J.

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range 

Wilderness Study Area, Lincoln and 

Clark Counties-, Nevada

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1729-C

Chapter C

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range

Wilderness Study Area,

Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada

By E.H. PAMPEYAN and H.R. BLANK, JR., 

U.S. Geological Survey

H.W. CAMPBELL 

U.S. Bureau of Mines

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1729

MINERAL RESOURCES OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS: 

SOUTHEASTERN NEVADA
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

DONALD PAUL MODEL, Secretary

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Dallas L. Peck, Director

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1988

For sale by the

Books and Open-File Reports Section

U.S. Geological Survey

Federal Center, Box 25425

Denver, CO 80225

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pampeyan, Earl Haig, 1925-

Mineral resources of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness 

Study Area, Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada.

(U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1729-C) (Studies related to 

wilderness)

Bibliography: p.

Supt. of Docs, no.: I 19.3:1729-C

1. Mines and mineral resources Nevada Meadow Valley 

Range Wilderness. 2. Meadow Valley Range Wilderness (Nev.) 

I. Blank, H.Richard (Horace Richard), 1929- . II. Campbell, 

Harry W. III. Title. IV. Series. V. Series: Studies related to 

wilderness wilderness areas.

QE75.B9 no. 1729-C 557.3 s [553'.09793'14] 88-600037 

[TN24.N3]
STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS

Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Study Area

The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (Public Law 94-579, October 21,1976) requires the U.S. 

Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines to conduct mineral surveys on certain areas to determine the 

mineral values, if any, that may be present. Results must be made available to the public and be submitted to 

the President and the Congress. This report presents the results of a mineral survey of a part of the Meadow 

Valley Range (NV-050-156) Wilderness Study Area, Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada.

CONTENTS

Summary Cl

Abstract 1

Character and setting 1

Identified mineral resources 3

Mineral resource potential 3 

Introduction 5

Area description 6

Previous and present investigations 6

Acknowledgments 6 

Appraisal of identified resources 7

Mineral exploration history 7

Mineral deposits 7

Appraisal of mineral resources 9 

Assessment of mineral resource potential 9

Geology 9

Geochemical studies 11

Geophysical studies 12 

Conclusions 13 

References cited 18 

Appendixes

Definition of levels of mineral resource potential and certainty of assessment 22

Resource/reserve classification 23

Geologic time chart 24

FIGURES

1. Index map showing location of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, 

Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada C2

2. Map showing geology and mineral resource potential of Meadow Valley Range 

Wilderness Study Area, Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada 4

3. Complete Bouguer gravity anomaly map of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study 

Area and vicinity, Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada 14

4. Residual and total-intensity aeromagnetic map of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness 

Study Area and vicinity, Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada 16

TABLE

1. Quarry, prospect, and claim descriptions in and adjacent to the Meadow Valley Range 

Wilderness Study Area, Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada C8

Use of trade names and trademarks in this publication is for descriptive purposes only 

and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Contents V

MINERAL RESOURCES OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS: 

SOUTHEASTERN NEVADA

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range

Wilderness Study Area,

Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada1

By E.H. Pampeyan and H.R. Blank, Jr. 

U.S. Geological Survey

H.W. Campbell 

U.S. Bureau of Mines

SUMMARY 

Abstract

The Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area (NV050-156) encompasses most of the Meadow Valley Mountains, 

Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada. At the request of the U.S. 

Bureau of Land Management, mineral surveys were conducted 

on 97,180 acres of the wilderness study area. In this report, 

references to the wilderness study area or the study area refer only 

to the area for which mineral surveys were requested. Fieldwork 

for this report was carried out between 1983 and 1986 to assess 

the identified resources (known) and mineral resource potential 

(undiscovered) of the study area. There are no mining districts, 

mines, or active claims within the study area. Thejohnston and 

Fitchett prospect inside the northern part of the study area has 

more than 3 million tons of indicated and inferred marginal 

perlite reserves, and the surrounding area has high potential for 

perlite and moderate potential for zeolite minerals associated 

with the perlite; occurrences of agate, marekanite (Apache tears), 

and opaline rock, all traditionallyof interest tomineral collectors, 

also are associated with the perlite and have a moderate resource 

potential. The Bradshaw vanadium prospect outside the west 

edge of the study area has 800,000 tons of black shale containing 

inferred subeconomic resources of cadmium, chromium, 

copper, molybdenum, nickel, phosphorous, silver, vanadium, 

and zinc that may extend down dip into the study area. There is 

a high potential for vanadium west of the study area and an 

unknown potential for vanadium immediatelyeastoftheoutcrop 

in the study area. In the southernmost part of the study area 

silicified limestone at the D and D prospect contains trace 

amounts of silver and the Fry and Jeffers claim is on an 

insignificant radioactive anomaly. There is no potential for silver 

at the D and D prospect and no potential for uranium or thorium 

at the Fry and Jeffers claim.

'Publication authorized by the Director, U.S. Geological Survey, January 20, 1988.

Heavy-mineral concentrates from stream-sediment 

samples in the north half of the study area suggest a moderate 

potential area and a separate low potential area for rhyolitehosted tin resources and a low potential for carbonate-hosted 

silver, copper, lead, and zinc resources. There is low potential 

for carbonate-hosted gold, silver, lead, and zinc resources in the 

southwestern part of the study area. In the southern part of the 

study area, an area has low potential for carbonate-hosted 

copper, lead, and zinc resources.

Evaporite deposits of gypsum are present adjacent to the 

east side of the study area but they do not extend into the area and 

have no resource potential there. Silica in the form of quartzite 

is present in the south half of the study area but has no resource 

potential. A small amountof ornamental stone has been quarried 

outside the west edge of the study area, but there is no resource 

potential for this stone within the area. The southern one-third of 

the study area has high resource potential for limestone inferred 

to be of high purity. The study area also has a high potential for 

resources of sand and gravel in the alluvial deposits. There is a 

moderate potential for oil and gas resources in the study area. 

There is no potential forgeothermal resources in the study area.

Character and Setting

The Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area 

includes most of the Meadow Valley Mountains, a narrow 

north-northeast-trending range in Lincoln and Clark Counties, 

southeastern Nevada (fig. 1). The study area is about 36 mi 

long and ranges from 2 to 7 mi in width, contains about 97,180 

acres, and has a maximum topographic relief along the west 

edge of about 2,800 ft. The south end of the study area is about 

50 mi north of Las Vegas. Access to much of the study area 

from the west side is limited or difficult owing to cliff-forming 

rock units; the east side can be reached by traversing dry 

washes branching from Meadow Valley Wash.

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, Nevada C1
116° 115

Bristol 

mining 

district

CLOVER 

MOUNTAINS 

^^ Pennsylvania mine

Elgin

Viola mining 

district

APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY OF 

11 MEADOW VALLEY RANGE 

WILDERNESS STUDY AREA 

(NV-050-156)

MORMON

20 40 MILES 

_J

Figure 1. Index map showing location of the Meadow Valley Range WildernessStudy Area, Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada.

C2 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Southeastern Nevada
The south half of the study area is underlain by faulted 

and folded marine sedimentary rocks of Cambrian through 

Triassic age (see appendix for Geologic Time Chart). 

Limestone and dolomite are the dominant rock types, but some 

shale, sandstone, and siltstone are present near the top of the 

sedimentary sequence. In the north half of the area these rocks 

are overlain by volcanic rocks of Miocene age (24 to 11 million 

years before present, Ma), predominantly rhyolitic welded 

tuffs locally interlayered with rhyolitic and basaltic flows and 

cut by rhyolitic dikes. The sedimentary and volcanic rocks are 

overlapped by Miocene to Holocene nonmarine sediments.

Identified Mineral Resources

Perlite is the only identified mineral resource in the 

Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area. The northern 

part of the study area is underlain by Tertiary volcanic rocks 

containing perlite deposits and associated zeolite occurrences. 

At least 2.6 million tons of indicated marginal perlite reserves 

and 1 million tons of inferred marginal perlite reserves, with 

little or no overburden, are present at the Johnston and Fitchett 

prospect (fig. 2, No. 2). Expansion tests in a laboratory-scale 

furnace suggest that this perlite is suitable for several 

commercial applications. Rock samples taken from the 

Johnston and Fitchett prospect contain the zeolite minerals 

clinoptilolite and mordenite in occurrences adjacent to the 

perlite deposits.

At the Bradshaw vanadium prospect, just outside the 

study area (fig. 2, No. 4), a lens of Paleozoic metalliferous 

black shale contains relatively high concentrations of 

cadmium, chromium, copper, molybdenum, nickel, 

phosphorous, silver, vanadium, and zinc. About 800,000 tons 

of black shale containing inferred subeconomic resources of 

these metals are at the Bradshaw prospect. This black shale 

may extend downdip eastward into the study area but its extent 

is unknown due to a thick cover of Tertiary rocks.

Mineral Resource Potential

Analyses of samples containing perlite and zeolites 

suggest a high potential for perlite and a moderate potential for 

zeolites, agate, marekanite (Apache tears), and opaline rock in 

the north end of the study area. A metalliferous black shale 

outcrop west of the study area has a high potential for 

vanadium, but the resource potential of vanadium immediately 

adjacent is unknown. In addition, geochemical analyses of 

nonmagnetic heavy-mineral stream-sediment concentrates 

show anomalously high values of tin in the northern part of the 

study area, where Tertiary peralkaline volcanic rocks are cut 

by rhyolite dikes. Although none was seen in place, topaz 

crystals and topaz-bearing rhyolite float were found in the area 

of high tin values. Other anomalies of antimony, lead, 

molybdenum, tungsten, and zinc in the volcanic terrane may

represent a carbonate-hosted silver-lead-zinc-copper 

replacement deposit or less likely a tungsten skam. The 

mineral potential for resources of silver, lead, zinc, and copper 

resources in the volcanic terrane is low; the high tin values, 

however, along with the presence of arsenic, antimony, 

beryllium, bismuth, and topaz suggest moderate and low 

potential respectively for resources of tin in two areas in the 

volcanic terrane.

Along the western edge of the carbonate terrane, 

anomalous values of cobalt, copper, lead, molybdenum, 

nickel, and zinc may represent leakage along range-front faults 

from carbonate-hosted replacement copper-lead-zinc 

mineralization, and high values of arsenic, along with 

antimony and molybdenum, may represent leakage along the 

range-front faults of carbonate-hosted gold-silver-lead-zinc 

vein or lead-zinc replacement deposits. No evidence of 

metallic mineralization was seen, however, and the 

southwestern part of the study area is assigned a low mineral 

resource potential for gold, silver, lead, and zinc resources, and 

the southern part of the study area is assigned a low resource 

potential for copper, lead, and zinc. In the southernmost part 

of the study area at the D and D prospect, two samples from the 

contact between limestone and overlying volcanic rock 

contained trace amounts of silver. The geologic setting and 

sample analyses suggest that this area has no resource potential 

for silver. The Fry and Jeffers claim at the south edge of the 

study area is on an occurrence of low-level radioactivity. 

