Illipah Mine

Site Name

Primary: Illipah Mine
Secondary: Northeast Pit
Secondary: Main Pit
Secondary: South Pit

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver

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Location

State: Nevada
County: White Pine
District: Illipah 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: Ely BLM Administrative District

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Owner Name: Echo Bay, Ltd.
Percent: 40.00

Owner Name: Alta Gold Co.
Percent: 60.00

Owner Name: Alta Bay Joint Venture
Percent: 100.0

Owner Name: Alta Gold Co.
Info Year: 1997

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: replacement
Operation Type: Surface
Milling Method: Heap Leach-Carbon Column-Merrill-Crowe
Year First Production: 1987
Year Last Production: 1989
Discovery Year: 1981
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

Not available

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Structure

Type: R
Description: The north-south-trending Illipah Anticline projects through the mine area, bounded on the east by a steep west-dipping reverse fault. A major N-S trending shear zone dips W 30-60 degrees.

Type: L
Description: E-W and NW-trending faults offset the jasperoid.

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: A bold north-south-trending jasperoidal zone outcrops along the west flank of Illipah Ridge. the jasperoid has developed along the contact between the Joana Limestone and Chainman Shale. Alteration associated with the deposit consists of decalcification, oxidation,

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Rocks

Name: Shale
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Mississippian
Age Old: Late Devonian

Name: Limestone
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Devonian
Age Old: Middle Devonian

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Gangue: Quartz

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Comments

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: gold

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: quartz

Comment (Deposit): Most ore mined at Illipah was from teh upper 50 feet of the Devils Gate Limestone.

Comment (Economic Factors): The orebody was defined by drilling in 1985 and geologic reserves stood at 1.9 million tons of ore grading 0.048 opt gold. Reserves of 57,000 ounces of gold were reported in 1987. Production from the Illipah Mine from 1987 through 1989 was 54,198 ounces of gold, including gold recovered from the heap leach after miing ceased.

Comment (Identification): This record includes data from from MRDS record M242967, which has been deleted. This record is an updated version that incorporates all information in earlier MRDS record W700448 for the Illipah Mine plus additional updated material.

Comment (Location): The Illipah Mine was an open pit heap leaching operation consisting of approx. 514 unpatented mining claims covering approx. 9770 acres of federally-administered land.

Comment (Workings): Illipah was developed by three small open pits.

Comment (Development): Tenneco acquired the Illipah property from Earth Resources in 1980 and in 1981 intersected the southern end of the Illipah orebody. Tenneco drilled nearly 400 holes during the period 1980-1986. The property was included in the purchase of Tenneco's mineral holdings by Echo Bay Mines Ltd. On June 1, 1988, Echo Bay entered into the Alta Bay Venture with Alta Gold Co. Alta Gold gained a 60% interest in the venture and became operator of the Illipah Mine. Production commenced in October, 1987. The Illipah mine employed a total of about 60 workers in 1987. Gold recovery was estimated at 90% using heap leach technology. Gold-bearing solutions from the heap leach were treated in carbon adsorption tanks. The loaded carbon was sent to the McCoy mine plant for recovery of contained gold. Reserves at the Illipah mine had been mined out by the end of 1988, but heap- leaching continued through the summer of 1989 and the mine closed late in the year.

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References

Reference (Deposit): Echo Bay Mines Ltd., 1987, Form 10-K.

Reference (Deposit): Silver King Mines Inc./ Pacific Silver Corp., 1988, Combined Annual Report.

Reference (Deposit): Alta Gold Co., 1989 Annual Report.

Reference (Deposit): Echo Bay Mines Ltd., 1989 Annual Report.

Reference (Deposit): Dean, D. A., Benedetto, K. M. F., Durgin, D. C., 1991, Part One: Illipah Area Road Log, 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.131-135.

Reference (Deposit): Silver King Mines Inc., 1989, Form 10-K.

Reference (Deposit): ALTA NEW RELEASE, OCT., 3 1996.

Reference (Deposit): AMERICAN METAL MARKETS, VOL 104, #201, 10/16/96, P7.

Reference (Deposit): SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW, OCT 5, 1996, P13.

Reference (Deposit): NEV. BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOL. SPECIAL PUBLICATION 10, 1990, P. 16.

Reference (Deposit): Roripaugh, Ray L; Asher, Rod; Durgin, Dana, 1989, Illipah, disseminated gold deposit; in Geology and mineral deposits of White Pine County, Nevada, eds, Schafer, Robert W; Buffa, Ruth, Geol. Soc. Nev. Special Publication, vol. 9.

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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.