Goldstrike Mine

Site Name

Primary: Goldstrike Mine
Secondary: Western States Minerals Mine
Secondary: Bazza
Secondary: Post
Secondary: Deep Post

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Commodity

Primary: Gold

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Eureka
District: Bluestar-Goldstrike Subdistrict; Carlin District

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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.

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Type: Surface

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Ownership

Owner Name: American Barrick Resources Corp., Mr. John T. Mc Donough, Vp And General Manager
Home Office: P.O. Box 29, Elko, Nv 89801

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1977
Discovery Year: 1965
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: Carbonate-hosted Au-Ag

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Orebody

Not available

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Structure

Not available

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Decarbonitization, Silicification

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Rocks

Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Eocene

Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Cretaceous

Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Devonian

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Analytical Data

Analytical Data: ERDMAN, ET AL (1990) REPORT THAT SAMPLES OF BIG SAGEBRUSH (ARTEMESIA TRIDENTATA) SHOW ELEVATED LEVELS OF GALLIUM THAT SPATIALLY CORRELATE WITH THE BETZE OREBODY.

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Orpiment
Ore: Realgar

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Comments

Comment (Development): AN IP ANOMALY 3000 FT. NW OF POST INTERSECTED THE BETZE OREBODY AT A DEPTH OF APPROXIMATELY 1000 FT. FURTHER DRILLING IN 1987 INDICATED THAT ORE WAS CONTINUOUS BETWEEN DEEP POST AND BETZE. IN JANUARY 1989, THE BETZE DEVELOPMENT PLAN WENT INTO EFFECT, COVERING MINING TO THE YEAR 2000 AND PROCESSING TO 2006. THE BETZE PIT WILL BE DEVELOPED AS A PROGRESSIVE EXPANSION OF THE EXISTING POST PIT. THE MINE PLAN DOES NOT INCLUDE THE DEEP POST OREBODY. IN AUGUST 1989, NEWMONT GOLD CO. REPORTED A DRILL INTERSECTION OF 350 FT. AT 0.768 OPT GOLD FROM A HOLE COLLARED A FEW HUNDRED FEET SOUTH OF THE NEWMONT/BARRICK PROPERTY BOUNDARY. THIS INTERCEPT WAS FROM A PORTION OF THE DEEP POST OREBODY THAT EXTENDS ONTO NEWMONT GOLD PROPERTY. NEGOTIATIONS HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN BETWEEN AMERICAN BARRICK AND NEWMONT GOLD FOR THE JOINT DEVELOPMENT OF THE DEEP POST OREBODY. ; TOTAL$: 365 ; ECON.COM: OVERALL PRODUCTION COSTS FOR AMERICAN BARRICK AT THE END OF 1988 WERE $250/OZ. AU. MILLING AND PROCESSING

Comment (Commodity): AU OCCURS AS MICRON TO SUBMICRON-SIZED PARTICLES ASSOCIATED WITH QUARTZ AND CLAYS IN THE OXIDE ZONES AND WITH PYRITE AND MARCASITE IN THE SULFIDE ZONES. SIMPLE REFRACTORY ORE IN THE LOWER PORTIONS OF THE POST OREBODY IS CHARACTERIZED BY SILICIFICATION WITH 5-10% DISSEMINATED PYRITE. REALGAR AND ORPIMENT OCCUR IN THE DEEP POST OREBODY SPATIALLY ASSOCIATED WITH GOLD MINERALIZATION BUT CONTAIN SIGNIFICANTLY LESS GOLD THAN THE FINE-GRAINED IRON SULFIDES.

