DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

FRANKLIN K. LANE, Secretary

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, Director

'

Bulletin 648

NOTES ON SOME MINING DISTRICTS 

IN EASTERN NEVADA

BY

JAMES M. HILL

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1916
ADDITIONAL COPIES

OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM

THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

WASHINGTON, D. C.

AT

20 CENTS PER COPY
CONTENTS.

Page.

Preface, by F. L. Ransome................................................. 15

Field work and acknowledgments........................................... 17

Itinerary................................................................. 17

Previous descriptions..................................................... 19

The region as a whole..................................................... 21

Topography........................................................... 21

Kanges........................................................... 21

Valleys........................................................... 22

Geology.............................................................. 23

Features of geologic structure....................................... 23

Sedimentary rocks................................................. 23

Cambrian.................................................... 24

Ordovician.................................................... 25

Devonian.................................................... 26

Carboniferous................................................. 26

Tertiary...................................................... 27

Quaternary.................................................... 27

Igneous rocks..................................................... 28

Pre-Cambrian rocks........................................... 28

Intrusive rocks................................................ 28

Quartz monzonite......................................... 28

Granite porphyry.......................................... 29

Muscovite granite.......................................... 30

Biotite granite............................................. 30

Other intrusive rocks....................................... 30

Age of the intrusions...................................... 31

Extrusive rocks............................................... 32

Distribution.............................................. 32

Age....................................................... 33

Ore deposits.......................................................... 33

Location and character............................................ 33

Deposits in sedimentary rocks....................................... 34

Replacements................................................. 34

Contact-metamorphic deposits.................................. 35

Veins........................................................ 36

Deposits in granular igneous rocks................................... 37

Veins........................................................ 37

Gold veins............................................... 37

Tungsten veins. J......................................... 38

Disseminated deposits......................................... 38

Deposit in biotite rhyolite tuff..................................... 38

Minerals in the ore deposits........................................ 39

3
4 CONTENTS.

Page.

Deposits and mines...................................................... 42

Clark County.......................................................'.. 42

Gold Butte mining district........................................ 42

Location and accessibility...................................... 42

Topography................................................... 43

Geology...................................................... 44

Pre-Cambrian rocks........................................ 44

Paleozoic rocks........................................... 45

Quaternary deposits....................................... 46

Basalt................................................... 47

. Structure.................................................... 47

Ore deposits. ................................................. 48

History and production.................................... 48

Character and occurrence of the ores........................ 48

Deposits in limestone..................................... 49

Tramp Miner property................................ 49

Gudice claims........................................ 49

Lincoln mine........................................ 49

Bennett mine.......................................... 50

Bonnella properties................................... 51

Deposits in granite and gneiss............................. 52

Gold Butte Mining Co................................. 52

New Era group................... '. .................... 52

Winona group......................................... 53

Big Thing tunnel..................................... 53

Finance group....................................... 53

v Other prospects...................................... 53

Elko County.......................................................... 54

Order oi description............................................... 54

Ruby Range...................................................... 54

Location and general features.................................. 54

Topography and drainage..................................... 55

Geology...................................................... 55

Age of certain rocks....................................... 55

Sedimentary rocks.............. '. .......................... 56

Igneous rocks............................................. 58

Ore deposits.................................................. 59

Location.................................................. 59

History.................................................. 59

Types of deposits.......................................... 59

Warm Creek district...................................... 60

PolarStar............................................. 60

Other prospects...................................... 60

Ruby Valley (Smith Creek) district......................... 60

Location and features of the deposits................... 60

Friday group......................................... 61

Short group........................................... 61

Valley View district....................................... 62

Hankins property......../.....................-....- 62

Mud Springs district............................................... 64

Location and accessibility...................................... 64

Geology............................................ '. ......... 64
CONTENTS. 5

Deposits and mines Continued. 

Elko County Continued.

Mud Springs district Continued. Page.

Ore deposits.........................T........................ 64

History and development..................... ............ 64

Character of the deposits........... % ....................... 65

Deadhorse property....................................... 65

Other prospects. ......................................... 65

Delker district.................................................... 66

Location...................................................... 66

Geology...................................................... 66

Ore deposits.................................................. 66

History and economic conditions........................... 66

Types of deposits.......................................... 67

Spruce Mountain district........................................... 67

Location and accessibility...................................... 67

Topography................................................... 67

Geology...................................................... 68

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 68

Igneous rocks............................................. 68

Contact metamorphism................................... 70

Structure................................................ 70

Mineral deposits.............................................. 71

History and production.................................... 71

Occurrence of the deposits................................. 72

Theores.................................................. 72

The properties........................................... 72

Badger tunnel........................................ 72

Banner Hill claims.................................... 73

Bingle claim......................................... 73

Black Forest claim................................... 73

Copper Queen mine.................................. 74

Fourth of July mine.................................. 74

Keystone mine....................................... 75

Killie (Latham) mine................................. 75

Monarch claim........................................ 76

Never Sweat prospect................................. 76

Spence claims.......................................... 76

Tramp shaft.......................................... 76

Dolly Varden (Mizpah) district..................................... 76

Location and accessibility...................................... 76

Topography................................................... 77

Geology...................................................... 78

Dominant types of rock................................... 78

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 78

Intrusive igneous rocks..................................... 78

Extrusive igneous rocks......:............................ 80

Mineral deposits.............................................. 80

History and production.................................... 80

Character of deposits....................................... 81

Deposits in the sediments............................... 81

Copper deposits....................................... 81

Deposits in quartz monzonite............................ 82
6 CONTENTS.

Deposits and mines Continued. 

Elko County Continued.

Dolly Varden (Mizpah) district Continued. Page.

The properties.... .Tl.......................................... 82

South end of the mountains................................ 82

Anchor mine......................................... 82

Atlas claims.......................................... 82

Bimetallic group...................................... 83

Dolly mine........................................... 83

Eugene patent........................................ 84

First Chance group.................................... 84

Hidden Treasure claim................................ 84

Iron Duke and Franklin group......................... 85

Keystone mine....................................... 85

Lewis group........................................... 85

Victoria claim........................................ 86

White Horse group.................................... 86

Other prospects...................................... 86

North end of mountains................................... 86

Butte group.......................................... 86

Mizpah Consolidated group............................. 87

Tenderfoot shaft...................................... 88

Other prospects...................................... 88

Kinsley district................................................... 88

Location and accessibility...................................... 88

Economic conditions.......................................... 88

Topography................................................... 89

Geology...................................................... 90

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 90

Igneous rocks............................................. 91

Extrusive rocks........................................ 91

Intrusive rocks........................................ 91

Alteration................................................ 91

Ore deposits.................................................. 92

History and development.................................... 92

Character of deposits....................................... 92

The properties. ............................................. 93

Kinsley Consolidated Mines Co. claims................. 93

Morning Star shaft.................................... 94

Kinsley mine......................................... 94

Other prospects........................................ 94

Toano Range..................................................... 95

Location...................................................... 95

Topography................................................... 95

Geology...................................................... 95

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 95

Igneous rocks............................................. 96

Ore deposits.................................................. 96

Luray district.............................................. 96

Ferguson Spring district................................... 97

Geology.............................................. 97

Mineral deposits........................................ 97

White Horse district........................................ 98
CONTENTS. 7

Deposits and mines Continued. 

Elko County Continued. 

Toano Range Continued.

Ore deposits Continued. Page.

Ferber district............................................. 98

Location of mines...................................... 98

Geology.............................................. 98

Ore deposits.......................................... 99

The properties......................................... 100

Tecoma district.................................................... 102

Location and accessibility...................................... 102

Geology...................................................... 103

Ore deposits.................................................. 104

History and production.................................... 104

Character of deposits....................................... 104

The properties............................................. 104

Jackson mine.......................................... 104

Durham claims........................................ 105

Irish Boy group....................................... 105

Queen of the West claims............................... 105

Lander County........................................................ 105

Location and transportation....................................... 105

Ravenswood district................................................ 106

Location and accessibility...................................... 106

Topography................................................... 106

Geology........................................................ 106

Classes of rocks........................................... 106

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 106

Igneous rocks............................................. 107

Ore deposits.................................................. 108

History.................................................... 108

Economic conditions and development...................... 109

. Type of deposit............................................ 109

The properties............................................. 110

Pine properties....................................... 110

Ely properties......................................... 112

Lombardy group...................................... 113

Other prospects........................................ 113

Lincoln County....................................................... 113

Mineral development............................................. 118

Atlanta district.................................................... 114

Location and accessibility...................................... 114

Geology...................................................... 114

Ore deposits.................................................. 116

History.................................................... 116

Occurrence of the ores...................................... 117

The mines..................................................... 117

Atlanta mine.............................................. 117

Bradshaw mine........................................... 119

Silver Park mine........................................... 119

Solo Joker claim.......................................... 120

Patterson district.................................................. 120

Location and accessibility...................................... 120

Topography.................................................... 120
8 CONTENTS.

Deposits and mines Continued. 

Lincoln County Continued.

Patterson district Continued. Page.

Geology...................................................... 121

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 121

Igneous rocks............................................. 122

Structure.................................................. 122

Ore deposits...... %........................................... 123

History.................................................... 123

Occurrence of the ores...................................... 123

Bristol district..................................................... 124

Location and accessibility...................................... 124

Topography................................................... 124

Geology...................................................... 125

Mineral deposits.............................................. 127

History and production.. .................................. 127

Occurrence of the ores...................................... 128

Character of the ores....................................... 128

Origin of the deposits....................................... 129

The properties ............................................... 129

Day-Bristol Consolidated Mining Co.'s mines................ 129

Features of the operations .............................. 129

Gypsy and May Day mines... '......................... 130

Vesuvius mine....................................... 132

Inman mine.......................................... 133

Tempest mine......................................... 133

Iron mine............................................. 134

Hillside mine......................................... 134

Day (Jack Rabbit) mine............................... 135

Other properties.......................................... 136

Malefactor claims..................................... 136

Home Run mine...................................... 136

Kismet properties..................................... 137

Ida May claim........................................ 137

Nye County........................................................... 137

Location and accessibility.......................................... 137

Troy (Irwin Canyon) district....................................... 138

Location and accessibility...................................... 138

Topography................................................... 138

Geology...................................................... 139

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 139

Igneous rocks............................................. 140

Quartz monzonite..................................... 140

Rhyolite.......................................:.,.... 14»

Ore deposits.................................................. 141

History.................................................. 141

The properties............................................. 141

Troy mine........................................... 141

Lock mine........................................... 142

Vanderhoef claims.................................... 142

Haller property........................................ 143

Irwin group........................................... 142

Other prospects........................................ 144
CONTENTS. 9

« 

Deposits and mines Continued.

Nye County Continued. Page.

