Star Pointer Gold Mine

Site Name

Primary: Star Pointer Gold Mine
Secondary: East Robinson Project
Secondary: North Star Pointer
Secondary: Zack
Secondary: Ruth
Secondary: Pilot Knob
Secondary: JD Hill
Secondary: Twin Peaks
Secondary: West Liberty

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Copper
Tertiary: Lead
Tertiary: Zinc
Tertiary: Arsenic
Tertiary: Tellurium
Tertiary: Antimony
Tertiary: Thallium
Tertiary: Fluorine-Fluorite

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Location

State: Nevada
County: White Pine
District: Robinson 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: Ely BLM Administrative area

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Owner Name: Echo Bay
Percent: 50.00
Years: 1987 -

Owner Name: Silver King Mines
Percent: 50.00
Years: 1987 -

Owner Name: Alta Gold Co.
Info Year: 1989
Years: 1987 -

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: distal disseminated gold-silver
Operation Type: Surface-Underground
Year First Production: 1985
Year Last Production: 1987
Discovery Year: 1910
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: Distal disseminated Ag-Au

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Orebody

Form: tablar

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Structure

Type: L
Description: Numerous faults cut the rocks in the mine area.

Type: R
Description: In mid-Cretaceous time, Paleozoic miogeosynclinal sedimentary rocks were deformed into an overturned E-W-trending anticline whose upper limb was thrust to the southwest. Basin-and-Range normal faulting successively down-dropped the upper portions of the system to the east.

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: The main alteration is decalcification and silicification of limestone, ad rocks are also localyaffected by advanced argillic alteration.

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Rocks

Name: Porphyry
Role: Associated
Description: quartz monzonite
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Cretaceous

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

Name: Limestone
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Permian

Name: Sandstone
Role: Host
Description: calcareous
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Permian

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Silica
Ore: Limonite

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Comments

Comment (Deposit): The Star Pointer gold deposit is a distal gold deposit related to the porphyry copper system in the Robinson district, Nevada. The Cretaceous porphyry Cu-(Mo-Au) deposit was dismembered by Eocene extension. Gold at the Star Pointer gold deposit is associated with massive jasperoid. All ore is on hanging wall of the #9 Fault which trends N60E, dip 60NW. Ore is hosted by fine-grained calcareous Rib Hill sandstone that was decalcified by early fluids adjacent to steeply-dipping feeder faults. Later gold-bearing fluids caused a tabular hydrothermal breccia body bounded by a pervasively silicified zone. Similar ore formed at the JD Hill, Twin Peaks, and West Liberty deposits.

Comment (Identification): This record includes all material from earlier records #W700597 and M242960 and supersedes those two records.

Comment (Location): The mine area is located about halfway between the old Liberty and Kimberly pits; 2 miles south-southeast of Ruth on the south edge of the Ruth pit. (This note was from old_MRDS record M242960)

Comment (Development): Star Pointer was originally located as a copper deposit. Copper mining began in 1910 and was ongoing in 1912 when a tragic powder explosion at the Star Pointer Mine killed ten miners. Underground mining of the Minnesota Hi copper orebody continued at the Star Pointer until late 1957 or early 1958 when the underground orebody was lost. In the early 1960's, the Ruth open pit copper mine was developed at the head of Ingersoll Canyon right where the Star Pointer underground mine was located, and it again mined the Minnesota Hi orebody. The Star Pointer area explored for gold by Bear Creek in the early 1980s, and was leased by Silver King in 1985. It was put into production as the Star Pointer open pit gold mine in 1985 at rate of 1100 tpd. It was owned by a 50/50 Silver King Mines and Pacific Silver Corp joint venture in1987. In 1988, it was operated by a Silver King and Echo Bay Joint Venture called Alta Gold. No production was reported from the property after 1987, but Alta Gold was still listed as the owner and operater of the property in 1989. Alta Gold went bankrupt in 1999. Star Pointer is now part of the Robinson Project operated by Quadra Mining Ltd. (2004).

