Wells Cargo Mine

The Wells Cargo Mine is a fluorine-fluorite mine located in Lincoln county, Nevada at an elevation of 4,249 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

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Site Name

Primary: Wells Cargo Mine
Secondary: Carp Mine
Secondary: Spar Group Claims
Secondary: Charlotte Claims
Secondary: Iron Blossom Group of 22 Claims Nbmg Sample Sites 1730, 1731, 576, 577

Commodity

Primary: Fluorine-Fluorite
Tertiary: Manganese
Tertiary: Barium-Barite

Location

State: Nevada
County: Lincoln
District: Viola District

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.

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: Howard A. Wells, Sr., O. A. Power, Heath Fowler
Years: 1984 -

Owner Name: Allied Chemical Corp.
Years: 1970 -

Production

Year: 1971
Time Period: 1958-1971
Material type: F ORE
Description: Cp_Grade: ^Average Grade, 69% Caf2
Year: 1958
Material type: ORE F
Description: Ap_Grade: ^70% Caf2

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Discovery Year: 1942
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Form: IRREGULAR

Structure

Type: L
Description: Nw-Striking, High Angle Faults

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Some Hydrothermal Alteration Of Dolomitic Rocks Adjacent To Fluorspar Bodies, Some Along Bedding Planes

Rocks

Name: Carbonate
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Pennsylvanian

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: SAMPLES CONTAIN 100-GREATER THAN 5000 PPM BA, 1-GREATER THAN 20% CA, 5-150 PPM CU, 0-100 PPM MO, 0-200 PPM CD, 50-5000 PPM PB, 0-GREATER THAN 5000 PPM SR, 0-3000 PPM ZN

Materials

Ore: Fluorite
Ore: Barite
Gangue: Dolomite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Montmorillonite

Comments

Comment (Production): ALMOST ALL OF THIS PRODUCTION WAS ATTAINED IN 1958-1959 AND 1968-1971 BUT SHIPMENTS FROM STOCKPILES WERE MADE THROUGH MUCH OF THE 1960'S.

Comment (Workings): 4 OPEN PITS (ONE OF WHICH IS NOW FILLED IN BY A DUMP), PLUS 2 ADDITIONAL SMALL OPEN PITS ABOUT 900 FT N., AND A FEW PROSPECT PITS DUG FOR BARITE, LARGE-DIAMETER VERTICAL SHAFT (FOR MANGANESE)

Comment (Deposit): THE FIRST OF THE PRESENT CLAIMS WERE LOCATED, REPORTEDLY FOR BARITE, IN 1955 BY JESSE AND JOHN E. WHIPPLE. THESE CLAIMS WERE PURCHASED BY WESTERN MINING AND DEVELOPMENT CO., AND THE 22 CLAIMS THAT MAKE UP THE GROUP ARE STILL OWNED BY THAT COMPANY, (1979) ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; 3 FIELD OBSERV

Comment (Commodity): MOST FLUORSPAR IS LT GREY TO WHITE, STAINED IN PLACES BY FE OXIDES TO PALE ORANGE OR LT. BROWN.

Comment (Location): 17.6 MILES BY ROAD NE OF THE RAILROAD SIDING AT CARP. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :1972

Comment (Development): FROM 1958 TO 1968, WESTERN MINING AND DEV. CO. OPERATED INTERMITTENTLY TO FILL G.S.A. AND KAISER STEEL CONTRACTS. THE MINING, CRUSHING, SCREENING AND HAULING WERE DONE BY WELLS CARGO, INC. LEADING TO THE FREQUENTLY USED BUT ERRONEOUS NAME "WELLS CARGO MINE". FROM MID-1968 TO 1972, THE MINE WAS OPERATED BY SEVERAL GROUPS OF LESSEES, AND IN THE EARLY 1970'S, EXTENSIVE EXPLORATION WAS DONE ON THE PROPERTY BY ALLIED CHEMICAL CO. AREA RESTAKED ON FEB 16, 1984 BY WELLS CARGO INC.