Willow Creek district.............................................. 144

Location and accessibility.......... 1........................... 144

Topography................................................... 145

Geology...................................................... 146

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 146

Igneous rocks............................................. 146

Quartz monzonite..................................... 146

Andesite porphyry..................................... 147

Alaskite porphyry.................................... 147

Rhyolite............................................. 147

Ore deposits.................................................. 147

History.................................................. 147

Occurrence and character of the ores........................ 148

The properties............................................. 148

Gold Spring group .....................:.............. 148

Last Chance tunnel................................... 149

Willow Creek Mining Co.'s claims...................... 149

Queen of the West prospect............................ 150

Mayflower claim...................................... 150

Melbourn mine....................................... 151

Battle Axe claims..................................... 151

White Pine County.................................................... 151

Location and accessibility ........................................ 151

Bald Mountain district............................................. 152

Location and accessibility...................................... 152

Economic conditions.......................................... 152

Topography................................................... 153

Geology...................................................... 154

Dominant rocks.......................................... 154

Sedimentary rocks......................................... . 154

Igneous rocks............................................. 155

Alteration of the rocks..................................... 155

Ore deposits.................................................. 156

History.................................................. 156

Types of deposits.......................................... 156

Veins in igneous rocks................................ 157

Deposits in limestone................................. 157

Contact-metamorphic deposits.......................... 157

Placers...........................'........................ 157

The properties............................................ 158

Anna tunnel.......................................... 158

Carbonate group...................................... 158

Copper Basin group................................... 158

Copper King group.................................... 158

Gold King group...................................... 159

Mountain View group.................................. 160

Oddie tunnel.......................................... 160

 Redbird group ....................................... 160

Crown Point mine.................................... 160

Other prospects........................................ 160

Cherry Creek (Egan Canyon) district................................ 161

Location and accessibility...................................... 161

Topography................................................... 161
10 CONTENTS.

5

Deposits and mines Continued. 

White Pine County Continued.

Cherry Creek (Egan Canyon) district Continued. Page.

Geology. .............................................v........ 161

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 162

Igneous rocks............................................. 163

Quartz monzonite..................................... 163

Diabase............................................... 163

Ore deposits.................................................. 163

History and production.................................... 163

Types of deposits.......................................... 165

The mines..................................................... , 165

Cherry Creek............................................... 165

Biscuit mine.......................................... 165

Cherry Creek mines................................... 166

McMurry prospect.................................... 167

New Century tunnel.................................. 167

Exchequer tunnel.................................... 167

Star mine............................................. 168

Egan Canyon............................................. 170

Burning Question group............................... 170

Cocomongo claims..................................... 170

Gilligan vein......................................... 170

Wide West group...................................... 171

Hunter district.................................................... 172

Location and accessibility...................................... 172

Geology................'.........-............................ 172

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 172

Igneous rocks............................................. 172

Ore deposits.................................................. 173

History and production.................................... 173

Development.............................................. 173

Geology of the tunnel..................................... 173

Occurrence and character of the ore bodies.................. 174

Granite (Steptoe) district........................................... 174

Location and accessibility...................................... 174

Geology...................................................... 175

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 175

Igneous rocks............................................. 176

Structure.................................................. 177

Ore deposits.................................................. 177

History and production.................................... 177

Types and occurrence of the ore deposits.................... 177

The properties................................................. 178

Gold veins............................................... 178

Alvin mine.......................................... 178

Ben Hur mine........................................ 178

Blaine prospect....................................... 178

Stinson mine........................................... 179

Lead deposits............................................... 179

Bunker Hill and Sullivan mine........................ 179

Cuba mine............................................ 179

Nubagah prospect...........:......................... 180
CONTENTS. 11

Deposits and mines Continued.

White Pine County Continued. Page.

Ward district...................................................... 180

Location and general features.................................. 180

Geology............;......................................... 180

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 180

Igneous rocks............................................. 181

Ore deposits.................................................. 182

History and production.................................... 182

Occurrence and character of the ores........................ 183

The mines..................................................... 183

Defiance mine............................................ 183

Good Luck shaft.......................................... 184

Paymaster mine........................................... 185

Pleiades shaft............................................. 186

Mammoth tunnel.......................................... 186

Welcome Stranger tunnel................................. 186

Aurum district.................................................... 186

Location and accessibility...................................... 186

Topography................................................... 187

Geology...................................................... 187

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 187

Structure................................................. 188

Igneous rocks............................................. 189

Intrusive rocks....................................... 189

Extrusive rocks....................................... 190

Ore deposits.................................................. 190

History and production.................................... 190

Occurrence and character of the ores........................ 191

The properties............................................ 192

Muncy Creek......................................... 192

Amargosa group................................... 192

Defiance prospect................................. 192

Grand Deposit claims.............................. 193

Kansas claims.................................... 193

Silver Canyon........................................ 193

Greco-American group............................. 193

Lucky Deposit mine.............................. 194

Signal mine...................................... 194

Siegel Canyon........................................ 194

Gold Crown mine.................................. 194

May Queen group................................. 195

Siegelmine....................................... 195

West side of the range................................. 196

Duck Creek district................................................ 196

Location and accessibility........................................ 196

Topography................................................... 196

Geology...................................................... 197

Ore deposits.................................................. 197

Nature of the ores........................................ 197

The properties.............................................. 198

Success mine........................................... 198

Ely Gibraltar claims....'.............................. 198

Lead King claims...................................... 199

Mayflower group....................................... 199
12 CONTENTS.

Deposits and mines Continued.

White Pine County Continued. Page.

Taylor district.................................................... 200

Location and historical data.................................... 200

Geology...................................................... 200

Ore deposits.................................................. 201

Kern (Eagle) district............................................... 202

Location and accessibility...................................... 202

Geology...................................................... 202

Sedimentary rocks........................................ 203

Igneous rocks............................................. 203

Ore deposits.................................................. 204

History................................................... 204

Character of ore bodies..................................... 205

The properties............................................ 205

Glenco property......................................... 205

Red Hills mine....................................... 205

Began tungsten prospects............................... 206

Other prospects........................................ 207

Index................................................................... 209

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Page.

PLATE I. Map of part of eastern Nevada, showing location of some of the 

mining districts described in this report and the principal settlements and roads............................................... 20

II. A, North side of Gold Butte, looking westward along the depression between the granite and the sedimentary rocks; B, View 

looking eastward up Bitter Spring Wash, about 2 miles west of the 

spring; C, Southwest side of Gold Butte looking N. 40° E., showing the sheeting and weathering of the coarse-grained granite..... 44

III. Map of Ruby Range and adjacent parts of northwestern Elko

County, Nev................................................. 54

IV. A, Kinsley Mountain, looking S. 30° W. across Antelope Valley from . 

White Horse; B, West-southwest part of Kinsley district, showing 

contact of the quartz monzonite intrusive mass and the older sedimentary formations, looking east-southeast from a point about 

half a mile south of Kinsley Spring............................ 88

V. Sketch map of the Troy (Irwin Canyon) district, Nye County,

Nev.......................................................... 138

VI. Sketch map of the Aurum district, White Pine County, Nev....... 186

FIGURE 1. Map of Nevada showing location of mining districts described in

this report................................................... 18

2. Sketch map of the Gold Butte district, Clark County, Nev......... 43

3. Sketch map showing approximately the topography and relations 

of the work at the Bennett mine, Gold Butte district, Clark 

County, Nev.................................................. 51

4. Sketch map of the Spruce Mountain district, Elko County, Nev.... 69

5. Generalized elevation of the Copper Queen workings, Spruce Mountain district, Elko County, Nev................................. 74
ILLUSTRATIONS. 13

Page. 

FIGURE 6. Sketch map of the Dolly Varden-Mizpah district, Elko County, Nev. 77

7. Sketch map of the Kinsley district, Elko County, Nev.......'..... 89

8. Sketch map and sections of the Atlanta district, Lincoln County,

Nev.......................................................... 115

9. Diagrammatic sections of the south end of the Schell Creek Range

near Patterson Pass, Lincoln County, Nev..................... 123

10. Sketch map of the Bristol district. Lincoln County, Nev.......... 125

11. Sketch map to show the probable continuation of the Gypsy fissure

north of the May Day vein, Bristol district, Lincoln County, Nev.. 131

12. Inman mine, Bristol district, Lincoln County, Nev............... 133

13. Sketch map of the Willow Creek district, Nye County, Nev....... 145

14. Sketch map of the Bald Mountain district, White Pine County,

Nev.......................................................... 153

15. Sketch map of the Cherry Creek (Egan Canyon) district, White Pine

County, Nev..........................................:....... 162

16. Diagrammatic sections of the east front of the Egan Range, Steptoe 

district, White Pine County, Nev.: A, At Water Canyon, 10 miles 

north of Steptoe post office; B, 4 miles northwest of Steptoe post 

office........................................................ 175

17. Sketch map of the Ward district, White Pine County, Nev........ 181

18. Generalized cross section of the Monitor and Argus claims^ Taylor

district, White Pine County, Nev.............................. 200

PREFACE.

By F. L. RANSOME.

Up to the year 1908 the work of the Geological Survey in Nevada 

had consisted of regional geologic reconnaissance, the detailed study 

of certain important mining districts, and the reconnaissance of a 

few of the less productive or less active districts, the work last named 

being incidental to other investigations. During that year a beginning was made in an effort to obtain some first-hand knowledge 

of the geologic relations of the ores in virtually all the mining districts of Nevada. One object of this work was to gather material 

which might subsequently be used in a general summary report 

on the geology and ore deposits of the State. Another was to procure and disseminate information concerning the less known and 

to a large extent undeveloped and comparatively inaccessible districts. In pursuance of this plan a number of reconnaissance reports * have been published. The present report completes the series.

Mr. Hill visited a large number of districts in a comparatively 

short time and consequently was able to spend only a few days in 

each. His report is chiefly a record of facts which for the most 

part are of local and practical interest. It is hoped that it may be 

found a useful and dependable guide to those wishing to know 

something of the geologic occurrence, character and stage of development of the ore deposits in the part of Nevada covered. It should, 

moreover, serve as a starting point for future more thorough studies 

in this field.

1 Ransome, F. L;, Notes on some mining districts in Humboldt County, Ncv.: U. S. 

Geol. Survey Bull. 414, 1909. Bmmons, W. H., A reconnaissance of some mining camps 

in Elko, Lander, and Eureka counties, Nev.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 408, 1910. Schrader, 

F. C., A reconnaissance of the Jarbidge, Contact, and Elk Mountain mining districts, 

Elko County, Nev.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 407. 1912. Hill, ,T. M., Some mining districts in northeastern California and northwestern Nevada: TJ. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

594, 1915.

15

NOTES ON SOME MINING DISTRICTS IN 

EASTERN NEVADA.

By JAMES M. HILL.

FIELD WORK AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

During the summer of 1913 the Avriter continued a reconnaissance 

of scattered mining districts in Nevada, which he began in 1912.

The field work was begun in July, but was soon interrupted and 

was not resumed until the middle of September. Between that time 

and the first of November the writer visited 29 mining camps in 

Lander, Elko, White Pine, Nye, Lincoln, and Clark counties. As 

will be seen from an inspection of figure 1 the districts visited are 

widely scattered and much time was consumed in travel. On this 

account short stops only were made in the different camps, but it is 

believed that a general understanding of the major geologic features 

in each district was obtained. It is hoped that the conclusions here 

presented may be of some use as a guide to prospecting in this region.

