Phoenix Project

Site Name

Primary: Phoenix Project
Secondary: Battle Mountain Mine
Secondary: Battle Mountain Project

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Copper
Secondary: Silver
Tertiary: Zinc
Tertiary: Arsenic
Tertiary: Palladium
Tertiary: Molybdenum
Tertiary: Lead

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Lander
District: Battle Mountain 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.

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Owner Name: Duval Corp.
Years: 1981 -

Owner Name: Newmont Mining Corp.
Info Year: 2006

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: contact metasomatic, wallrock porphyry, partial replacement
Operation Type: Surface-Underground
Year First Production: 1864
Year Last Production: 2004
Discovery Year: 1864
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: Porphyry Cu, skarn-related

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Orebody

Form: disseminated, stockwork, irregular, linear beds, massive

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Structure

Type: R
Description: Virgin Fault, a major north-striking fault. Copper Canyon Fault is another major fault in the district. The Roberts Mountain thrust, Dewitt Thrust, and Golconda Thrust have all telescoped the various formations in the district.

Type: L
Description: N-S trending faults; minor NW- and NE-trending faults. Some faulting is Late Permian in age.

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Alteration types present in host rocks are varying degrees of potassic, pyritic, silicic, propylitic, and sericitic alteration.

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Rocks

Name: Quartz Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Tertiary

Name: Granodiorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Tertiary

Name: Argillite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Permian
Age Old: Middle Pennsylvanian

Name: Chert
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Permian
Age Old: Middle Pennsylvanian

Name: Shale
Role: Host
Description: calcareous
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Permian
Age Old: Early Pennsylvanian

Name: Sandstone
Role: Host
Description: feldspathic
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Cambrian

Name: Conglomerate
Role: Host
Description: metamorphosed
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Middle Pennsylvanian

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Analytical Data

Analytical Data: GOLD FLAKE SAMPLE (4.79 MG WT) FROM THE EAST ORE BODY: 3.6% PPM AG, 30 PPM MO, 10 PPM PD. AU GRADE 0.69 OZ/TON MAX. GRANODIORITE SHOWS <5-50 PPM MO, 20 PPB PD MAX. ORE AVERAGES ABOUT 0.5% CU BY WEIGHT

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Covellite
Ore: Chrysocolla
Ore: Chalcocite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Molybdenite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Marcasite
Ore: Pyrrhotite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Silver
Gangue: Actinolite
Gangue: Tremolite
Gangue: Diopside
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Garnet
Gangue: Biotite

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Comments

Comment (Development): The first claims were located in the Battle Mountain District in 1866 after copper and silver were discovered in Copper Canyon in 1864. In 1916, Copper Canyon Mining Company acquired the Copper Basin and Copper Canyon properties and leased out claims until 1955. They operated a mill in Copper Canyon from 1941-1957. Duval Corporation acquired the properties in the early 1960s and began producing Cu-Au-Ag ore from the 4000 tpd mill in 1967. Duval's Battle Mountain open pit mines were Nevada's 3rd largest copper producer until depressed copper prices in 1977 forced a gradual conversion to gold production, which continues to present. Phoenix was the name of one of the Copper Canyon mine prospects at least as early as 1923 when geologist J. C. Jones described drilling results on the Phoenix property. Battle Mountain Gold Company adopted the name Phoenix project for its developing gold prospects in the halo surrounding the old copper mines, particularly in the Copper Canyon portion of its Battle Mountain complex, and the name was in common use for the project by the early 1990s. In 1994 the Phoenix project was reported to contain proven and probable gold reserves of approximately 1.475 million ounces of gold with the potential to average about 120,000 ounces of gold per year. In 1995, Battle Mountain Gold Co.'s Phoenix project reserves rose to 46.6 million tons grading 0.040 opt gold with the project plan calling for both milling and heap leach facilities and incorporating the mining of a number of satellitic orebodies. In 1997, Battle Mountain Gold Co. increased total estimated proven and probable gold reserves at the Phoenix property to 2,505,000 ounces of gold with additional drilling planned for the Fortitude, Midas, and Phoenix deposits in 1998 in an effort to further expand reserves. 1998 drilling added approximately 1 million ounces of gold to the reserve base, and drill results from West Midas, mid-Midas and Fortitude indicated that the footprint of the new mine model would be much larger than originally anticipated, spanning from the old Fortitude pit on the north, to the Midas deposits in the south, a distance of about 3 miles. In 1999, Battle Mountain Gold Co. added 2.2 million ounces of gold to reserves at Phoenix, increasing the anticipated mine life to over 15 years at 300,000 ounces of gold per year, Permitting for Phoenix was moving ahead with the BLM, and the company hoped to have a draft environmental impact statement by mid-year 2000. In January 2001, Newmont Mining Corp. finalized its acquisition of Battle Mountain Gold Company, thus taking over the Phoenix project. By summer 2001, proven and probable reserves at Phoenix stood at 6.03 million ounces of gold and 515 million pounds of copper. Plans called for deeper mining at the existing Phoenix, Greater Midas, Reona, and Iron Canyon open pits. Phoenix was expected to produce 400,000 ounces of gold per year from surface mining, milling, and heap leaching on site and processing gold-copper concentrate at Newmont's Lone Tree Mill at Valmy By 2002, Newmont Mining Corp. planned to begin production of gold and copper at the Phoenix project in 2007 by developing two new open pits and expanding two existing pits, as well as processing earlier low grade stockpiles of gold ore left from historic mining and expanding heap leach and waste rock facilities. In 2003 Newmont's Phoenix project received approval from the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and from Newmont's board to begin development of the Phoenix mining operation. In December, 2004 Newmont Mining Corp. began construction on the infrastructure for the Phoenix gold mine, which will be the largest gold-processing operation in the state.

