Mineral Ridge Mine

Site Name

Primary: Mineral Ridge Mine
Secondary: Drinkwater pit
Secondary: Gold Wedge A pit
Secondary: Gold Wedge B pit
Secondary: Gold Wedge C pit
Secondary: Mary-LC pit
Secondary: Gordon Brodie pit
Secondary: Mary-Liz pit
Secondary: Unnamed pit
Secondary: old Mary - Drinkwater Underground Mine

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Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver

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Location

State: Nevada
County: Esmeralda
District: Silver Peak 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: Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc.
Info Year: 2001

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Production

Not available

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Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: Polymetallic vein; peraluminous granite-related
Operation Type: Surface-Underground
Year First Production: 1867
Discovery Year: 1864
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: L

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Physiography

Not available

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Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Epithermal vein, Comstock

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Orebody

Form: lenticular

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Structure

Type: L
Description: NW-, EW-, and NS-trending faults.

Type: R
Description: The Silver Peak Mountain Range lies in the southern Great Basin within the Walker Lane structural corridor. NW-SE BELT OF FOLDED, FAULTED TERTIARY SEDS E OF SIERRAS, S TO MOJAVE, N TO N. NEVADA

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Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Secondary sulfides have formed acompanying the decomposition of diorite.

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Rocks

Name: Alkali-Granite (Alaskite)
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Jurassic
Age Old: Cretaceous

Name: Limestone
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Cambrian
Age Old: Ordovician

Name: Alluvium
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Pleistocene
Age Old: Holocene

Name: Basalt
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Quaternary

Name: Coal
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Quaternary

Name: Sedimentary Rock
Role: Associated
Description: lacustrine sediments
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Tertiary

Name: Mixed Clastic/Volcanic Rock
Role: Associated
Description: volcanic sediments
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Tertiary

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

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

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

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

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

Name: Quartzite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Cambrian
Age Old: Ordovician

Name: Slate
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Cambrian
Age Old: Ordovician

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Analytical Data

Not available

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Materials

Ore: Galena
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz

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Comments

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: native gold, pyrite, galena

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: quartz, alaskite

Comment (Geology): RECENT FAULT ACTIVITY; CRUSHING POST ORE. PLEIST-RECENT VALLEY FILL.

Comment (Identification): All material from MRDS record No. W002901 has been incorporated into this new record . Mineral Ridge (See individual deposits)

Comment (Location): The Mineral Ridge Mine is located on the northeastern flank of the Silver Peak Range, 4 miles northwest of the town of Silver Peak and 32 miles west of Tonopah in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The property consists of 54 patented and 110 unpatented mining claims totaling nearly 2,685 acres, or 4.2 square miles.

Comment (Workings): Old underground workings were later incorporated into numerous open piit.

Comment (Deposit): The Mineral Ridge property encompasses 4 separate economically mineable gold deposits. The mine reserve, at a 0.035 opt Au cut off grade, is 2,658,340 tons averaging 0.079 opt for 209,226 contained ounces of gold. This reserve is contained in a total resource of 8,314,000 tons averaging 0.061 opt gold (at a 0.02 opt Au cutoff grade) for a total of 506,000 ounces gold. The rocks in the Mineral Ridge area consist of Precambrian metasediments and metamorphosed Tertiary granodiorite which have been cut by numerous shallow dipping faults that host the gold deposits. The gold is found in sheeted zones of thick quartz veins, which nearly parallel the current surface topography. The gold deposits are in quartz lenses in the limestones and probably are genetically related to the late siliceous phase of the alaskite intrusive. Native gold is finely disseminated in the quartz and is also associated with scattered sulfides in the lenses. Mineral Ridge is an anticlinal dome that has been interpreted as an uplifted metamorphic core complex where unmetamorphosed and unfolded Cambrian strata are in detachment-fault contact with underlying deformed granitoids and Precambrian metamorphic rocks of the core complex. Auriferous quartz lenses of the central gold-quartz district are concordant with foliation in the Precambrian Wyman Formation host rock. Transitional contacts were observed between quartz and alaskite (commonly pegmatitic), and between alaskite and peraluminous two-mica granite, strongly suggesting that the alaskite, quartz, and ore metals were derived hydrothermally from residual granite melt and aqueous fluids. Gold occurs as free disseminations and in clots associated with pyrite, galena, sphalerite, and arsenopyrite. The local shallow abundance of quartz lenses permits underground or open-pit mining. Considering the scattered gold distribution, coarse nature of the gold, and common absence of visible ore controls within quartz lenses, the most economically viable method is to mine and process large volumes of quartz-rich rock from mineralized areas. The Mineral Ridge project consists of several gold deposits, which have been defined by drilling and some have been partially mined. The Drinkwater Deposit is the largest known ore deposit and is located on the northeastern side of the metamorphic and intrusive core complex. It was partially mined by underground methods from the 1860s to the early 1940s and by open pit methods from 1989 to 1999. The ore zones in the Drinkwater deposit have a general strike of N45W and dips about 20 to 25 degrees to the northeast. Drill defined ore zones have a strike length of more than 2500 feet and down dip width of 2000 feet. Two or more gold-bearing shear zones are present at the central portion of the deposit with an individual ore zone thickness of 5 to 40 feet and an overall thickness of more than 100 feet. The Mary deposit is also located on the northeastern side of the metamorphic and intrusive complex and east of the Drinkwater deposit. It is the second largest known deposit on Mineral Ridge. This deposit was partially mined by underground methods before the 1940s along with the Drinkwater deposit, but it was not touched by the recent op n-pit mining operations. Ore zones in the Mary deposit have a similar strike and dip as those in the Drinkwater deposit with a drill controlled strike length of over 2000 feet and down-dip with of 1500 feet. These ore zones are thinner and less continuous, but tend to be higher in gold grade than those in the Drinkwater deposit.

