Lucerne Pit

The Lucerne Pit is a silver and gold mine located in Storey county, Nevada at an elevation of 5,279 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

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Lucerne Pit
Secondary: Lucerne Dump Project
Secondary: Lucerne Deposit
Secondary: South Comstock Gold Project
Secondary: Oliver Hills

Commodity

Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold

Location

State: Nevada
County: Storey
District: Comstock

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

Type: Surface

Ownership

Owner Name: Rea Gold; Bmr Gold

Owner Name: Rea Gold

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Prospect
Deposit Type: Vein
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1936
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: M

Physiography

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

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Epithermal vein, Comstock

Orebody

Form: TABULAR

Structure

Type: R
Description: Block Faulting

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Argentite
Ore: Silver
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Calcite

Comments

Comment (Workings): LUCERNE STARTER PIT IS DESIGNED TO REMOVE 392,000 TONS OF ORE. THE MAIN PIT IS DESIGNED TO REMOVE 2,291,000 TONS OF ORE CONTAINING 0.050 OZ/TON AU. TRUCKS WILL TRANSPORT ORE TO HEAP LEACH PADS.

Comment (Deposit): THE SITE IS NAMED ON VIRGINIA CITY QUAD. THIS IS ONE OF SEVERAL MINING CLAIMS/WORKINGS AFFECTED BY NEW OPEN PIT OPERATIONS, INCLUDING MRDS RECORDS M231255, M231225, M231226, M231250 AND M231219. A SECOND PIT LOCATED IN THE AMERICANAVINE, THE BILLY THE KID PIT, IS A NEW MRDS RECORD (RE00291); IT IS SEPARATED TOPOGRAPHICALLY FROM THE LUCERNE PIT BY HARTFORD HILL.

Comment (Deposit): CONCENTRATED GOLD AND SILVER ARE CONTAINED WITHIN A THREE-DIMENSIONAL INTERLOCKING QUARTZ STOCKWORK AND IN MANGANIFEROUS-QUARTZ-CALCITE VEINS. OUTSIDE OF THE MANGANIFEROUS ZONE, SIGNIFICANT GOLD AND/OR SILVER VALUES GENERALLY CONFORM TO THE GEOMETRY OF THE SILVER CITY LODE.

Comment (Geology): TYPICAL OF SILVER CITY LODE, GOLD MINERALIZATION IS CONTAINED WITHIN BRECCIAS. THE HANGING WALL AND MINERALIZATION IS YOUNGER, TERTIARY VOLCANICS, WITH FOOT WALL COMPOSED OF MESOZOIC UNITS. LOCALLY, TERTIARY-AGED ROCKS ARE ALSO FOUND AS A FOOTWALL.

Comment (Development): EARLIER WORKINGS CONSISTED OF A PIT AND DUMP. PIT HAS CONTINUED TO BE WORKED INTERMITTENTLY SINCE FIRST DISCOVERED. EXTENSIVE EXPLORATORY DRILLING HAS OCCURRED SINCE 1990. FOUR HOLES DRILLED IN 1993 SHOW .021 TO .20 OZ/T AU AND .17 TO 3.12 OZ/T AG. REA GOLD INTENDS TO MINE THE SMALLER, HIGHER GRADE LUCERNE STARTER PIT (SEE RESERVES) BEFORE MINING THE LARGER LUCERNE MAIN PIT. STRIPPING RATIOS ARE 1:1.34 IN THE STARTER PIT AND 1:1.65 IN THE MAIN PIT. REA'S ANTICIPATED OPERATING COSTS ARE $236.99 /OZ AU, NOT INCLUDING CAPITAL COSTS.

Comment (Location): STATE PLANE COORDINATES ARE 198000, 164900. UTM COORDINATES ARE FOR CENTER OF PIT FROM TINGLEY (UNPUBLISHED DATA). REROUTING OF HIGHWAY 342 IS PLANNED.

References

Reference (Deposit): BURGOYNE, A.A., APRIL, 1993, REA GOLD CORP.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): BURGOYNE, A.A., APRIL,1993, REA GOLD CORP.

Reference (Deposit): BONHAM, H.K., 1969, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF WASHOE AND STOREY COUNTIES, NEVADA: NBMG BULL. 70.

Reference (Deposit): BURGOYNE, A.A., APRIL 1993, REA GOLD CORP. OPERATING PLAN SUMMARY FOR SOUTH COMSTOCK JOINT VENTURE: UNPUBLISHED WRITTEN COMMUNICATION IN NBMG INFORMATION OFFICE FILE FOR COMSTOCK OR SILVER CITY MINING DISTRICT.

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

Reference (Deposit): "COMSTOCK DRILLING EXTENDS LUCERNE," THE NORTHERN MINER, MAY 24, 1993, P. 10.

Reference (Deposit): STODDARD, C., AND CARPENTER, J.A., 1950, MINERAL RESOURS OF STOREY AND LYON COUNTIES, NEVADA: NBMG BULL. 49.

Reference (Deposit): BECKER, G.F., 1882, GEOLOGY OF THE COMSTOCK LODE AND THE WASHOE DISTRICT: USGS MONO 3.

Reference (Deposit): STAFF, 1888, MAP OF THE WASHOE DISTRICT (SHOWING MINING CLAIMS): USGS, PLATE III

Reference (Deposit): GIANELLA, V.P., 1936, GEOLOGY OF THE SILVER CITY DISTRICT AND THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE COMSTOCK LODE, NEVADA: NBMG BULL. 29.

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.