It is a pleasure to record the numerous courtesies extended to the 

writer by the mining men of the region traversed. In every camp 

the information he desired was given to him and every facility was 

afforded to aid in his work. He wishes particularly to express his 

thanks to Mr. Harry Gentry, of St. Thomas; Mr. Creighton, of Elko; 

Messrs. Munter and Zeige, of Joy; Mr. Joseph Moore, of Currie; 

Messrs. Wales and Cannon, of Cherry Creek; Mr. Ornauer, of 

Hunter; Mr. David B. Gemmill, of Geyser; and Mr. Bent, of Bristol.

In the preparation of the material for this paper many of the 

more intricate petrographic problems have been solved by Mr. E. S. 

Larsen, and to Messrs. Knopf, Butler, and Umpleby the writer 

wishes to express his appreciation for their help and advice. He is 

indebted also to Mr. F. L. Ransome for a critical reading of the 

manuscript of this report and for kindly suggestions concerning 

many of the problems involved in the work.

ITINERARY.

The mines of the Tecoma district (No. 11, fig. 1) were visited in 

the middle of July. The writer was then detailed to other work, 

42680° Bull. 648 16 2 . 17
18 NOTES ON" MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

which was finished the middle of September. On September 15 the 

Bavenswood district (No. 15), Lander County, was reached, and 

the next two days were spent there. From Elko a 10-day trip was

MINING DISTRICTS

CLARK COUNTY

1. Gold Butte

ELKO COUNTY

2. Delker

3. Dolly Varden (Mizpah)

4. Ferber

5. Ferguson Spring

6. Kinsley

7. Luray

8. Mud Springs

9. 'Ruby Valley (Smith Creek)

10. Spruce Mountain

11. Tecdma

12. Valley View (Ha'nkins)

13. Warm Creek

14. White Horse

LANDER COUNTY

15. Ravenswood

LINCOLN COUNTY

16. Atlanta (Silver Park)

17. Bristol (Jack Rabbit)

18.. Patterson

NYE COUNTY

19. Troy (Irwin Canyon)

20. Willow Creek

WHITE PINE COUNTY

21. Aurum

(Schellbourne 

Siegel 

Muncy Creek)

22. Bald Mountain

23. Cherry Creek (Egan Canyon)

24. Duck Creek

25. Granite (Steptoe>

26. Hunter

27. Kern 

(Antelope 

Regan 

Glenco)

28. Taylor

29. Ward

Mining district 

(Number refers to list)

FIGURE 1. Map of Nevada showing location of mining districts described in this report.

made in south-central Elko County, during which the mines in the 

Warm Creek district (No. 13), Ruby Valley (Smith Creek) district (No. 9), Valley View district (No. 12), Bald Mountain district 

(No. 22), Mud Springs district (No. 8), Delker district (No. 2), and
PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS. 19

Spruce Mountain district (No. 10) were seen, Currie, on the Nevada 

Northern Railway, being reached on September 26. During the 

following 11 days, in a drive from Currie to Cherry Creek, by way 

of Antelope and Spring .valleys, the mines of the Dolly Varden 

(Mizpah) district (No. 3), Ferguson Spring district (No. 5), White 

Horse district (No. 14), Kinsley district (No. 6), Kern Mountains (Eagle) district (No. 27), and the Aurum district (No. 21), 

which are scattered along the Schell Creek Range at Muncy Creek, 

Silver Creek, Siegel, and Schellbourne, were studied. Cherry Creek 

(No. 23), was reached on October 7, and the mines of the Granite 

and Hunter districts (Nos. 25 and 26) were next visited, Ely being 

used as a base.

From Ely a trip to the new gold strike at Willow Creek (No. 20) 

at the south end of Railroad Valley, in northeast Nye County, 

was made, and the prospects at Troy and Irwin Canyon (No. 19) 

AA'ere visited on the return trip. During the trip from Ely. to Pioche 

the mines of the Ward (No. 29), Taylor (No. 28), Patterson Pass 

(No. 18), Atlanta (No. 16), and Bristol (No. 17) districts were 

studied. From St. Thomas, Nev., a trip to the Gold Butte camp 

(No. 1) was made late in October, and during the first of November 

the Grand Gulch mine, in northern Mohave County, Ariz., was 

studied. A description of this copper deposit by the writer has 

been published in Survey Bulletin 580.

In October, 1914, a short trip south from Wendover, Utah, was 

made to study the Ferber district (No. 4), in the southeast corner of 

Elko County, and to visit the tungsten mines on the southeast side of 

the Kern Mountains.

PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS.

The reports of the United States Geological Exploration of the 

Fortieth Parallel, particularly Volumes II and III, contain the best 

published geologic information relative to the southeastern part of 

Elko County. The topographic map which accompanied those reports has been freely used as a base for the present work, as it was 

found that no other maps were available for the purpose. Much of 

the geologic data gathered by that survey is used in this report, 

though some changes were found necessary in the interpretation of 

geologic evidence.

A great fund of information concerning the geology of the southeastern part of Nevada is contained in the annual reports and the 

final volumes of the United States Geographical and Geological Surveys West of the One Hundredth Meridian.

The history of Nevada from 1580 to 1888, contained in volume 25 

of Bancroft's works, has supplied some details of the early mining
20 NOTES ON" MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

developments. From the biennial reports of the State mineralogist 

of Nevada for the years 1866 to 1878, inclusive, many notes on early 

development were obtained, and the semistatistical reports of J. Boss 

Browne and K. W. Kaymond have been searched for such information as bears upon the region under discussion. The annual statistical reports, " Mineral Kesources of the United States," published 

by the United States Geological Survey, contain many notes on mining development in recent years which are not found elsewhere. 

The most recent general geologic report on the southern part of 

Nevada issued by the Survey is entitled "The geology of Nevada 

south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent portions of California," 

by J. E. Spurr, published in 1903 as Bulletin 208.

The following reports issued by the Survey deal more particularly 

with the economic features of the several counties:

CLARK COUNTY.

Bain, H. F., A Nevada zinc deposit: Bull. 285, pp. 166, 169, 1906. Describes the 

Potosi mine in the Yellow Pine district.

Bancroft, Howland, Platinum in southeastern Nevada: Bull. 430, pp. 192-199, 

1910. Describes the platiniferous dikes of the Great Eastern and Key West 

region.

Hill, J. M., The Yellow Pine mining district, Clark County, Nev.: Bull. 540, 

pp. 223-274, 1914. Describes the zinc-lead, copper-gold, and gold deposits 

in the Spring Mountain Range tributary to Good Springs, Nev.

Ransome, F. L., Preliminary account of Goldfield, Bullfrog, and other mining 

districts in southern Nevada: Bull. 303, 1903. On page 79 mentions the 

gold-bearing veins of the Crescent district; on pages 63-76 describes the 

gold veins of Eldorado Canyon near Nelson and of the Searchlight district.

ELKO COUNTY.

Emmons, W. H., A reconnaissance of some mining camps in Elko, Lander, and 

Eureka counties, Nev.: Bull. 408, 1910. Describes the geology and ore 

deposits of the following districts in northern Elko County: Aura, Bullion, 

Centennial, Cornucopia, Good Hope, Tuscarora, Van Dusen.

Schrader, F. C., A reconnaissance of the Jarbidge, Contact, and Elk Mountain 

mining districts, Elko County, Nev.: Bull. 497, 1912. Describes the geology and ore deposits of three districts in the northern part of Elko County, 

near the Idaho line.

LANDER COUNTY.

Emmons, W. H., A reconnaissance of some mining camps in Elko, Lander, and 

Eureka counties, Nev.: Bull. 408, 1910. Describes the geology and ore 

deposits .of the following districts: Bullion, Tenabo, Lander, Campbell, 

Cortez, Mill Canyon, Dean, Lewis, Mud Springs, and Hilltop.

Hill, J. M., Some mining districts in northeastern California and northwestern 

Nevada: Bull. 594, 1915. Describes the geology and ore deposits of the 

Battle Mountain, Copper Basin, Galena, Copper Canyon, Beese River, 

Skookum, New York Canyon, Washington, and Kingston districts.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 648 PLATE

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MAP OF A PORTION OF EASTERN NEVADA

SHOWING LOCATION OF PART OF THE MINING DISTRICTS DESCRIBED IN THIS REPORT 

AND THE PRINCIPAL SETTLEMENTS AND ROADS

House Doc. ; 64th Cong., 1st Soss.
TOPOGRAPHY. . 21

NYE COUNTY.

Ball, S. H., A geologic reconnaissance in southwestern Nevada and eastern 

California: Bull. 308, 1907. Describes the occurrence of the ores of the 

following districts in central and western Nye County: Bare Mountain, 

Big Dune, Blakes Creek, Cactus Springs, Eden, Gold Bar, Gold Crater, 

Kawich, Gold Reed, Monte Cristo, Oak Springs, Reveille, Silverbow, Stonewall Mountain, Trappmans, and Wellington.

Becker, G. F., Geology of the quicksilver deposits of the Pacific slope: Mon. 13, 

1888. Describes the occurrence of cinnabar at Belmont.

Emmons, W. H., and Garrey, G. H., Notes on the Manhattan district: Bull. 303, 

pp. 84-92, 1907.

Ransorae, F. L., Preliminary account of Goldfield, Bullfrog, and other mining 

districts in southern Nevada: Bull. 303, 1907. Describes the ore deposits 

at Bullfrog and Rhyolite, on pages 40-62.

 The geology and ore deposits of Goldfield, Nev.: Prof. Paper 66, 1909. 

 Round Mountain, Nev.: Bull. 380, pp. 44-47, 1910.

Ransoine, F. L., Emmons, W. H., and Garrey, G. H., Geology and ore deposits of

the Bullfrog district, Nev.: Bull. 407, 1910. 

Spurr, J. E., Ore deposits of Tonopah and neighboring districts, Nev.: Bull. 213,

pp. 81-87, 1903.

 The ore deposits of Tonopah, Nev. (preliminary report) : Bull. 219, 1903.

 Preliminary report on the ore deposits of Tonopah, Nev.: Bull. 225, pp. 

89-110, 1904.

 Developments at Tonopah, Nev., during 1904: Bull. 260, pp. 140-149, 1905.

 Geology of the Tonopah mining district, Nev.: Prof. Paper 42, 1905.

WHITE PINE COUNTY.

Spencer, A. C., Geology and ore deposits of the Ely district, Nev.: Prof. Paper

96 (in press). 

Weed, W. H., The copper mines of the United States in 1905: Bull. 285,

pp. 116-117, 1906. Describes the copper prospects at Ely. 

Weeks, F. B., An occurrence of tungsten ore in eastern Nevada: Twenty-first

Ann. Rept, pt. 6, pp. 319-320, 1901.

 Geology and mineral resources of the Osceola mining district, White Pine 

County, Nev.: Bull. 340, pp. 117-133, 1908.

 Tungsten deposits in the Snake Range, White Pine County, eastern Nevada: 

Bull. 340, pp. 263-270, 1908.

THE REGION AS A WHOLE. 

TOPOGRAPHY.

Striking features of the eastern part of Nevada are the arrangement of the mountain ridges along northward-trending axes and 

the wide, flat, barren valleys wlych lie between the ranges. This 

is well illustrated in the accompanying map of eastern Nevada 

(PI. I).

