Gemfield Gold Deposit

The Gemfield Gold Deposit is a gold mine located in Esmeralda county, Nevada at an elevation of 6,004 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

Name: Gemfield Gold Deposit

State:  Nevada

County:  Esmeralda

Elevation: 6,004 Feet (1,830 Meters)

Commodity: Gold

Lat, Long: 37.71028, -117.23250

Map: View on Google Maps

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Satelite image of the Gemfield Gold Deposit

Gemfield Gold Deposit MRDS details

Site Name

Primary: Gemfield Gold Deposit


Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Copper
Secondary: Silver


Location

State: Nevada
County: Esmeralda
District: Goldfield District:


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: Tonopah District BLM


Holdings

Not available


Workings

Not available


Ownership

Owner Name: Metallic Ventures Inc.
Info Year: 2004


Production

Not available


Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: silicified zones at shear intersections
Operation Type: Surface-Underground
Year First Production: 1904
Year Last Production: 1970
Discovery Year: 1902
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: M


Physiography

Not available


Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Epithermal quartz-alunite Au


Orebody

Form: Irregular to tabular or knobby


Structure

Type: L
Description: The Gemfield Deposit is located to the west of the ring fracture zone that controls the main Goldfield deposits.

Type: R
Description: Tertiary deposits are domed and faulted by steeply dipping post Miocene: N-S and E-W faults.


Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Large envelopes of intense argillic alteration surround most of the ore zones with silicification of core ore zones.


Rocks

Name: Rhyolite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Oligocene


Analytical Data

Not available


Materials

Ore: Gold
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Alunite
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Gypsum
Gangue: Limonite
Gangue: Kaolin


Comments

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: gold

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: quartz, alunite, barite, gypsum, limonite, kaolin

Comment (Development): Metallic Ventures Inc. acquired the Gemfield property from Newmont Capital Limited on August 29, 2002, initiated a 28-hole, 10,660-foot drilling program in November 2002, and completed the program in December 2002. The drill program confirmed the continuity of the existing 500,000-ounce gold resource at Gemfield and enhanced the overall grade. An additional 50,000-foot drilling program in 2004 increased the ounces and grade of the resource and Metallic Ventures was planning to implement a feasibility study of the Gemfield and McMahon Ridge deposits by the third quarter of 2004. In mid-2006, Metallic Ventures Gold Inc. announced that recent in-fill drill results at the Gemfield Project include 117.5-212.5 feet @ 0.026 opt Au (GEM-400); 82.5-205 feet @ 0.024 opt Au (GEM-401); 60- 235 feet @ 0.020 opt Au (GEM-402); 90-190 feet @ 0.025 opt Au (GEM-403); 105-185 feet @ 0.918 opt Au (GEM-404) and 52.5- 225 feet @ 0.030 opt Au (GEM-405).

Comment (Economic Factors): Historic recorded production from the main Goldfield district is 4,190,133 ounces of gold at an average 0.541 oz/ton gold, including about 160,800 ounces of gold from reworked tailings. 1996 reserves of the Gemfield area were reported at 9.5 million tons of ore grading 0.04 opt Au.for a total of about 500,000 ounces of gold. In 2006, Metallic Ventures Gold Inc. announced recent in-fill drill results and reported a resource for the Gemfield Project of 9,500,000 tons of material grading 0.040 ounces of gold per ton.

Comment (Geology): The Goldfield mining district is located at the site of a complex and long-lived igneous intrusive and volcanic center that is defined by eruptive vents and curviplanar faults. The local volcanic stratigraphy, a moderately well-defined ring-fracture zone, concentric structural doming, high sulfidation-style quartz-alunite hydrothermal alteration, and widespread copper-gold mineralization are all genetically related to the emplacement of a large dominantly andesitic igneous complex and the most significant components of which are late Oligocene to early Miocene in age..

Comment (Identification): This new record is for the current Gemfield deposit of Metallic Ventures, which is one of three Metallic Ventures properties in the historic Goldfield District: Goldfield Main, McMahon Ridge, and Gemfield, each of which has its own record since they are separate and discrete deposits located a few miles apart. The older MRDS record W002900 describes the historic Goldfield District.

Comment (Location): The Gemfield Area is located about two miles north of the town of Goldfield, straddling U.S. Highway 95.

Comment (Workings): Older workings were predominantly underground with later surface workings.

Comment (Deposit): The drill-defined parts of the Gemfield mineralized area has the following dimensions: 2,500 ft long, 2,000 ft down dip, and an average 150 ft thick. Almost all of the precious and base metal production recorded from the Goldfield mining district has come from rich epithermal bonanza ore bodies in the area northeast of the Goldfield town site. These ore bodies occur within silicified hydrothermal alteration zones. Mineralization in the argillized wall rock envelopes appears to be leakage zones emanating from core silicified zones. Ore zones are commonly associated with silicification and/or free quartz surrounded by large envelopes of intense argillic alteration. In the main district, gold-copper ores were found in a series of pipe-like shoots referred to locally as ledges, the most productive of which occurred where the east-west striking Goldfield structural trend intersects a mile-long arcuate section of inferred intrusive-related ring-fracture zone. Although the major ore bodies are hosted in a complex intersecting set of faults and fracture zones, the ore-bearing structures are generally north-south trending and sub-parallel to the strike of the ring-fracture zone in that location.


References

Reference (Deposit): Ransome, F. L. 1909, Geol. and Ore Deposits of Goldfield, Nev.: USGS Prof. Paper 66, 258 p.

Reference (Deposit): Searls, F. Jr., 1948, Geol and Ore Deposits of Goldfield, Nev.: Nevada Univ. Bull., v.42, no. 5, Geology and Mining Ser. 48, 24 p.

Reference (Deposit): Koschmann, A. H. and Bergendahl, M. H., 1968; Principal Gold Producing Districts of the United States: USGS Prof. Paper 610

Reference (Deposit): Spurr, J E, 1905, The Ores of Goldfield, Nev.: USGS Bull. No. 260, p. 132-139.

Reference (Deposit): Lincoln, F C, 1923, Mining Dist and Min. Res. Nev.: Reno, Nev. Newsletter Pub., p. 67-73

Reference (Deposit): Albers, J.P. and Stewart, J.H., 1972, Geology and Mineral Deposits of Esmeralda County, Nevada: NBMG Bull. 78, p. 67-69

Reference (Deposit): Steven Ristorcelli, Scott Hardy, and Neil Prenn, 2003, Geology and Mineralization of the Goldfield Area, Esmeralda,County, Nevada; Geological Society of Nevada Special Publication No. 37: Spring 2003 Field Trip Guidebook Gold Deposits of the Goldfield, Midway and Thunder Mountain Areas

Reference (Deposit): Metallic Ventures Inc., press releases 12/23/02.

Reference (Deposit): Metallic Ventures Gold Inc. Press Release: July 25, 2006

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): NBMG MI-80 through MI-99

Reference (Deposit): NBMG Map 91 1st, 2nd, 3rd

Reference (Deposit): MAS, 1984

Reference (Deposit): Amer. Mines (1990-2001)

Reference (Deposit): NBMG Bull 78

Reference (Deposit): www.romarco.com

Reference (Deposit): Internet website for Metallic Ventures Inc.


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.