Sample analyses and geophysical data indicate that the area has 

no resource potential for uranium or thorium.

In the southern one-third of the study area, in areas 

underlain by pre-Tertiary sedimentary rocks (fig. 2), there is a 

high resource potential for limestone, some of which is 

expected to be of high purity; these rocks are exposed in 

outcrop for more than 9 mi. In addition, there is a high potential 

for resources of sand and gravel in alluvial deposits of the study 

area, but these deposits are quite far from markets relative to 

other large sources. Low-grade deposits of gypsum exist east 

of the study area in Permian red beds, but there is no resource 

potential for gypsum within the area. Color-banded siltstone 

(Nevada Wonder Rock) quarried near the west edge of the 

study area has no resource potential within the area. Silica in 

the form of quartzite is present in the study area but has no 

resource potential.

The entire study area is in a region previously 

designated as having medium potential for occurrence of oil 

and gas accumulation in Mississippian source rocks 

(Sandberg, 1983). According to A.K. Chamberlain (oral 

commun., 1987), however, structural, stratigraphic, and other 

data indicate high potential for oil and gas. On the basis of this 

information there is a moderate resource potential for oil and 

gas in the study area. In 1972, Texaco, Inc., drilled a well about 

2 mi east of the study area to test the favorable zone, but the 

well subsequently was abandoned. There is no evidence of 

recent or currently active geothermal activity in the study area, 

and there is no potential for geothermal resources.

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, Nevada C3
115°00' 114°45' 114°30'

37° 

15'

37C 

00'

 'Delamar*.' 

' Lake I; '

,'nLeith

~

I Lyman 

Crossing

APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY OF

MEADOW VALLEY RANGE 

WILDERNESS STUDY AREA /

(NV-050-156)

KANE SPRINGS WASH 

VOLCANIC CENTER

10 MILES 

I

Figure 2. Mineral resource potential and generalized geology of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, 

Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada. Southern one-third of study area has high potential, certainty level C, for 

limestone resources; entire study area has moderate potential, certainty level B, for oil and gas resources; areas of 

Quaternary-Tertiary alluvial deposits have high potential, certainty level D, for sand and gravel.

C4 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Southeastern Nevada
INTRODUCTION

This mineral survey was requested by the U.S. Bureau 

of Land Management and is the result of a cooperative effort 

by the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines. 

An introduction to the wilderness review process, mineral 

survey methods, and agency responsibilities was provided by 

Beikman and others (1983). The U.S. Bureau of Mines 

evaluates identified resources at individual mines and known 

mineralized areas by collecting data on current and past mining 

activities and through field examination of mines, prospects, 

claims, and mineralized areas. Identified resources are

classified according to the system described by U.S. Bureau of 

Mines andU.S. Geological Survey (1980). Studies by the U.S. 

Geological Survey are designed to provide a reasonable 

scientific basis for assessing the potential for undiscovered 

mineral resources by determining geologic units and 

structures, possible environments of mineral deposition, 

presence of geochemical and geophysical anomalies, and 

applicable ore-deposit models. Goudarzi (1984) discussed 

mineral assessment methodology and terminology as they 

apply to these surveys. See the appendixes for the definition 

of levels of mineral resource potential, certainty of assessment, 

and classification of identified resources.

EXPLANATION

Area with high mineral resource potential 

Area with moderate mineral resource potential 

Area with low mineral resource potential 

Area with unknown mineral resource potential

x Prospect with identified resource See table 1 for 

2 description

See appendixes for definition of levels of mineral resource potential 

(L, M, H, U) and level of assessment (A, B, C, D)

Commodities

Correlation of map units

Holocene and _

Pleistocene 

~ Pliocene

- Miocene

Cu

Au

Pb

Ag

Sn

V

Zn

per

zeo

Copper

Gold

Lead

Silver

Tin

Vanadium

Zinc

Perlite

Zeolites, agate, marekanite (Apache tears),

opaline rock

Qta

Tt

Ttf

pTs

6 x Quarry, prospect, or claim

1. Sunshine prospect

2. Johnston and Fitchett prospect

3 Unnamed prospect

4. Bradshaw prospect

5. Wonder Rock quarry

6. Robb prospect

7. D and D prospect

8. Fry and Jeffers claim

Figure 2. Continued.

Tt Ttf

- QUATERNARY

- TERTIARY - CENOZOIC

]_ TRIASSIC TO I" MESOZOIC 

J CAMBRIAN J-PALEOZOIC

A 

5022

Description of map units

Alluvial and lacustrine deposits (Holocene to Miocene) 

Dacitic to rhyolitic welded tuffs with some interlayered

rhyolitic and basaltic flows (Miocene) 

Interlayered rhyolitic welded tuffs and rhyolitic flows

(Miocene) Includes some rhyolitic dikes 

Sedimentary rocks (pre-Tertiary) Includes Cambrian to

Triassic limestone and dolomite with minor amounts of

shale, sandstone, and siltstone

 Contact

 --- Fault Dotted where concealed

 --- Thrust fault Dotted where concealed; sawteeth 

on upper plate

 Paved road

 Graded gravel road

 Unimproved road or jeep trail 

Elevation In feet 

Oil test well

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, Nevada C5
Area Description

The Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area 

covers approximately 97,180 acres of the Meadow Valley 

Mountains north of Las Vegas in southern Nevada (fig. 1). The 

terrain is moderate to rugged with steep bedrock scarps on the 

the west side and sharply incised gentle to moderate alluviated 

slopes on the east side. The highest point is an unnamed ridge 

near the center of the study area that stands 5,772 ft above sea 

level, some 2,800 ft above the adjacent floor of Kane Springs 

Valley (fig. 2). The climate is arid and the vegetation sparse. 

Creosote bush, blackbrush, sagebrush, rabbit brush, several 

species of yucca, including Joshua tree and Mojave yucca, 

agave, nolina, and cholla, barrel and prickly pear cacti are 

common on the lower slopes; juniper and pinon are present but 

rare even in the higher parts of the study area. Following an 

occasional unusually wet winter the lower alluviated slopes are 

covered with many varieties of wild flowers and grasses. 

Bighorn sheep, Gila monsters, and other mammals and reptiles 

live in the area, and golden eagles, prairie falcons, and other 

raptors pass through or nest in the area. Endangered and 

protected species of plant and animal life that may exist in the 

area are described in reports by Mozingo and Williams (1980) 

and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (1984a, b).

Access to the west side of the study area is by a few old 

jeep trails that lead eastward from Kane Springs Wash road, a 

graded gravel road that connects U.S. Highway 93 with 

Nevada Highway 317 at Elgin, and from old U.S. Highway 93 

(fig. 2). The east side of the study area can be reached by 

arduous four-wheel-drive traverses up a few dry washes that 

drain into Meadow Valley Wash and intersect the Union 

Pacific railroad right-of-way. Travel within the study area is 

mainly by foot.

Previous and Present Investigations

The pre-Tertiary sedimentary rocks of the Meadow 

Valley Mountains were mapped in reconnaissance in the late 

1950's as part of a geologic study of Lincoln (Tschanz and 

Pampeyan, 1970) and Clark (Longwell and others, 1965) 

Counties, Nevada, and include studies that described the 

geology and mineral deposits of the study area. Detailed 

geologic mapping of small areas in the Meadow Valley 

Mountains was done by Duley (1957), as part of a stratigraphic 

study of Mississippian rocks, and by Heston (1982; written 

commun., 1982), who studied the distribution of trace 

elements in the Chainman Shale near Grapevine Spring. The 

Tertiary volcanic rocks were examined by Cook (1965; unpub. 

data, 1968), who measured stratigraphic sections in the 

Meadow Valley Mountains, and by Ekren and others (1977), 

as part of a regional study that refined the Tertiary stratigraphy 

of Lincoln County. Studies of the Kane Springs Wash volcanic 

center in the adjacent southern Delamar Mountains were made 

by Noble (1968) and Novak( 1984; 1985). The studies by Cook

and Novak provided stratigraphic information useful in the 

volcanic terrane of the Meadow Valley Mountains. Gypsum 

resources of the region were described by Jones and Stone 

(1920) and perlite deposits in and near the Meadow Valley 

Mountains were evaluated by K.L. Cochran (written 

commun., J951). The oil and gas potential of the region 

including the study area was evaluated by Sandberg (1983).

The U.S. Geological Survey carried out field 

investigations in the study area from 1983-1986. The work 

included geochemical sampling of rocks and stream 

sediments, compilation and analysis of land-based gravity and 

airborne magnetometer and gamma-ray surveys, and new 

geologic mapping.

The U.S. Bureau of Mines conducted a library search 

for information on mines and prospects in and adjacent to the 

study area. Information was obtained from U.S. Bureau of 

Land Management mining claim recordation indices, Lincoln 

and Clark County courthouse records, and the U.S. Bureau of 

Mines Mineral Industry Location System. Field studies by U.S 

Bureau of Mines personnel were conducted during 1984 and 

1985 to examine and sample prospects in and near the study 

area. Rock samples were checked for radioactivity and 

fluorescence and were analyzed for a variety of elements by 

fire-assay, inductively coupled plasma, chemical, and 

semiquantitative spectrographic methods. Perlite samples 

were sent to the New Mexico Bureau of Mines and Mineral 

Resources for preliminary laboratory-scale evaluation. 

Zeolite samples were evaluated at the U.S. Bureau of Mines 

Reno Research Center by X-ray diffraction and chemical 

methods. Detailed sample analysis methods and results are 

given in Campbell (1987). Complete results of sample 

analyses are available from the U.S. Bureau of Mines, Western 

Field Operations Center, E. 360 Third Avenue, Spokane, WA 

99202.

Acknowledgm ents

The authors gratefully acknowledge James Bradshaw 

of Caliente, Nevada, for providing information concerning the 

Bradshaw vanadium prospect, and Paul Henrie and Donald 

Bradshaw, Caliente, and Henry Rice, Logandale, and other 

local residents who supplied information on the history of and 

access to the study area. Richard Gundry of the Caliente 

district office of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management is 

thanked for advice on access to the study area and for making 

records available. J.C. Schulters, D.A. Plume, and J.C. 