RANGES.

The long, narrow northward-trending ranges are not everywhere 

of even height but are broken by narrow passes or low ridges into
22 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

a number of parts, which have received different names. Thus the 

uplift shown on the left-hand side of Plate I is known as the Ruby 

Range in Elko County, as White Pine Range in White Pine County, 

and as the Grant and Quinn Canyon ranges in eastern Nye County. 

East of the White Pine uplift is the Egan Range, whose northern 

continuation in Elko County is the Spruce Mountain group and the 

Peoquop Range. East of the Egan Range the Schell Creek uplift of 

White Pine County is continued by the Ely and Highland ranges in 

Lincoln County. A spur which trends southeastward, known as the 

Fortification Range and Cedar Mountains, branches from the Schell 

Creek Range a few miles north of the Lincoln-White Pine County 

line. One of the most prominent and persistent uplifts in the region 

here discussed is that which extends along the east boundary of 

Nevada and is called the Toano Range in Elko County and the Kern 

Mountains and Snake Range in White Pine County.

The southern end of the Snake Range, culminating at Wheeler 

Peak, in southeast White Pine County, is the highest part of the 

ranges in this region, but the Schell Creek and Egan ranges, immediately west of Wheeler Peak, are also high and very rugged. The 

Ruby Range, in south-central Elko County, is very prominent, its 

peaks standing well above any of the neighboring mountains. Practically all the ranges shown on Plate I have steep eastern flanks, but 

the slopes to the west as a rule are more gentle. There are some 

places in all the ranges where the reverse conditions are seen, but in 

the main the above generalization holds true.

VALLEYS.

Lying between the mountains there are broad, flat-bottomed desert 

valleys which, like the ranges, have a northward trend. Eastern 

Nevada is somewhat better watered than the western and southern 

parts of the State, and near the mountains, particularly along the 

east base of the higher ranges, there are many cattle and hay ranches, 

which obtain their water supply from streams that have their source 

in the higher hills.

Huntington, White Pine, and Railroad valleys, which lie on the 

west side of the White Pine uplift, are separated by low, flat divides, 

and it is hard to realize that they are really not all the same basin. 

In this line of depressions the ranches are on both margins of the 

valleys, but as the Ruby and White Pine mountains are generally 

higher than the ranges west of the depression, most of the permanent streams rise in them, and it is only at a few localities that 

settlements or ranches are found on the west side of the valleys. 

There are no ranches'on the east side of Ruby Valley, for most of 

the water in this vicinity rises in the Ruby Range. In Sierra and
GEOLOGY. 23

Butte valleys, which are separated by a low divide, most of the 

ranches are on the east side, along the flanks of Egan Range. 

Steptoe Valley is not particularly well watered, though there are a 

few ranches near Currie, Cherry Creek, Steptoe, and Ely. Antelope 

Valley is barren. Spring Valley, which lies between Schell Creek 

and Snake ranges, is well watered, and there are many prosperous 

ranches along the base of both ranges, though the Schell Creek side 

seems to be better watered than the Snake Range side except at the 

south end, near Wheeler Peak.

GEOLOGY.

FEATURES OF GEOLOGIC STRUCTURE.

In eastern Nevada sedimentary rocks ranging in age from Cambrian to Permian have been faulted into their present positions 

along a series of northward-trending breaks of great magnitude. 

In general the major valleys seem to occupy the lines of faults. 

Beside the major series there are conspicuous evidences of eastwardtrending faults, which were noticed in particular in the Schell Creek 

and Egan ranges. The sedimentary rocks have been at many 

places intruded by stocks and dikes of igneous rock, most of which 

closely approximate quartz monzonites or granite porphyries in 

.their mineral composition. Two notable exceptions to the general 

similarity of the intrusive rocks were noted in this reconnaissance; 

one the gneissic biotite and muscovite granites of the Ruby Range 

and the other the muscovite-biotite granite of the Kern Mountains. 

Aside from these two exceptions the igneous rocks of one district 

differ but little in either looks or mineral composition from the 

rocks of any of the other districts. The stocks differ greatly in 

size; some occupying less than half a square mile, others covering 

many square miles. Large areas underlain by extrusive igneous rocks 

were found in remarkably few places in the part of eastern Nevada 

that was visited in 1913, but at a number of places flow rocks were 

noted.

Almost without exception, the ore deposits are localized about the 

centers of intrusion; indeed it is most surprising not to find either 

a stock or dikes of quartz monzonite or closely related rock in every 

camp.

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.

Though fossils showing the age of the sedimentary rocks were 

not found in all the districts visited, it is believed that in the main 

the correlations given in this bulletin are fairly accurate. The 

correlation of many of the formations is based upon the similarity 

of sequence and of lithology of the rocks in the region covered by
24 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

this reconnaissance with the rocks of areas in which the age of the 

 formations has been definitely determined.

In eastern Nevada a.large part of the sedimentary rocks are of 

early Paleozoic age, ranging from Cambrian to Devonian. In a 

few places early Carboniferous fossils were found, and along the 

east side of Ruby Valley some of the limestones are regarded as of 

Permian age.

CAMBRIAN ROCKS.

The Cambrian formations, which are very extensively developed in 

eastern and central Nevada, have been studied in considerable detail 

by Arnold Hague in the Eureka district, Eureka County.1 The 

names applied by Hague, and later modified by Walcott,2 appear 

to be well suited for all of eastern Nevada, as the formations seem 

to be very persistent over a wide area. Hague estimated that there 

are about 7,700 feet of quartzites, limestones, and shales of Cambrian age in the Eureka section, and divided the rooks into the 

following formations:

Prospect Mountain quartzite. 1,500 feet of brownish-white quartzites weathering dark brown, with intercalated thin layers of arenaceous and micaceous shales; 

beds lighter colored near top.

Prospect Mountain limestone.2 3,050 feet of light-bluish limestones, interbedded with light and dark limestones; usually crystalline and seamed with 

calcite veinlets; bedding indistinct; some lenses of shale.

Secret Canyon shale. One thousand six hundred feet of yellow and brown 

argillaceous shale, passing into shaly limestone; weathers easily.

Hamburg iiwesiowe. 1,200 feet of dark-gray granular limestone; weathers 

rough and ragged. Is siliceous in places.

Hamburg shale." 350 feet of yellow shale with abundant chert nodules in top; 

is variable in composition from arenaceous to calcareous.

Cambrian rocks that are regarded as representing the Lower Cambrian Prospect Mountain quartzite and the Middle Cambrian Eldorado limestone form most of the east side of the Egan Eange from 

Currie southward to a point about opposite McGill. (See PI. I.) The 

lower formation consists of the series of brownish weathering quartzite, with some interstratified micaceous shales, and the upper formation consists in part of white crystalline limestone and in part finegrained gray limestone. The ore deposits of Egan Canyon, Cherry 

Creek, and Granite are inclosed in these rocks. In the Aurum and 

Patterson districts, on the east side of the Schell Creek Eange, the 

same Lower and Middle Cambrian sequence is seen. In the Bristol

1 Hague, Arnold, Geology of the Eureka district, Nev.: U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 20, pp. 

34-37, 1892.

2 Because of the duplication of the names Prospect Mountain and Hamburg, Walcott 

in 1908 (Smithsonian Misc. Coll., vol. 53, p. 184) introduced the name Eldorado limestone to replace Hague's name " Prospect Mountain" limestone and Dunderberg shale 

to replace Hague's name " Hamburg " shale. Walcott's names have been ^.dopted by the 

United States Geological Survey.
GEOLOGY. 25

district what is thought to be the Cambrian Hamburg limestone 

contains the ore bodies. The dark limestones and argillites of the 

Kinsley district contain Cambrian fossils, and it is believed that the 

limestones and shales on the west side of the Kern Mountains are 

Cambrian. Cambrian fossils were found in the thin-bedded shales 

interstratified with limestones and quartzites in the Ravenswood 

district in Lander County. On the west side of the Grant and Quinn 

Canyon ranges in Nye County the dark-colored shales and limestones 

are believed to be in part Upper Cambrian and in part Lower Ordovician, as they are overlain by limestones and quartzites that are with 

little question referred to the Ordovician. The age of the quartzites 

and limestone of the Atlanta district is not definitely known, but they 

are thought to be either Cambrian or Ordoviqjjin.

On the eastern side of the Gold Butte district, in eastern Clark 

County, a series of quartzites and limestones overlying the Archean 

granite gneiss and granite is possibly the equivalent of the lower 

part of the Cambrian Tonto group of the Grand Canyon section 

described by Gilbert.1

ORDOVICIAN HOCKS.

The Ordovician section at Eureka comprises a thickness of 5,000 

feet of sediments, divided into three formations, described by Hague 2 

as follows:

Pogonip limestone. 2,700 feet of bluish-gray highly fossiliferous limestone 

that has a fine texture, weathers smooth, and has a fairly well marked massive 

bedding. Near the base it passes into the interstratified limestones, argillites, 

and arenaceous beds.

Eureka quartzite. 500 feet of white compact vitreous pure quartette with 

indistinct bedding.

Lone Mountain limestone. 1,800 feet of limestone; dark gray, almost black; 

gritty at base, passing upward into bluish-gray limestone and finally into a lightgray siliceous limestone at top.

The white quartzite and dark limestones exposed on the east side 

of the Ruby Range at Smith Creek and Valley View are believed to 

be the equivalents of the Eureka and Lone Mountain formations, 

and the limestones and shales on the west side of the same range at 

Joy in the Bald Mountain district are probably of Pogonip age. 

In Nye County, at the Willow Creek and Troy (Irwin Canyon) 

districts of the-Grant Range, limestones and quartzites regarded as 

of Ordovician age are represented in the higher mountains. Limestones that are believed to be the equivalent of the Pogonip are the 

prevailing rocks in the vicinity of the mines in the Duck Creek district and appear to be overlain by white quartzite that with little

1 Gilbert, G. K., U. S. Geog. and Geol. Surveys W. 100th Mer. Kept., vol. 3, pp. 162-163, 

184-185, 1875.

2 Hague, Arnold, op. clt., pp. 47-62.
26 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

question represents the Ordovician Eureka quartzite. The limestones of the Taylor district may be Ordovician, though no very 

definite relations were noted to determine their age. A few small 

exposures of white quartzite along the large faults west of the mines 

at Bristol, Lincoln County, are thought to be the Ordovician Eureka 

quartzite.

Limestones that are older than Carboniferous are represented in 

the ridges east and south of Gold Butte, Clark County.

DEVONIAN ROCKS.

Devonian rocks are of considerable importance in eastern Nevada, 

consisting in the Eureka district of 6,000 feet of limestones to which 

Hague 1 gave the name Nevada limestone. The lower part of the 

Nevada limestone consists of light-gray crystalline, indistinct beds 

passing into brown, reddish-brown, and gray beds that are distinctly 

stratified and striped. The upper members are massive, bluishblack or dark-gray limestones. Intercalated bands of shale and 

quartzite are common near the middle of the formation.

Limestones determined by fossils as equivalent to a portion of 

the Nevada (Devonian) limestone of the Eureka district were seen 

in the Tecoma district, in Elko County, and the Hunter district on 

the west side of the Egan Range, in White Pine County.