Comment (Development): Newmont's current development plan for the Phoenix Project calls for developing the Reona pit, expanding the existing Fortitude and Northeast Extension pits to create the Phoenix pit, and expanding the existing Midas and Iron Canyon pits, as well as processing low grade ore stockpiles from the former Tomboy, Fortitude, and Northeast Extension pits. The mine operations should have a life of at least 28 years followed by 5 years of additional reclamation. Since mining is scheduled to end at Newmont's nearby Lone Tree in August 2006, some of those workers will be moved over to the Phoenix project. First Production is expected in 2007 with a current mine plan of 13 years and average annual sales/production of 370,000 - 420,000 ounces of gold, and approximately 27 million pounds of copper (accounted for as a byproduct credit. Average gold recovery anticipated is 80% - 84%. By early 2006, Newmont Mining completed construction and began operation of its Phoenix project near Battle Mountain in Lander County.

Comment (Workings): Open pit mines have obliterated many earlier underground workings over about 2.25 square miles.

Comment (Location): The mines of the Phoenix Project are located about 4 miles south of Antler Peak in the vicinity of Copper Canyon, which drains the southern part of the Battle Mountain massif. The central Phoenix pit will be adjacent to and south of the existing Upper and Lower Fortitude deposits.

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: Iron-rich garnet, quartz, diopside, tremolite, actinolite, biotite

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: native gold, native silver, auriferous pyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, marcasite, arsenopyrite, sphalerite, molybdenite, galena, , chalcocite, chrysocolla, copper carbonates, covellite

Comment (Deposit): Oxidized and enriched ore is present but not economically important. At the historic mine, there were 2 ore bodies. The mined-out East ore body was hosted by siliceous and calcareous conglomerate within the lower part of the Battle Formation, which was altered to quartz-k-spar-biotite rock with sulfides distributed throughout. The West ore body is in a garnet skarn surrounded by an envelope of diopside, tremolite-actinolite, and biotite, north of and adjacent to the granodiorite contact in Copper Canyon. Total sulfide content (mainly pyrite and pyrrhotite) increases to as much as 75% by volume toward granodiorite contact, with chalcopyrite important closer to the contact. Metal zoning is well developed. The average size of the ore body was said to be 1,500 x 600 x 180 meters.

Comment (Development): COPPER CANYON MINE SHUT DOWN IN 1978 AND THE MILL WAS CONVERTED FOR GOLD PRODUCTION AT THE BATTLE MOUNTAIN (AKA FORTITUDE COMPLEX) GOLD PROPERTY.

