The Argentum Mining Co. is a silver mine located in Mineral county, Nevada at an elevation of 6,201 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
Elevation: 6,201 Feet (1,890 Meters)
Commodity: Silver
Lat, Long: 38.15694, -118.08278
Map: View on Google Maps
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.
Argentum Mining Co. MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Argentum Mining Co.
Secondary: Northern Belle, Holmes
Secondary: Argentum Mine
Commodity
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Gold
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Antimony
Secondary: Copper
Tertiary: Manganese
Tertiary: Iron
Tertiary: Arsenic
Tertiary: Nickel
Tertiary: Chromium
Tertiary: Uranium
Location
State: Nevada
County: Mineral
District: Candelaria District
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.
Holdings
Not available
Workings
Type: Underground
Ownership
Owner Name: Earl, C. E., Agent Of Co.
Home Office: Mina, Nv
Owner Name: Nerco Minerals Co.
Home Office: Reno, Nv.
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1870
Discovery Year: 1864
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Physiography
General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Basin And Range Province
Physiographic Section: Great Basin
Physiographic Detail: Candelaria Mountains
Mineral Deposit Model
Not available
Orebody
Form: LINEAR
Form: LINEAR
Form: LINEAR
Structure
Type: R
Description: The North Side Of The District Is Bounded By A Major Post-Mineral Fault. Recurrent Faulting.
Type: L
Description: Complex Fissures, The Candelaria, Alpha, And Belle Faults; Pickhandle Gulch Complex Thrust Over Candelaria Fm. Of Lower Triassic.
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Oxidation; Serpentinization Of Pickhandle Gulch Rocks; Sericitization.
Rocks
Name: Mafic Volcanic Rock
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Early Triassic
Analytical Data
Analytical Data: DUMP MATERIAL AVERAGES 6 OZ SILVER/TON. ORE AVERAGED 60 OZ/TON AG IN THE EARLY DAYS.
Materials
Ore: Silver
Ore: Smithsonite
Ore: Bindheimite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Cerargyrite
Ore: Jamesonite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Pyrite
Comments
Comment (Deposit): THE NORTHERN BELLE MINE, PART OF THIS MINE, WAS THE MOST PRODUCTIVE IN THE DISTRICT IN THE 1860'S-1890'S. THE DEEP SULFIDE ORE COULD NOT BE HANDLED IN THE 1800'S. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT
Comment (Location): JUST SOUTH OF TOWN OF CANDELARIA. APPEARS TO BE MISLOCATED ON TOPOGRAPHIC MAP. NORTHERN BELLE, AS SHOWN ON TOPO, WAS MINED BY ARGENTUM MINING COMPANY. REFERENCES DESCRIBE GEOLOGY OF THIS SITE. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1972)
Comment (Reserve-Resource): PAGE [59] REPORTS PARTLY DEVELOPED SULPHIDE VEIN MATERIAL IN LOWER LEVELS OF NORTHERN BELLE RAN 1-106 OZS. AG/TON.
Comment (Production): $6,700,000-$10,000,000 TOTAL PRODUCTION.
Comment (Workings): 1365-FT SHAFT AND SEVERAL MILES OF WORKINGS; OPEN PIT
Comment (Development): ACTIVITY MARKEDLY DECREASED AFTER 1883. IN THE MID-1950'S 20,000 TO 30,000 TONS OF DUMP MATERIAL WAS RERUN; SITE NOW PROBABLY PART OF NORTHERN BELLE OPEN PIT.
Comment (Commodity): DISSEMINATED PYRITE. HIGH GRADE VEINS-MASSIVE PYRITE-SPHALERITE-GALENA-CHALCOPYRITE-JAMESONITE IN CARBONATE-QUARTZ GANGUE.
Comment (Geology): AT DEPTH THE UNOXIDIZED VEIN FILLING WAS MANGANIFEROUS FERRO-DOLOMITE CONTAINING PYRITE, SPHALERITE, GALENA, AND JAMESONITE. NORMAL AND RESVERSE FAULTS, PART OF PICKHANDLE GULCH THRUST EVENT, ARE STRONGLY MINERALIZED AT NORTHERN BELLE. ANOMALOUS RADIOACTIVITY NOTED IN FE-STAINED SEAM ON 1,700(?) FT. LEVELS; BACKGROUND = 0.025MR/HR, HIGH = 0.15MR/HR. HOST ROCKS ARE LOWER TRIASSIC BASED ON FOSSIL EVIDENCE. ASSOCIATED ROCKS ARE MAFIC VOLCANICS WITH TECTONICALLY INTERRELATED SEDIMENTARY ROCKS; LOCAL DIORITIC(?) INTRUSIONS.
Comment (Deposit): HIGHLY OXIDIZED MANGANIFEROUS SILVER VEINS, SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET IN STRIKE LENGTH AND A FEW FEET WIDE, BROKEN BY COMPLEX FISSURES. THE VEIN SYSTEM IS E-TRENDING AND PARALLELS BEDDING IN THE CANDELARIA FORMATION. THE PRODUCTIVE ORE BODIES OCCUR MOSTLY IN THE LOWEST MEMBER OF THE CANDELARIA FM. WHICH IS CARBONACEOUS WHERE UNOXIDIZED. UNOXIDIZED ORE CAN BE SEEN ON THE 15TH TO 19TH LEVELS. THE VEIN CONSISTS OF FERRO-DOLOMITE IN THIN CURVING AND OVERLAPPING SHEETS AND LENSES SEPARATED BY BLACK POLISHED GRAPHITIC SURFACES. OCCASIONAL DISCONTINUOUS LENSES OR BROKEN SHEETS OF SOLID SULFIDE ORE ARE FOUND UP TO 18 INCHES IN THICKNESS. THE ORE BODIES PROBABLY EXTEND 2000 FT TO THE E OF THE MINE. ABOUT 25% OF ORE FROM CANDELARIA DISTRICT IS HOSTED BY SERPENTINE. OXIDATION EXTENDS TO 300M (?) IN PARTS OF DEPOSIT.
References
Reference (Deposit): ROSS, D.C., 1961, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF MINERAL COUNTY, NEVADA: NBMG BULL. 58.
Reference (Deposit): KNOPF, ADOLPH, 1922, THE CANDELARIA SILVER DISTRICT, NEVADA: USGS BULL. 735A, P.1-22.
Reference (Deposit): COUCH B.F., AND CARPENTER, J.A., 1943, NEVADA'S METAL AND MINERAL PRODUCTION (1859-1940, INCLUSIVE): NEVADA UNIV. BULL., V.37, NO.4, GEOLOGY AND MINING SER. NO. 38.
Reference (Deposit): BURGESS, J.A., 1930, REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE NORTHERN BELLE MINE OF THE ARGENTUM MINING CO. OF NEVADA (UNPUB.): NBMG FILES
Reference (Deposit): PAGE, B.M., 1959, GEOLOGY OF THE CANDELARIA MINING DISTRICT, MINERAL COUNTY, NEVADA: NBMG BULLETIN 56.
Reference (Deposit): GARSIDE, L.J., 1973, RADIOACTIVE MINERAL OCCURRENCES IN NEVADA: NBMG BULLETIN 81, 84 P.
Reference (Deposit): MOELLER, S.A., 1988, GEOLOGY AND MINERALIZATION IN THE CANDELARIA DISTRICT: IN, BULK MINEABLE PRECIOUS METAL DEPOSITS OF THE WESTERN U.S., GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEVADA, P.135-158.
Reference (Production): ROSS, D.C., 1961, TABLE 6.2
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.
