Cherry Creek District Mines; Egan Mine Area

The Cherry Creek District Mines; Egan Mine Area is a gold, tungsten, and silver mine located in White Pine county, Nevada at an elevation of 6,693 feet.

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

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Site Name

Primary: Cherry Creek District Mines; Egan Mine Area
Secondary: Gilligan Shaft Mine
Secondary: Ticup (Biscuit) Mine
Secondary: Star Mine
Secondary: Wide West Mine
Secondary: Mary Anne Mine
Secondary: Black Metal Mine
Secondary: Exchequer Mine
Secondary: Grey Eagle Mine
Secondary: Pacific Mine
Secondary: Chance Mine
Secondary: Flagstaff Mine
Secondary: Victorien Mine

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Tungsten
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Copper
Secondary: Zinc
Secondary: Lead

Location

State: Nevada
County: White Pine
District: Gold Canyon District

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: Ely BLM Administrative district

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: Egan Leasing Co.
Info Year: 1941

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: District
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: fracture filling in breccia zone
Operation Type: Surface-Underground
Year First Production: 1864
Year Last Production: 1941
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: M

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Polymetallic veins

Orebody

Form: tabular, lenticular

Structure

Type: L
Description: Host rocks in the mine area are cut by at least two sets of faults, the dominant one NE-trending with lesserr NW trending faults.

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: There is some sericitization of host rocks adjacent to some of the veins.

Rocks

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

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

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Argentite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Ore: Bornite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Cerargyrite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Scheelite
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Deposit): The orebodies occur predominantly as veins and lenses of white quartz up to eight feet wide. Veins are locally speckled with minute particles of a soft black metallic-appearing material with silver and a little copper and sulfur. Ore occurs also as a fracture filling in a breccia zone. Copper and lead carbonates coated fractures in the richer ore. Ore veins are vertical, some places dip steeply south, finger out in the shale. Vein ranges from 2-8 feet thick. Hanging wall well defined. Cerargyrite was the most valuable mineral with galena most abundant now. Gold- bearing quartz veins were characterized by small amounts of limonite after pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite and native gold, ranging from 2 inches to 2 feet wide

Comment (Development): A company of volunteer soldiers discovered gold-bearing quartz veins near the Overland Stage route in Egan Canyon, possibly as early as 1861. Early records indicate that discoveries made before 1863. Egan Canyon came to be known as Gold Canyon, and the Gold Canyon Mining District was formed. The Gilligan and other mines, were developed in 1863 on the Gilligan Ledge in Gold (Egan) Canyon, the principal early producer in the district. The first mill built in eastern Nevada was constructed in 1874 to treat ore from the Gilligan. By 1866, both a 5-stamp mill and a 10-stamp mill were operating. A small amount of gold from the Gold Canyon Ledge, north of the mouth of the canyon, was milled in an arrastra in 1868. A 20-stamp mill was built in 1869, at the head of the canyon near the old Egan Canyon Pony Express station, to treat the silver ores. The first mine on Cherry Creek was the Ticup Mine, in 1872 which brought a rush of prospectors to the area. The Cherry Creek District was organized and in 1873, the town of Cherry Creek was platted at the mouth of the Canyon. It became the largest mining camp in the county with a post office, Wells Fargo agency, and several newspapers. The mines flourished but began to decline after 1877. More rich veins were located in the older workings in the spring of 1880 and another boom began. On July 24, 1884, the hoisting works at the district's biggest producer, the Star Mine, burned and the district declined until the 1900s when there was a revival of mining in the district. Scheelite was discovered at the Chance mine in 1918 and more than 100 short tons of tungsten ore were produced during World War I. A small to moderate production of either silver or tungsten ore was reported every year from 1902 through 1958. In 1931, some low-grade silver ore and tailings were shipped by small miners at irregular intervals to Kennecott Copper Company's McGill smelter for the recovery of gold and silver, but Kennecott did not charge for smelting these ores because the silica they contained was valuable as a flux. The principal period of tungsten production was from 1940 through 1950, chiefly from the Ticup Mine. This ore was concentrated in a 50-ton gravity-flotation plant a mile west of Egan, the Cherry Creek Tungsten Mill, commonly known as the Kleghorn-Boundy Mill. It is estimated that more than 30,000 short tons of tungsten were produced through 1958. Some recent development work has been done at the Exchequer Mine, northwest of the Star. A head frame was erected in 1982 and a decline was finished in 1990.

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: argentite, scheelite, copper carbonate, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, cerargyrite, native gold, bornite, tetrahedrite

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: quartz, pyrite

Comment (Location): The mines are located on both north and south sides of Egan Canyon (Cherry Creek). The district includes the north end of the Egan Range and south end of the Cherry Creek Range, from Telegraph Canyon at the south end to Goshute Creek at the north.

Comment (Workings): The mines were developed by extensive underground workings as well as surface prospects. A 1913 description of the mine workings reports many drifts at various levels in the shaft, but none appeared to be long, and most of them were caved in at that time.

Comment (Economic Factors): Total production is uncertain. More than 100 short tons of tungsten ore were produced during World War I. The mines produced a small to moderate amount of either silver or tungsten ore every year from 1902 through 1958. In 1931, some low-grade silver -gold ore and tailings were shipped to the McGill smelter. The principal period of tungsten production was from 1940 through 1950, chiefly from the Ticup Mine. It is estimated that more than 30,000 short tons of tungsten were produced through 1958. The Egan (Gilligan) Mine was owned by Egan Leasing Co. in 1941. It was discovered about 1864 and had intermittent production through 1941 totalling about $3,000,000. From 1921-22 it produced 12 lots of smelting ore valued at $11,497; from 1935-36, it produced 7,779 tons of ore valued at $81,387; from 1939-40: 2,014 tons valed at $27,385; 1939-41: 9,018 tons of ore, and 949 tons of old tailings, producing 1,572 ounces of gold and 45,306 ounces of silver.

Comment (Geology): A small quartz monzonite pluton intrudes the Paleozoic shales in the mine area.

Comment (Identification): This is a composite record for the major producing mines of the district and includes material for several earlier records for the individul mine listed above: D001193, M031228, M031230, M031231, M031232, and M031233. The Egan and Star mines were probably the biggest gold-silver producers of the group, and the Ticup the biggest tungsten producer.

References

Reference (Deposit): Donna Frederick, 1997, Brief history of Cherry Creek Nevada, at http://whitepinecountygenhelp.accessgenealogy.com/Cherry_Creek.html
URL: http://whitepinecountygenhelp.accessgenealogy.com/Cherry_Creek.html

Reference (Deposit): Hose, Blake, and Smith, 1976, Geology and Mineral Resources of White Pine County, Nevada; NBMG Bull 85.

Reference (Deposit): Hill, James M., 1916 Notes on some Mining Districts in Eastern Nevada, USGS Bull. 648.

Reference (Deposit): Lemon, D.M., unpublished data

Reference (Deposit): Lemon, D.M., and Tweto, O.L., 1962 Tungsten in the US USGS Map, MR-25.

Reference (Deposit): Holmes, George H. Jr., Feb, 1950, Investigation of Cherry Creek Tungsten District, White Pine Co., Nev., Bureau of Mines Report of Investigations 4631

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.