Monroe of the U.S. Geological Survey assisted with the 

geological mapping, and Terry Neumann, Richard Rains, and 

Clay ton Rumsey of the U.S. Bureau of Mines assisted in the 

study and sampling of prospects. Randy Wilson of the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service, 

Caliente district office, provided information on soil surveys of 

the Meadow Valley Mountains and surrounding region, and 

S.D. Ludington of the U.S. Geological Survey was consulted

C6 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Southeastern Nevada
for information on rhyolite-hosted tin deposits. The oil and gas 

potential of the region was discussed with A.K. Chamberlain, 

consulting petroleum geologist, who has conducted detailed 

stratigraphic studies of Mississippian rocks in Nevada and 

Utah.

APPRAISAL OF IDENTIFIED RESOURCES

SyH.W. Campbell 

U.S. Bureau of Mines

Mineral Exploration History

There are no mining districts, mines, or active claims in 

the study area; the nearest active mine in 1986 was in the 

Pennsylvania district, about 11 mi north of the study area. No 

mining claims were held in the study area in 1985; the study 

area, however, was leased for oil and gas exploration. One 

quarry and seven prospects were visited during this study (fig. 

2, table 1). Two of the prospects are within the study area. One, 

the Johnston and Fitchett prospect, was located on perlite 

deposits in the northern part of the study area, and the other, the 

D and D prospect, was located on an occurrence of silicified 

limestone in the southern part of the study area. A third 

prospect, the Fry and Jeffers claim, is on the south boundary of 

the study area on an insignificant uranium anomaly in black 

limestone. Two other prospects, the Bradshaw vanadium and 

the Sunshine, are partly inside the study area. Perlite is the only 

identified resource within the study area.

Although the Meadow Valley Mountains were 

prospected many years earlier, the first claims were recorded 

in December 1945 when Samuel Johnston and O.E. Fitchett of 

Carp, Nev., began locating placer claims on perlite deposits 

inside the northernmost part of the study area (fig. 2, No. 2). 

Only limited discovery work was done on this group of claims, 

and the prospect was unclaimed at the time of this study. 

Gypsum deposits in the southeastern part of Lincoln County 

have been known to exist for many years (Jones and Stone, 

1920). These deposits were extensively prospected in the mid1950's (Tschanz and Pampeyan, 1970, p. 124). The Robb 

prospect (fig. 2, No. 6) is on the gypsum deposit described by 

Jones and Stone (1920, p. 158) as being the most promising in 

the area. No gypsum has been mined from this or other deposits 

adjacent to the study area. Claims were located in 1962 on 

outcrops of variegated siltstone of the Mississippian 

Chainman Shale (fig. 2, No. 5), about 1.5 mi south of 

Grapevine Spring. A small amount of ornamental stone 

(Nevada Wonder Rock) was mined at this site, but the deposit 

has not been worked for many years.

In December 1972 Texaco, Inc., completed a well, the 

Texaco Federal No. 1 (fig. 2) (Garside and others, 1977, p. 10). 

The well was spudded on the axis of an anticline in 

Pennsylvanian and Permian strata of the Bird Spring 

Formation and bottomed in Lower Mississippian limestone at

a total depth of 7,030 ft. No oil or gas shows were reported, and 

the well subsequently was plugged and abandoned. Since that 

time all of the study area has been leased for oil and gas 

exploration, but no other wells have been drilled.

James Bradshaw discovered a metalliferous black 

shale lens in the Mississippian Chainman Shale near 

Grapevine Spring and located 14 claims along the 3-mi length 

of the outcrop in 1978 (fig. 2, No. 4). In 1979, Newmont 

Mining Co., Noranda Explorations, Inc., and Cominco 

American, Inc., examined the prospect. The prospect was 

deemed smaller than expected, and an option to purchase the 

property was cancelled. The prospect was relocated by Hecla 

Mining Company in 1985, adjacent to but outside the study 

area.

Mineral Deposits

Two main types of mineral deposits were examined by 

the U. S. Bureau of Mines in and adjacent to the study area: (1) 

nonmetallic mineral materials in volcanic rocks, and (2) 

sedimentary deposits of metallic and nonmetallic minerals. 

The volcanic materials include deposits of perlite and 

occurrences of zeolite minerals, obsidian nodules 

(marekanites or "Apache tears"), banded agate, and opaline 

rock. The sedimentary deposits include metalliferous black 

shale, beds of gypsum, and oxidized sandstone.

Perlite deposits in the study area were examined by 

K.L. Cochran (written commun., 1951) who estimated 2.68 

million tons of indicated marginal and 1 million tons of 

inferred marginal perlite reserves at the Johnston and Fitchett 

prospect but reported that at no place was there sufficient 

concentration to allow mining of more than a few thousand 

tons from one operation. U.S. Bureau of Mines field 

observations indicate perlite tonnages in the study area are 

actually higher than this estimate. For example, more than 3 

million tons of marginal reserves (see appendix; U.S. Bureau 

of Mines and U.S. Geological Survey, 1980, p. 2,5, fig. 1) of 

perlite are estimated to exist at a sample site on the Johnston 

and Fitchett prospect, 1.5 mi southwest of Avertt Reservoir 

(fig. 2); this site has 52 acres of perlite about 20 ft thick with 

little or no overburden. In addition, large tonnages are present 

at several other nearby sites.

Zones of zeolitized rhyolite lava and tuff interlayered 

with the perlite crop out extensively in the study area. Tests 

indicate that clinoptilolite is the dominant zeolite mineral but 

that mordenite also is present in the altered rock.

A lens of metalliferous black shale, a facies of the 

Mississippian Chainman Shale, is present at the Bradshaw 

vanadium prospect (fig. 2, No. 4) west of the study area. The 

black shale has an average thickness of about 12 ft, extends 

downdip eastward at least 50 ft and is exposed discontinuously 

in a northeast-southwest direction over a distance of about 3 mi 

(Heston, 1982, p. 54). There are 800,000 tons of black shale on 

the Bradshaw prospect containing inferred subeconomic

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, Nevada C7
Table 1. Quarry, prospect, and claim descriptions in and adjacent to the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area 

[*, outside the study area; **, prospect straddles study area boundary]

Map No. 

(fig. 2)

Name Summary Workings Sample and resource data

Sunshine A rhyolite dike striking N. 5* E., 

prospect with a vertical dip, is about 8 ft

thick. Yellow devitrified volcanic 

glass about 0.5 ft wide is along 

margin of dike.

Johnston and Perlite occurs as flows, and as irFitchett regular bodies in flows that cover 

prospect several square miles and are associated with thick accumulations of 

Tertiary volcanic rocks. Zeolite 

minerals in alteration zones associated with perlite deposits. Apache 

tears and banded agate abundant 

near weathered perlile outcrops.

3* Unnamed Thin veinlets of manganese minerals 

prospect in altered Leach Canyon Formation 

(welded tuff). Veinlets sparse 

and less than 0.25 in. wide.

4** Bradshaw A black phosphatic shale zone in

prospect Mississippian Chainman Shale contains 

anomalous concentrations of several 

metals. Shale unit strikes about 

N. 10° E. and dips 25° SE. and is 

composed of black shale and phosphorite 

intercalated with limestone beds. 

Metalliferous zone averages about 

12 ft thick over a 3-mi strike length.

Bulldozer cut about 20 ft by 

30 ft by 6 ft deep.

None

One prospect pit

Six prospect pits

5* Wonder Rock 

quarry

6* Robb

prospect

7 D and D 

prospect

A siltstone of Mississippian Chainman 

Shale has yellow, orange, red, and 

purple Liesegang banding. Small 

amounts of ornamental stone were 

quarried.

Gypsum in a Permian red-bed unit. 

The deposit is about 3,600 ft long 

and 1,000 ft wide (Jones and Stone, 

1920). Gypsum beds dip about 60" 

NW. and range in thickness from a 

few inches to 20 ft.

Silicified and iron-stained limestone None 

of Devonian Guilmette Formation in 

contact zone beneath partially eroded, 

thick, canyon-filling rhyolite 

ignimbrite of Kane Wash Tuff. Quartz 

veinlets in silicified limestone. 

Margin of rhyolite contains crystals 

of labradorite feldspar as much as 

0.5 in. long.

A quarry 100 ft by 20 ft and two 

prospect pits about 0.5 mi SSE 

of the quarry.

None

8** Fry and Slight radioactivity associated with 

Jeffers black Paleozoic limestone. No veins 

claim or other conspicuous geologic structures are associated with occurrence 

(U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1954).

None

A chip sample across margin of rhyolite 

dike contained no gold or silver.

Twenty-one perlite and 13 zeolite samples 

taken. It is inferred that more than 

3 million tons of perlite resources are 

inside study area. Results of extensive 

testing of 5 perlite samples suggests that 

these deposits have properties falling 

within range of commercial deposits. 

Zeolite mineral clinoptilolite was detected 

in 12 samples, and 1 sample had mordenite. 

Agate, Apache tears opaline rock may be of 

interest to mineral collectors.

Not sampled. Significant as an occurrence 

but not as a resource.

Five samples were taken. An estimated 

800,000 tons of subeconomic resources are 

outside the study area. Average grade of 

resources is 0.62 oz/ton silver, 0.27 

percent vanadium, 4.8 percent PQ, 0.01 

percent molybdenum, 0.19 percent zinc, and 

0.04 percent nickel (Heston, 1982a). A sixth 

(grab) sample also contained 300 ppm cadmium, 

1,200 ppm chromium, and 130 ppm copper.

Color-banded siltstone of Chainman Shale was 

not seen inside study area.

A 3-ft chip sample across a gypsum bed 

contained 92.6 percent total CaSO^HjO; 

0.12 percent free HjO, 19.1 percent combined Hp, 90.7 percent CaSO^ 

and 1.9 percent CaSO;l/2HiO.

Two samples taken. A 6-ft chip sample 

across rhyolite margin and grab sample 

of silicified limestone contained 0.01 and 

0.02 oz/ton silver, respectively. No gold 

detected. Feldspar crystals may be of 

interest to mineral collectors.

Chemical analyses of two soil samples from top 

and base of range front had 0.009 percent and 

0.011 percent UjO,, respectively. Highest 

scale reading was 100 counts per second 

(background was 60 counts per second) on a 

Halrass scintillometer (U.S. Atomic Energy 

Commission, 1954).

C8 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Southeastern Nevada
resources of cadmium, chromium, copper, molybdenum, 

nickel, phosphorous, silver, vanadium, and zinc. Complex 

faulting and folding makes prediction of the lateral extent of 

the metalliferous zone in the Chainman Shale difficult without 

subsurface data, as plastic deformation of the incompetent 

shale beds may have thickened, thinned, or caused lateral 

discontinuities, but the 25° SE.-dip of surrounding strata and 

the proximity to the study area boundary suggest that the zone 

may extend into the study area beneath Tertiary rocks. An 

aerial reconnaissance by helicopter and two ground traverses 

across the formation within the study area failed to identify any 

metalliferous black shale in poorly exposed and weathered 

shale units.