Comment (Deposit): WORKINGS OCCUR IN A POORLY-DEFINED ZONE STRIKING NW AND SUGGESTING AN OVERALL STRUCTURAL CONTROL WHICH WAS NOT IDENTIFIED. ORE BODIES WERE PROGRESSIVELY SMALLER TO THE NW. OBSERVED CONTACTS BETWEEN MOST ROCKS AND FLUORITE RANGE FROM GRADATIONAL AND POORLY DEFINED TO VERY SHARP, AND THESE CONTACTS ARE BOTH CONCORDANT AND CROSS CUTTING. MINED ORE BODIES WERE NEARLY CONCORDANT WITH BEDDING. FLUORITE APPEARS TO HAVE SELECTIVELY REPLACED PORTIONS OF SOME DOLOMITIC BEDS, AND THE LOCALIZATION AND FORM OF THE BODIES WERE DUE IN PART TO STRUCTURAL CONTROL BY HIGH-ANGLE FAULTS. ALL KNOWN MINERALIZATION OCCURS NEAR THE SURFACE. EXTENSIVE DRILLING DID NOT ENCOUNTER ORE-GRADE MATERIAL BELOW A DEPTH OF 30 FT. ORE RANGES FROM COMPACT AND FIRM TO SLIGHTLY FRIABLE. FLUORITE OCCURS AS AGGREGATES OF CRYSTALS LESS THAN A MILLIMETER ACROSS AND, TO A LESSER EXTENT, AS SMALL IRREGULAR MASSES AND VEINLETS OF VERY FINE-GRAINED MATERIAL SOME OF WHICH IS BANDED, VUGGY OR BOTRYOIPAL. MOST ORE IS NONDESCRIPT IN

Comment (Deposit): APPEARANCE; ONLY RARELY DOES THE FLUORITE HAVE A PALE-PURPLE COLOR. BARITE OCCURS RARELY IN THE FLUORSPAR, BUT IS PRESENT IN SEVERAL RELATIVELY UNEXPLORED REPLACEMENT BODIES IN THE SE HALF OF THE AREA MAPPED BY PAPKE. IT OCCURS PRINCIPALLY AS WHITE, COARSE-GRAINED CRYSTALS WHICH COMMONLY ENCLOSE MODERATE-BROWN FINE-GRAINED BARITE-RICH MATERIAL. OTHER INTRODUCED MINERALS ARE CALCITE, MINOR-FLUORITE LOCALLY, AND A TRACE OF QUARTZ. SOME MANGANESE OCCURS NEAR 2 ISOLATED OPEN PITS 900 FT NNE OF THE AREA MAPPED BY PAPKE. THE MN IS PRESENT IN A VERTICAL ZONE 10 FT WIDE THAT STRIKES N-S AND IS SEPARATED BY FAULTS FROM THE ADJACENT DOLOMITIC ROCKS. THE MN WAS EXPLORED BY A LARGE-DIAMETER VERTICAL SHAFT OF UNKNOWN DEPTH. THERE IS NO APPARENT ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE MN AND THE FLUORSPAR.

References

Reference (Deposit): TSCHANZ, C.M. AND PAMPEYAN, E.H., 1970, NBMG BULL 73, P. 122-124.

Reference (Deposit): GRAPEVINE SPRING G-E-M RESOURCES AREA TECHNICAL REPORT, 1983, FOR BLM.

Reference (Deposit): BENTZ, J. AND SMITH, P., 1983, FIELD EXAMINATION, 9/21/83

Reference (Deposit): PAPKE, K.G., 1979, NBMG BULL. 93, P. 24-28.

Reference (Production): PAPKE, K.G., 1979, P. 24-25.

Reference (Deposit): PAPKE, K.G., 1984, BARITE IN NEVADA, NBMG BULL 98, P. 104, PL. I, II.

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.