Santa Fe Gold Mine

Site Name

Primary: Santa Fe Gold Mine

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Commodity

Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Arsenic
Secondary: Antimony
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: Zinc
Tertiary: Copper
Tertiary: Tungsten
Tertiary: Barium-Barite
Tertiary: Molybdenum
Tertiary: Mercury
Tertiary: Thallium

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Mineral
District: Santa Fe 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

Type: Surface

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Ownership

Owner Name: International Corona Corp.,
Home Office: P.O. Box 3220, Hawthorne, Nv 89415

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Production

Year: 1989
Material type: AU
Description: Ap_Grade: ^0.035 Opt Au
Year: 1989
Material type: AG
Description: Ap_Grade: ^ 0.17 Opt Ag
Year: 1988
Material type: AU
Description: Ap_Grade: ^ 0.29 Opt Ag
Year: 1990
Material type: AG
Description: Ap_Grade: ^0.034 Opt Au
Year: 1988
Material type: ORE-AU, AG
Description: Ap_Grade: ^0.03 Opt Au

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1988
Discovery Year: 1962
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

Model Name: Carbonate-hosted Au-Ag

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Orebody

Form: TABULAR

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Structure

Type: R
Description: Walker Lane

Type: L
Description: The Santa Fe Fault Forms The Contact Between The Luning Formation And Mickey Pass Tuff And Consists Of A Breccia Zone Up To 125 Meters Wide.

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Argillization, Decalcification, Silicification, Carbonaceous Alteration, Propylitization. Stearns (1982) Proposes 3 Separate Pulses Of Hydrothermal Alteration Within The Santa Fe Fault Zone. These Events Are 1) Early Quartz-Sericite-Kaolinite Alternation Known As "White Breccia Clasts", 2) Main Stage Carbonaceous, Jasperoid, And Stockwork Veining, And 3) Late Stage Hydrothermal Leaching. Au-Ag Deposition Is Associated With The Second (Main) Event. Jasperoids Are Commonly Very Pyritic.

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Rocks

Name: Rhyodacite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Triassic

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

Name: Rhyodacite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Triassic

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Analytical Data

Analytical Data: MO IS SOMEWHAT ENRICHED AS WELL.
Analytical Data: TWO DIFFERENT METAL ASSOCIATIONS ARE RECOGNIZED. THE STRUCTURALLY CONTROLLED JASPEROIDS ARE CHARACTERIZED BY VERY HIGH SB AND RELATIVELY LOW AS, AG, AND BASE METALS. HYDROTHERMAL BRECCIAS TEND TO HAVE AS>SB, AG:AU IN EXCESS OF 10:1, AND COMMONLY VERY HIGH BASE METALS, PARTICULARLY PB. OTHER ELEMENTS WHICH ARE HIGH IN BOTH ORE TYPES ARE TL AND HG

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Materials

Ore: Quartz
Ore: Calcite
Ore: Hematite
Ore: Kaolinite
Ore: Chalcedony
Ore: Jasper
Ore: Marcasite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Boulangerite
Ore: Freibergite
Ore: Limonite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Stibnite
Ore: Miargyrite
Ore: Realgar
Ore: Barite
Ore: Sericite
Ore: Sphalerite

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Comments

Comment (Deposit): STRIKE AND DIP ARE FOR THE BRECCIA ASSOCIATED WITH THE SANTA FE FAULT ZONE. PLUNGE IS FOR THE MAIN JASPEROID WHICH FORMS A PIPE-LIKE BODY APPROX. 120 METERS IN DIAMETER WITHIN THE SANTA FE FAULT ZONE. LOW GRADE AU/AG MINERALIZATION OCCURS IN SHEETED AND PIPE-LIKE OREBODIES WITHIN A 50 TO 400 FT. WIDE, STEEPLY DIPPING FAULT BRECCIA IN CARBONATE ROCKS. SULFIDE MINERALIZATION PRESENT IN VOLCANICS AT 300 FT. DEPTH, BUT NOT CONSIDERED RESERVES. SEE FINNACA (1987) OR STEARNS (1982) FOR PARAGENESIS.

Comment (Workings): OPEN PIT/HEAP LEACH OPERATION. FIGURES ARE FOR PIT DEVELOPED TO 5860 FT. LEVEL (140 FT. DEEP) AS OF JUNE 1990.

Comment (Location): ON THE EAST FLANK OF TODD MOUNTAIN, IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE GABBS VALLEY RANGE. JUST SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 361, NE OF LUNING. . INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1972)

Comment (Commodity): STIBNITE IN JASPEROID SEEMS TO BE A GOOD INDICATOR OF HIGH GRADE GOLD. VERY LIMITED MICROPROBE DATA SUGGEST THAT AU MAY BE IN SOLID SOLUTION IN PYRITE. AU AND/OR AU-AG TELLURIDES MAY BE PRESENT. OVERALL AG:AU RATIO IS APPROX. 5:1. RARE CHALCOPYRITE AND SCHEELITE.

