Dixie Comstock Mine

Site Name

Primary: Dixie Comstock Mine

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Copper
Secondary: Lead

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Churchill
District: DIXIE VALLEY 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

Type: Surface/Underground

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Ownership

Owner Name: Horizon Gold, Inc.

Owner Name: Wilson, William L.
Years: 1974 -

Owner Name: Dixie Exploration Corp., Anthony Selig, Pres.,
Home Office: 707 S. 4th St., Las Vegas, Nevada 89101
Years: 1980 -

Owner Name: Atlas Gold Corp. and Horizon Resources Corp.
Info Year: 1995

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Production

Year: 1941
Description: Ap_Grade: ^0.66 Oz/Ton
Year: 1939
Description: Ap_Grade: ^0.16 Oz/Ton
Year: 1938
Description: Ap_Grade: ^0.16 Oz/Ton
Year: 1937
Description: Ap_Grade: ^0.11 Oz/Ton
Year: 1935
Description: Ap_Grade: ^0.36 Oz/Ton

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: hydrothermal stockwork?hot spring Au-Ag
Operation Type: Surface-Underground
Year First Production: 1935
Year Last Production: 1980
Discovery Year: 1934
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: Epithermal vein, Comstock
Model Name: Hot-spring Au-Ag

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Orebody

Form: tabular

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Structure

Type: L
Description: Mineralization occurs adjacent to an igneous contact.

Type: R
Description: A roughly N-S-trending high-angle range-front fault cuts the host rocks near the mine area.

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Intense multiple phase silicification has occurred with minor adularization of the host rocks.

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Rocks

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

Name: Gabbro
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Jurassic

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Analytical Data

Analytical Data: Values to 4.6 opt Au and 7.8 opt Ag are reported from some of the deeper workings.
Analytical Data: A sample of the quartz vein in the shaft pillar assayed 7 ppm Ag and 6.7 ppm Au

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Materials

Ore: Electrum
Ore: Silver
Ore: Copper
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Adularia
Gangue: Chloritoid

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Comments

Comment (Location): The deposit is located on the west side of Dixie Valley in the eastern foothills of the Stillwater Range. Part of the deposit may extend into part of Section 15. UTM is to the center of a proposed open pit which would encompass the historic workings.

Comment (Workings): The mine is developed by a 200-ft. incline, a 100-ft vertical shaft, drifts, winzes, stopes, and more recently, by a small open pit.

Comment (Development): Clyde Garrett discovered gold at Dixie Comstock in April 1934. Underground mining at that time was hindered by the intense heat and large volume of hot water intersected in the mine workings at less than 75 ft. depth. Through 1938, 8000 tons of gold ore had been treated with recovery of over $145,000. By 1940, a total of 1500 ft. of underground workings had been developed. Production continued to October 8, 1942 when the War Production Board issued its limitation order L-208. Cumulative production totaled 17,880 tons of Au-Ag ore for a combined value of $293,304. The Au:Ag ratio was 2:3 with a gold equivalent grade of 0.793 opt gold. During the period 1955-1970, various operators conducted trenching, drilling, and soil sampling programs. In 1970, the Mexican Gold and Silver Mining Company began open pit mining and removed 5000 yards of gravel overburden by year?s end. In September 1975, the first ore was shipped from this open pit operation. Approximately 86 short tons grading 2.26 opt Au and 2.43 opt Ag were trucked to the Southern Pacific railhead at Luning. Asarco Inc. leased the property 1983-1984 but dropped the lease because of the small size of the deposit and the strip ratio. Santa Fe Mining, Inc. leased the property in 1986 and completed 65 reverse circulation drill holes which largely defined the present orebody. In 1990, Horizon Gold Corporation purchased the Dixie Comstock lease agreement from Santa Fe Mining, Inc. and began feasibility studies for an open pit operation. Plans for this pit include a strip ratio of 2.4:1 and a production rate of 8000 tons of ore per day. Dore product was expected to consist of approx. 50% Au and 50% Ag. In 1995, Atlas entered into an option on the Dixie Comstock project with Horizon Resources Corp. No new production has resulted from the deposit since its delineation in 1990.

Comment (Identification): All material from MRDS record M233112 has been copied to this record and updated. This record should supersede record M233112.

Comment (Economic Factors): Between 1934 and 1942, the mine produced 16 kilotonnes of ore containing 0.26 tonnes of gold, and 0.3 tonnes of silver. This figure includes at least 4,000 short tons of reprocessed tailings. In 1996, reserves stood at 100,000 ounces of gold contained in 2.4 million short tons of ore grading 0.049 opt gold. The remaining resources in the deposit are 4300 kilotonnes of ore containing 4.5 tonnes of gold and an unknown amount of silver.

Comment (Geology): Mineralization at the mine consists of well-developed stockworks transitional to hydrothermal breccias in the Stillwater Gabbro of Jurassic age. The host rock has been subjected to intense multiple phase silicification with minor adularization, and contains variable amounts of sulfides and gold.

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: electrum; native silver; copper and lead sulfides

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: QUARTZ, ADULARIA, CHLORITOID

Comment (Deposit): Mineralization at the mine consists of well-developed stockworks transitional to hydrothermal breccias developed in the Stillwater Gabbro of Jurassic age. Mineralization is associated with intense multiple phase silicification with minor adularization, and consists of variable amounts of sulfides and gold. Mineralization may be genetically related to an adjacent igneous contact. Gold occurs as free grains of electrum ranging in size from 5-100 microns or larger. Minor amounts of native silver have also been reported. Sulfides occur as minor accessory minerals, but gold shows no strong correlation with such accessory sulfides and often appears to be very late in the paragenetic sequence. Assignment of USGS model based on mineralogy and stockwork nature of veining and ignoring the mafic intrusive host rock type.

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References

Reference (Deposit): Bureau of Land Management, 1991, Environmental Assessment of Horizon Gold Corporation's Dixie Comstock Mine and Heap Leach Project, EA# NV-030-90-70.

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

Reference (Deposit): Willden, R., and Speed, R. C., 1974, Geology and Mineral Deposits of Churchill County, Nevada, NBMG Bull. 83, p 67.

Reference (Deposit): Vvanderburg, W.O., 1940, Reconnaissance of Mining Districts in Churchill County, Nev., USBM I.C. 7093, p. 48.

Reference (Deposit): State Inspector of Mines, 1981, Directory of Mining Operations Active in Nevada in Calendar Year 1980.

Reference (Deposit): Horizon Gold Corp., Annual Report Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 1991.

Reference (Deposit): Horizon Gold Corp., Annual Report Form 10-K for Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 1992.

Reference (Deposit): NBMG, 1997, MI-1996

Reference (Deposit): Randol, 1996, The Mines Handbook.

Reference (Deposit): Long, K.R., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., and Ludington, S.D., 1998, Significant deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 90-206A, 33 p.; 98-206B. one 3.5 inch diskette.

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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.