Comment (Location): INFO FROM LAND.ST :1972

Comment (Development): EXPL.COM: DIAMOND DRILLING IN THE 1960'S INTERSECTED GOLD MINERALIZATION, BUT GOLD PRICES WERE TOO LOW TO ENCOURAGE FURTHER WORK. BETWEEN 1975-77, EXPLORATION FUNDED BY LAC MINERALS LTD. IDENTIFIED SOIL GEOCHEMICAL ANOMALIES AND LOW GRADE GOLD MINERALIZATION. A 2000 TON SAMPLE LEACHED ON A PAD GAVE POOR RECOVERIES BECAUSE OF HIGH CLAY CONTENT AND COMPACTION. FURTHER BATCH MINING WAS DONE FROM 1978 ONWARD. THE POST SURFACE OREBODY WAS DISCOVERED BY WESTERN STATES MINERALS IN 1982 USING DIAMOND DRILLING. IN OCTOBER 1986, WESTERN STATES DRILLED ONE DEEP CORE HOLE TO 1800 FT., INTERSECTING 391 FT./0.193 OPT AU AT A DEPTH OF 1164-1555 FT. AMERICAN BARRICK PURCHASED THE GOLDSTRIKE OPERATIONS AND PROPERTY OUTRIGHT FOR $62 MILLION ON 12/31/86 FROM THE JV OF PANCANA INDUSTRIES AND WESTERN STATES MINERALS CORPORATION. AMERICAN BARRICK CONTINUED THE DEEP DRILLING AND IDENTIFIED RESERVES OF 9.3 MILLION TONS AT 0.283 OPT AU AT DEEP POST BY 1989. IN MARCH 1987, A DEEP HOLE DRILLED TO TEST

Comment (Development): COSTS FOR THE 12,750 TPD OF 0.38 OPT AU SULFIDE ORE HAVE BEEN CALCULATED TO BE $16.29/TON. THE ESTIMATED AVERAGE CASH COST PER OUNCE OF GOLD OVER THE LIFE OF THE BETZE DEVELOPMENT PLAN IS $195 (CONSTANT 1989 DOLLARS). THE OVERALL CASH COST OF MINING ORE AND WASTE FROM THE BETZE PIT IS PREDICTED TO BE ABOUT 87 CENTS/TON (CONSTANT 1989 DOLLARS). THE CURRENT COST OF 70 CENTS/TON IS EXPECTED TO RISE TO $1.20/TON TOWARD THE END OF MINING. THERE WERE 820 FULL-TIME AMERICAN BARRICK EMPLOYEES AT GOLDSTRIKE IN MID-1989. EMPLOYMENT IS EXPECTED TO LEVEL OUT AT ABOUT 1100 PEOPLE BY 1991. THE AVERAGE WAGE OF HOURLY AMERICAN BARRICK EMPLOYEES AT GOLDSTRIKE IS $13.50-$14.00/HOUR. FRANCO-NEVADA HAS A 4% ROYALTY AND 5% NPI.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): 1990 FIGURES BY HUSPENI REPRESENT THE COLLECTIVE AMERICAN BARRICK AND NEWMONT GEOLOGIC RESOURCE FOR THE COMBINED POST/BETZE MINERALIZED SYSTEM.

Comment (Deposit): Discovery Year: 1960'S

Comment (Reserve-Resource): 1986 FIGURES ARE PRE-MINING ESTIMATES BY WESTERN STATES AT POST OREBODY. 1988 FIGURES AS OF 12/31/88 AT POST, DEEP POST, AND BETZE OREBODIES. OXIDE ORE WITH A GRADE OF 0.008-0.040 OPT AU IS HEAP LEACHED. 1989 AND 1990 FIGURES FOR NEWMONT AS OF 12/31/89 AND 12/31/9AT POST OREBODY USING 88% MILL RECOVERY RATE. 1990 FIGURES FOR AMERICAN BARRICK AS OF 12/31/90. THESE FIGURES DO NOT INCLUDE THE PURPLE VEIN WHICH HAS INFERRED RESOURCES OF 13 MILLION TONS/0.40 OPT AU. THE PURPLE VEIN WILL BE DEVELOPED UNDERGROUND AS THE MEIKLE MINE.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): 1988 FIGURES AS OF 12/31/88 FOR AMERICAN BARRICK AT POST, DEEP POST, AND BETZE OREBODIES.

