Flowery Mine

Site Name

Primary: Flowery Mine
Secondary: Flowery Lode
Secondary: Berry Glory Hole
Secondary: Six Mile Canyon
Secondary: Bonanza-Adriatic
Secondary: Adriatic
Secondary: Lady Bryan Pit
Secondary: Connection
Secondary: North Bonanza Pit
Secondary: Golden Eagle Mine
Secondary: Gold Eagle

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Lead
Secondary: Silver
Tertiary: Copper
Tertiary: Manganese
Tertiary: Iron

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Storey
District: Flowery district

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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.
Administrative Organization: Carson City BLM Administrative District

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Type: Underground

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Ownership

Owner Name: Flowery Mines Co. (1920'S)

Owner Name: Miramar Mining Corp., (Mmc)
Percent: 60.00
Home Office: Canada
Info Year: 1996
Years: 1989 -

Owner Name: American Eagle Resources, Inc. (Affli. Of MMC)
Info Year: 1997
Years: 1989 -

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Production

Year: 1995
Description: Gold Production 5254 T Oz/Yr Gold
Year: 1994
Description: Gold 5080 T Oz/Yr Gold
Year: 1993
Description: Silver 21500 Oz

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: vein
Plant Type: Leach
Operation Type: Surface-Underground
Mining Method: Open Pit
Milling Method: Heap Leach-Merrill-Crowe
Year First Production: 1868
Year Last Production: 1995
Discovery Year: 1868
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: M

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Epithermal vein, Comstock

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Orebody

Form: tabular

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Structure

Type: L
Description: Flowery Lode shear zone

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Silicification accompanies ore. Also present is a suite of hydrothermal alteration minerals, including kaolinite, dickite, illite, chlorite, alunite and carbonate in the bleached Miocene volcanic rocks.

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Rocks

Name: Andesite
Role: Host
Description: altered
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Miocene
Age Old: Middle Miocene

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Silver
Ore: Iron
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Kaolinite
Gangue: Dickite
Gangue: Illite
Gangue: Chlorite
Gangue: Alunite

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Comments

Comment (Identification): This record is an updated version including all information from earlier record M231221 which should be deleted from the database.

Comment (Location): The Flowery Mine is located in Six Mile Canyon about 3.5 miles east-northeast of the northern part of the Comstock Lode.

Comment (Workings): Ore was mined by shrinkage stopes with later open pit development.

Comment (Economic Factors): During 1924-1929 the operating company reported a production of 250,000 tons of ore yielding $945,000. From the 1860s-1880s and in 1939, the Bonanza-Adriatic ore body produced 5,101 tons of ore yielding 195 ounces of gold and 1,163 ounces of silver. From 1862-1932, the Flowery Mine/ Lady Bryan pit produced 6,275 tons of ore valued at $91,538; from 1988-89, and from 1992-97 the Flowery Mine/Lady Bryan pit produced 23,785 ounces of gold and 274,674 ounces of silver. The following reserves and resources were reported for each of the component orebodies of the Flowery District lode:In 1990, the Bonanza-Adriatic: Possible oxide reserves of 560 Kilotonnes of ore grading 0.05 opt Au containing 28 K oz Au. In 1991, the Flowery Mine: Geologic Resource of 29.3 million tons of ore grading 0.04 opt Au; in 1993: 362 Kilotonnes of ore grading 0.064 opt Au, 0.97 opt Ag; geol. res. 88,128 oz Au, 1 M oz Ag. In 1990, the Lady Bryan: Possible oxide reserves of 590 Kilotonnes of ore grading 0.04 opt Au containing 23,600 oz Au, proven drilled reserves of 141,325 t 0.05 opt Au containing 7,066 oz Au. In 1990, the Berry Pit: Possible oxide reserves of 420 Kilotonnes of ore grading 0.03 opt Au containing 12,600 oz Au, proven drilled reserves of 166,367 tons of ore grading 0.069 opt containing 11,479 oz Au. In 1990, the Connection: Inferred oxide reserves of 2.75 million tons of ore grading t 0.03 opt Au containing 82,500 oz Au.

Comment (Deposit): The Flowery is a parallel lode to the main Comstock Lode and considered a part of the same mineralized system. The Flowery is a well-defined lode of altered and mineralized andesitic rock mineralized over a 100-ft width by a network of gold-bearing quartz stringers. Mining was done by strinkage stopes by all slime cyaniding, and later by mill hole. The Flowery Lode deposit consists of many veinlets of gold-and silver-bearing quartz in shattered and sheared andesite gold ore, fairly free from silver, in the footwall of the lode. The ore in the hanging-wall side carries silver-lead and zinc minerals characteristic of the Comstock, but no free gold ore.