Slight radioactivity associated with black Paleozoic 

limestone near the south boundary of the study area (fig. 2, No. 

8) was reported. (U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1954; 

Garside, 1973) at the Fry and Jeffers claim but was not 

considered to be significant

Gypsum occurs in Permian red beds at the Robb 

prospect (fig. 2, No. 6) east of the study area. No evidence of 

gypsum resources extending into the study area was found. 

Ornamental stone (Nevada Wonder Rock), which was 

quarried west of the study area (fig. 2, No. 5), does not extend 

into the study area.

Sand and gravel, and other industrial minerals such as 

possibly high-calcium limestone and silica as quartzite, are 

abundant in the study area, but these occurrences are not 

unique and other suitable deposits are closer to prospective 

markets. They are therefore not classified as identified 

resources. An occurrence of scattered crystals of labradorite 

feldspar of possible interest to mineral collectors is at the D and 

D prospect (fig. 2, No. 7); banded agate, opaline rock, and 

Apache tears, also of interest to collectors, are present at the 

Johnston and Fitchett prospect (fig. 2, No. 2).

Appraisal of Mineral Resources

Perlite is abundant within the study area at and near the 

Johnston and Fitchett prospect. At least 3 million tons of 

indicated and inferred marginal reserves of perlite, with little 

or no overburden, are identified. Expansion tests in a 

laboratory-scale furnace suggest that this perlite compares 

favorably with commercial perlite ores and is suitable for 

several commercial applications. Perlite is used in a variety of 

densities in a variety of products; therefore, less-thanmaximum values of expanded density can be profitable 

provided a market exists or can be developed (Barker and 

Hingten, 1985, p. 1).

A preliminary feasibility estimate suggests that perlite 

could be mined, processed, and transported to the railroad at 

Carp for roughly $20/ton (Campbell, 1987). The estimated 

average value of perlite at the mine in 1985 was $34/ton 

(Meisinger, 1986, p. 114). Although this estimate suggests 

perlite could be mined profitably from the study area, it is

unlikely that these perlite deposits will be mined in the 

forseeable future because higher quality deposits of large size 

are already developed. For example, the Mackie mine, 30 mi 

northwest of the study area, has about 1 million tons of perlite 

reserves and supplies the regional demand for perlite 

(Neumann, 1986, p. 13,16).

Rock samples taken from the Johnston and Fitchett 

prospect inside the study area contained the zeolite minerals 

clinoptilolite and mordenite in alteration zones adjacent to the 

perlite deposits over several square miles. Because the zeolite 

occurrences are closely associated with perlite, these two 

commodities might be developed jointly. However, 

development of zeolite deposits in the study area is unlikely 

because many high-quality zeolite deposits are located closer 

to prospective markets.

The metalliferous black shale of the Bradshaw prospect 

contains relatively high concentrations of cadmium, 

chromium, copper, molybdenum, nickel, phosphorous, silver, 

vanadium, and zinc. About 800,000 tons of black shale 

containing inferred subeconomic resources of these metals 

occurs in the outcrop area. Resource estimates are based on 

data collected by Cominco American, Inc., which include 

geologic mapping, drill hole data, and results of sample 

analyses. A tonnage factor of 12 cubic feet per ton was used. 

This deposit has many characteristics that are similar to large 

syngenetic metal-rich black shale deposits elsewhere in the 

western United States (Desborough and Poole, 1983, p. 99- 

109; Ketner, 1982). Although considerable exploratory work 

was done at the prospect, the character and extent of the deposit 

still are uncertain.

Recovery of vanadium from black shales is 

technologically feasible (Brooks and Potter, 1974; Hyashi and 

others, 1985); however, to date the process is not economic 

(Kuck, 1985, p. 902). These black shales are fine grained, and 

metals in the shale are ionically bound to other elements 

making physical separation and extraction difficult (see 

Desborough and Poole, 1983, p. 100). Production of vanadium 

from black shales may become economic when combined with 

the recovery of other valuable metals (Kuck, 1985, p. 902).

ASSESSMENT OF MINERAL RESOURCE POTENTIAL

By E.H. Pampeyan and H.R. Blank, Jr. 

U.S. Geological Survey

Geology

The Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area is 

underlain by a sequence of folded and faulted sedimentary 

rocks of Cambrian through Triassic age. These rocks are 

overlain by an unconformable sequence of interlayered 

volcanic tuffs and flows of Miocene age, much of which 

originated just west of the study area in the Kane Springs Wash 

volcanic center (Noble, 1968; Novak, 1984; 1985).

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, Nevada C9
The stratigraphy and structure of the study area are 

summarized by Tschanz and Pampeyan (1970) and Ekren and 

others (1977). A composite stratigraphic section of preTertiary marine sedimentary rocks about 20,000 ft thick is 

present near the study area. No single location displays the full 

composite section because of faulting, folding, and erosion. 

The Cambrian through Permian part of the section is about 80 

percent limestone and dolomite and about 20 percent clastic 

rocks, including shale, siltstone, and sandstone. The clastic 

rocks are most common in the Cambrian, Mississippian, and 

Permian parts of the section. About half of the Triassic rocks 

consist of sandy limestone; the other half consists of sandstone, 

siltstone, shale, and traces of siliceous conglomerate. Much of 

the Permian clastic rocks are red-bed deposits, some of which 

contain bedded deposits of gypsum. Locally the Mississippian 

rocks contain phosphatic shale beds that have been prospected 

for vanadium. The uppermost Devonian rocks in the southern 

one-third of the study area consist of white to light-gray 

limestone, the same unit that is mined 35 mi south at Arrowlime for high-calcium (98.05 percent calcium carbonate) 

limestone (Longwell and others, 1965, p. 156-157).

The pre-Tertiary strata of the study area are overlain by 

a sequence of volcanic rocks that consists mainly of welded 

ash-flow tuffs, but some rhyolitic and basaltic flows also are 

present locally. In addition, a few rhyolite dikes cut the tuffs 

and flows. The volcanic sequence can be divided into upper 

and lower parts, but this subdivision cannot be shown at the 

scale of figure 2. The lower part of the volcanic sequence 

consists of four dacitic to rhyolitic welded tuff formations and 

a basaltic flow breccia, part or all of which erupted from the 

Caliente cauldron north of the study area (Noble and McKee, 

1972; Ekren and others, 1977). The upper part of the volcanic 

sequence consists largely of peralkaline rhyolitic welded tuffs 

and flows (Ekren and others, 1977; Novak, 1984; 1985), most 

of which erupted from the Kane Springs Wash volcanic center 

whose eastern margin impinges on the Meadow Valley Mountains (fig. 2). The rhyolitic flows are locally perlite-rich and 

some of the interlayered tuffs have been zeolitized. Deposits 

of lacustrine limestone and conglomerate are included with the 

volcanic rocks on figure 2. They rest unconformably on folded 

and faulted Paleozoic and Mesozoic strata and conformably 

underlie the volcanic sequence. The volcanic sequence, including the lacustrine limestone and conglomerate, is about 

2,400 ft thick along the west edge of the study area near 

Grapevine Spring and thins to about 2,000 ft west of Vigo (E.F. 

Cook, unpub. data, 1955). The volcanic sequence is of Miocene age, the lower part 24 to 17 Ma and the upper part 15 to 

11 Ma. Patches of welded tuff mostly assignable to the upper 

part of the volcanic sequence are present throughout the 

southern part of the study area, indicating that the volcanic 

rocks formerly extended over the entire area.

Carbonate-rich dikes that cut the younger welded tuffs 

1.9 mi south of Grapevine Spring were described by Tieh and 

Cook (1971) who concluded that the carbonate in the dikes 

originated through the melting of limestone by a rhyolitic

magma. Similar carbonate-rich rock is present in rhyolitic 

crystal tuffs 3.5 mi northeast of Grapevine Spring where the 

calcite appears to have replaced the groundmass leaving the 

crystals suspended in a calcite matrix. This "calcification" 

appears to have selectively affected certain layers of tuff, for 

the lateral extent of the bodies is significantly greater than the 

vertical extent. One mile northeast of Grapevine Spring a 

carbonate-rich rhyolite dike cuts an older welded tuff unit; this 

dike contains flow-banded rhyolite breccia cemented by colorbanded coarse carbonate minerals. Neither the carbonate-rich 

dikes, calcified tuff, nor rhyolite dike showed signs of metallic 

mineralization. In the northernmost part of the study area a 

number of rhyolite dikes cut the volcanic rocks, several of 

which are aligned and form a discontinuous north-trending 

swarm 2.5 mi long.

At the south end of the study area a thick section of 

Miocene and Pliocene(?) lacustrine and alluvial deposits 

overlap and locally interfmger with the upper units of the 

volcanic sequence. Quaternary deposits of the study area 

consist of older and younger groups of unconsolidated to 

weakly consolidated sediments. The older sediments are 

mainly coarse, poorly sorted alluvial fan deposits and include 

a small percentage of stream and basin deposits. These 

deposits commonly are weakly cemented and sharply incised. 

In places on the east side of the study area some gravel layers 

are well cemented with caliche and form caps on vertical gravel 

cliffs and benches in drainage channels. The younger sediments consist of uncemented stream-channel, basin, and fan 

deposits and colluvium and talus that still are in the process of 

transport and accumulation.

The structural history of the study area includes two 

main episodes of deformation: (1) major faulting and folding 

in response to regional compressional forces, followed by 

erosion and volcanism, and (2) high-angle normal and lowangle extensional faulting, along with minor folding, that 

produced the present form of the Meadow Valley Mountains. 

Most of the western edge of the range is a northeast-trending 

fault zone that parallels a regional set of left-lateral strike-slip 

faults to the north, the Pahranagat shear system (Tschanz and 

Pampeyan, 1970, p. 84), but the southwest boundary is along 

more north-trending faults. In general, the range is an eastdipping block with the dips steepening eastward and reversing 

to form a major syncline and anticline in the Bunker Hills (fig. 

2). The sedimentary strata locally are tightly folded and 

overturned, commonly near thrust faults. Numerous highangle faults cut the sedimentary rocks, and near the center of 

the study area parts of the sedimentary section are absent, 

having been cut out along three thrust faults. Comparison of 

the stratigraphic section of the Meadow Valley Mountains 

with those of the nearby Delamar, Sheep, Arrow Canyon, and 

Mormon Ranges (fig. 1) suggests that the Meadow Valley 

Mountains may be part of an eastward-displaced thrust plate. 

The volcanic rocks overlying the sedimentary rocks have been 

cut by high-angle normal faults and deformed into broad minor 

folds.