Comment (Workings): THE GOLDSTRIKE PROPERTY CONSISTS OF 6870 ACRES. DIMENSIONS ARE FOR THE ULTIMATE PIT IN THE BETZE DEVELOPMENT PLAN, USING A STRIP RATIO OF 6.4:1. THIS PIT PLAN INCLUDES THE REMOVAL OF 815.6 MILLION TONS WASTE. WATER INFLOW INTO THE POTENTIAL PIT AT 2000 FT. BELOW THE GENERAL LAND SURFACE IS EXPECTED TO BE APPROXIMATELY 40,000 GALLONS/MIN AT 125 DEGREES F. SULFIDE ORE IS TREATED IN A 5000 TON/DAY AUTOCLAVE CIRCUIT COMMISSIONED 2/2/90. THE CIL PLANT WILL BE CONVERTED PROGRESSIVELY TO GIVE A TOTAL SULFIDE CAPACITY OF 12,750 TON/DAY BY 1993.

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References

Reference (Production): BONHAM, 1988. MINING JOURNAL/MONTAGU MINING FINANCE DATABASE 8/10/91. NBMG, 1991, THE NEVADA MINERAL INDUSTRY - 1990, NBMG SPECIAL PUBLICATION MI - 1990. NBMG MI-1993

Reference (Reserve-Resource): BONHAM, 1988. HUSPENI, J.R., 1990, GEOLOGY OF THE POST GOLD DEPOSIT [ABS]: GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE GREAT BASIN, RENO/SPARKS, NEVADA, 1990, P. 67. NBMG MI-1993

Reference (Deposit): BONHAM, H.F. 1986, NBMG MAP 91.

Reference (Deposit): BONHAM, H.F. 1988, IN NBMG MI-1987.

Reference (Deposit): MINING JOURNAL/MONTAGU MINING FINANCE DATABASE 8/10/91

Reference (Deposit): "GOLDSTRIKE MINE", MINING MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 1989, V. 161, NO. 4, P. 269-272.

Reference (Deposit): "AMERICAN BARRICK - GROWING FAST WITH GOLDSTRIKE", INTERNATIONAL MINING, APRIL 1989, V. 6, NO. 4, P. 9-11.

Reference (Deposit): "STRIKING IT RICH FOR AMERICAN BARRICK", CANADIAN MINING JOURNAL, NOVEMBER 1989, V. 110, NO. 11, P. 45-62.

Reference (Deposit): NEWMONT GOLD CORPORATION 1990 ANNUAL REPORT

Reference (Deposit): HUSPENI, J.R., 1990, GEOLOGY OF THE POST GOLD DEPOSIT [ABS]: GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE GREAT BASIN, RENO/SPARKS, NEVADA, 1990, P. 67.

Reference (Deposit): ERDMAN, J.A., ET AL, 1990, GALLIUM, A REDISCOVERED PATHFINDER ELEMENT; EXAMPLE, SAGEBRUSH OVER THE BETZE GOLD DEPOSIT, NV, EXPLORE, NO. 68, P. 5-6.

Reference (Deposit): MCCARTHY, J.H., ET AL, 1988, EVALUATION OF MULTIPLE GEOCHEMICAL SAMPLE MEDIA AT THE BETZE GOLD DEPOSIT, EUREKA COUNTY, NEVADA, IN SCHINDER, K.S., ED., USGS RESEARCH ON MINERAL RESOURCES - 1989, PROGRAM AND ABSTRACTS, USGS CIRCULAR 1035, P. 45-47.

Reference (Deposit): "A NEW TREND AT CARLIN", MINING MAGAZINE, MARCH 1988, P. 166.

Reference (Deposit): NEVADA DIVISION OF MINERALS, 1994

Reference (Deposit): AMERICAN BARRICK, 1993 ANNUAL REPORT

Reference (Deposit): ROCKY MOUNTAIN PAY DIRT, JUNE 1988, P. 3A.

Reference (Deposit): NBMG, 1991, THE NEVADA MINERAL INDUSTRY - 1990, NBMG SPECIAL PUBLICATION MI-1990.

Reference (Deposit): NBMG, 1994, MI-1993

Reference (Deposit): DIVISION OF MINE INSPECTION, DIRECTORY OF NEVADA MINE OPERATIONS ACTIVE DURING CALENDAR YEAR 1983, 1982, 1981.

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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.