Chimney Creek Mine

Site Name

Primary: Chimney Creek Mine
Secondary: Chimney Creek Prospect

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver
Tertiary: Sand and Gravel, Construction

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Humboldt
District: Potosi (Getchell)

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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

Not available

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Ownership

Owner Name: Gold Fields Mining Corp. Alan Wright, Project Manager.
Years: 1988 -

Owner Name: Gold Fields Mining Corp.

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: Replacement
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1987
Discovery Year: 1985
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: M

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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

Form: TABULAR

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Structure

Type: R
Description: Reg.Struct: Roberts Mountain Thrust (Below) And The Golconda Thrust (Above), Intruded By The Mid-Cretaceous Osgood Mt. Granodiorite And Related Trachyandesite Dikes.

Type: L
Description: Low Angle Unconformity Developed In The Gough'S Canyon Formation. The Chimney Creek Deposit Occurs Along A Northeasterly Range Front Lineament That Is Probably An Extension Of The Getchell Fault. Host Rocks Strike Ne, Dip 21-32 Nw.

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Hydrothermal: Sericite, Kaolinite, Monite, Dickite, Alunite, Natroalunite. A Zone Of Phyllic Alteraion, 50 M Wide Around Feeder Zone, Contains Ore Grade Mineralization. Carbonate Dissolution Zones; Two Generations Of Silicification (Jasperoid); Propylitic Basalts.

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Rocks

Not available

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Gangue: Sericite
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Augite
Gangue: Chlorite
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Albite
Gangue: Epidote
Gangue: Kaolinite
Gangue: Fluorite
Gangue: Tourmaline
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Barite

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Comments

Comment (Geology): PERVASIVE AND EXTSIVE INSIDE AND BELOW THE OREBODY. ETCHART FORMATION, 850 M THICK, CONSISTS OF SILICICLASTIC CARBONATE SHALLOW WATER SEQUENCE ( RICH IN SILICATE MINERAL DETRITUS), PEBBLY LITHARENITE, SILTSTONE, SANDY DOLOMITE AND DOLOMITE. METAMORPHOSED D ALTERED BASALTS, RANGING FROM GREENSCHISTS RETAINING IGNEOUS TEXTURES TO INTENSELY HYDROTHERMALLY ALTERED ROCKS. DACITE DIKES ARE RELATED TO THE OSGOOD MOUNTAINS GRANODIORITE AND CUT ALTERED ROCKS AND ARE THEMSELVES ALTERED.

Comment (Deposit): REPORTER FOR M242950 WAS LA POINTE, D.D. (TINGLEY, J.V.), NBMG, 10/88. REPORTER FOR M042791 WAS LA POINTE, D.D. (TINGLEY, J.V.), NBMG, 03/86.

Comment (Location): LAT/LONG PROVIDED BY CHIMNEY CREEK MINE AND CONVERTED TO UTM'S BY MRDS STAFF.

Comment (Commodity): MICROSCOPIC AU. PRELIMINARY METALLURGICAL TESTS INDICATE THAT THE ORE WOULD BE AMENABLE TO CONVENTIONAL GOLD-MILLING PROCESSES WITH RELATIVELY HIGH RECOVERIES.

Comment (Production): NBMG SPEC. PUB. MI-1990.

Comment (Workings): OPEN PIT, HEAP LEACH, MILL.

Comment (Geology): THE CHIMNEY CREEK DEPOSIT IS STRATIGRAPHICALLY AND TECTONALLY COMPLEX. THE DEPOSIT IS SANDWICHED BETWEEN THE MID-PALEOZOIC ROBERTS MOUNTAIN THRUST AND THE PERMO-TRIASSIC GOLCONDA THRUST. ALTERATION AND MINERALIZATION RE CHANNELED INTO THE THICK BEDDED LOWER MEMBER OF THE ETCHART LIMESTONE ALONG HIGH ANGLE FAULT FEEDER ZONES IN THE GOUGH'S CANYON FORMATION AND SPREAD OUT LATELLY ALONG BEDDING TO FORM A CONFORMABLE SEDIMENT-HOSTED GOLD-SILVER DEPOSIT ABOVE A DISCONFORMABLE STRUCTURALLY CONTROLLED VOLCANIC-HOSTED FEEDER ZONE. MINERALIZATION OCCURS EXCLUSIVELY IN THE GOUGH'S CANYON FORMATION AND THE LOWER MEMBERS OF THE ETCHART LIMESTONE. THE HIGHEST AU-AG GRADES ARE COINCIDENT WITH THE MOST SEVERE CARBONATE DISSOLUTION ZONES IN THE ETCHART FORMATION. GOLD GRADE DROPS OFF SLIGHTLY WITH INCREASING DISTANCE FROM THE PROJECTED FEEDER PIPES. AU-BEARING BEDDED JASPEROIDS FORM TABULAR BODIES FROM 30-50M THICK EXTENDING AT LEAST 600 M OUTWARD FROM THE CENTER OF THE CHIMNEY CREEK. ALTERATION IS

Comment (Reserve-Resource): ITEM 3: THIS FIGURE INCLUDES 6 MILLION TONS OF 0.18 OZ/TONS AU.