C10 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Southeastern Nevada
Geochemical Studies

In June of 1983 the U.S. Geological Survey collected 

samples from sites in and adjacent to the study area. Nineteen 

rock samples were collected from bedrock outcrops. Streamsediment samples were collected from 329 sites, and heavymineral concentrate samples were produced from a separate 

alluvial sample collected at 302 of these sites by hand panning 

followed by heavy-liquid immersion and electromagnetic 

separation (Hoffman and Day, 1984). Of the 329 sample sites, 

181 were inside the study area. Analytical data and a 

description of the sampling and analytical techniques used are 

given in Hoffman and Day (1984).

The rock samples, stream-sediment samples, and nonmagnetic heavy-mineral concentrates were analyzed for 31 

elements using a semiquantitative direct-current arc emission 

spectrographic method (Grimes and Marranzino, 1968). 

Spectrographic results were obtained by a visual comparison 

of spectra derived from the sample against spectra obtained 

from standards made from pure oxides and carbonates. 

Becauseof contamination during analysis, bismuth and copper 

were deleted from both stream-sediment and rock-data sets 

(Hoffman and Day, 1984, p. 5).

Trace elements present in nonmagnetic heavy-mineral 

concentrates in the volcanic terraneat the north end of the study 

area include beryllium (20-50 parts per million, ppm, at 19 

sites), thorium (1,000-2,000 ppm at 18 sites), tin (more than or 

equal to 2,000 ppm at 17 sites), and yttrium (2,000 to more than 

5,000 ppm at 16 sites) most likely are related to the Miocene 

volcanism. Beryllium, thorium, tin, and yttrium commonly are 

enriched in peralkalinerhyolitic rocks (Macdonald and Bailey, 

1973) and may also occur in the form of accessory minerals 

such as thorite, uranothorite, and yttrialite (Hoffman and Day, 

1984, p. 8). The minerals thorite, zircon, and topaz were 

identified at some of the sample sites but were not found in 

place. The high values of tin in heavy-mineral concentrates 

(more than or equal to 2,000 ppm) and in stream-sediment 

samples (less than 10 to 20 ppm at 9 sites) and presence of topaz 

and rhyolite dikes in the northernmost part of the volcanic 

terrane strongly suggest a correlation with the rhyolite-hosted 

tin model described by Reed and others (1986) where 

cassiterite occurs as disseminations and veins in tuffs and 

flows. No cassiterite was seen in any rock or stream samples, 

and 16 additional samples of rhyolite dike rock from the area 

of high tin anomalies all contained less than 10 ppm tin, 15 ppm 

beryllium, 150 ppm thorium, and 200 ppm yttrium. High 

values of thorium and beryllium may also occur in association 

with uranium mineralization in silicic volcanic rocks, but 

interpretation of data from an aerial gamma-ray survey of this 

region indicated no significant equivalent uranium or 

equivalent thorium anomalies in the study area.

Anomalous values of antimony (200 ppm at 2 sites), 

lead (1,500 ppm at 1 site), molybdenum (50-100 ppm at 3 

sites), detectable amounts of tungsten (less than 100 ppm at 8 

sites), and zinc (700-1,000 ppm at 15 sites) may indicate a

carbonate-hosted silver-copper-lead-zinc replacement deposit 

or a tungsten skarn (Morris, 1986; Cox, 1986a).

Manganese oxides occur as thin coatings and fracturefilling veins as much as 0.5 in. wide in the volcanic terrane. 

One such exposure is found in a shallow prospect pit outside 

the west boundary 1.4 mi northeast of Grapevine Spring (fig. 

2, No. 3), but no prospects for manganese were seen in the 

study area. Manganese is present in all of the geochemical 

samples but not in anomalous concentrations higher than 

values for volcanic and sedimentary rocks of this region. 

Barium and chromium are present in samples in and near the 

volcanic terrane but are not considered to be significant.

Near Grapevine Spring, west of the study area, six rock 

samples from the black phosphatic shale lens at the Bradshaw 

vanadium prospect had an average grade of 0.62 oz/ton 

(ounces per ton) silver, 0.27 percent vanadium, 4.8 percent 

P2O5 (phosphorous pentoxide), 0.01 percent molybdenum, 

0.19 percent zinc, and 0.04 percent nickel (Heston, 1982, p. 

88). Emission spectroscopic analysis of an additional grab 

sample of phosphorite and black shale from near Grapevine 

Spring contained 300 ppm cadmium, 1,200 ppm chromium, 

130 ppm copper, 560 ppm nickel, 0.45 percent phosphorous, 

and 1,000 ppm vanadium; in this sample molybdenum, silver, 

and zinc were not determined because of interference. These 

elements commonly are present in chemically precipitated 

phosphorite and phosphatic shale deposits in Mississippian 

formations of northeast Nevada and northwest Utah 

correlative with the Chainman Shale (Ketner, 1982). The 

black phosphatic shale is a fades of the Mississippian 

Chainman Shale, a formation that extends to and beyond the 

south edge of the study area. The black shale lithology, 

however, only crops out for 1.5 mi north and south of 

Grapevine Spring and was not seen in the study area. 

Anomalous amounts of the elements listed above were not 

detected in samples in or near other outcrops of Chainman 

Shale.

Anomalous values of arsenic (700-1,500 ppm at 10 

sites) are aligned along the northeast-trending range-front 

faults in the southern part of the study area. Associated low 

values of antimony (200 ppm at 2 sites), cobalt (70-150 ppm at 

9 sites), copper (70-100 ppm at 11 sites), molybdenum (30-50 

ppm at 12 sites), lead (300-500 ppm at4 sites), nickel (100-200 

ppm at 10 sites), and zinc (less than 500 to 7,000 ppm at 5 sites) 

may represent leakage from gold-silver-lead-zinc vein 

deposits (Cox, 1986b) or carbonate-hosted lead-zinc 

replacement deposits (Briskey, 1986). The most favorable 

sedimentary host rocks for gold-silver and lead-zinc deposits 

in this region are presumed to underlie the area of this anomaly.

Anomalous values of cobalt (70-200 ppm at 10 sites), 

copper (70-300 at 19 sites), lead (300-1,000 ppm at 5 sites), 

molybdenum (50-100 ppm at 7 sites), nickel (100-200 at 15 

sites), and zinc (less than 500 to 1,000 ppm at 9 sites) are 

present along the north-trending range-front faults in the study 

area and most likely represent leakage from a carbonate-hosted 

replacement copper-lead-zinc source (Briskey, 1986) at depth.

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, Nevada C11
The D and D prospect (fig. 2, No. 7) is on the contact 

between limestone of the Guilmette Formation and Miocene 

rhyolitic welded tuff. The limestone is silicified locally and cut 

by veinlets of quartz. A 6-ft chip sample across the tuff and a 

grab sample of silicified limestone contained 0.01 and 0.02 oz/ 

ton of silver, respectively, but no gold was detected. The 

geologic relations here are similar to those in the Viola mining 

district 30 mi to the northeast where Mississippian and younger 

limestone capped by Tertiary volcanic rocks is silicified and 

cut by veins that contain argentiferous lead-zinc-copper 

deposits (Tschanz and Pampeyan, 1970, p. 161-162)

The Fry and Jeffers claim (fig. 2, No. 8) at the south end 

of the study area is on a low-level occurrence of radioactivity 

in black limestone (U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1954; 

Garside, 1973, p. 36) of the Ely Springs(?) Dolomite. This 

occurrence was not associated with any veins or other geologic 

structures. Two samples taken from soils at the top and base 

of the range front were analyzed and found to contain 0.009 

percent and 0.011 percent uranium oxide, respectively (U.S. 

Atomic Energy Commission, 1954). An aerial gamma-ray 

survey of this region detected no significant equivalent 

uranium or equivalent thorium anomalies within the study 

area.

Thirteen samples of devitrified glass from volcanic 

tuffs adjacent to perlite flows were analzyed for zeolite content 

by X-ray diffraction. Twelve of the samples contained 27 to 70 

percent clinoptilolite and one sample 50 percent mordenite, all 

in a matrix composed largely of amorphous glass with trace 

amounts of cristobalite, feldspar, quartz, and montmorillonite 

(Campbell, 1987, table 3). The zeolitized tuff crops out over 

several square miles in close proximity to the perlitic rocks.

Mississippian carbonate rocks in a region that includes 

the Mormon, Muddy, and Meadow Valley Mountains, and the 

Las Vegas and Arrow Canyon Ranges have been classified as 

having medium potential for occurrence of oil and gas (cluster 

8 of Sandberg, 1983), on the basis of Conodont Alteration 

Index (CAT) values of 2.5-3.5 and oil and gas shows in a well 

east of cluster 8. The CAI values indicate organic maturation 

close to the upper limit for oil generation but in the optimum 

range for gas generation. On the basis of regional structural, 

lithologic, and stratigraphic evidence and other interpretations 

of CAI, vitrinite reflectance, and proprietary data, however, 

the area is considered to have high potential for oil and gas 

(A.K. Chamberlain, oral commun., 1987). The favorable 

Mississippian strata were penetrated by the Texaco Federal 

No. 1 well, but no oil or gas shows were reported (Garside and 

others, 1977). The same strata are present in the study area, 

where they dip gently to steeply east, are cut by numerous 

faults, and may have good lithologic reservoir characteristics.

Geophysical Studies

Regional gravity and aeromagnetic maps of the 

Meadow Valley Mountains and vicinity provide an additional

means of investigating the general geologic framework of the 

study area (figs. 3 and 4). The gravity map (fig. 3) was 

compiled using data from 441 gravity stations, mostly from 

files of the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency and obtained 

through the National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA, Code 

E/GC, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO 80303. Observed gravity 

values at these stations were reduced to Bouguer anomaly 

values using a density of 2.67 g/cm3 (grams per cubic 

centimeter), and corrected for terrain variations to a radius of 

167 km (103.8 mi) (for example of procedures, see Cordell and 

others, 1982). The aeromagnetic map (fig. 4) was compiled 

from two regional aeromagnetic surveys: a constant-elevation 

(9,000 ft) survey north of lat 37° N., with flight traverses spaced 

1 mi apart on north-south headings (U.S. Geological Survey, 

1973) and a constant terrain-clearance (1,000 ft) survey south 

of lat 37° N., with flight traverses also spaced 1 mi apart but on 

east-west headings (U.S. Geological Survey, 1983). The 

International Geomagnetic Reference Field was subtracted 

from each of the two data sets, which were then merged and 

projected to a new datum of 12,500 ft above sea level.

