Carlin-Hardie-Pete Mine Area

Site Name

Primary: Carlin-Hardie-Pete Mine Area
Secondary: Carlin Gold Mine
Secondary: East Ore Zone
Secondary: Carlin Main Ore Zone
Secondary: Carlin West Ore Zone
Secondary: Island
Secondary: Hardie Footwall
Secondary: Fence
Secondary: Peregrine (Perry)
Secondary: Pete
Secondary: Castle Peak
Secondary: Crow
Secondary: South Extension

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Mercury
Secondary: Silver
Tertiary: Zinc
Tertiary: Lead
Tertiary: Copper
Tertiary: Thallium

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Eureka
District: Lynn District Carlin Trend

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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: Elko Administrative District

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Holdings

Not available

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Workings

Not available

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Ownership

Owner Name: Newmont Mining Corp.
Info Year: 2004

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: disseminated; replacement;; tabular lode
Operation Type: Surface-Underground
Year First Production: 1965
Year Last Production: 1987
Discovery Year: 1962
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: Sediment-hosted Au

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Orebody

Form: irregular fingers and lenses

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Structure

Type: R
Description: The Carlin Gold Mine is situated along the NNW-striking Carlin trend. Carlin occurs in the Lynn Window of the Roberts Mountains Thrust. Some workers believe the windows in the thrust are due to doming of the Paleozoic sediments by intrusions at depth. Carlin lies near the crest of the NNW-striking Tuscarora Mountains anticline. The regional scale Leeville fault system consists of numerous high angle fault strands that strike NNW and form an important ore-controlling feature along the eastern edge of mineralization.

Type: L
Description: The greater Carlin-Hardie-Pete deposit area is generally contained within a triangular area bounded by three intersecting major fault systems: the NW-trending Castle Reef fault on the southwest, the NE-trending Hardie fault on the NE, and the NNW-trending Leeville fault on the east. Within the mine area, three sets of high angle normal faults are recognized. In order of oldest to youngest, their attitudes are 1) N60-80W, dipping steeply north, 2) N45W to N-S, dipping in either direction from 60 degrees to vertical, 3) N40-60E, dipping 50-80 degrees either NW or SE. The third (youngest) set of faults have very minor offsets and may best be described as zones of shearing or rock shattering. Igneous dikes of intermediate composition have been emplaced along some faults.

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: The main alteration types present are decarbonatization, silicification, and argillization. In the main ore zone, Bakken (1990) has identified 5 mappable alteration types based on progressive carbonate dissolution (types 1, 2, and 3) and silica replacement (types 4 and 5). High grade gold is associated with type three alteration (complete carbonate removal and doubling of porosity). Jasperoids occur both along bedding planes and as fault fillings discordant to bedding. The discordant jasperoids average around 1 m thick and most often occupy structures striking N40-70E and dipping steeply south. Alteration and mineralization patterns tend to center around these jasperoid bodies.

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Rocks

Name: Limestone
Role: Host
Description: interbedded dark gray, medium bedded, bioclastic
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Devonian
Age Old: Wenlock

Name: Dolomite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Devonian
Age Old: Wenlock

Name: Rhyolite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Miocene

Name: Quartz Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Early Cretaceous
Age Old: Late Jurassic

Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Early Cretaceous
Age Old: Late Jurassic

Name: Rhyodacite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Miocene

Name: Granodiorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Early Cretaceous
Age Old: Late Jurassic

Name: Shale
Role: Host
Description: calcareous
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Ordovician

Name: Limestone
Role: Host
Description: bioclastic
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Devonian

Name: Limestone
Role: Host
Description: silty
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Devonian

Name: Limestone
Role: Host
Description: thinly laminated, silty dolomitic
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Devonian
Age Old: Wenlock

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Molybdenite
Ore: Getchellite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Covellite
Ore: Chalcocite
Ore: Illite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Realgar
Ore: Tennantite
Ore: Stibnite
Ore: Orpiment
Ore: Kaolinite
Ore: Sericite
Ore: Barite
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Fluorite
Ore: Calcite
Ore: Dolomite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Electrum
Ore: Arsenic
Gangue: Cinnabar