CARBONIFEROUS ROCKS.

The oldest known Carboniferous formation in the Eureka district consists of 2,000 feet of black argillaceous shale and some red 

sandstones, to which Hague 2 gave the name White Pine shale. Although Hague assigned this formation to the Devonian period, some 

fossils found later show that it is early Carboniferous or Mississippian. Mississippian fossils were found in dark-blue and lightblue distinctly bedded limestones in a number of districts of eastern 

Nevada which are described in this report. Most of the sedimentary 

rocks of the Spruce Mountains and Dolly Varden Mountains are 

probably Mississippian, and it is believed that the limestones at 

Delker Butte are of the same age. The limestones on the east side 

of the Toano Eange at Ferguson Spring, near the Nevada-Utah line, 

are Mississippian but are probably succeeded farther west in the 

main mountains by sediments as old as Cambrian. Mississippian 

fossils were collected from light-colored limestones a short distance 

north of Gold Butte, Clark County.

Pennsylvanian fossils were obtained from limestone in the Ward 

district, on the east side of the Egan Range, 16 miles south of Ely. 

Permian fossils were found in the limestones on the east side of

iHague, Arnold, Op. cit, pp. 63-84. 3 Idem, p. 68.
GEOLOGY. 27

Ruby Valley, at Warm Creek and Mud Springs, and it is probable 

that the Pennsylvanian is represented at both of these places, though 

no fossils of that age were found.

TERTIARY DEPOSITS.

On the west side of the Ruby Range in Elko County (see Pis. 

I and III) a considerable area in Huntington Valley is underlain 

by partly consolidated Pliocene sandstones and conglomerates, which 

were referred to the Humboldt formation by the geologists of the 

Fortieth Parallel Survey. This formation grades from a rather coarse 

conglomerate near the base of the mountains to fine sand and silt 

near the axis of the valley. It shows a rough stratification and is 

only slightly consolidated. It is at some places difficult to distinguish 

between the Pliocene formation and the gravels and silts formed in 

the Quaternary, but in Huntington Valley the older gravels and silts 

have been slightly tilted and deeply eroded prior to the deposition 

of the more recent wash gravels.

QUATERNARY DEPOSITS.

The great desert valleys shown in Plate I (p. 20) are filled to an 

unknown depth with gravel and silt of Quaternary age. The centers 

of these valleys are underlain with fine sands, and in the lowest 

parts of most of them there are areas where fine clay silts are found. 

These playa lake beds are covered with water in the wet season but 

in the summer are dry and dusty. The silt supports no vegetation 

and, as a consequence, miniature dunes are formed in many of the 

basins. On the east side of Railroad Valley, between Currant 

Creek and Blue Eagle ranch, there are some fairly large sand 

dimes on the east side of the playa basin.

The material of the Quaternary fill becomes coarser toward the 

mountains, and there are gentle rises from the axes of the valley 

to the base of the ranges on both sides. Upon these long even 

gravel and sand slopes lie the outwash fans or cones which 

issue from the larger canyon mouths. The materials in the fans 

consist of coarse cobbles mixed with sand and gravel. The stream 

channels are intrenched in the gravels near the mouths of the larger 

canyons, but at the outer edge of the fans they are seldom more 

than shallow watercourses. The material in the alluvial fans is 

purely local, so that the character of the rocks in the mountains can 

be determined by a study of the cobbles and gravel found near the 

apexes of the fans.

Along Virgin River, in Clark County, the Quaternary is represented by an immense accumulation of partly consolidated, roughly 

stratified conglomerates and sandstones. Steep-walled canyons at 

least 200 feet deep have been cut in this formation, which resembles
28 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

the deposits named Temple Bar conglomerate by Lee,1 from their 

exposures at Temple Bar, near the mouth of Virgin Eiver.

IGNEOUS ROCKS. 

PRE-CAMBRIAN ROCKS.

A considerable area south of Gold Butte, in eastern Clark County, 

is underlain by a biotite granite gneiss of light-gray color and medium grain. In places it grades into biotite schist on the one hand 

or granite on the other. It is composed of quartz, orthoclase, microcline, some oligoclase, and widely varying amounts of green biotite. 

Gold Butte is composed of a coarsely porphyritic pinkish-gray 

granite, which is intrusive into the granite gneiss but does not appear 

to have penetrated the overlying sedimentary rocks. It is composed 

of orthoclase, microperthite, microcline, oligoclase, quartz, biotite, 

and hornblende. The accessory minerals are zircon and apatite and 

minor amounts of magnetite.

INTRUSIVE HOOKS.

Since the ore deposits of eastern Nevada seem to be so closely associated with intrusive granitic igneous rocks, it was surprising not 

to find some evidence of volcanism in each of the districts visited. 

No igneous rocks were seen in the vicinity of Warm Springs, on the 

east side of Ruby Eange, but the prospects are not far from the 

immense stock of biotite granite in the main range. In the Mud 

Springs district there are apparently no igneous rocks, though quartz 

monzonite forms a large part of the Delker Buttes; nor were 

intrusives seen near the prospects at Ferguson Spring. So far as 

known, there are no intrusive rocks in the immediate vicinity of the 

mines of the Bristol district, Lincoln County.

Quartz monzonite. Igneous rocks which closely approximate typical quartz monzonite in mineral composition are present in the 

following districts: Delker, Dolly Varden (Mizpah), Ferber, Kinsley, Valley View, and White Horse in Elko County; Ravenswood 

in Lander County; Troy (Irwin Canyon) and Willow Creek in 

Nye County; and Bald Mountain, Cherry Creek, and Ward in 

White Pine County. The quartz monzonite is typically granular, 

in some places somewhat porphyritic, and as a rule it occurs in 

roughly circular stocks of various sizes, though some dikes of this 

rock were noted. The quartz monzonite is usually siliceous, and in 

some stocks there is more quartz than feldspar in the rock. The 

feldspars include orthoclase, microcline, and plagioclase. The 

plagioclase varieties range from oligoclase-andesine to labradorite,

1 Lee, W. T., Geologic reconnaissance of a part of western Arizona: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 352, pp. 17-18, 1908.
GEOLOGY. 29

and cis a rule are a little more abundant than the potassium feldspars. 

Dark-brown biotite and hornblende are the characteristic ferromagnesian minerals, but they vary in quantity and distribution, even in 

specimens from different parts of the same stock. Apatite and magnetite are the common accessory minerals and zircon is present in 

some places.

In general there has been some contact metamorphism of the limestones intruded by quartz monzonite, but evidence of extensive 

changes of this character is lacking in most of the districts visited, 

and in some places the sedimentary rocks are practically unaltered. 

In fact the lack of extensive metamorphism is a striking feature of 

the contacts seen in eastern Nevada.

The ore bodies of the districts where quartz monzonite is present 

were apparently formed after the consolidation of the magma; but 

it is believed that the interval between intrusion and metallization 

was comparatively short. Where veins occur in the quartz monzonite the solutions that deposited the ores have also altered the igneous 

rock. In many of the districts visited the alteration has not been 

extensive, yet the character of the change is the same in all places. 

The feldspars and ferromagnesian minerals are altered; the former 

to masses of sericite and calcite with some quartz, and the latter to 

chlorite or quartz and iron oxide.

Granite porphyry. Some of the intrusive stocks do not carry 

sufficient plagioclase feldspar to be classed as quartz monzonites, 

yet these rocks are thought to be simply differentiates of the same 

quartz monzonite magma from which the quartz monzonites were derived and of the same age. Specimens of intrusive rock collected in 

a number of districts, but too much altered for definite determination of the feldspars, have been called granite porphyries rather 

than quartz monzonite porphyries. The intrusive rocks in the Spruce 

Mountain, Tecoma, Patterson, Aurum, Duck Creek, Hunter, Steptoe (Granite), and Taylor districts were called granite porphyry.

In most of the districts the granitic rocks have a porphyritic texture, but in the large stocks of the Granite and Aurum districts part 

of the rock is granular. Many of the bodies of granite porphyry are 

dikes rather than stocks a fact that may in part account for the 

rather persistent porphyritic texture of so much of this rock. Quartz 

and orthoclase feldspars are the principal constituents of these rocks, 

and they occur both as the phenbcrystic minerals and in the groundmass. Oligoclase is characteristic where the lime-soda feldspars 

can be determined, but in many of the thin sections of this type of 

rock the feldspars are too much altered for determination. Biotite 

is the most common ferromagnesian mineral, and hornblende is 

present in some of the granite porphyry masses. Apatite and magnetite are the accessory minerals most commonly found.
30 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN" EASTERN NEVADA.

The granite porphyries, like the quartz monzonite porphyries, 

have been of importance in the formation of the ores. They have 

caused contact metamorphism of the sedimentary rocks, and deposits of similar ore minerals are found near bodies of the two types 

of rock. The alteration of the granite porphyry by mineralizing 

solutions is in all respects similar to that seen in the bodies of quartz 

monzonite. *

Muscovite granite. The large intrusive stock of the Kern Mountains is a fine-grained light-colored muscovite granite, which in 

some places contains enough biotite to be called a muscovite-biotite 

granite. It is composed essentially of quartz, orthoclase, and muscovite but in places carries a considerable amount of greenish-brown 

biotite. Magnetite is the most abundant accessory mineral. In the 

main mass the constituent minerals are about one-sixteenth inch in 

average size and show no crystal faces. Near the margin of the 

stock the mica flakes are locally well developed and at the contact 

the rock has been crushed to form a granitic schist. Some large 

bodies of muscovite pegmatite are found in the granite and in the 

sedimentary rocks near the contact. At one place a pegmatitic dike 

was seen that appeared to grade into a pure quartz vein. This rock 

is clearly intrusive into sedimentary rocks of supposed Cambrian 

age.

Biotite granite. Most of the northern part of the Ruby Kange, 

bordering on Ruby Valley, is composed of a light-colored finegrained granite, which consists essentially of quartz, orthoclase, and 

brownish-green biotite, though in places microcline, oligoclase, muscovite, and light-green hornblende are also present. Apatite is the 

most abundant abcessory mineral, but some magnetite is seen in all 

the thin sections examined. Much of the granite in this stock shows 

a distinct gneissic banding, yet considerable bodies of the rock have 

a roughly porphyritic texture and some pegmatitic granite is also 

present. This rock was considered of Archean age by the geologists 

of the Fortieth Parallel Survey, but it is clearly intrusive into sedimentary rocks that are considered Ordovician.

Other intrusive rocks. In most of the stocks of quartz monzonite 

there are small dikes of fine-grained light-colored aplite, and in not 

a few places basic dikes cut the intrusives. These end-product dikes 

are so generally recognized that they need no discussion. In the 

Spruce Mountain district there are some dikes and a fairly large 

stocklike body of diorite, which are thought to be differentiates of 

the magma from which the granite porphyry was formed. Some 

facies of the quartz monzonite of the Dolly Varden Mountains are 

dioritic, containing much more hornblende and plagioclase than the 

normal rock. At Ferber a gabbroic rock consisting essentially of
GEOLOGY. 31

augite and andesine with some orthoclase and quartz is possibly a 

differentiate of the quartz monzonite magma.

