Chert Cliff Deposit

The Chert Cliff Deposit is a gold mine located in Eureka 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: Chert Cliff Deposit

Commodity

Primary: Gold

Location

State: Nevada
County: Eureka
District: Antelope 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: Roberts Mountains Wilderness Study Area

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: Columbus Gold Corporation
Info Year: 2006

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Prospect
Deposit Type: replacement
Operation Type: Surface
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Sediment-hosted Au

Orebody

Form: bedded, lenticular, stratabound

Structure

Type: L
Description: fault

Type: R
Description: Roberts Mountains thrust fault

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Host rock is pervasively silicified to jasperoid.

Rocks

Name: Limestone
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Late Devonian
Age Old: Middle Devonian

Name: Siltstone
Role: Host
Description: dolomitic
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Early Mississippian

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Geology of the claims area consists of dolomitic siltstones of the Mississippian Webb formation overling massive Devils Gate Limestone in thrust fault contact. Disseminated gold occurs in hydrothermally altered Webb siltstones and jasperoid. The mineralization is stratabound in the Webb formation, but concentrated adjacent to a feeder fault.

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: gold

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: jasperoid

Comment (Development): Gold was discovered at Chert Cliff in the mid 1960s during the initial wave of prospecting for carbonate-hosted gold deposits following recognition of the Carlin model in 1961. The most intensive work was carried out by ASARCO in the 1980s which succeeded in outlining the Chert Cliff gold deposit as presently known. The ASARCO drill program delineated a gold deposit at Chert Cliff containing approximately 1.4 million tons grading 0.04 ounces gold per ton (56,000 ounces). ASARCO held the property until at least 1996. The Chert Cliff deposit remains open to the west and ASARCO geologists believed it could be expanded significantly by adding additional drilling in that area. Anomalous to ore grade intercepts were also encountered in isolated drill holes north and east of the resource area but were never followed up. In 2006, the Chert Cliff Property is 100% owned by Columbus Gold Corporation and has been leased to privately held Platte River Gold Inc. To maintain the lease, Platte River is obligated to make escalating annual lease payments to Columbus totaling US$142,000 over the term of the lease and must pay Columbus US$100,000 in Platte River common shares. Platte River is also responsible for all maintenance payments and is required to make exploration expenditures totaling US$275,000. Columbus is entitled to net smelter return royalties on production of between 2% and 3%.

Comment (Economic Factors): In 1996, it was reported that the property contained drill-indicated 1.4 million tons of material grading 0.04 ounces of gold per ton, for a total contained 56,000 ounces of gold, with a larger resource inferred.

Comment (Location): The Chert Cliff Property consists of 9 mineral claims, covering approximately 185 acres, about 40 miles northwest of Eureka.

Comment (Workings): Exploration, drilling

References

Reference (Deposit): Vikre and Maher, 1996

Reference (Deposit): http://www.columbusgoldcorp.com/s/ChertCliff.asp
URL: http://www.columbusgoldcorp.com/s/ChertCliff.asp

Reference (Deposit): Vladimir I. Berger and Ted G. Theodore, 2005, Implications of Stratabound Carlin Type Gold Deposits in Paleozoic Rocks of North-Central Nevada; United States Geological Survey slide presentation.

Reference (Deposit): NBMG MI-1996,1998

Reference (Deposit): United States Bureau of Land Management, 1981

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.