Mount Tobin Mine

Site Name

Primary: Mount Tobin Mine
Secondary: Miner's Dream
Secondary: Friday Claims
Secondary: NBMG Sample Site 2326

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Commodity

Primary: Mercury

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Pershing
District: Mount Tobin 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/Underground

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Ownership

Owner Name: Keith N. Meador
Home Office: Reno, Nv.
Years: 1984 -

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1938
Discovery Year: 1929
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: Hot-spring Hg

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Orebody

Form: BLANKET

Form: BLANKET

Form: BLANKET

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Structure

Type: L
Description: N-Trending Faults, Ne-Trending Fractures

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Local Leaching Of Chert Conglomerate And Intense Argillization Of Rhyolite And Shale.

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Rocks

Name: Rhyolite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Pliocene

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

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Analytical Data

Analytical Data: SAMPLE 2326 OF SELECT FAULT BRECCIA WITH CINNABAR CONTAINS 0.5 % FE, 0.2 % MG, 0.1 % CA, 0.5 % TI, 100 PPM MN, 70 -PPM B, 200 PPM BA, 1 PPM BE, 20 PPM CR, 150 PPM CU, 100 PPM LA-, 10 PPM NI, 5 PPM SC, 100 PPM SR, 15 PPM V, 20 PPM Y, 300 PPM- ZR.

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Materials

Ore: Cinnabar
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Sulfur
Gangue: Chalcedony
Gangue: Melanterite

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Comments

Comment (Deposit): MAIN MINERALIZED ZONE IS IN A FAULT ZONE IN CHERT PEBBLE CONGLOMERATE. FAULT ZONE IS CRUSHED AND BROKEN ROCK WITH -PAINTY CINNABAR IN HANGING WALL OF THE CRUSH ZONE IN THE GLORY- HOLE ALONG THE FAULT.

Comment (Workings): THE SURFACE AND UNDERGROUND WORKINGS ARE DIVIDED INTO 2 GROUPS, USUALLY REFERRED TO AS THE EAST WORKINGS AND THE W-EST WORKINGS. THE EAST WORKINGS FORMERLY INCLUDED A GLORY HOLE- AND CONNECTING STOPE ABOUT 120 FT LONG, 40 FT WIDE AND 45 FT -DEEP, BUT IN RECENT YEARS THE WEST EDGE OF THE GLORY HOLE HAS -BEEN BULLDOZED AWAY AND THE AREA TO THE SOUTH CUT OUT TO FORM -A SHALLOW OPEN CUT MEASURING NEARLY 200 BY 200 FT. A 600 FT LO-NG ADIT EXTENDING UNDER THE OLD GLORY HOLE AND USED FOR HAULAG-E WAS STILL OPEN IN 1980, BUT PARTLY FILLED WITH WATER. THE WE-EST WORKINGS CONSIST OF A SHALLOW GLORY HOLE ABOUT 100 FT LONG-AND 40 FT WIDE WITH A NOW INACCESSIBLE HAULAGE LEVEL ABOUT 20 -FT BELOW. AT LEAST 5 BULLDOZER CUTS 200-300 FT LONG ALSO EXPLO-RE THE AREA BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH OF THE MAIN WORKINGS. IN 1984-, MOST WORKINGS WERE CAVED, BUT SOME PARTS OF A ROTARY KILN AN-D 2 OLD TRAILERS WERE ON THE SITE.

Comment (Geology): ROCKS IN AREA CONSIST OF INTERLAYERED BEDS OF PRE-TERTIARY CONGLOMERATE & SHALE AND TERTIARY (?) RHYOLITE AND TUFF. EAST ORE BODY IS LOCALIZED BY A N-TRENDING FAULT DIPPING 50 DEGREES E IN CONGLOMERATE WITH CINNABAR OCCURRING IN THE FOOTWALL SHALE AND CONGLOMERATE. THE WEST ORE BODY IS LOCALIZED IN THE CONGLOMERATE PARALLEL TO THE BEDDING PLANES BETWEEN TWO NE-TRENDING FAULT ZONES 60 FEET APART AND DIPPING NW. THE WEST ORE BODY WAS RICHER AVERAGING 12 1/2 LBS HG PER TON BUT WAS NARROW AND DISCONTINUOUS. CINNABAR FILLS FRACTURES AND CAVITIES AND TO A LESSER EXTENT REPLACES THE MATRIX & PEBBLES. IT ALSO OCCURS IN SHALE AND ARGILLIZED RHYOLITE AS PAINTY FILMS AND SMALL DISSEMINATED CRYSTALS; AS ANGULAR FRAGMENTS OF BOTRYOIDAL COATINGS, AND VEINLETS ALONG FRACTURES. ; GEOL.DESC: WEST WORKINGS: ORE LOCALIZED IN CONGLOMERATE PARALLEL TO BEDDING PLANES. EAST WORKINGS: ORE LOCALIZED ALONG N - TRENDING FRACTURES IN CONGLOMERATE

