Nevada Mercury Mine

Site Name

Primary: Nevada Mercury Mine
Secondary: Shoshone Quicksilver
Secondary: Nevada Cinnabar Mine

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Mercury

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Nye
District: Union 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: Ione Gold Mining Co.
Info Year: 2002

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: vein; disseminated
Operation Type: Surface
Discovery Year: 1907
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: Hot-spring Hg

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Orebody

Form: tabular

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Structure

Type: R
Description: Regional structural trens in the Shoshone Mountains are northerly.

Type: L
Description: Rocks are cut by NW-trending faults.

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Argillzation and silicificationof host rocks are common.

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Rocks

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

Name: Quartz Latite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age in Years: 21.000000+-
Age Young: Early Miocene

Name: Quartz Latite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age in Years: 24.000000+-
Age Young: Late Oligocene

Name: Andesite
Role: Associated
Description: agglomerate
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Tertiary

Name: Diabase
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Triassic

Name: Rhyolite
Role: Host
Description: tuff
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Tertiary

Name: Tuff
Role: Host
Description: rhyolite
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Tertiary

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Cinnabar
Gangue: Chalcedony
Gangue: Clay

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Comments

Comment (Location): The Nevada Mercury Mine property consists of 15 claims located about one mile north of Buffalo Mountain, at the head of Sheep Canyon.

Comment (Workings): The mine workings in 1949 consisted of an open pit. The mine last produced in 1959 but development was ongoing in 1967. Workings consist of two adjoining glory holes (275 ft x 60 ft x 40 ft; 115 ft x 40 ft x 20 ft), two adits totaling 750 feet, and numerous shallow prospect pits.

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: free gold, cinnabar

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: chalcedony, clay

Comment (Development): The property was purchased by Nevada Cinnabar Company in 1912; operated by LDC Mining Company 1960-1965. The mine was active from 1908-1918 with minor lessee activity intermittently since then. The mine was owned by Keough and Larson Development Co. and mined by Big "B" Mining Company in 1967. In 1994, it was reported that Marshall Earth Resources Inc. had discovered a geologic resource at the Nevada Mercury mine estimated at around 50,000 ounces of gold. Goldfields Mining Co., who had leased the property during 1992-93, made the initial discovery during their first phase of drilling on the Burro patented mining claim. Marshall was optimistic about the potential for exploration of a large area of disseminated low-grade gold in the vicinity of the discovery.

Comment (Economic Factors): In 1994, it was reported that Marshall Earth Resources Inc. had discovered a geologic resource at the Nevada Mercury mine estimated at around 50,000 ounces of gold.

Comment (Geology): Triassic sandstone, shale, limestone, and intrusive diabase are in fault contact with Tertiary andesitic agglomerate and rhyolitic tuffs and flows.Major rock units include : Tertiary volcanics. The Toiyabe overlies Oddie Rhyolite; mine is in Toiyabe quartz latite formation.

Comment (Identification): The currently described gold deposit is in the vicinity of the Nevada Cinnabar (Shoshone Quicksilver) Mine, MRDS #M055038, from which material has been transferred to the current record along with new material.

Comment (Deposit): Ore occurs in tuff beneath fault gouge as veinlets in the tuff. Triassic sandstone, shale, limestone, and intrusive diabase are in fault contact with Tertiary andesitic agglomerate and rhyolitic tuffs and flows.Major rock units include : Tertiary volcanics. The Toiyabe overlies Oddie Rhyolite; mine is in Toiyabe quartz latite formation.

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References

Reference (Deposit): Bailey, E. H., U. S. Geol. Survey, Personal Files

Reference (Deposit): Bailey, E.H., and Phoenix, D.A., 1944, Quicksilver Deposits in Nevada: Nev. Bur. of Mines and Geol., Bull. 41, p. 151-152.

Reference (Deposit): Vitaliano, 1963, Cenozoic Geology and Sections of the Ione Quadrangle, Nye County, Nevada: USGS Map MF - 255.

Reference (Deposit): Gallagher, 1967, Nevada Mines, Mills, and Smelters in Operation as of July 1, 1967: State Inspector Of Mines, Carson City, Nevada.

Reference (Deposit): Holmes, G.H., Jr., 1965, Mercury in Nevada, in Mercury Potential of the U.S.: U.S. Bur. of Mines, Inf. Circ. 8252, p. 254-255.

Reference (Deposit): Amer. Mines (2001), 2000.

Reference (Deposit): Denver Mining Record, 9/7/94

Reference (Deposit): NBMG MI-94 through MI-02.

Reference (Deposit): Ione Valley Land Status, 1978

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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.