Comment (Economic Factors): In 1989, reserves were reported as 4.7 million tons of ore averaging 0.45 ounces per ton gold with a 0.1 oz Au cut-off, fo r a total of 210,000 ounces of gold. Production from 1986 to 1987 was 98,207 ounces of gold. In1986, 96,000 ounces of silver were produced.

Comment (Workings): The mine area has been developed by a large open pit, which has obliterated many of the early underground workings which dated to the early 1900s.

Comment (Geology): In mid-Cretaceous time, Paleozoic miogeosynclinal sedimentary rocks were deformed into an overturned E-W-trending anticline whose upper limb was thrust to the southwest. The axis if the anticline was subsequently intruded by a composite quartz monzonite stock dated at 110 million years. Hydrothermal alteration and mineralization associated with emplacement of the pluton formed the Ruth porphyry copper-gold system. Basin-and-Range normal faulting successively down-dropped the upper portions of the system to the east.

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: free gold

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: silica, limonite

Comment (Location): Old_MRDS record M242960 lat/long coordinates fall 0.45 mi SSW of the lowest part of Ruth pit (as opposed to the comment above stating 2 miles SSE. Old_MRDS record M242960 lat/long coords in NAD27 datum were 39-15-11N 114-58-31W (39.25306 -114.97528); UTM N4346970 E674490 Z11N; PLSS line# 1: Meridian- Mount Diablo, TWNSHP 016N, RNG 062E, Sect 15, Sect_fract NE,15. Old_MRDS record M242960 location lies in the N. edge of a what appears to be a leach pad or tailings pile in Google Earth, as opposed to an open pit mine. Expressing the same lat/long in WGS84 datum shifts the point 200 m N, to undisturbed ground. In contrast, the photo and caption at this link: http://www.geomineinfo.com/mining_photos.htm point to the pits 0.4 miles WSW of the lowest point of the Ruth pit. So the lat/long was changed to WGS84 39.2539 -114.978.

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References

Reference (Deposit): Seedorff, E., 2000b, Summary of the gold-silver deposits of the Robinson district, with descriptions of the Northwest Ruth, J. D. Hill, and Star Pointer deposits, in Gans, P. B., and Seedorff, E., eds., Cenozoic tectono-magmatic evolution of White Pine County, Nevada: Core complexes, Eocene-Oligocene volcanic centers, episodic extension and shortening, and disseminated gold deposits: Geological Society of Nevada Symposium 2000 Field Trip Guidebook No. 11, p. 141-166.NBMG, 1988, NBMG MI-1987

Reference (Deposit): Gans, P. B., and Seedorff, E., eds., 2000, Cenozoic tectono-magmatic evolution of White Pine County, Nevada: Core complexes, Eocene-Oligocene volcanic centers, episodic extension and shortening, and disseminated gold deposits: Geological Society of Nevada Symposium 2000 Field Trip Guidebook No. 11, 166 p.

Reference (Deposit): Mining Magazine, January 1989, p. 44.

Reference (Deposit): Gans, P. B., Seedorff, E., Fahey, P. L., Hasler, R. W., Maher, D. J., Jeanne, R. A., and Shaver, S. A., 2001, Rapid Eocene extension in the Robinson district, White Pine County, Nevada: Geology, v. 29, p. 475-478.

Reference (Deposit): Smith, M.R., Wilson, W.R., Benham, J.A., Pescio, C.A., and Valenti, P., 1988, The Star Pointer gold deposit, Robinson Mining District, White Pine County, Nevada, in Schafer, R.W., and Cooper, J.J., and Vikre, P.G., eds., Bulk mineable precious metal deposit of the Western United States (Symposium Proceedings, Sparks, Nevada, April 6-8, 1987): Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, p. 221-232.

Reference (Deposit): NBMG Mining District File 327, numerous press clippings

Reference (Deposit): Bonham, H.F., 1986, NBMG Map 91

Reference (Deposit): Wilson, W.R., 1978, in Shawe, D.R., ed., NBMG Rept. 32, p.55-61.

Reference (Deposit): Bonham, 1988

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.

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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.