Dee Gold Mine

Site Name

Primary: Dee Gold Mine
Secondary: Boulder Creek Mine
Secondary: Main Zone
Secondary: Ridge Zone
Secondary: North Extension
Secondary: Deep North
Secondary: Dx Zone
Secondary: South Extension
Secondary: Storm decline

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Tertiary: Mercury
Tertiary: Thallium
Tertiary: Barium-Barite
Tertiary: Antimony
Tertiary: Arsenic

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Elko
District: Bootstrap 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.
Administrative Organization: Elko BLM District

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Owner Name: Glamis Gold, Ltd.
Info Year: 2002

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: disseminated gold
Operation Type: Surface
Year First Production: 1984
Year Last Production: 2001
Discovery Year: 1980
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: S

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Sediment-hosted Au

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Orebody

Form: tabular to irregular

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Structure

Type: L
Description: The mine area has been affected by folding, thrusting, and high angle faulting. At least three stages of folding are recognized: 1) the oldest set trending N-NE, 2) a set trending N-NW with steep, south-dipping axial planes, 3) a set trending E-W, representing south-directed compression. Two stages of thrusting are represented. Both strike-slip and dip-slip movements are recognized on the high angle structures, but dip-slip movement dominates. NE-trending Basin and Range faults cut both Paleozoic and Tertiary units and displace ore horizons downwards on the southerly and westerly blocks. A few joints trending NE have chalcedonic silica developed along the fracture surfaces.

Type: R
Description: Greybeck (1985) proposes that Dee is located at the leading edge of the Golconda Thrust and that beds exposed in the Dee Mine pit lie on the west flank of a close to tight NNE trending antiform.

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Silicification and argillization of originally calcareous siltstones and limestones are the dominant alteration effects. Where mineralized, intrusive dikes of intermediate composition are sericitized and often silicified.

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Rocks

Name: Carbonate
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Pliocene
Age Old: Late Miocene

Name: Carbonate
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Devonian

Name: Sedimentary Rock
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Ordovician

Name: Dacite
Role: Associated
Description: intrusive dikes of intermediate composition (dacitic)
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age in Years: 17.000000+-
Age Young: Early Miocene

Name: Tuff
Role: Associated
Description: vitric
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age in Years: 17.000000+-
Age Young: Early Miocene

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Barite
Gangue: Stibnite

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Comments

Comment (Economic Factors): From 1984-1995, the combined Dee-Ren deposits produced 16 tonnes of gold and >9.4 tonnes of silver from >10,143 kilotonnes of ore. In 1995, the combined Dee-Ren deposits were estimated to contain a remaining resource of 11,024 kilotonnes of ore containing 18.25 tonnes of gold (Long and others, 1998). Ore was shipped from the Ren deposit, 2-1/2 miles to the southeast, for processing at Dee in the mid-1990s, so production data from that time period includes Ren production. Cash costs of gold production were <$200/oz. in 1987, $204/oz. in 1988, $247/oz. in 1989, and $264/oz. in 1990. Mining costs were $6 per ton milled in 1987. Proven and probable reserves reported by Glamis Gold in 1998 for the Dee Mines were 1.778 million tons of ore grading 0.155 opt, containing 275,000 ounces of gold. The Dee mine had a projected mine life of nine years in 1990 and created 100 permanent new jobs with a payroll of $3.0 million per year. Total expenditure on payroll, supplies, services, taxes, and royalties exceeded $7.0 million per year. In 1992, the Dee Mine contained reserves of 5.2 Mt of ore grading 0.049 opt Au. In 1994, a geologic resource of 958,000 oz Au was reported. In 1997, a geologic resource of 400,000 oz Au was reported. Production from the Dee mine from 1987 to 1998 was 445,557 oz Au; production of silver from 1989 to 1996 was reported as 192,322 oz Ag. Last production in 2001 was listed as 2,351 oz gold and 6,028 oz silver.

Comment (Geology): Western facies, upper plate rocks host the ore.