The gravity map is dominated by a strong north-south 

gradient marking a drastic decrease of Bouguer anomaly levels 

north of about lat 37°05' N. This gradient coincides with a 

sharp northerly increase in the average regional elevation and 

is suppressed, though not eliminated, by use of isostatic rather 

than Bouguer anomalies. It was analyzed by Eaton and others 

(1978), who concluded that it mainly reflects a density contrast 

resulting from emplacement of large volumes of silicic 

intrusive material in late Mesozoic to Tertiary time beneath 

what is now the Great Basin province. The intrusive material, 

if near granitic in composition, should be much less dense than 

the Precambrian crystalline basement. Basement rocks are 

exposed in the Mormon Mountains and probably occur at 

depths of only a few miles on structural swells south and west 

of the mountains but at much greater depths north of the 

gravity gradient. The gradient also marks the southern limit of 

thick accumulations of Tertiary volcanic rocks. Tertiary rocks 

shown on figure 3 south of the gradient consist mainly of small 

outliers of welded tuff overlying carbonate rocks and of 

volcaniclastic and lacustrine rocks. Gravity lows that appear 

as perturbations of the regional gradient in Kane Springs Wash 

and upper Meadow Valley Wash reflect thick deposits of 

Cenozoic alluvium. Other lows are associated with Tertiary 

and Quaternary alluvial deposits in Delamar Valley, Coyote 

Spring Valley, Meadow Valley Wash, and Mormon Mesa.

The only detectable magnetic-field disturbances at the 

altitude chosen for the aeromagnetic map of figure 4 arise from 

magnetic sources of considerable thickness; contributions 

from thin sources such as sheets of lava quickly decrease in 

amplitude with increasing distance upward to the level of 

observation. A circular positive anomaly of about 250 

nanoteslas (nT) amplitude centered over the western part of the 

Mormon Mountains represents the combined effects of a 

domoform uplift of the strongly magnetic crystalline basement 

and a possible granitic intrusion of Tertiary age (Shawe and

C12 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Southeastern Nevada
others, 1988). Anomalies over the Delamar and Clover 

Mountains are probably due exclusively to Tertiary volcanic 

rocks and related intrusive bodies that are inferred to floor the 

eruptive centers. The broad, east-west-elongated positive 

anomaly centered over the southern part of the Delamar 

Mountains coincides in part with syenitic intrusives mapped in 

the Kane Springs Wash volcanic center (Noble, 1968; Novak, 

1984), but the anomaly source apparently extends to the east 

beyond Kane Springs Wash into the northern part of the 

Meadow Valley Mountains. Geologic mapping to date has 

revealed only minor hydrothermal alteration and geochemical 

anomalies that might be attributed to a shallow heat source in 

the northern part of the Meadow Valley Mountains. Curvature 

of contours at the extreme east end of the anomaly suggests 

either left-lateral offset of the source body for several miles 

along faults of the Pahranagat shear system in Kane Springs 

Wash or structural control of the source by an arcuate fracture. 

In addition to the aeromagnetic and gravity data 

discussed above, limited aerial gamma-ray spectrometer data 

(3-mi spacing) were obtained for the region in conjunction 

with the National Uranium Resource Evaluation program 

(Western Geophysical Company of America, 1979; Geodata 

International, Inc., 1980). Examination of these data by J.S. 

Duval of the U.S. Geological Survey (written commun., 1985) 

shows that rocks of the southern part of the Meadow Valley 

Mountains have generally low radioactivity (0-1.5 percent 

potassium (K), 0-3.0 ppm equivalent uranium (eU), and 0-11 

ppm equivalent thorium (eTh)), and rocks of the northern 

volcanic part have moderate values (1.5-2.5 percent K, 3.0-4.0 

ppm eU, and 11-16 ppm eTh). There are no significant 

gamma-ray anomalies within the study area or the immediate 

vicinity. A local occurrence of low-level radioactivity at the 

Fry and Jeffers claim (fig. 2, No. 8; table 1) in black limestone 

of the Ely Springs(?) Dolomite was not considered to be 

significant (U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1954; Garside, 

1973, p. 36).

CONCLUSIONS

Geologic information, the distribution of metallic 

elements occurring in anomalous concentrations (based on 

data from rock, stream-sediment, and nonmagnetic heavymineral concentrate samples), information on nearby mining 

districts, and compilations of ore deposit models (for example, 

Boyle, 1974; Rose and others, 1979; Ericksen, 1982; and Cox 

and Singer, 1986) were used to determine the mineral resource 

potential shown in figure 2.

Geologic and geophysical studies, geochemical 

sampling (Hoffman and Day, 1984), examination of prospects 

(Campbell, 1987), and review of ore deposits from 

surrounding districts (Tschanz and Pampeyan, 1970) indicate 

that the Meadow Valley Mountains lie at the edge of a province 

characterized by hydrothermal deposits in the form of bedded 

replacement bodies in carbonate rocks (Mississippi Valley

type) containing zinc, lead, silver, and manganese and fissure 

veins and related silicified breccias in siliceous rocks 

containing gold and silver (Tschanz and Pampeyan, 1970). 

Examples of bedded replacement deposits are found in the 

Groom mining district, 62 mi to the northwest, and the Comet 

and Pioche districts, about 60 mi to the north, where ore bodies 

occur in limestone beds of the Cambrian Pioche Shale. Veins 

and silicified bodies are present in the Delamar and 

Pennsylvania districts, about 15 mi northwest and 11 mi 

northeast, respectively, in the Lower Cambrian Prospect 

Mountain Quartzite. About 10 mi east in the Viola mining 

district, small replacement bodies and veins containing 

copper, fluorspar, lead, mercury, silver, and zinc occur in 

Mississippian and Pennsylvanian limestones directly beneath 

overlying Tertiary volcanic rocks, a geologic setting that is not 

common in this province. No active mines are in or 

immediately adjacent to the study area; the rocks that host 

gold-silver and lead-zinc deposits in nearby mining districts do 

not crop out in the study area. Although the Pioche Shale and 

underlying Prospect Mountain Quartzite are not exposed in or 

immediately adjacent to the study area they are assumed to 

underlie faulted and folded Cambrian rocks that are present 

along the west edge of the study area about 5 mi north of the 

Lincoln-Clark County line. The south half of the study area, 

which is underlain by faulted pre-Tertiary carbonate rocks and 

is locally capped by patches of Tertiary volcanic rocks and 

gravels, has a geologic setting that is favorable for carbonatehosted gold-silver and lead-zinc-copper deposits.

Deposits of perlite exist in and adjacent to the northeast 

side of the study area in the area underlain by tuffs and flows. 

These deposits, referred to as the Johnston and Fitchett 

prospect, were examined in 1947-1948 by K.L. Cochran 

(written commun., 1951). The perlite occurs as flows and as 

lenses in the flow units that crop out discontinuously at the base 

of the volcanic slopes, but in some cases it can be traced 

continuously over several square miles. The perlite flows 

range in thickness from a few feet to tens of feet. Preliminary 

laboratory tests on samples of perlite from this area show that 

the perlite is within the range of commercial deposits 

(Campbell, 1987, table 2), but these tests need to be confirmed 

by full-scale tests by the carload at a commercial expander 

along with further laboratory testing for specialized filter or 

aggregate uses. The north end of the study area has a high 

potential, certainty level D, for additional perlite resources.

Thirteen samples of devitrified glass adjacent to the 

perlite flows and volcanic tuffs were analyzed by X-ray 

diffraction and chemical methods for zeolite content and 

cation exchange capacity (Campbell, 1987, table 3). The 

sampling was of a reconnaissance nature but indicates that one 

zeolitized tuff unit that underlies the perlite flows is more than 

50 ft thick and crops out over several square miles in the 

northeastern part of the study area (Campbell, 1987, p. 20). 

The mineral resource potential for zeolites in the northern part 

of the study area is moderate with a certainty level C. Agate, 

marekanite (Apache tears), and opaline rock, materials of

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, Nevada C13
114°45 114°30'

37°15'

37°00'

36°45'

20 KILOMETERS

Figure 3. Complete Bouguer gravity anomaly map of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area and vicinity, 

Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada. Contour interval, 2 and 5 mGals; reduction density, 2.67 g/cm3; H, gravity 

high; L, gravity low. Geology generalized from Tschanz and Pampeyan (1970), Longwell and others (1965), and 

Ekren and others (1977).

C14 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Southeastern Nevada
interest to mineral collectors, are associated with the perlite 

and zeolites, and the northern part of the study area has a 

moderate resource potential, certainty level C, for those 

minerals.

At the north end of the study area, where rocks of the 

Kane Springs Wash volcanic center predominate, anomalous 

amounts of beryllium, thorium, tin, and yttrium are present in 

nonmagnetic heavy-mineral concentrates (areas Ml and M2 of 

HoffmanandDay, 1984). The beryllium, thorium, and yttrium 

are confined to the northernmost part of the study area, which 

is underlain by volcanic tuffs, flows, and dikes and possibly 

also by hypabyssal granitic intrusive rocks (see Geophysics 

section). The tin anomalies occur in two areas of volcanic rock 

(one of which overlaps the areas of high beryllium-thoriumyttrium values). Peralkaline volcanic rocks (Macdonald and 

Bailey, 1977), similar to rocks present in the north half of the 

study area, are commonly enriched in these elements. The 

presence of thorite in stream-sediment samples suggests that 

the thorium and yttrium occur in accessory minerals in the 

peralkaline volcanic rocks. Aerial gamma-ray surveys show

EXPLANATION

 -100 Bouguer gravity contour 

QTa Alluvial deposits (Quaternary and Tertiary) 

Ti Intrusive rocks (Tertiary) 

TVS Volcanic and sedimentary rocks (Tertiary) 

pTs Sedimentary rocks (pre-Tertiary) 

pGim Igneous and metamorphic rocks (Precambrian)

DX

Contact

Fault Dashed where inferred

Edge of collapse caldera Af ter Ekren and others

(1977) 

Gravity station

Correlation of map units

Ti TVS

QUATERNARY 

TERTIARY

MESOZOIC AND 

PALEOZOIC

- PRECAMBRIAN

Figure 3. Continued.

moderate values of potassium, equivalent uranium, and 

equivalent thorium in the study area, but not in sufficient 

amounts to be considered anomalous. A piece of rhyolite float 

containing topaz and hematite, and some topaz crystals, were 

found in the stream sediment within the northernmost area of 

tin anomalies; the rhyolite strongly resembled a metaluminous 

topaz-bearing rhyolite described by Novak (1984; 1985) 13 mi 

west in the Kane Spring Wash volcanic center. The positive 

magnetic anomaly centered over the volcanic center extends 

eastward into the northern part of the study area (fig. 4) and 

may reflect a continuation of an intrusive body under the 

eruptive center. No rhyolite domes or plugs were seen in the 

study area, but rhyolite flows resembling the topaz-hematitebearing rhyolite float are present, and a swarm of rhyolite dikes 

cuts the rhyolitic rocks near the northern tin anomaly. The 

northern tin anomaly and topaz-bearing rhyolite float probably 

originate from the area of the rhyolite dike swarm, as the dike 

rock has characteristics that fit the rhyolite-hosted tin model 

described by Reed and others (1986). A rhyolite dike cuts the 

lower part of the volcanic sequence at the west end of the 

southern tin anomaly and other dikes may be present elsewhere 

in the anomalous area. Trace amounts of tungsten occur in 

non-magnetic heavy-mineral samples from the same area 

where topaz was found, and according to Boyle (1974) topaz 

is a common mineral in igneous rocks containing tin, tungsten, 

molybdenum, and beryllium. It is possible that the tin anomaly 

represents a halo from a tin skarn (Reed and Cox, 1986), but, 

if so, the requisite leucogranitic and carbonate rocks lie at 

substantial depth beneath the anomaly, and, according to 

Boyle (1974, p. 35), few skarn deposits are commercial 

sources of tin. In summary, the geochemical, geological, and 

geophysical interpretations suggest that there is moderate 

potential, certainty level C, in the northernmost part of the 

study area and low potential, certainty level B, in the northcentral part of the study area for tin resources in rhyolite-hosted 

deposits.