Comment (Geology): The original granodiorite intrusion was subjected to alteration that changed its composition to that of a quartz diorite. The East Ore body developed a chalcocite blanket to 20 m thick with high copper values. Limy shale of the Pumpernickel Formation was the chief host rock for the west ore body; conglomerate of the Battle Formation was the chief host for the east ore body but there was some mineralization in the Harmony Formation also.

Comment (Economic Factors): At the end of 2002, Phoenix had reserves of 174.2 million tons of ore grading 0.034 ounce of gold per ton (6 million ounces of gold) plus an additional 73.8 million tons of mineralized material grading 0.026 ounces of gold per ton not in reserves. Newmont plans to produce about as much as 420,000 ounces of gold and 21 million pounds of copper per year from the site. Copper reserves at Phoenix totaled 156.3 million tons of ore at 0.16%, representing 520 million pounds of copper.

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References

Reference (Deposit): Wendt, Clancy, 2004, Technical Report on the? ICBM/COPPER BASIN Property, Lander and Humboldt Counties, Nevada, Staccato Gold website, : http://www.staccatogold.com/i/pdf/icbm-43-101.pdf
URL: http://www.staccatogold.com/i/pdf/icbm-43-101.pdf

Reference (Deposit): Theodore, T.G., and Blake, D.W., 1975, Geology and Geochemistry of the Copper Canyon Porphyry Copper Deposit and Surrounding Area, Lander County, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 798-B, p. B21, B47, B50.

Reference (Deposit): Nash, J.T., and Theodore, T.G., 1971, Ore Fluids in the Porphyry Copper Deposit at Copper Canyon, Nevada: Economic Geology, vol. 66, no. 3, p. 385-399.

Reference (Deposit): Sayers, P.W., Tippett, M.C., and Fields, E.D., 1968, The Ore Deposits at Copper Canyon and Copper Basin, Lander County, Nevada: paper delivered at annual AIME Meeting, New York, 1968.

Reference (Deposit): Theodore, T.G., and Blake, D.W., 1978, Geology and Geochemistry of the West Ore Body and Associated Skarns, Copper Canyon Porphyry Copper Deposit, Lander County, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 798-C, 85 p.

Reference (Deposit): Blake, D.W., Kretschmer, E.L., and Theodore, T.G., 1978, Geology and Mineralization of the Copper Canyon Deposit, Lander County, Nevada, in Shawe, D.R., Ed., Guidebook to Mineral Deposits of the Central Great Basin: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Report 32, p. 45-48.

Reference (Deposit): Roberts, R.J., and Arnold , D.C., 1965, Ore Deposits of the Antler Peak Quadrangle, Humboldt and Lander Counties, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 459-B, p. B24, B43-B49.

Reference (Deposit): Stager, H.K., 1977, Geology and Mineral Deposits of Lander County, Nevada, Part II, Mineral Deposits: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 88, p. 66-67.

Reference (Deposit): Page, N.J, Theodore, T.G., Venuti, P.E., and Carlson, R.R., 1978, Implications of the Petrochemistry of Palladium at Iron Canyon, Lander County, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Journal of Research, v. 6, No. 1, p. 107-114.

Reference (Deposit): NBMG MI 1994-2003

Reference (Deposit): Press release: Friday, December 17, 2004: "Newmont begins Nevada gold mine construction"

Reference (Deposit): Doebrich, Jeff, 1995, Geology and Mineral Deposits of the Antler Peak 7.5-minute quadrangle, Lander County, Nevada, NBMG Bull 109, 44 p.

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): Geological Society of Nevada, 1999, Geology and Gold Mineralization of the Buffalo Valley Area, Northwestern Battle Mountain Trend; GSN Special Publication No. 31, 1999 Fall field trip Guidebook.

Reference (Deposit): Elko Daily Free Press, 9/9/97, 12/30/2000, 1/8/03,12/10/2003

Reference (Deposit): Newmont Mining Corp., 6/21/03

Reference (Deposit): Denver Mining Record, 4/20/94, 4/26/95, 10/19/94.

Reference (Deposit): Battle Mountain Gold 1995 annual report

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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.