Comment (Deposit): DISCOVERED IN 1929, EXPLORED BETWEEN 1929-1938. PROPERTY WASN'T MINED UNTIL 1938 WHEN 1,491 FLASKS OF HG WERE PRODUCED FROM 1938-1943. MINE WAS WORKED AGAIN IN LATE 1960'S PRODUCING AT LEAST 14 FLASKS OF HG. TWO ORE BODIES WERE MINED; EAST WORKINGS CONSIST OF AGLORY HOLE 150 FT. LONG, 40 FT. WIDE & 40 FT. DEEP, AND A 600 FT. HAULAGE LEVEL NEAR THE BOTTOM OF THE GLORY HOLE; WEST WORKINGS CONSIST OF A SMALL GLORY HOLE 110 FT. LONG, 60 FT. WIDE, & 20 FT. DEEP ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; 3 FIELD OBSERV

Comment (Development): WAS CONCENTRATED IN THE ZONE OF ALTERATION FROM 500 FT NE TO 600 FT SW OF THE EAST WORKINGS AND TO A DEPTH OF JUST OVER 100 FT INSOME HOLES, NO ORE RUNNING OVER 1 LB HG/TON WAS FOUND. SOON, WITH FALLING HG PRICES, TITLE TO THE CLAIMS LAPSED. IN 1966 IT WAS RESTAKED BY A. P. JONES AND LATER RESTAKED AS FRIDAY CLAIMS BY K. N. MEADOR

Comment (Development): ORE IS EXHAUSTED (1949), BUT EXTENSION OF THE ORE - CONTROLLING FAULT HAS BEEN INADEQUATELY EXPLORED; GOOD SURFACE PANNINGS TO THE SOUTH (1944). NO ACTIVITY IN 1984, BUT SOME 1984 ASSESSMENT WORK WAS DONE. PROPERTY WAS EXPLORED FOR 10 YEARS INTERMITTENTLY AFTER DISCOVERY AND CLAIM LOCATION IN 1929. IN 1938, A 4-PIPE RETORT WAS INSTALLED AND 45 FLASKS HG WERE RECOVERED. IN 1940, H. W. GOULD & CO PURCHASED THE PROPERTY AND INSTALLED A 20TON ROTARY FURNACE WHICH OPERATED UNTIL THE SUMMEROF 1942, PRODUCING 1410 FLASKS HG. THE FURNACE WAS THEN SOLD AND THE BUILDINGS REMOVED FROM THE PROPERTY. W. L. LOW PURCHASED THE CLAIMS IN DEC 1942 AND IN 1943, AFTER DOING EXPLORATORY AND DEVELOPMENT WORK, RECOVERED 36 FLASKS OF HG BY RETORTING SORTED ORE. HE HELD THE CLAIMS WITH LITTLE MORE WORK THROUGH THE PERIOD OF LOW HG PRICE IN LATE 1940'SEARLY 1950'S. IN 1957 HE RECEIVED AN EXPLORATION LOAN FROM DMEA WHICH LED TO THE DRILLING OF 31 ROTARY DRILL HOLES WITH AN AGGREGATE LENGTH OF 2550 FT. DRILLING

Comment (Location): POOR ACCESSIBILITY

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References

Reference (Deposit): JOHNSON, M.G., 1977, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OFPERSHING COUNTY, NEVADA; NBMG BULL. 89

Reference (Deposit): BAILEY AND PHOENIX, 1944, QUICKSILVER DEPOSITS IN NEVADA; NBMG BULL. 41

Reference (Deposit): HOLMES, 1965, MERCURY IN NEVADA; IN USBM 1C 8252

Reference (Deposit): GARSIDE, L. J., 11 SEP 84, FIELD EXAMINATION AND SAMPLE ANALYSIS.

Reference (Deposit): BAILEY, E. H., RYTUBA, J. J. AND JONES, R.B., 1984, UNPUBLISHED DATA ON MERCURY PROSPECTS IN NEVADA

Reference (Deposit): NBMG STAFF, 1985, NBMG OFR 85-3

Reference (Deposit): 1957 DIREXPL DMEA, SHOWED SOME UNECONOMIC MINERALIZATIO

Reference (Production): JOHNSON, M.G., 1977

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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.