Wheeler Mine

Site Name

Primary: Wheeler Mine
Secondary: NBMG #4211

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver
Tertiary: Copper

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Lyon
District: Wilson District

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Land Status

Land ownership: National Forest
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: Tech Resources Of Canada Are Lessors

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1873
Discovery Year: 1866
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

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Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Basin And Range Province
Physiographic Section: Great Basin
Physiographic Detail: Basin And Mountains

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Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

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Orebody

Form: LENSES, STRINGERS

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Structure

Type: L
Description: Nw-Trending Fault. Sheared Graniorite Cut By Dikes Of Granite Porphyry And Capped Bt Tertiary Rhyolite.

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Vein Material Is A Pyrite-Rich Replacement Ore.

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Rocks

Name: Rhyolite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Pliocene

Name: Rhyolite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Cretaceous

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Calcite

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Comments

Comment (Deposit): FAULTZONE

Comment (Production): 1873-1878; 6038 TONS ORE PRODUCED: GROSS VALUE$165,911.

Comment (Development): THE BASAL VITROPHERE OF THE RHYOLITE WAS USED AS A MARKER HORIZON BY THE EARLY MINERS AS THE UPWARD LIMIT TO THE MINERALIZATION.THE INFORMATION WAS PRESENTED BY MR. W.J. CAVANAUGH, PRESENTLY LEASING AND RUNNING A MILLING OPERATION AT THE WILSON MINE. ; ECON.COM: THE MINE HAS BEEN WORKED INTERMITTENTLY SINCE THE DISCOVERY IN 1866. SOME RECENT WORK BY TECH RESOURCES HAS INCLUDED UNDERGROUND ACTIVITIES.(6,038 TONS OF ORE WITH A GROSS VALUE OF 165,9111 BETWEEN 1873 AND 1878.

Comment (Workings): TUNNELS, STOPES, RAISES, CHUTES

Comment (Geology): ORE BODIES OCCUR AS QUARTZ STRINGERS AND LENSES IN A ZONE OF INTENSE CRUSHING AND ALTERATION, ABOUT 200 FT. WIDE, THAT CUTS THE QUARTZ MONZONITE. CRUSHED & ALTERED ZONE IS JUST SOUTH OF THE MAIN FAULT WHERE THE QUARTZ MONZONITE IS ALTERED TO A DARK-GRAY, ALMOST BLACK ROCK. SULFIDES CONSTITUTE THE ORE AND IS 95% PYRITE WITH SOME CHALCOPYRITE. ORE IS RICHEST IN OXIDIZED ZONE NEAR THE SURFACE.

Comment (Deposit): DISCOVERED SHORTLY AFTER THE WILSON MINE, 1866. FROM 1873 TO 1878 IT PRODUCED 6,038 TONS OF ORE WITH A GROSS VALUE OF $165,911. DEVELOPED BY 3 IRREGULAR TUNNELS AND CONNECTING STOPES, RAISES & CHUTES.THE PYRITE WAS SAID TO BE AN INDICATOR OF GOOD GOLD VALUES. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Comment (Location): UNSURVEYED TOWNSHIP

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References

Reference (Deposit): MOORE,J.G.,1969, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF LYON, DOUGLAS AND ORMSBY COUNTIES, NEVADA; NBMG BULL 75. HILL, 1912, MINING DISTRICTS OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, USGS BULL 507.

Reference (Deposit): TELLURIDE CLAIMS, WILSON MINING DISTRICT,LYON COUNTY, QUADE SITE VISIT 6/14/89, NBMG UNPUBLISHED MINING DISTRICT FILES (TINGLEY FILES).

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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.