A single specimen of diabase was obtained in the Cherry Creek 

district. In the field this rock was thought to be part of a series 

of metamorphosed shales angl quartzites, and its true character was 

only determined when a thin section was examined microscopically. 

Its relations to the other rocks are not known. It is a dense black 

rock consisting of plagioclase feldspar, brown augite,, biotite, and a 

little magnetite.

At the Melbourn mine, in the Willow Creek district, Nye County, 

there are some narrow dikes of andesite porphyry that are called 

diorite by the prospectors.

Age of the intrusions. With the possible exception of the biotite 

granite of the north end of the Ruby Kange, the muscovite granite 

of the Kern Mountains, and the diabase of the Cherry Creek district, 

all the intrusive rocks seen in the districts described in this report 

are thought to be of about the same age. They intrude sedimentary 

rocks ranging in age from Cambrian to Mississippian, but so far as 

known they are not in contact with younger rocks in this region. 

There is therefore no basis for a definite determination of their age. 

It is believed, however, from the fact that they have nearly the same 

mineral composition as many of the intrusions in Nevada, Utah, 

and California, which have been assigned to the late Mesozoic or 

early Tertiary, that they should be correlated with one or the other 

of these periods of intrusion. It is established that the volcanism of 

the Sierra Nevada took place near the close of the Mesozoic,1 and 

it is nearly as well established that much of the intrusion of the 

intermediate rock types in Utah took place in the Tertiary. It may 

be that in Nevada intrusions of the type of rocks known as quartz 

monzonite and granite porphyry occurred during both periods of

The age of the two stocks of potassium-rich granite, the biotite 

granite of the Ruby Range, and the muscovite granite of the Kern 

Mountains is more uncertain. These rocks have an entirely different 

appearance from the rocks of intermediate composition, whose correlation is somewhat more assured. At some places the granites 

have a decided porphyritic texture, but in general they are granular 

and at many places they show a gneissic banding, which might indicate considerable age. In the Ruby Range the biotite granite is 

intrusive into and has metamorphosed rocks that are believed to be 

Ordovician, and in the Kern Mountains the muscovite granite intrudes sediments regarded as Cambrian and possibly also Mississippian limestones. In the Ruby Range there is a slight suggestion

1 Llndgren, Waldemar. Metallogenetlc epochs : Canadian Min. Inst. Jour., vol. 12, 1909.
32 NOTES ON" MINING DISTBICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

that the biotite granite of the northern part of the mountains may 

grade into the quartz monzonite mass at Harrison Pass, but the 

exact relations were not determined in the reconnaissance upon which 

this report is based. The writer ventures the suggestion, however, 

that these granites are differentiates of the magma from which the 

quartz monzonite and granite porphyry masses were formed.

EXTRUSIVE ROCKS.

Distribution. Extrusive igneous rocks are not widely distributed 

in eastern Nevada, and as a rule underlie comparatively small areas 

in this part of the State. In southeastern Elko County, however, a 

considerable area northeast of the Schell Creek Range, extending to 

the Dolly Varden and Kern mountains, known in part as the Antelope Hills (see PL I), is for the most part underlain by flow rocks. 

Andesites of dull brown, yellow, and gray are most widely distributed 

in this area, being exposed on the west and south sides of the Dolly 

Varden Mountains, west of Kinsley Canyon, and north of Siegel 

Canyon, in the Aurum district. In general the rocks are glassy 

porphyries, but some flows have been altered to earthy rocks. At 

Dolly Varden a few exposures of rhyolite underlie the andesites. At 

Ferguson Spring and at Ferber, on the east side of the Toano Eange, 

south of Don Don Pass, in Elko County, there are remnants of red 

and gray rhyolite flows. The exposures as a rule cover only a small 

area and are thin.

In the Ravenswood district, Lander County, rhyolitic breccia and 

flow rocks outcrop along the east base of the Shoshone Range, overlying gravels of the Tertiary Truckee formation. On the summit of 

the range there are some small remnants of dark-brown glassy andesite flows.

The Fortification Range and the Cedar Mountains, in Lincoln 

County, are composed largely of a complicated sequence of rhyolite 

and andesite tuffs and flows that Spurr has described in some detail. 

(See pp. 114-116.) In the vicinity of the Atlanta mines white biotite 

rhyolite tuffs are overlain by thin flows of red rhyolite.

South of Willow Creek district, in Nye County, Spurr reports a 

considerable area underlain by rhyolite. The lower part of the series, 

exposed at the summit of the south wall of Willow Canyon, is a gray 

porphyritic rhyolite with very little glass. In Troy Canyon, about 

20 miles north of Willow Canyon, there are small exposures of a 

much-altered red glassy rh) ?*£e.

Southwest of Gold Butte, in Clark County, the pre-Cambrian 

granite gneiss is overlain by what appear to be basalts, and somewhat 

similar though much fresher basalts are intercalated with the Quaternary gravels on the west side of Grand Wash, east of this district.
ORE DEPOSITS. 33

Age. With the exception of the basalts of the Gold Butte district 

that are interbedded with Quaternary gravels, all the flow rocks of 

eastern Nevada are thought to be of Tertiary age, corresponding to 

the very extensive volcanism which has covered so much of western 

Nevada, southern Idaho, northeastern California, southwestern 

Oregon, and southwestern Utah with deep accumulations of extrusive 

rocks.

ORE DEPOSITS.

LOCATION AND CHARACTER.

With the exception of the ore body at the Atlanta mine, in Lincoln 

County, and the veins in the pre-Cambrian granite of Gold Butte, 

all the ore deposits seen by the writer during the summer of 1913 

occur in sedimentary rocks, ranging in age from Cambrian to 

Permian, or in granular igneous rocks which have intruded the sedimentary beds. Most of the ore deposits occur in the sedimentary 

rocks; indeed, it is exceptional to find strongly mineralized veins in 

the igneous rocks in the districts described in this report. The mineralization of the ore bodies, except those at the Atlanta mine and 

at Gold Butte, as noted, is believed to have taken place soon after 

the time of intrusion. It appears that the mineralization about the 

centers of intrusion of the quartz monzonite and the related granite 

porphyry magmas was more intense than that about the centers of 

intrusion of the muscovite and biotite granite. It is believed that 

the ore deposits of all the districts except those just named were 

formed in either the " late Mesozoic " or the " early Tertiary " period 

of mineralization distinguished by Lindgren.1

At the Atlanta mine, in Lincoln County, the free-milling gold ore 

is found in a fault breccia involving a biotite rhyolite tuff of Tertiary age and is more closely related to the " late Tertiary " period 

of mineralization than to the earlier periods, to which all the rest 

of the ore bodies have been referred.

The age of veins in the pre-Cambrian granite gneiss and granite 

of the Gold Butte district is uncertain, though from lack of evidence 

to the contrary they are probably best assigned to the pre-Cambrian 

period of mineralization.

The more important ore deposits in the districts of eastern Nevada 

visited by the writer in 1913 are inclosed in sedimentary rocks and 

can be divided into three large types replacement deposits, contactmetamorphic deposits, and veins. Not all of these types are represented in each district, and in some places only one type is seen. Second in importance are the deposits inclosed entirely in granular

1 Lindgren, Waldemar, Metallogenetic epochs: Canadian Min. Inst. Jour., vol. 12, pp. 

102-113, 1910; Econ. Geology, vol. 4, pp. 409-420, 1909.

42680° Bull. 648 16 3 .;
34 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

igneous rocks, of which quartz veins are the most widely distributed 

type, though two deposits of disseminated character were seen. The 

Atlanta ore body, in part inclosed in Tertiary volcanic rocks, was 

the only deposit of this type seen in the course of the reconnaissance 

of the twenty-seven mining districts described in this report.

DEPOSITS IN SEDIMENTARY ROCKS. 

REPLACEMENT DEPOSITS.

There are replacement deposits in eighteen of the twenty-nine mining districts visited in 1913. Most of the deposits are oxidized lead 

ores carrying varying amounts of silver and some carry also zinc and 

copper. All the deposits of this type are closely related to fissures, 

and many of them are fissure replacements, although not a few bedded replacements were seen. In general, the replacement ore bodies, 

particularly those carrying more lead than copper, are at some distance from the intrusive rocks, but in the Hunter and Ward districts 

the igneous rocks as well as the sedimentary rocks have been replaced 

by lead minerals.

As a rule, the exploitation of these deposits has not penetrated the 

sulphide zone, and cerusite, anglesite, and residual galena are the 

principal metallic minerals encountered in the mining. Smithsonite 

occurs in varying amounts in some deposits but is absent from many 

of them. Copper carbonates and copper-bearing iron oxide, though 

not universally present, are very c.ommonly seen in the oxidized ores 

and in some districts form rather large ore bodies. In the Aurum 

district there are some peculiar silver ores in the oxidized zone, which 

consists almost entirely of pyrolusite carrying a little lead carbonate 

and silver, which is believed to be in the form of chloride.

In the Ward district, where the original sulphides have been cut 

in the mining, galena, sphalerite, pyrite, and chalcopyrite are the 

metallic minerals. At the Siegel mine, in the Aurum district, arsenical pyrite and galena are the original sulphides, and at the Signal 

mine pyrrhotite and pyrite are found in the unoxidized ores.

Replacement deposits, valuable chiefly for lead and silver, have been 

mined in the Dolly Varden, Mud Springs, Spruce Mountain, Ferber, 

Tecoma, Bristol, Patterson, Aurum, Duck Creek, Steptoe (Granite), 

Hunter, and Kern districts. In the Ward and Taylor districts, and 

in some of the deposits in the Aurum and Atlanta districts, the silver 

in the replacement ores is more valuable than the lead. Copper, which 

is accompanied by some silver and lead, is the most valuable metal 

of the replacement deposits of the Gold Butte, Ferguson Spring, and 

Bald Mountain districts and in some of the deposits of the Bristol 

district. In the replacement ores of the Willow Creek district the 

silver is more valuable than the copper. The slightly developed pros-
ORE DEPOSITS. 35

pects of the Warm Creek district give promise of being more valuable for zinc than for lead.

CONTACT-METAMORPHIC DEPOSITS.

In .9 of the 29 districts described in this report there are ore deposits 

containing minerals characteristic of contact metamorphism, but in 

two of these districts they are of little importance. In view of the 

number and the size of the intrusive bodies in eastern Nevada the 

lack of extensive contact metamorphism is peculiar. Much of the 

limestone near the intrusive bodies has been recrystallized, and in the 

recrystallization has as a rule been bleached of any decided color it 

may originally have had. The bodies of lime silicate rock, which 

are typical of the borders of so many intrusive masses, are, however, 

developed to only a slight extent in the region covered during 1913. 

Large bodies of the dark lime silicates are rarely met, and the few 

small lenslike bodies of contact-metamorphic minerals that are 

found near the intrusives are relatively inconspicuous. Among the 

lime silicate minerals noted during this reconnaissance light-green 

garnet is the 'most common and is followed in order of abundance by 

tremolite, diopside, dark-brown garnet, epidote, biotite, phlogopite, 

and clinozoisite. Quartz and calcite are present in varying amounts 

in these masses. Most of the contact-metamorphic deposits are valuable chiefly for their copper, but some contain principally lead and 

zinc, and one deposit of this type carries tungsten and bismuth.