Comment (Development): The original Dee discovery was made in Boulder Creek in 1980 by Whit Delamare, working for Cordex Exploration Co. Subsequent drilling of 247 holes totalling 120,000 ft. located the Main and Ridge orebodies. A mine feasibility study was commissioned in 1982. The production decision was made in April, 1983. Production of mill grade ore began in 1984. A heap leaching operation to treat lower grade ore commenced June 1, 1985. In the 1980s, ownership of the Dee Mine was listed as Cordex Syndicate (Rayrock Yellowknife Resources 44%, International Corona Corp. 44%, Mr. John S. Livermore 12%). The operator at that time was Dee Gold Mining Co. (1983); Art Schwandt, Gen. Mgr., P.O. Box 1193, Elko, Nv 89801. In 1998, the Dee Mine was evaluated for further expansion underground and a two-year underground mine plan was developed. This underground plan coupled with the remaining open-pit reserves was intended to enable Dee to produce over 58,000 ounces per year for the next four years at a cash cost of $197/oz. In 2000, the Dee Mine was still owned and operated by Glamis Gold, Ltd. (2000). The Dee Gold Mine was still listed as an active mine employing 12 persons and producing 2,351 oz gold and 6,028 oz silver in 2001, however it was no longer listed as an active producer in 2002. The Storm Exploration Decline (Storm Decline), an inactive underground gold exploration mine, was a joint venture between Dee Gold Mining Company and Barrick Gold Exploration, Inc. (Barrick), with Barrick having sole managing authority over the mine. Barrick developed the Storm Decline from the lowest level of the Dee Gold Mining Company open pit in March 1999. The decline was developed to explore ore bodies to identify potential gold-bearing ore reserves. Conventional mining methods utilizing drilling, blasting, and trackless haulage were used to advance the decline. The mine was closed during April 2000 and access to it was controlled by locked gates. Barrick reported on the Storm 2004 exploration program. The End Zone drift was completed on schedule and budget with drilling now in progress: 16,500 feet of Core drilling in 49er, Deep North and End Zones completed YTD Test mining was completed at 49er Zone with 1,000 st extracted for metallurgical testing Pre-feasibility study on 49er and Deep North zones in progress

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: native gold

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: stibnite, pyrite, barite

Comment (Deposit): The Dee Mine consists of several orebodies: the Main Zone; Ridge Zone; North Extension; Deep North; Dx Zone; and South Extension.

Comment (Identification): This is a new record for the current gold deposit; earlier record M242256 is for the historic Dee gold mine only. The current Dee Gold Mine encompasses the historic Dee gold mine area.

Comment (Location): Dee is the northwesternmost deposit of the Carlin Trend, although some authors continue the trend northward to include the Hollister (Ivanhoe) orebodies.

Comment (Workings): Dee has a 900 tpd capacity cyanide leaching mill with a carbon-in-pulp circuit to recover gold. The heap leach is planned to treat approx. 0.5 million tons per year. Approximately 55% gold recovery is achieved from heap leaching over a six week period. Average ratio of waste to combined ore is 6:1. The total area disturbed by the operations does not exceed 400 acres.

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References

Reference (Deposit): Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, p. 841-843.

Reference (Deposit): Abbott, E., Laux, D., Keith, S., 1992, Geochemistry and Ore Deposits - Influence of Magma Chemistry, In Buffa, R. And Coyner, A., eds., Geology and Ore Deposits of the Great Basin - Field Trip Guidebook Compendium, The Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, p. 568.

Reference (Deposit): Bergwall, F., 1992, Geology of the Dee Gold Mine, in Buffa, R. And Coyner, A., Eds., Geology and Ore Deposits of The Great Basin - Field Trip Guidebook Compendium, The Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, p. 867.

Reference (Deposit): Mining Journal/Montagu Mining Finance, Mining Database, 8/10/91.

Reference (Deposit): Bagby, W.C., Pickthorn, W.J., And Goldfarb, R.J., 1985, Pathfinder Elements in Soils over the Dee Disseminated Gold Deposit, Elko County, Nevada, in Krafft, K., ed., USGS Research on Mineral Resources-1985, Program and Abstracts, USGS Circular 949, p.1.

Reference (Deposit): Greybeck, J.D., 1985, Geology of the Dee Mine Area, Elko County, Nevada, Unpublished M.S. Thesis, University of Idaho.

Reference (Deposit): Jones, R., 1989, Carlin Trend Gold Belt: The Geology, Mining Magazine, Vol. 161, No. 4, P. 256-261.

Reference (Deposit): Thorstad, L., 1989, Carlin Trend Gold Belt: The Producers, Mining Magazine, Vol. 161, No. 4, P. 263-267.

Reference (Deposit): Ellis, R., 1987, The Dee Gold Mine, Geological Society of Nevada 1987 Fall Field Trip Guidebook, Special Publication No. 6, p. B23-B26.

Reference (Deposit): NBMG, 1991-2002, The Nevada Mineral Industry 1990-2001, NBMG Special Publication MI-1990-MI-2002.

Reference (Deposit): NBMG, 1994, MI-1993

Reference (Deposit): Nevada Division of Minerals,1994.

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.

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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.