (Deposit): GALLAGHER, 1967, NEVADA MINES, MILLS, AND SMELTERS - IN OPERATION AS OF JULY 1, 1967: STATE INSPECTOR OF MINES, CARSON CITY, NEVADA, 16 P.

Reference (Deposit): BAILEY, E. H., RYTUBA, J. J. AND JONES, R. B., 1984, NBMG DATA ON MERCURY DEPOSITS OF NEVADA- UNPUBLISHED.

Reference (Deposit): PAPKE, K. G., AND QUADE, JACK, 1984, FIELD EXAMINATION OF THE SULPHUR DISTRICT

Reference (Deposit): NBMG STAFF, 1985, NBMG OFR 85-3.

Reference (Deposit): USBM STAFF, 1965, USBM IC 8252, P. 270.

Reference (Production): USBM UNPUB DATA

Reference (Deposit): BAILEY, E. H. AND PHOENIX, D. A., 1944, NBMG BULL 41

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.