Deposits of contact-metamorphic origin that are principally valu- 

'able for copper, but that carry some gold and silver, are found in the 

Delker, Dolly Varden, Ferber, Kinsley, Kuby Valley, Spruce Mountain, Aurum, and Bald Mountain districts. Most of these deposits 

have been but slightly developed, and in no district was absolutely unoxidized sulphide ore seen. The ores of the copper-bearing, 

contact-metamorphic deposits are copper pitch ore, limonite, malachite, chrysocolla, and azurite. Residual kernels of pyrite and chalcopyrite are found here and there, and in a few mines a little galena 

and sphalerite, with their oxidation products, are found with the 

copper ores. At Smith Creek, in the Ruby Valley district, galena 

and sphalerite, with cerusite and smithsonite, are more abundant 

than the copper minerals in some of the lenses of lime silicate rock, 

though in other bodies the copper minerals predominate. A few 

small bodies of lime silicate rock in the Ward district contain, besides garnet and quartz, some galena and pyrite.

A peculiar occurrence of scheelite and bismuth was seen at the 

Valley View prospects, on the east side of the Ruby Range. These 

ores occur in limestone intruded by narrow, much-altered dikes, 

along which the limestones have been changed to small lenses con-
36 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

sisting of clinozoisite, phlogopite, calcite, scheelite, bismuthinite, 

and native bismuth.

VEINS.

Veins that cut the sedimentary rocks were found in the Ravenswood district, in Lander County, in the Willow Creek district, in 

Nye County, and in the Cherry Creek and Granite districts, in 

White Pine County. In all these districts the veins occur in rocks 

believed to be of Cambrian age and most of them cut across the 

bedding, although at some places the veins and beds coincide in 

strike and dip. In the Steptoe (Granite) and Willow Creek districts the veins have not been extensively developed and free gold 

is the only valuable constituent of the ore, but here and there 

specks of pyrite are visible in the less oxidized ore. The gangue 

minerals are quartz and calcite, but in the Willow Creek district 

the rich "picture ore" is always associated with a green talc that 

seems to have been formed after the deposition of the quartz. In 

the Troy district large lenses of white quartz lie parallel to the bedding of the inclosing shaly limestones. The ores originally mined 

contained silver chloride associated with blue and green copper-bearing minerals and probably some of the rich secondary silver minerals. 

At a shallow depth the miners cut the water level, below which 

quartz, much of which is barren, contains some pockets of dark 

sphalerite and pyrite that chemical tests show to contain both 

copper and silver. Some of the veins in the Ravenswood district cut 

the Cambrian sediments; others lie parallel to the bedding and are 

generally of lenslike form. White and smoky quartz and barite are 

the gangue minerals, and are associated with chalcopyrite, antimonial galena, and tetrahedrite, which are said to carry some gold 

and silver. The sulphides are seen at the surface, but oxidation 

occurs to some extent to a depth of at least 240 feet. The oxidation 

products are chrysocolla, minor amounts of copper carbonates, 

anglesite, cerusite, and pyromorphite.

In the Cherry Creek district the veins have been more extensively 

exploited than elsewhere. They show a gradation from barrenlooking quartz carrying a little pyrite, galena, and free gold to veins 

composed largely of galena, sphalerite, pyrite, and quartz. The ore 

shoots occur in the quartzites of probable Cambrian age, but the 

veins are small and nearly barren in the interbedded micaceous and 

arenaceous shales. The ores are oxidized to shallow depths, below 

which, in the more productive veins, the rich secondary silver sulphantimonide minerals extend to the greatest depths to which the veins 

have been explored.
OEE DEPOSITS. 37

DEPOSITS IN GRANULAR IGNEOUS ROCKS. 

VEINS.

Quartz veins were found in the granular igneous rocks in 7 of the 

29 mining districts described in this report. In the Gold Butte 

district the veins are in granite and granite gneiss that are believed 

to be of pre-Cambrian age, but in the other six districts the veins 

are in intrusive granitic rocks that are believed to be either of late 

Mesozoic or early Tertiary age. In the Mizpah section of the Dolly 

Varden district and at Bald Mountain there are small bodies of 

leached mineralized quartz monzonite that somewhat resemble the 

disseminated "porphyry copper" deposits.

GOLD VEINS.

The narrow quartz veins in the pre-Cambrian granite of Gold 

Butte district are not strongly mineralized, and the zone of oxidation is shallow. Free-milling gold ore has been found in the upper 

parts of the veins, but at greater depth the gold is combined with 

the sparingly distributed sulphides, including pyrite and some chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite. In places fluorite occurs with the 

quartz, but it is nowhere abundant. The veins are either frozen or 

separated from the walls by thin selvage. Alteration of the wall 

rock by sericitization of the feldspars and chloritization of the biotite is not strong but is characteristic of the veins.

Veins that are valuable principally for gold and copper were 

found in the intrusive igneous rocks in the Delker, Dolly Varden 

(Mizpah section), Kinsley, Whitehorse, Troy, and Bald Mountain 

districts. As a rule the veins are narrow, rarely exceeding 2 feet in 

width and averaging about 10 inches. They consist of quartz carrying widely varying though nowhere large amounts of metallic minerals. In most of the veins the sulphide minerals are found at 

shallow depths and in some of them partly altered sulphides appear 

at the surface. Pyrite, chalcopyrite, and lesser amounts of galena 

and sphalerite are the characteristic minerals.

In the Mizpah section of the Dolly Varden district, Elko County, 

bismuthinite occurs in the ore and chalcopyrite is more abundant 

than pyrite. At Bald Mountain, in White Pine County, the quartz 

veins in the intrusive quartz monzonite carry stibnite and marcasite, 

besides cupriferous pyrite. Chemical tests show that traces of 

tellurium are present in this ore, but no telluride minerals were identified by the writer.

The solutions which mineralized the veins have also affected the 

adjacent wall rocks but only to a rather slight extent. The belts 

of altered rock on both sides of the vein are generally not wider than
38 NOTES ON" MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

the vein itself, but at some places they are as much as 15 feet wide. 

The alteration consists of a sericitization of the feldspars'and the 

ferromagnesian minerals, and the resulting rock is a soft white mass 

of quartz calcite and sericite, generally containing cubes of pyrite.

TUNGSTEN VEINS.

At the southeast side of Kern Mountains, in White Pine County, 

some quartz veins carrying hiibnerite have been prospected. Several 

closely spaced northeastward-trending veins which cut the muscovite 

granite have been opened to shallow depths. They do not cut the 

overlying sedimentary rocks. The quartz contains (besides the dark 

reddish-brown crystals of hiibnerite) fluorite, fragments of altered 

country rock, and crystals of mica.

DISSEMINATED DEPOSITS.

Two small bodies of highly altered quartz monzonite porphyry 

were seen during the summer of 1913 one at Mizpah, in Elko County, 

and the other at Bald Mountain, in White Pine County. The rock 

at both places is altered to a soft white mass of calcite, sericite, and 

quartz containing disseminated pyrite and possibly a small amount 

of chalcocite. The outcrop of the body at Mizpah is stained red, 

but the altered surface rock at Bald Mountain is only slightly ironstained. Neither of these deposits have been opened to show bodies 

of workable ore, but they may be the upper leached part of a body 

similar to that worked at Ely.

DEPOSIT IN BIOTITE RHYOLITE TUFF.

The Atlanta ore body, in the Atlanta district, Lincoln County, is 

different from all the other ore bodies seen by the writer in 1913, in 

that it occurs in a fault breccia that is made up largely of fragments 

of biotite rhyolite tuff but that contains also fragments of limestone 

and quartzite. Free gold and some silver are the valuable constituents of the ore and are carried in limonitic material which partly 

cements the breccia, but pyrolusite is found in considerable amounts 

in the richer ore. The mineralizing solutions were evidently very 

siliceous, for the fault breccia and the rhyolite tuff have been considerably silicified, and the limestone near the main ore shoot east 

of the fault has also been silicified to some extent. In some of the 

hard ore a platy structure similar to that of the gold quartz of the 

" late Tertiary deposits" is common, and the quartz in this kind of 

material is seen to be replacing barite. No adularia, a common 

gangue mineral of the late Tertiary gold ores, was found in the 

Atlanta ore.
OEE DEPOSITS. 39 

MINERALS IN THE ORE DEPOSITS.

For convenience of reference the minerals noted in the ores or 

closely associated with them are given below in alphabetic order, 

with brief notes on their occurrence. The list is obviously not complete, for many deposits in the region were not visited.

Amphttole. A light-colored fibrous amphibolite of the variety tremolite 

CaMg8 (SiO8 )4, identified from the Bi-Metallic and Victoria mines of the Dolly 

Varden district, associated with epidote and garnet in contact-metamorphic deposits and in the Ferber district with copper ores.

Anglesite=PbSOt, Forms thin envelopes around residual kernels of galena 

and is in turn surrounded by cerusite in the partly oxidized ores of the lead 

deposits. Particularly noticeable in the lead ores from the Ruby Valley or 

Smith Creek, Mud Springs, Spruce Mountain, Dolly Varden, Tecom'a, Ravenswood, Hunter, and Bristol districts.

Argentite (silver glance) =Ag2S. A soft black mineral that cuts like wax. 

Identified in some of the rich ores of the Star mine, Cherry Creek district, 

and probably present in ores from other mines of that district. Was probably 

present in the rich ores of the Aurum, Kinsley, Spruce Mountain, and Silver Park 

districts.

Arsenopyrite FeAsB. Silvery white to gray metallic mineral found at the 

Rustler mine, Willow Creek district, associated with argentiferous tetrahedrite, 

and at the Siegel mine, Aurum district, with pyrite and galena.

J42wi£e=Cu3 (OH)2(00)3)2. A brilliant blue mineral that occurs as thin 

films on joints in the oxidized copper ores of this region; widely distributed, 

but nowhere found in large amounts. Found with the rich silver ores of 

Kinsley, Cherry Creek, Aurum, Atlanta, and Willow Creek districts.

Barite (heavy spar)=BaSO4. A white vitreous mineral, commonly occurring 

in thin plates. Found with quartz as a gangue mineral of the ores at the Dead 

Horse mine, Mud Springs district, and at Ferguson Springs, with limonitic 

copper ore. In the siliceous gold ore of the Atlanta mine, Atlanta district, 

microscopic examination shows silica replacing minute crystals of barite.

Bismuth=Bi. Native bismuth, a silvery-white mineral, was found associated 

with bismuthinite, scheelite, epidote, rutile, and phlogopite in small lenslike 

masses of contact-metamorphic origin at the Hankins prospect, Valley View 

district.

Bism/u,tliinite=T$i£s. A lead-gray fibrous metallic mineral; occurs with 

bismuth and scheelite in the Valley View district. Found also in the siliceous 

pyrite veins of the Mizpah section of the Dolly Varden district and in the 

hiibnerite-fluorite veins at Regan, in the Kern Mountains.

