Railroad Copper-Gold Property

The Railroad Copper-Gold Property is a copper and gold mine located in Elko county, Nevada.

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

Name: Railroad Copper-Gold Property  

State:  Nevada

County:  Elko

Elevation:

Commodity: Copper, Gold

Lat, Long: 40.51667, -116.00972

Map: View on Google Maps

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Satelite image of the Railroad Copper-Gold Property

Railroad Copper-Gold Property MRDS details

Site Name

Primary: Railroad Copper-Gold Property
Secondary: Bullion Copper-Gold Project
Secondary: Polymetallic prospect
Secondary: Nevada Bunker Hill Mines
Secondary: Aladdin Claim
Secondary: Blue Sky Claim
Secondary: Tripoli Claim
Secondary: Webfoot Claim
Secondary: Mahogany Claim
Secondary: Standing Elk Claim
Secondary: Hoffman Claim
Secondary: Mounted Ledge Claim
Secondary: Bullion Claim
Secondary: Cleveland Claim
Secondary: Portal Claim


Commodity

Primary: Copper
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Lead
Tertiary: Tungsten
Tertiary: Barium-Barite


Location

State: Nevada
County: Elko
District: Railroad 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

Not available


Ownership

Owner Name: Royal Standard Minerals
Info Year: 2006


Production

Not available


Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: replacement, veins
Operation Type: Surface-Underground
Year First Production: 1870
Year Last Production: 1959
Discovery Year: 1870
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: M


Physiography

Not available


Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Skarn Cu


Orebody

Form: tabular to irregular


Structure

Type: L
Description: North- to northeast-trending Bunker Hill fault; E-W-trending Bald Mountain fault


Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: sericitization, silicification


Rocks

Name: Porphyry
Role: Associated
Description: rhyolite
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Tertiary

Name: Porphyry
Role: Associated
Description: Quartz monzonite
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Tertiary

Name: Quartz Monzonite
Role: Associated
Description: porphyry
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Tertiary

Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Mississippian
Age Old: Early Mississippian

Name: Siltstone
Role: Host
Description: (gold host rock)
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Mississippian

Name: Skarn (Tactite)
Role: Host
Description: (copper host rock)
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Devonian
Age Old: Middle Devonian

Name: Limestone
Role: Host
Description: (copper host rock)
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Devonian
Age Old: Middle Devonian


Analytical Data

Not available


Materials

Ore: Malachite
Ore: Pyromorphite
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Ore: Chalcocite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Bornite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Chalcanthite
Ore: Cerussite
Ore: Cerargyrite
Ore: Duftite
Ore: Azurite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Halloysite
Gangue: Wollastonite
Gangue: Fluorite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Tremolite
Gangue: Garnet
Gangue: Calcite
Gangue: Barite


Comments

Comment (Economic Factors): Royal Standard in 2006 reported a resource estimate of 200-500 million tons of material with an average grade of 0.5 % Cu, for a total of as much as 2 billion pounds of copper with credits in gold, silver, zinc, and lead. Mines in the project area have produced in excess of 100,000 tons of copper with some lead and zinc and minor gold and silver.

Comment (Identification): This record incorporates material from several records (M233382, M233363, M233353, M233354, M233345) for historic mines in the Railroad District, now encompassed by the current prospected area of Royal Standard Minerals, as well as new material.

Comment (Location): The prospect encompasses an area surrounding the historic mines of the Railroad District on the northern slope of Bunker Hill.

Comment (Workings): Historic mines in the project rea were developed primarily by underground workings including shafts with several levels of workings, and tens of thousands of feet of adits, winzes, tunnels, crosscuts, drifts, as well as shallower workings.

Comment (Development): The original Bunker Hill mines were discovered in the1870s, with early ore treated in a small smelter erected at Bullion City. The mine originally opened on 7 levels with the 'low level' adit (Davis tunnel) the main access. Production continued until 1887, then ceased until 1905 when the Nevada Bunker Hill Mining Co. consolidated the area mines and 2 low level adits were begun at the new camp of Bullion, to explore the downward extension of the orebodies. The property was operated during the 1930s by the Aladdin Mines Co. The Davis tunnel was extended to a target length of 6,040 feet in 1959, in an attempt to reach a projected extension of the Standing Elk orebody but no ore was found. Later the Webfoot Adit shared the same dump and portal area and was extended to 900 feet, with several hundred feet of crosscuts. The Standing Elk has over 10,000 feet of workings, and was one of the major producers of the district, with most of the intermittent production since 1908 to its credit. The Railroad/Bullion District has seen many periods of subsequent exploration for a variety of commodities. The most recent owner is Royal Standard Minerals who in 2006 is explorijng the property as a copper-gold polymetallic prospect. At the end of 2006, RSM reported that a geologic field mapping and geophysics program was completed during October and November 2006 on the Railroad copper-skarn system. The alteration mapping and a large ground magnetics program provided very useful data in targeting future drill hole sites on the property. The geophysical interpretation of this data is underway. No drilling was completed in October and November on this property due to delays with the availability of a drill, weather and the need to complete the evaluation of the new geophysical and geologic data. The drilling program is now rescheduled for the spring of 2007.

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: malachite, chalcanthite, cerussite, cerargyrite, duftite, copper pitch, azurite, galena, bornite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, chalcocite, tetrahedrite, scheelite, pyromorphite

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: calcite, garnet, tremolite, quartz, fluorite, wollastonite, halloysite, pyrite, barite

Comment (Deposit): The ore occurs as pipe-like replacements in marbelized limestone along porphyry dikes at intersections with faults. The largest mass was 50 feet in diameter and extended vertically for 400 feet and yielded 50,000 tons of oxidized ore grading 18.2% lead, 5.4% copper, and 19 oz of silver per ton. Scheelite-bearing tactite 2-3-feet wide occurs in the Davis tunnel about 3000 feet from the portal. In some areas, chimneys of high-grade silver-lead ore occur at fissure intersections and shear zones.


References

Reference (Deposit): La Pointe and others, 1991, NBMG Bull. 106

Reference (Deposit): NBMG MI-96; MI-97.

Reference (Deposit): Mines Register, 1937.

Reference (Deposit): Emmons, W.H., 1910, A Reconnaissance of some Mining Camps of Elko, Lander, and Eureka Counties, Nevada. USGS Bulletin 408.

Reference (Deposit): Granger, A.E., et al., 1957, Geology and Mineral Resources of Elko County, Nevada, NBMG Bulletin 54

Reference (Deposit): Smith, R.M., Mineral Resources of Elko County, Nevada, USGS Open File Report, 1976-56

Reference (Deposit): Ketner, K.B., and Smith, Jr., J.F., Geology of the Railroad Mining District, Elko County, Nevada. USGS Bulletin 1162-B

Reference (Deposit): Royal Standard Minerals website, 2006 http://www.royalstandardminerals.com/
URL: http://www.royalstandardminerals.com/

Reference (Deposit): Long, K.R., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., and Ludington, S.D., 1998, Significant deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 90-206A, 33 p.; 98-206B. one 3.5 inch diskette.


Nevada Gold

Gold Districts of Nevada

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.