A suite of trace elements (antimony, lead, 

molybdenum, tungsten, and zinc) is present in several samples 

from Hackberry Canyon and vicinity, about 6 mi west of Vigo 

siding (fig. 2), near where the volcanic rocks are eroded to 

expose underlying Permian carbonate rock (area M3 of 

Hoffman and Day, 1984). No mineralized rock was seen in this 

area. The antimony, lead, and zinc may represent a carbonatehosted silver-lead-zinc-copper replacement deposit (Morris, 

1986), or the molybdenum, tungsten, and zinc may represent 

a tungsten skarn deposit (Cox, 1986a). Because of the absence 

of leucogranitic rocks and low level of tungsten, the trace 

elements more likely represent leakage from carbonate-hosted 

replacement silver-lead-zinc-copper mineralization. The area 

around Hackberry Canyon has a low mineral resource 

potential, certainty level B, for silver, copper, lead, and zinc 

resources.

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, Nevada CIS
115°00' 114°45' 114°30'

37°15'

37°00' -

36°45'

20 KILOMETERS

EXPLANATION

 150 Aeromagnetic contour

;££:££;£:£": Edge of collapse caldera After Ekren and others (1977)

Figure 4. Residual and total-intensity aeromagnetic map of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area and 

vicinity, Lincoln and Clark Counties, Nevada. Contour interval, 10 and 50 nT; level of observation, 12,500 ft above 

sea level; H, magnetic high; L, magnetic low. See figure 3 for explanation of geologic units.

CI6 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Southeastern Nevada
Outside the study area at Grapevine Spring, the Upper 

Mississippian Chainman Shale contains a lens of metalliferous 

black shale that has been prospected for vanadium (Heston, 

1982; written comrnun., 1982). Geochemical samples from 

sites within the study area on or downslope from the Chainman 

Shale outcrop, however, showed no anomalous concentrations 

of vanadium, cadmium, chromium, copper, molybdenum, 

nickel, phosphorous, silver, or zinc. As noted previously, the 

metalliferous shale lens has an average thickness of 12 ft and 

eastward dip of about 25° over a discontinuous outcrop length 

of about 3 mi (Heston, 1982). It is estimated that about 800,000 

tons of inferred subeconomic resources of metalliferous black 

phosphatic shale exist along the outcrop adjacent to the study 

area, assuming a down-dip extension of 50 ft The 

metalliferous shale lens may extend down-dip into the study 

area, but disruption by faulting, folding, and facies changes 

most likely have affected its continuity, for it is not present 

within the study area where the total Chainman Shale is only 

about one-fifth as thick as at the Bradshaw prospect. The 

metalliferous shale has a high potential for resources of 

vanadium, certainty level D, adjacent to the study area but 

unknown potential, certainty level A, within the study area 

immediately east of the outcrop. The metalliferous shale lens 

crops out from 600 to more than 3,000 ft west of the study area, 

so to verify its down-dip existance and composition within the 

area will require sampling the appropriate stratigraphic 

interval at depths of 250 to more than 2,000 ft beneath the 

surface. Although vanadium was the commodity of principal 

interest, anomalous amounts of cadmium, chromium, copper, 

molybdenum, nickel, silver, and zinc are present, elements 

commonly present in phosphatic shales and phosphorites of 

northeastern Nevada and adjacent states (Ketner, 1982; 

DesboroughandPoole, 1983). These elements all are ionically 

bound, making physical separation and extraction difficult 

and, at the present time, uneconomic (Kuck, 1985). The 

pelletal phosphorite, occurring as 1- to 2-in.-thick beds in the 

black phosphatic shale outcrop at the Bradshaw prospect, is 

present in sufficient amounts to be of scientific interest but 

does not constitute an identified resource or suggest resource 

potential of phosphorous.

In the southwestern part of the study area anomalous 

values of arsenic are present along the southwest-trending 

range front in Cambrian and Ordovician carbonate rocks. 

These rocks are cut by numerous faults, but the arsenic is 

restricted to a narrow band along a zone of range-front faults. 

Scattered anomalies of antimony, cobalt, copper, 

molybdenum, lead, nickel, and zinc also are present in this 

zone, elements which commonly accompany carbonatehosted gold-silver and lead-zinc deposits. No mineralized rock 

or alteration was seen in the area. Gold occurs in epithermal 

fissure vein and silicified breccia deposits in the Cambrian 

Prospect Mountain Quartzite at Delamar, the Pennsylvania 

mine, and other major districts of the region, but the 

stratigraphic position of that formation is on the order of 2,000 

ft lower than the lowest Cambrian rocks exposed along the

range front Gold also occurs with lead and zinc in veins in the 

region but quantitatively in much smaller amounts. Silver is 

present in carbonate-hosted bedded replacement lead-zinc 

deposits of the Pioche mining district, and arsenopyrite 

(FeAsS) was present in some of those deposits (Westgate and 

Knopf, 1932, p. 47). The most favorable carbonate host for 

replacement deposits in this region, the Pioche Shale, directly 

overlies the Prospect Mountain Quartzite. The geologic and 

geochemical evidence suggests a low potential, certainty level 

B, for resources of gold, silver, lead, and zinc in the 

southwestern part of the study area.

In the southernmost part of the study area, in an area 

underlain by Ordovician to Mississippian carbonate rocks, 

copper, lead, and zinc along with cobalt, molybdenum, and 

nickel are present in anomalous amounts. The principal 

anomalous values lie close to a zone of north-trending rangefront faults and other northeast-trending faults showing 

evidence of large displacement. A likely source for these 

elements would be a carbonate-hosted irregular-replacement 

copper-lead-zinc deposit (Briskey, 1986) similar to that at the 

Bristol mining district northwest of Pioche, where veinlike or 

pipelike replacement deposits occur along fissures in the 

Cambrian Highland Peak Formation (Tschanz and Pampeyan, 

1970, p. 134). Geologic and geochemical evidence suggest 

that the potential for resources of copper, lead, and zinc is low 

with a level of certainty B, in the southernmost part of the study 

area. No mineralized or altered rock was seen in this area.

At the D and D prospect, in the southernmost part of the 

study area (fig. 2, No. 7), two samples from the contact 

between Devonian limestone and overlying Miocene welded 

tuff contain low concentrations of silver. The size of the 

exposure and the geologic setting indicate that this occurrence 

has no mineral resource potential for silver, with a certainty 

level of D. Similarly, geologic, geochemical, and geophysical 

evidence indicates that an area of low-level radioactivity at the 

Fry and Jeffers claim (fig. 2, No. 8) has no mineral resource 

potential for uranium or thorium, with a certainty level of D.

Ornamental stone under the name "Nevada Wonder 

Rock" has been quarried outside the west edge of the study 

area, about 1.5 mi southwest of Grapevine Spring (fig. 2, No. 

5), but, judging from the size of the quarry, production was 

small. Nevada Wonder Rock is a predominantly yellowish to 

very light gray, well-sorted, fine-grained siltstone in the lower 

part of the Chainman Shale (Wonderstone of Duley, 1957, p. 

85-86). Yellow, orange, red, and purple color banding and 

mottling, caused by oxidation and weathering along fractures, 

create colorful and interesting patterns in the siltstone. This 

color-banded siltstone was not seen in the Chainman Shale 

inside the study area and, therefore, has no resource potential, 

with a certainty level of D. The quarried outcrop was bulldozed 

out of existence in 1987.

Sedimentary evaporite deposits of gypsum are widely 

distributed in the Permian rocks of southeastern Lincoln 

County (Tschanz and Pampeyan, 1970, p. 124). One of the 

better deposits, though not of commercial quality, is near the

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, Nevada CI7
top of the Permian red-bed section 2.5 mi west of Vigo siding 

(fig. 2, No. 6), outside of the study area boundary near the 

southeast corner of the volcanic terrane. Jones and Stone 

(1920, p. 158) report that this deposit is about 3,600 ft long and 

1,000 ft wide with individual gypsum beds ranging in 

thickness from a few inches to 20 ft. The gypsum deposits in 

this region were extensively prospected between 1955 and 

1957, but none was brought into production. No gypsum bed 

more than several inches thick was seen, and the exposed 

gypsum-bearing beds appear to represent a small isolated 

depositional basin in the red-bed section that does not extend 

into the study area. The study area has no resource potential for 

gypsum, with a level of certainty D.

Lime, in the form of limestone and dolomite, and silica, 

in the form of quartzite, arepresentin the south half of the study 

area. Limestone makes up a considerable part of the preTertiary sedimentary sequence here, but the purity of the 

limestone is unknown. At Arrowlime in Clark County, 35 mi 

south of the study area, high-purity limestone is mined from the 

Crystal Pass Member of the Upper Devonian Sultan Limestone 

(Longwell and others, 1965, p. 156). This same white to lightgray limestone, less than 200 ft thick, which is assigned to the 

upper part of the Guilmette Formation in the area of this report, 

has an outcrop length of more than nine miles in the southern 

one-third of the study area, but its purity here is unknown. The 

southern part of the study area underlain by pre-Tertiary 

sedimentary rocks (fig. 2) has high resource potential, 

certainty level C, for high-purity limestone. Dolomite is 

present in large quantities in the study area but is too impure to 

be of commercial value. Quartzite of the Eureka Quartzite is 

clean but is only 12 to 15 ft thick along the west side of the study 

area and thins to less than 5 ft on the east side. The Eureka 

Quartzite has been quarried 12 mi south of the study area, in the 

Arrow Canyon Range of Clark County, where it is 100 ft thick. 