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Comments

Comment (Deposit): The main Carlin deposit contains four ore zones: West, Main, South Extension, and East. The west ore zone contains a tabular vein-like body, striking about N60W and dipping 60-70N. It extends horizontally for about 335 m and reaches a maximum width of 9 m. The main ore zone contains a series of irregular orebodies along a zone 914 m long trending S60W on the southwest side of Popovich Hill, as well as several large connected sheet-like orebodies trending approx. E-W for about 460 m and dipping 30-35N along the south side of the hill. The south extension ore zone occurs in extensively shattered carbonate rocks along closely spaced normal faults trending N40-50E, or at intersections of these faults with older N-S faults. The east ore zone contains two principal orebodies along a zone that begins at the south side of Popovich Hill and continues for 730 m to the northeast. Gold values of 0.2 - 0.6 ppm are ubiquitous throughout hydrothermally altered rocks in the Popovich Formation above the orebodies hosted by Roberts Mountains Formation. No gold tellurides have been found in Carlin ores. Radtke (1985) states that gold in unoxidized ores occurs: 1) as coatings or thin films on pyrite, 2) sporadically distributed on surfaces of amorphous carbon grains, 3) in association with organic acid(s) as a gold-organic compound, 4) as native gold, 5) dispersed as particles of native gold in realgar or in solid solution in realgar, and 6) in solid solution is sparse grains of elemental arsenic. Bakken (1990) found no such gold "films" or "coatings" on pyrite. She determined that gold is present in three habits: 1) as discrete particles that vary from 50-200 angstroms in diameter that are encapsulated primarily in pyrite, but also in cinnabar and quartz, 2) as free gold particles up to 1000 angstroms in diameter that are associated with 1m illite, and 3) within as-rich pyrite, probably as a lattice component.

Comment (Identification): This record covers the greater Carlin Mine area deposits, two of which were described by records M055452 (Carlin Gold Mine) and W700382 (Pete deposit), as well as several other satellitic orebodies not described by earlier records.

Comment (Location): The mine area is located near the crest of the Tuscarora Mountains, 20 miles northwest of Carlin, Nevada.

Comment (Development): In 1907, small-scale gold placer mining began along Lynn Creek and continued intermittently to the 1980s. Also in 1907, a series of narrow auriferous quartz veins were discovered approximately 1.5 km north of the Carlin orebodies. These veins were developed as the Big Six mine, which achieved maximum production of about 500 ounces of gold between the years 1935 and 1936. The Morning Glory prospect was located during the 1920s in a quartz-barite-stibnite vein 1.5 km east of the Carlin orebodies. Gold was associated with stibnite and antimony oxide minerals along a NW-trending shear zone, but no production is recorded. Based on an exploration model developed by the USGS, Newmont Mining Corp. chose the Lynn Window for detailed exploration in 1961. Mapping and sampling along the Roberts Mountains Thrust began in the spring of 1961, followed by claim staking in October and November of that same year. Exploration drilling began in July 1962, with the first ore intercept encountered in the third drill hole in September 1962. When gold production began in May 1965, reserves of 11 million tons grading 0.3 ounces of gold per ton had been delineated. Carlin was idled in 1987 after producing nearly 4 million ounces of gold. Satellitic orebodies to Carlin have been and continue to be developed and mined within a few hundred meters of the original Carlin orebodies. These include the Carlin West Ore Zone, Island, Hardie Footwall, Fence, Peregrine (Perry), Pete, Castle (Castle Peak), and Crow orebodies. As of 2003, Newmont Mining Corp.'s Pete Mine is in production. Pete is a four-phase project that will eventually mine roughly 100 million tons of rock, including gold ore. Pete will be the largest of three open pits that together comprise the Pete Mine. The Pete Pit will provide near-surface oxide ore for heap leaching, although in a later phase, there will be carbonaceous ore for the roaster. The Castle Pit is oxide, and Crow Pit is refractory ore. The Pete Pit will have a life of 8 to 10 years, and contains 700,000 ounces of gold reserves. Crow has 100,000 ounces of gold reserves, while Castle has 30,000 ounces of gold. Development drifting from the Carlin East underground mine to the new Leeville project also serves as a platform for further exploration drilling (2004).

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: native gold, electrum

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: cinnabar, orpiment, stibnite, tennantite, getchellite, tetrahedrite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, covellite, chalcocite, molybdenite, kaolinite, sericite, barite, scheelite, fluorite, calcite, dolomite, carbonaceous materials, illite, pyrite, realgar, native arsenic

Comment (Geology): Five types of unoxidized ore are differentiated by Radtke (1985) on the basis of mineral content, chemical composition, and associations of the gold: 1) normal ore, 2) siliceous ore, 3) carbonaceous ore, 4) pyritic ore, and 5) arsenical ore. The hydrothermal system responsible for the formation of the Carlin deposit likely operated over a period of at least 100,000 years. Radtke (1985) favors a hot spring model in which gold was deposited at shallow levels via boiling of the hydrothermal fluid. Kuehn (1989) suggests that gold deposition occurred at much greater depths (>3 km) based on stable isotope and fluid inclusion work.

Comment (Workings): The open pit mine is developed by several open pits. In later years, development and mining was by underground methods for some of the higher grade orebodies. Development drifting from the Carlin East underground mine to the new Leeville project also serves as a platform for further exploration drilling (2004).