Comment (Development): The mines at Flowery were discovered around the same time as those near Virginia City, from which, shortly thereafter, the City of Flowery sprung. The Flowery district has produced several million dollars in bullion, and is today capped by an open pit operation which involves three different pits: the Lady Bryan, the Berry (just north of the Lady Bryan), and the North Bonanza Pit, about a half mile east of the Lady Bryan and Berry pits. Anaconda, the lessee in 1983, was looking for a partner in developing the Flowery Gold property, owned by Flowery Gold Mines Co. Anaconda had been exploring the area for several years. The lease was assigned in 1983 to East Comstock Gold Corp. and was subleased to Alhambra Mines in 1986. Alhambra drilled 8 holes and did a feasibility study and secured the necessary permits. Projected start up was in early 1987 with a 3-4 year mine life. It was slated to recommence production in mid-1987.

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, pyrite, gold, native silver

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: iron and manganese oxides, quartz, kaolinite, dickite, illite, chlorite, alunite and carbonate

Comment (Reserve-Resource): RECORD 2 FOR THE LADY BRYAN, BERRY AND BONANZA ZONES. RESERVES/RESOURCES IN RECORD 3 ARE SUFFICIENT FOR AT LEAST 9 YEARS POSSIBLY LONGER.

Comment (Location): MINE CLOSED AT THE END OF 1995. NO MENTION OF PROPERTY IN MARAMAR MINING CORP. 1996 AR.

Comment (Deposit): THE LADY BRYAN MINE IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST PATENTED CLAIMS IN THE DISTRICT, WITH A 600 FT SHAFT ON ONE SIDE OF A GULCH AND A 900 FT SHAFT ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE APPARENTLY THE PRODUCTION OF A GOLD-SILVER ORE WAS FROM THE UPPER LEVELS ONLY. BY 1876 THE MINE WAS CREDITED WITH A PRODUCTION OF 3425 TONS OF A GROSS VALUE OF 64,507. COMPANY OPERATIONS WERE SUSPENDED IN 1881 WITH INTERMITTENT SMALL TONNAGEO MINED THEREAFTER UNTIL THE MINE WAS TAKEN OVER UNDER LEASE BY THE FLOWERY MINES COMPANY IN THE 1920'S.

Comment (Development): THE LADY BRYAN MINE IS ONE OF THE EARLIEST PATENTED CLAIMS IN THE DISTRICT. SHAFTS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE GULCH. OPERATIONS SUSPENDED IN 1881 WITH SPORADIC SMALL TONNAGES MINED THEREAFTER UNTIL THE MINE WAS TAKEN OVER BY FLOWERY MINES CO. IN THE 1920'S, UNDER LEASE.

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References

Reference (Deposit): THE NORTHERN MINER, JUNE 14, 1993, P16.

Reference (Deposit): RANDOL MINING DIRECTORY, 1996/97, U.S. MINES & MINING COMPANIES, P247.

Reference (Deposit): MINING JOURNAL, LONDON, NOV. 12, 1993, P329.

Reference (Deposit): W.P.A. STATE WRITER'S PROJECT, 1940-41; INDIVIDUAL HISTORIES OF THE MINES OF THE COMSTOCK; UNPUBLISHED OPEN FILE REPORT- NEV. BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOL.

Reference (Deposit): 1995/96, NEVADA MINES DIRECTORY, PP. 14, 28.

Reference (Deposit): MIRAMAR MINING 1995 ANNUAL REPORT.

Reference (Deposit): RANDOL MINING DIRECTORY, 1994/95, U.S. MINES & MINING COMPANIES, P326.

Reference (Deposit): NEV. DIV. MINES INSPECTION, 1977, DIRECTORY OF NEVADA MINE OPERATIONS ACTIVE DURING CALENDAR YEAR 1976, P. 51.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): AMERICAN MINES HANDBOOK 1996, P167.

Reference (Deposit): NEV. BUR. OF MINES AND GEOL. BULLETIN 70, PLATE 2, NO. 123.

Reference (Deposit): Bastin, E.S., Bonanza Ores of the Comstock Lode, Nevada; USGS Bull. 735-C. p. 41-63.

Reference (Deposit): Stoddard, Carl, and Carpenter, J.A., 1950, Mineral Resources of Storey and Lyon Counties, Nevada: NBMG Bull. 49

Reference (Deposit): Yang, K., Huntington, J. F., Boardman, J. W. & Mason, P. (1999) Mapping hydrothermal alteration in the Comstock mining district, Nevada, using simulated satellite-borne hyperspectral data; Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 46 (6), 915-922.

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

Reference (Deposit): Nevada Division of Minerals, 1994

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

Reference (Deposit): NBMG Mining District File 309, Numerous Press Clippings.

Reference (Deposit): NBMG, 1988, NBMG MI-1987.

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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.