Comment (Deposit): the Gold Wedge deposit is located at the top of the Mineral Ridge and the metamorphic and intrusive core complex, and southwest of the Drinkwater deposit. It consists of several small horizontal ore bodies, which have been mined by both underground and open-pit methods. Any remaining resources in this deposit are not available for further mining as the location has been utilized for the leach pads and processing facilities. the Brodie deposit is also located on the top of the Mineral Ridge and the metamorphic intrusive core complex, and south of the Gold Wedge deposit. It is a small deposit with nearly horizontal ore zones. The deposit has been partially mined in the past, but there still remains a small drill-defined reserve. Ore zones in this deposit are still open in several directions, which indicates a potential to increase the reserve. the Solberry and Blue Lite deposits are small satellite deposits located southwest of the Gold Wedge deposit. There is a small drill defined reserve in these deposits.

Comment (Economic Factors): Production - 1991: 25 K oz Au, 8 K oz Ag; 1997: 13,793 oz Au, 7907 oz Ag; Nov 2000-2001: (rinse of leach pads) 738.98 oz Au-Ag dore that refined to 440.98 oz Au, 188.8 oz Ag 1997: Drill indicate res.: 42,708 t, 0.081 opt Au In 1995, reserves were reported as 6800 kilotonnes of ore containing 12.6 kilotonnes of gold In 2001 the mineable reserves were reported at 2.658 Mt grading 0.079 opt Au, containing 209.2 K oz Au. See individual deposits listed in David?s database

Comment (Development): Gold and silver were first discovered in the Mineral Ridge area in 1864. Intermittent mining operations have occurred from that date to the present. Early production was from underground high-grade gold ores that averaged from 0.243 opt Au to 1.45 opt Au. In 1989 open pit mining was initiated in the district with ores grading from 0.074 opt Au to 0.12 opt Au. The total production of the district before open pit mining took place was 576,000 ounces of gold. Mine operations by Mineral Ridge Resources were suspended in December 1997 due to low gold prices and the company went into bankruptcy. On November 8, 2000 Golden Phoenix Minerals purchased the Mineral Ridge gold mine and resumed mining; the mine was active in 2002-2003. In 2002, Golden Phoenix reported a mineable reserve of 2,658,000 million tons averaging 0.079 ounces gold per ton for a total of 209,200 ounces. The Company began Phase 1 of its business plan to produce gold from the leach pad.) In 2004, Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc. planned to increase gold production at its Mineral Ridge Mine with the rehabilitation of the Lone Mountain mill. The mill, which lies just north of Lone Mountain and about 15 miles west of Tonopah, was built in about 1981 to process tailings from the old Tonopah silver district. Golden Phoenix planned to add a gravity and primary crushing circuit to handle the Mineral Ridge ore. Once milling begins, low-grade ore will continue to be placed onto a leach pad at the mine site, while high-grade ore will be trucked approximately 43 miles to the mill for processing.

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References

Reference (Deposit): Nolan, T. B., 1936, Nonferrous-Metal Deposits; USGS Bull. 871, p. 60

Reference (Deposit): Spurr, J E, 1906, Ore Deposits of the Silver Peak Quadrangle, Nevada: USGS Prof. Paper 55, 174 p.

Reference (Deposit): Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc. press release, 12/1/2004

Reference (Deposit): 2005 report on the Mineral Ridge Mine at http://www.golden-phoenix.com/documents/MRPDF.pdf
URL: http://www.golden-phoenix.com/documents/MRPDF.pdf

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): Amer. Mines (1996), 1995 thru Amer. Mines (2001), 2000

Reference (Deposit): BLM Claims Microfiche, 1999

Reference (Deposit): www.golden-phoenix.com; NBMG Bull 78

Reference (Deposit): Amer. Mines (1991-92), 1991 thru Amer. Mines (2001), 2000.

Reference (Deposit): Quarterly Rep. 5/15/01

Reference (Deposit): NBMG MI-89 thru MI-99.

Reference (Deposit): Environmental Assessment, 1996

Reference (Deposit): Goldfield Land Status, 1978

Reference (Deposit): Lincoln, F C, 1923, Mining Districts and Mineral Resources of Nevada: Reno p. 80-81.

Reference (Deposit): Koschmann, A H, and Bergendahl, M H, 1968, Principal Gold Producing Districts of the United States; USGS Prof. Paper 610

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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.