Mount Hamilton Mine

The Mount Hamilton Mine is a molybdenum, tungsten, silver, gold, and copper mine located in White Pine county, Nevada.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Mount Hamilton Mine
Secondary: Centennial Mine
Secondary: Northeast Seligman Mine
Secondary: Treasure Hill Mine

Commodity

Primary: Molybdenum
Primary: Tungsten
Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold
Primary: Copper
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Lead
Tertiary: Antimony
Tertiary: Arsenic
Tertiary: Bismuth
Tertiary: Tellurium

Location

State: Nevada
County: White Pine
District: White Pine District

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

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: Mount Hamilton Mining Co.
Info Year: 1997

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: Poly-metallic skarn
Operation Type: Surface
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Polymetallic replacement

Orebody

Form: irregular

Structure

Type: L
Description: Rocks in the mine area have been affected by the NNW-trending Hoppe Springs Anticline, and later by steep normal faults with N-S, NE, and NW orientations.

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: An extensive alteration aureole (five kilometers by two kilometers) formed in the Cambrian Secret Canyon and Dunderberg Shale Formations surropunding the Cretaceous granodirite stock. Alteration consistes of an early biotite hornfels replaced in part by a diopside-orthoclase hornfels. Skarn alteration is zoned from a garnet-dominated assemblage adjacent to the stock to a garnet-pyroxene skarn to a calcite-diopside-quartz-kspar-tremolite skarn, to distal biotite hornfels. Retrograde alteration consists of quartz-calcite-iron oxide assemblage afterg arnet and a subordinate quartz-calcite-epidote-iron oxide-amphibole-chlorite assemblage after garnet-pyroxene.

Rocks

Name: Granodiorite
Role: Associated
Description: hornblende-biotite
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age in Years: 106.600000+-
Dating Method: K-Ar
Age Young: Early Cretaceous

Name: Granodiorite
Role: Associated
Description: hornblende-biotite
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age in Years: 104.500000+-
Dating Method: K-Ar
Age Young: Early Cretaceous

Name: Shale
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Cambrian

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

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Pyrite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Molybdenite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Garnet
Gangue: Pyroxene
Gangue: Tremolite

Comments

Comment (Workings): The mine is developed by at least two open pits

Comment (Economic Factors): 1994: resv. 9.04 Mt, 0.052 opt Au, 0.38 opt Ag; 1996: 10.8 Mt, 0.038 opt Au, 0.24 opt Ag; 1997: (Centennial) 7.72 Mt, 0.035 opt Au 1997: 7.72 Mt, 0.035 opt Au Production 1995-97: 99,500 oz Au, 207,500 oz Ag 1997: 12,500 oz Au, 36,000 oz Ag

Comment (Identification): No earlier MRDS record was found for this mine

Comment (Location): The mine is located on the west side of the White Pine Range.

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: scheelite, molybdenite, chalcopyrite, gold, pyrite, arsenopyrite

Comment (Development): Exploration of the Mount Hamilton area in the 1970s concentrated on the tungsten potential of the skarn system, and a large tungsten-molybdenum resource was defined. Continued exploration of the system identified copper-zinc-gold-enriched zones in addition to the W-Mo target. In 1996, Westmont Mining, Inc. was in the process of developing the two orebodies. Mount Hamilton Mining Co. mined the property but mining ceased in 1997. Exploration in the mine area was ongoing in the late 1990s.

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: quartz, garnet, pyroxene, tremolite

Comment (Deposit): Gold and silver mineralization is associated with a W-Mo-Cu-Pb-Zn- bearing garnet-pyroxene-tremolite skarn system developed around the margins of the Cretaceous Seligman stock hornblende-biotite granodiorite. The deposit encompasses both the Centennial ore zone on the south side of the Seligman stock, and the Northeast Seligman ore zone on the northeast side of the stock.

References

Reference (Deposit): NBMG MI-96

Reference (Deposit): MI-97

Reference (Deposit): Map 91

Reference (Deposit): NBMG Bull 57, 1960

Reference (Deposit): Myers, G., Dennis, M. D., Wilkinson, W. H., and Wendt, C. J., 1991, Precious Metal Distribution in the Mount Hamilton Polymetallic Skarn System, Nevada: in Raines, G.L., Lisle, R.E., Schafer, R.W. and Wilkinson, W.H., Eds., Symposium Proceedings, Geology and Ore Deposits of the Great Basin, Geologic Society of Nevada and the U.S. Geological Survey, April 1-5, 1990, p. 677-685.

Reference (Deposit): Myers, G., Dennis, M. D., Wilkinson, W. H., and Wendt, C. J., 1991, Precious Metal Distribution in the Mount Hamilton Polymetallic Skarn System, Nevada:reprinted in Geology and Gold Deposits of Eastern Nevada; Bald Mountain Mine, Alligator Ridge, Robinson Project, Mount Hamilton Mine, Jones, A. Elizabeth, Ed., Special Publication - Geological Society of Nevada, Report: 23

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.

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.