Comment (Deposit): CARLIN-SUBTYPE. GENTLY DIPPING MINERALIZED ZONE CONTAINING SIGNIFICANT GOLD VALUES FOUND IN AN AREA ABOUT 1600 BY 800 FT. ADDITIONAL GOLD MINERALIZATION WAS ENCOUNTERED IN SOME DRILL HOLES OUTSIDE THE MAIN MINERALIZED AREA. THOUGH THESE HOLES HAVE NOT BEEN INCLUDED IN ESTIMATING RESERVES (1988). GOLD-BEARING TABULAR JASPEROID IS 30-50 M THICK AND EXTENDS AT LEAST 600 M OUTWARD FROM THE CENTER OF CHIMNEY CREEK.

Comment (Development): SINGLE BENCH; CYANIDATION; CONSTRUCTION; CRUSHING; SCREENING; LEACH PAD CONSTRUCTION; ROTARY DRILLING. CLAIMS COVER 53 SQUARE MILES. COMPREHENSIVE EXPLORATION PROGRAM WAS BEGUN IN 1985. INCLUDING GEOLOGICAL AND GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS AND 180 RELATIVELY SHALLOW DRILL HOLES ON 100-FT CENTERS. GOLD FIELDS IS CONTINUING DRILLING, BULK SAMPLING, METALLURGICAL TESTING, HYDROLOGICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES AND REVIEWING PERMITTING REQUIREMENTS TO DETERMINE THE PROSPECT'S ECONOMIC POTENTIAL AND TO DELINEATE ANY OTHER POTENTIAL ORE BODIES. MINE WOULD EMPLOY 200 PERSONS IN OPEN PIT MINE. FEASIBILITY STUDY EXPECTED TO BE COMPLETED IN 1986. TEST LOT WAS MINED IN 1986. PLANNED PRODUCTION IS 11000 TPD. ANTICIPATED PRODUCTION (1987) IS 150000 OZ AU PER YEAR. CHIMNEY CREEK MINE IS ONE OF THE COUNTY'S LOW COST HIGH-GRADE GOLD PRODUCERS AND MAY HAVE ITS MINE LIFE EXTENDED FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS THROUGH SUCCESSFUL OPERATIONS BY GFMC - HUMBOLDT SUN 7/27/90.

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References

Reference (Reserve-Resource): ITEM 1AND 2: NBMG. SPEC. PUB. MI-1990. ITEM 3: NEVADA MINING ASSOCIATION BULL. OCT-NOV 1985. ITEM 4: BONHAM, 1988. ITEM 5: OSTERBERG, 1988, P. 4.

Reference (Deposit): OSTERBERG, MARK, 1988, GEOLOGY OF THE CHIMNEY CREEK SEDIMENT-HOSTED GOLD DEPOSIT, OSGOOD MOUNTAINS, NEVADA (ABSTRACT): GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEVADA, V. 1, NO. 2, P. 4-6.

Reference (Deposit): ORAL COMMUNICATION FROM JIM DELONG, 16 JUL. 1986. GEOLOGIST FORMERLY WITH GOLD FIELDS.

Reference (Deposit): STAFF, 1988, DIRECTORY OF NEVADA MINE OPERATIONS ACTIVE DURING CALENDAR YEAR 1987: NEVADA DIV. OF MINE INSPECTION, 84P.

Reference (Deposit): NEVADA MINING ASSOCIATION BULLETIN. OCT-NOV 1985.

Reference (Deposit): THE MINING RECORD, NOV 13, 1985, P. 3.

Reference (Deposit): RENO GAZETTE JOURNAL, NOV. 11, 1985.

Reference (Deposit): THE NORTHERN MINER, NOV. 11, 1985.

Reference (Deposit): MINE SEARCH ANNUAL, 1984-1985, BOULDER, CO: METALS ECONOMICS GROUP, V 7, P. 93-94.

Reference (Deposit): GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEVADA, 1987, PRECIOUS METALS SYMPOSIUM. LECTURES. ABSTRACTS.

Reference (Deposit): OSTERBERG, M. W. AND GUILBERT, J.M., 1991, GEOLOGY, WALL-ROCK ALTERATION, AND NEW EXPLORATI TECHNIQUES AT THE CHIMNEY CREEK SEDIMENT-HOSTED GOLD DEPOSITS, HUMBOLDT COUNTY, NV. GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE GREAT BASIN, GSA SYMPOSIUM PROCEEDINGS, RENO, NV. P. 805-819.

Reference (Deposit): THE MINERAL INDUSTRY 1990; NBMG SPEC. PUB. MI-1990.

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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.