The extreme hardness and abrasiveness of the rock made that 

operation economically unfeasible (Longwell and others, 

1965, p. 163). Quartzite beds are present in the Devonian 

Simonson Dolomite and Guilmette Formation, Pennsylvanian 

and Permian Bird Spring Formation, and Triassic Shinarump 

Member of the Chinle Formation, but none of these beds are of 

suitable quality for a source of silica. The quartzite has no 

resource potential, certainty level D.

Sand and gravel exist in significant quantities 

throughout the the study area and consist of alluvial deposits 

(QTa on fig. 2) eroded from adjacent bedrock slopes. There is 

high potential for sand and gravel beneath known deposits, 

certainty level D, for industrial minerals, but there are other 

suitable deposits closer to prospective markets.

An exploratory well was drilled by Texaco, Inc., in 

1972 to test the petroleum potential of Mississippian rocks in 

an anticline in the Bunker Hills, about 2 mi east of the study 

area boundary and about 4 mi west of Rox (fig. 2). No oil or 

gas shows were reported (Garside and others, 1977), and the 

well was plugged and abandoned. The rocks penetrated in this 

well are present in the study area where they locally may have

good reservoir characteristics. Other regional structural, 

lithologic, and stratigraphic evidence and interpretations of 

CAI, vitrinite reflectance, and proprietary data (Sandberg, 

1983; A.K. Chamberlain, oral commun., 1987), however, 

suggest the study area has a moderate potential for resources of 

oil and gas, certainty level B.

Thermal springs are present near Moapa and at Ash 

Springs, 7 mi south and 35 mi northwest, respectively, of the 

study area (fig. 1). No thermal springs are known to exist in the 

Meadow Valley Mountains, and no evidence of recent, 

currently active geothermal activity was seen. In the northern 

one-fourth of the study area some of the volcanic rocks show 

minor hydrothermal alteration and geochemical anomalies 

that might be attributed to a shallow heat source related to the 

Kane Springs Wash volcanic center (fig. 2), but detailed 

studies will be required before such a correlation can be made. 

There is no potential for geothermal resources in the study area, 

with a certainty level of D.

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C18 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Southeastern Nevada
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Calif., Stanford University, Ph.D. dissertation, 173 p.

Reed, B.L., and Cox, D.P., 1986, Descriptive model of Sn skarn 

deposits, in Cox, D.P., and Singer, D.A., eds., Mineral deposit 

models: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1693, p. 58.

Reed, B .L., Duffield, Wendell, Luddington, S .D., Maxwell, C.H., and 

Richter, D.H., Descriptive model of rhyolite-hosted Sn, in 

Cox, D.P., and Singer, D.A., eds., Mineral deposit models: 

U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1693, p. 168.

Rose, A.W., Hawkes, H.E., and Webb, J.S., 1979, Geochemistry in 

mineral exploration, 2nd ed.: London, Academic Press, 657 p.

Sandberg, C.A, 1983, Petroleum potential of wilderness lands in 

Nevada, in Miller, B .M., ed., Petroleum potential of wilderness 

lands in the western United States: U.S. Geological Survey 

Circular 902-H, p. Hl-Hl 1.

Shawe, D.R., Blank, H.R., Jr., Wernicke, B.P., Axen, G.J., Barton, 

H.N., and Day, G.W., 1988, Mineral resources of the Mormon 

Mountains Wilderness Study Area, Lincoln County, Nevada: 

U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1729-B, 22 p.

Tieh, T.T., and Cook, E.F., 1971, Carbonate-rich dikes in ignimbrites 

of southeastern Nevada: Geological Society of America 

Bulletin, v. 82, no. 5, p. 1293,1304.

Tschanz, C.M., and Pampeyan, E.H., 1970, Geology and mineral 

deposits of Lincoln County, Nevada: NevadaBureau of Mines 

Bulletin 73, 187 p., scale 1:250,000.

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, Nevada C19
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1954, Fry and Jeffers claim: U.S.

Atomic Energy Commission Preliminary Reconnaissance

Report 3331, 1 p., in files of Mines Library, University of

Nevada-Reno. 

U.S. Bureau of Land Management, 1984a, Draft wilderness

environmental impact statement, preliminary wilderness

recommendations for Caliente Resources Area, Nevada: U.S.

Bureau of Land Management, Las Vegas District, 145 p. 

___ 1984b, Caliente wilderness environmental impact statement

technical report: U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Las Vegas

District, 53 p. 

U.S. Bureau of Mines and U.S. Geological Survey, 1980, Principles

of a resource/reserve classification for minerals: U.S.

Geological Survey Circular 831, 5 p. 

U.S Geological Survey, 1973, Aeromagnetic map of southeastern

part of Lund and eastern half of Caliente 1° by 2° quadrangles,

Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 73-298,

scale 1:250,000.

___ 1983, Aeromagnetic map of part of the Las Vegas 1° by 2° 

quadrangle, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File 

Report 83-729, scale 1:250,000.

Western Geophysical Company of America, 1979, Airborne gammaray and magnetometer survey, Las Vegas quadrangle 

(Arizona, California, Nevada), Williams quadrangle 

(Arizona), Prescott quadrangle (Arizona), and Kingman 

quadrangle (Arizona, California, Nevada), final report: 

prepared for the Department of Energy, Grand Junction Office, 

Grand Junction, Colorado, by Aero Service Division of 

Western Geophysical Company of America., Houston, Texas, 

993 p, 148 fiche.

Westgate, L.G., and Knopf, Adolph, 1932, Geology and ore deposits 

of the Pioche district, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 171, 79 p.

C20 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Southeastern Nevada
APPENDIXES
DEFINITION OF LEVELS OF MINERAL RESOURCE POTENTIAL 

AND CERTAINTY OF ASSESSMENT

LOW mineral resource potential is assigned to areas where geologic, geochemical, and geophysical 

characteristics define a geologic environment in which the existence of resources is permissive. This 

broad category embraces areas with dispersed but insignificantly mineralized rock as well as areas with 

few or no indications of having been mineralized.

MODERATE mineral resource potential is assigned to areas where geologic, geochemical, and geophysical 

characteristics indicate a geologic environment favorable for resource occurrence, where interpretations 

of data indicate reasonable likelihood of resource accumulation, and (or) where an application of 

mineral-deposit models indicates favorable ground for the specified type(s) of deposits.

HIGH mineral resource potential is assigned to areas where geologic, geochemical, and geophysical 

characteristics indicate a geologic environment favorable for resource occurence, where interpretations of 

data indicate a high degree of likelihood for resource accumulation, where data supports mineral-deposit 

models indicating presence of resources, and where evidence indicates that mineral concentration has 

taken place. Assignment of high resource potential to an area requires some positive knowledge that 

mineral-forming processes have been active in at least part of the area.

UNKNOWN mineral resource potential is assigned to areas where information is inadequate to assign low, 

moderate, or high levels of resource potential.

NO mineral resource potential is a category reserved for a specific type of resource in a well-defined area.

Levels of Certainty

t

O

Q.

sLU 

CC

u. 

O

LU

a

U/A

UNKNOWN

POTENTIAL

H/B

HIGH POTENTIAL

M/B 

MODERATE POTENTIAL

L/B

LOW

POTENTIAL

H/C

HIGH POTENTIAL

M/C 

MODERATE POTENTIAL

L/C

LOW

POTENTIAL

H/D

HIGH POTENTIAL

M/D 

MODERATE POTENTIAL

L/D

LOW POTENTIAL

N/D

NO POTENTIAL

B C 

LEVEL OF CERTAINTY

A. Available information is not adequate for determination of the level of mineral resource potential.

B. Available information suggests the level of mineral resource potential.

C. Available information gives a good indication of the level of mineral resource potential.

D. Available information clearly defines the level of mineral resource potential.

Abstracted with minor modifications from:

Taylor, R. B., and Steven, T. A., 1983, Definition of mineral resource potential: Economic Geology,

v. 78, no. 6, p. 1268-1270. 

Taylor, R. B., Stoneman, R. J., and Marsh, S. P., 1984, An assessment of the mineral resource potential

of the San Isabel National Forest, south-central Colorado: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1638, p.

40-42. 

Goudarzi, G. H., compiler, 1984, Guide to preparation of mineral survey reports on public lands: U.S.

Geological Survey Open-File Report 84-0787, p. 7, 8.

C22 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Southeastern Nevada
RESOURCE/RESERVE CLASSIFICATION

Demonstrated

Measured Indicated

Inferred Probability Range

Hypothetical Speculative

MARGINALLY 

ECONOMIC

SUBECONOMIC

i

Reserves 

I

Inferred 

Reserves

I

Marginal 

Reserves

Inferred 

Marginal 

Reserves

I

Demonstrated

Subeconomic

Resources

Inferred

Subeconomic

Resources

Major elements of mineral resource classification, excluding reserve base and inferred reserve base. Modified from U.S. Bureau of Mines 

and U.S. Geological Survey, 1980, Principles of a resource/reserve classification for minerals: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 831, p. 5.

Mineral Resources of the Meadow Valley Range Wilderness Study Area, Nevada C23
GEOLOGIC TIME CHART 

Terms and boundary ages used by the U.S. Geological Survey in this report

EON

Phanerozoic

Proterozoic

Archean

pre-Arc

ERA

Cenozoic

Mesozoic

Paleozoic

Late Proterozoic

Middle Proterozoic

Early Proterozoic

Late Archean

Middle Archean

Early Archean 

:hean 2

PERIOD

Quaternary

Tertiary

Neogene 

Subperiod

Paleogene 

Subperiod

Cretaceous

Jurassic

Triassic

Permian

Carboniferous 

Periods

Pennsylvanian

Mississippian

Devonian

Silurian

Ordovician

Cambrian

 -(3800?)- -

EPOCH

Holocene

Pleistocene

Pliocene

Miocene

Oligocene

Eocene

Paleocene

Late 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

Late 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

Late 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

Late 

Middle 

Early

 -

AGE ESTIMATES 

OF BOUNDARIES 

(in Ma)

- 0.010

- 1.7

- 241 A

«5o

33 

_ AC

- 96

 1OQ

_ one

- -240

 caU 9QH

OOU

 Qftn

- 410

- 4^5 *rO3

- Rnn 3UU

- ~R701

3 / V

- Qflfl y\j\j 

- 1600

- 2ROO £. \J\J\J

- 3000

O*twV

'Rocks older than 570 Ma also called Precambrian, a time term without specific rank. 

2 lnformal time term without specific rank.

C24 Mineral Resources of Wilderness Study Areas Southeastern Nevada

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