Comment (Geology): MIOCENE 19.5 0.6 MA? K-AR DATE IN REPLACEMENT ALUNITE IN GUILD MINE MEMBER OF MICKEY PASS TUFF, 5 MILES NE OF SANTA FE MINE. THE RELEVANCE OF THIS DATE TO THE SANTA FE MINE IS QUESTIONED BY ALBINO (1992).

Comment (Development): PRODUCTION DECISION. IN MID-1986, LACANA PURCHASED WESTLEY'S AND BRICAN'S INTERESTS. FURTHER DRILLING AND METALLURGICAL STUDIES BY LACANA WERE INCORPORATED INTO A NEW FEASIBILITY STUDY WHICH LED TO A PRODUCTION DECISION IN DECEMBER 1987. CONSTRUCTION BEGAN IN FEBRUARY 1988 AND THE FIRST GOLD WAS POURED AUGUST 18, 1988. ; ECON.COM: CASH OPERATING COSTS PER EQUIVALENT OUNCE OF GOLD WERE $314 IN 1988, $271 IN 1989, AND $320 IN 1990. MINE CAPITAL COSTS OF $10.5 MILLION. BRICAN RESOURCES LTD. AND WESTLEY MINES LTD. RETAIN ROYALTY INTERESTS OF 1.23% AND 5.33% RESPECTIVELY. EURO-NEVADA MINING CORPORATION LTD. HOLDS A 1.5% NET SMELTER ROYALTY.

Comment (Development): THE CLAIMS WERE FIRST STAKED BY G.B. GAYLORD IN THE EARLY 1960'S. CORDERO MINING CO. COMPLETED A GEOLOGICAL AND GEOCHEMICAL SAMPLING PROGRAM IN THE EARLY 1960'S. CALLAHAN MINING COMPLETED A 3300 FT. EM SURVEY IN 1968. THE PROPERTY WAS OPTIONED TO BELL MOUNTAIN SILVER MINES IN 1971, AND TWO DIAMOND DRILL HOLES WERE COMPLETED. IN 1973, THE PROPERTY WAS OPTIONED TO WESTLEY MINES, LTD., WHO OPTIONED THE PROPERTY TO BETHLEHEM MINES IN 1974. BETHLEHEM COPPER COMPLETED AN EXTENSIVE EXPLORATION PROGRAM. IN 1978, INCO OPTIONED THE PROPERTY FROM WESTLEY AND DRILLED ONE HOLE. IN 1979, VENTURES WEST MINERAL LTD. OPTIONED THE PROPERTY FROM WESTLEY. VENTURES WEST MINERAL LTD. PURCHASED WESTLEY MINES LTD. IN 1981. CORONA'S INVOLVEMENT AT SANTA FE DATES FROM OCTOBER 1983, WHEN LACANA GOLD INC., ONE OF CORONA'S PREDECESSOR COMPANIES, ENTERED INTO A JV AGREEMENT WITH WESTLEY AND BRICAN RESOURCES TO EXPLORE THE PROPERTY. A FEASIBILITY STUDY WAS COMPLETED IN LATE 1985, WHICH DID NOT LEAD TO A

Comment (Deposit): Discovery Year: EARLY 1960'S

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References

Reference (Deposit): MINING JOURNAL/MONTAGU MINING FINANCE, 8/10/91, MINING DATA BASE.

Reference (Deposit): LOWE, N.T., ET AL, PRINCIPAL DEPOSITS OF STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL MINERALS IN NEVADA, USBM INFORMATION CIRCULAR 9035, P. 164.

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

Reference (Deposit): CORONA CORP, 1989

Reference (Deposit): NEVADA DIVISION OF MINERALS, 1994

Reference (Production): MINING JOURNAL/MONTAGU MINING FINANCE, 8/10/91, MINING DATA BASE. NBMG MI-1993

Reference (Reserve-Resource): NBMG MI-1993

Reference (Deposit): STEARNS, S.W., 1982, DISSEMINATED EPITHERMAL PRECIOUS METALS IN THE SANTA FE DISTRICT, MINERAL COUNTY, NV: MS THESIS, STANFORD UNIV.

Reference (Deposit): ALBINO, G.V., GILES, D.A., JANNEY, D.W., KURRASCH, D., 1990, GEOLOGY OF THE SANTA FE GOLD DEPOSIT, MINERAL COUNTY, NEVADA, IN BUFFA, R.H., AND COYNER, A.R., EDS., GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE GREAT BASIN - FIELD TRIP GUIDEBOOK COMPENDIUM, THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEVADA, RENO, P. 494-502

Reference (Deposit): FINNACA, MIKE, 1987, GSN BULK MINEABLE PRECIOUS METALS SYMPOSIUM FIELD TRIP GUIDEBOOK AND TECHNICAL VOLUME AND GSN 1986 FALL FIELD TRIP GUIDEBOOK.

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

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

Reference (Deposit): NBMG MINING DISTRICT FILE #207, PRESS CLIPPINGS.

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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.