Comment (Economic Factors): The main Carlin Gold Mine was idled in 1987 after producing nearly 4 million ounces of gold. Total Carlin production including that from satellitic orebodies in 1988 and 1991 was 4,360,820 ounces of gold. The mine was idle in 1989, and underground development commenced in 1993. Post-1993 production figures are lumped together with the Pete and Lantern deposits. 1994-1996 production from the Carlin/Pete/Lantern deposits was 68,700 ounces of gold. The remaining geologic resource for the Carlin mines in 1989 was 20.8 million tons of ore with an average grade of 0.029 ounces of gold per ton. In 1990, that figure was 1.4 million tons of ore with an average grade of 0.066 ounces of gold per ton. In 1996, the combined Carlin/Pete/Lantern deposits had a reported proven and probable reserves of 13.7 million tons of ore with an average grade of 0.046 ounces of gold per ton, plus an additional 14.7 million tons of mineralized material grading 0.046 ounces of gold per ton. The Hardie Footwall deposit in 1997 had drill-indicated reserves of 1,633,459 tons of ore grading 0.476 ounces of gold per ton for a total of 777,500 contained ounces of gold. The Fence deposit in 2002 had a pre-mine resource of 200,000 ounces of gold. The Peregrine (Perry) deposit in 2002 had a pre-mine resource of 50,000 ounces of gold. The Pete Pit in 2003 was reported to contain 700,000 ounces of gold reserves. Crow had 100,000 ounces of gold reserves, while Castle had 30,000 ounces of gold. In its 2005 Annual Report , Newmont Mining Corp. announced that reserves at the Carlin Underground Operations aggregate 7,700,000 tons grading 0.490 opt Au proven+probable, and reserves at the Carlin Open Pit Operations aggregate 238,300,000 tons grading 0.043 opt Au proven+probable.

Comment (Age): A K-AR AGE DATE OF 57.6 +/-2.5 MA FOR HYDROTHERMAL SERICITE CONTAINING AU IS TAKEN TO BE A MAXIMUM PERMISSIBLE AGE FOR AU DEPOSITION.

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References

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

Reference (Deposit): Nevada Division of Minerals, 1994

Reference (Deposit): Roberts, R. J., 1960, Alinement of Mining Districts in North-Central Nevada: USGS Prof. Paper 400-B, Art. 9, p. B17-B19.

Reference (Deposit): USBM, 1975, Mineral Industry Surveys: USBM Mercury Quarterly

Reference (Deposit): Noble, L.L., Radtke, A.S., 1978, Geology of the Carlin Disseminated Replacement Gold Deposit, Nevada, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Report 32, p. 40-44.

Reference (Deposit): Roberts, R.J., et al., 1967, Geology and Mineral Resources of Eureka County, Nevada: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 64.

Reference (Deposit): radtke, A.S. and Dickinson, F.W., 1976, Structural Controls and Genesis of Carlin Type Deposits: Open-File Report 76-I-39.

Reference (Deposit): US Bureau of Mines (Winnemucca) MILS No. 299, Ref. No. 3201100027, Mineral Property File 30.016.

Reference (Deposit): Roberts, R.J., et al., 1971, Gold-Bearing Deposits in North-Central Nevada and Idaho: Economic Geology, v6, 14 p.

Reference (Deposit): Radtke, A.S., 1985, Geology of the Carlin Ore Deposit, Nevada, USGS Professional Paper 1267.

Reference (Deposit): Bakken, B., 1990, Gold Mineralization, Wall-Rock Alteration, and the Geochemical Evolution of the Hydrothermal System in the Main Orebody, Carlin Mine, Nevada, Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Stanford University.

Reference (Deposit): Newmont Gold Company, Annual Report for 1990.

Reference (Deposit): Ryneer, R., 1992, Economic History of the Carlin Trend, 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. 838-843.

Reference (Deposit): Lewis, P., 1992, Carlin Mine Geology, 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. 854-858.

Reference (Deposit): Kuehn, C.A., 1989, Studies of Disseminated Gold Deposits near Carlin, Nevada: Evidence for Deep Geologic Settings of Ore Formation, Unpublished Ph. D. Dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, 350 p.

Reference (Deposit): Rocky Mountain Pay Dirt, June, 1988, p. 3a.

Reference (Deposit): Newmont Gold Company, 1987, Annual Report for 1986.

Reference (Deposit): Newmont Gold Company, 1988, Annual Report Form 10-K for 1987.

Reference (Deposit): Newmont Gold Company, 1990, Annual Report for 1989.

Reference (Deposit): Newmont Gold Company, 1992, Annual Report for 1991.

Reference (Deposit): Mcfarlane, D. N., 1991, Gold Production on the Carlin Trend, 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. 841-843.

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

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): Adella Harding, 10/9/2003, Elko Daily Free press article.

Reference (Deposit): Christensen, O. D., Knutsen, G. C., and Ekburg, C. E., 1987, Disseminated Gold Deposits of the Carlin Trend, Eureka and Elko Counties, Nevada: Society of Mining Engineers Preprint Number 87-84, 7p.

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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.