Bornite (purple copper ore) =Cu6FeS4. Reddish-brown metallic mineral 

found closely associated with chalcopyrite in copper ores of the Lincoln mine, 

Gold Butte district; Crescent prospect, Ruby Valley district; Banner Hill 

mine, Spruce Mountain district; Butte Group, Dolly Varden district; and in 

the southern prospects on the Kinsley consolidated ground, Kinsley district.

Carnotite. A canary-yellow ocherous mineral containing uranium and vanadium. Found coating joints in ore and brecciated rhyolite tuff at the Atlanta 

mine, Atlanta district.

Cerargyrite (horn silver)=AgCl. A soft grayish-green or brown waxy mineral. Occurs in considerable amounts at the Silver Park mine, Atlanta district, 

and in smaller amounts in ores from the Morning Star mine, Kinsley district,
40 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

and Jackrabbit mine, Bristol district. Probably also present in minute quantities, in the highly argentiferous lead carbonate ores of this region.

Cerusite (lead carbonate )=PbC03. White to gray vitreous mineral, commonly ocherous. Occurs as crystalline masses and in the form of sand in the 

surface ores of most of the lead deposits. Results from the surface alteration 

of galena, and may carry silver. Is one of the most valuable ore minerals 

of the Spruce Mountain, Dolly Varden, Hunter, Ward, Red Hills, and Bristol 

districts.

Chalcocite (copper glance )=Cu2S. A rather soft, black metallic mineral. 

In this region found as an alteration product of chalcopyrite and bornite, coating or completely replacing the older sulphides. Generally coated with copper 

carbonates. Occurs in appreciable amounts in copper deposits of the Spruce 

Mountain, Dolly Varden, and Kinsley districts, and is common in the copper 

ores of the camps.

Chalcopyrite (copper pyrites )=CuFeS2. A bright-yellow metallic mineral 

found in varying amounts in all the copper deposits described in this report.

C/trysocoMa=CuSiOs+2H2O. A green to blue incrustation on joints in the 

surface ores of copper deposits. Often mistaken for copper carbonate, but 

can readily be determined, as it does not effervesce with acid. Is more common than the carbonates in very siliceous deposits, such as the Victoria and 

Eugene, at Dolly Varden, and in the quartz veins of Cherry Creek.

Copper pitch ore. Though not a distinct mineral species, this material is so 

commonly found in the surface ores of the copper deposits of eastern Nevada 

that it should be recognized. Lindgren 1 describes copper pitch ore from 

Clifton-Morenci, Ariz., as " a dark-brown to black substance, sometimes dull, 

but generally with glassy to resinous luster; hardness, about 4; streak, dark 

brown. * * * Most of these copper pitch ores * * * probably represent a series of closely related compounds." Chemical analysis shows that 

copper pitch ore is chiefly a combination of copper, iron, and manganese oxides, 

but may contain other oxides in varying proportions. The copper pitch ores 

of eastern Nevada are usually of some shade of brown, but from the Luray 

and Bristol districts a nearly black variety was obtained.

Cuprite (red copper oxide )=Cu2O. Dark-red masses of cuprite were noted 

in the surface ores from the Gold Butte and Bald Mountain copper deposits, 

and it is believed that this mineral is present in much of the limonitic copper 

ores of the Bristol district.

Enargite=GnsA.sSn. A black, brittle mineral, sometimes mistaken for gray 

copper. In the Taylor and Kern districts a silver-bearing enargite was found 

with galena and sphalerite in siliceous ores.

Epidote=Gsi2A.li(AlO'H.) (SiO4 )s. A peculiar yellowish-green mineral associated with garnet and amphibole in the contact-metamorphic copper deposits 

at Spruce Mountain, Dolly Varden, Kinsley, and Aurum districts. A light 

cream-colored variety, cliuozoisite, was found in the bismuth-tungsten deposits 

of the Valley View distrct.

Fluorite=Ga.F2. A medium soft vitreous mineral, usually found in cubical 

crystals in cavities, as in the quartz-pyrite veins of the Gold Butte district and 

in the quartz-hiibnerite veins at Regan, in the Kern Mountains. Occurs in 

microscopic crystals with pyroxene, pyrite, and sphalerite in a bed of metamorphosed shale in the Patterson district.

Galena=P\)S. A soft lead-gray mineral with metallic luster and cubical 

cleavage. Was found in practically every district visited. Occurs as replace1 Lindgren, Waldemar, The copper deposits of the Clifton-Morenci district, Arlz.: U. S. 

Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 43, pp. 114-115, 1905.
ORE DEPOSITS. 41

ment deposits in limestone, in quartz veins with pyrite and sphalerite, and 

in contact-metamorphic deposits with chalcopyrite, pyrite, and sphalerite. In 

this region it is usually argentiferous; in the Ravenswood district it is antimonial. In many of the districts visited galena is found only as residual 

kernels in the cerusite ores, but it is the chief metallic mineral of the Cuba 

mine, in the Granite district, and with pyrite, sphalerite, and tetrahedrite forms 

the ore of the lower levels of the Star mine, at Cherry Creek.

Garnet. A variable calcium-magnesium-iron aluminum silicate that in 

eastern Nevada is usually reddish brown or yellow brown. It occurs with 

epidote, amphibole, and pyroxene in the zones of contact-metamorphosed 

rocks in the Valley View, Spruce Mountain, Dolly Varden, and Aurum districts. Copper minerals are generally associated with the zones of contact 

alteration.

Gold. A soft, brilliant yellow metal occurring free and in conspicuously visible grains in the ore of the Melbourn and other calcite veins of the Willow Creek 

district, where it is always associated with green talc. Occurs free but usually 

in very minute grains at the Butte group, Dolly Varden district; Atlanta mine, 

Atlanta district; in the siliceous veins of Egan Canyon, Cherry Creek district; 

and in the Granite district. Gold has been recovered from placer gravels at 

Bald Mountain and Egan Canyon.

Hiibnerite. Supposed to be a nearly pure manganese tungstate. Occurs in 

large quartz veins at Regan, at the south end of the Kern Mountains. The 

veins are found in a coarse-grained biotite-muscovite granite. Fluorite, bismuthinite, and triplite are found with the hiibnerite.

L7)TOomfe=Fe2 (OH)oFe2 03. Earthy yellow to brown material found in the 

surface ores of every district described in this report. Particularly abundant 

at the Lincoln mine, Gold Butte district, and in many of the mines of the Bristol 

district. At Spruce Mountain plumbojarosite is intimately mixed with the 

limonite.

Marcasite (white iron pyrites )=FeS2 . A light-yellow metallic mineral found 

in small amounts with the pyritic quartz veins of the Bald Mountain district.

MaZac/w£e=Cu2(OH) 2CO8. Forms bright-green masses and crusts in the 

surface ores of the copper deposits in eastern Nevada. There are no large 

deposits of this mineral in eastern Nevada, though it is widely distributed in 

small amounts.

Molyl>denite='M.o&2. Small bluish-gray metallic scales were noted in siliceous 

pyritic ore of the McMurry prospect at Cherry Creek.

Phloffopite (bronze mica). Small flakes of red-brown mica occur with garnet, 

epidote, amphibole, and pyroxene in the contact-metamorphic copper-lead deposits of the Ruby Valley district and with the bismuth and tungsten bearing 

lenses of contact-altered limestone of the Valley View district.

Plumbojarosite. A complex lead-iron hydrous sulphate. Occurs as hexagonal flakes in the limonitic and cerusitic ores of the Tecoma and Spruce Mountain 

districts. May occur also in the Bristol lead ores, though it was not definitely 

determined.

Proustite (light ruby silver)=Ag8AsS3. Small crystals of a reddish-gray 

mineral with scarlet streak were found in the enriched silver ores of the Star 

mine at Cherry Creek and of the Silver Park mine at Atlanta.

P#n£e=FeS2 . A brass-yellow metallic mineral; crystallizes in cubes. Widely 

distributed with copper minerals in contact-metamorphic replacement and vein 

deposits but not so abundant in the replacement deposits carrying lead. Also 

commonly seen adjacent to quartz veins in softened igneous rocks that have 

been altered by the solutions that deposited the ores.
42 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTEEN NEVADA.

Pyrolusite=MnO2 . A. soft black mineral associated with the limonitic lead 

and copper ores of the Bristol and Bald Mountain districts and with limonite 

in the free gold ores of the Atlanta mine, Atlanta district. At the Siegel mine, 

in the Aurum district, large bodies of argentiferous pyrolusite were found in 

the upper levels and smaller bodies of similar ores were found at the Lucky 

Deposit mine, in the same district. In the Day (Jack Rabbit) mine, Bristol district, some large stopes of limestone replaced by argentiferous pyrolusite were 

mined in the lower leved. Small quantities of this mineral are generally 

present in surface ores of the copper deposits.

PyromorpMte=Pb!iG\.(PO*)a. A peculiar greenish lead phosphate, an alteration product of galena in the veins, occurs in small patches at Ravenswood.

Pyroxene. A fibrous iron-magnesium-aluminum silicate with a greenishwhite color and vitreous to resinous luster, associated with other lime silicate 

minerals in contact-metamorphic deposits. Variety diopside, determined from 

ores collected at Smith Creek and in the Spruce Mountain and Patterson districts.

ScheeUte=CsiWOt. Occurs as cream-white crystals in lenses of contactmetamorphic origin associated with phlogopite, rutile, and epidote at the 

Hankins prospect, Valley View district.

Silver=Ag. Native silver was found in the rich ores of the Rustler mine, 

Willow Creek district, associated with copper pitch ore that had been formed 

by the alteration of arsenopyrite and argentiferous tetrahedrite.

Smithsonite (dry bone)=ZnCO3 . A yellowish-white earthy mineral associated with the cerusite ores of the Warm Creek, Mud Springs, Tecoma, Aurum, 

and Bristol districts.

SpJialerite=7jnS. A yellowish-brown to black resinous mineral, with white 

streak, found in the pyrite-galena-quartz veins of Gold Butte, Troy, and Kern 

districts. In the district last named it is accompanied by enargite. It occurs 

with galena and enargite at Taylor and with galena and tetrahedrite at Cherry 

Creek. At Smith Creek it occurs in contact-metamorphic deposits with either 

galena or chalcopyrite, and at Patterson with pyrite, pyroxene, and fluorite.

fifti&TO£e=Sb2S8. A bright lead-gray to black fibrous mineral occurring in 

minute needles in the pyritic gold quartz veins of the Bald Mountain district, 

and having vivianite as its alteration product in small replacements of limestone.

Tetrahedrite (gray copper)=Cu8Sb2S7. A fine-grained dark-gray mineral, 

which in this region is generally argentiferous; determined in ores from the 

Ravenswood, Willow Creek, and Bald Mountain districts. At the Star mine in 

Cherry Creek it was found in considerable amounts, both as a primary and 

secondary deposition.

DEPOSITS AND MINES.

CLAEK COUNTY.

GOLD BUTTE MINING DISTRICT.

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Gold Butte district (No. 1, fig. 1, p. 18) covers the south end 

of the Virgin Eange, lying north of the big bend of Colorado River, 

west of Virgin River, east of Grand Wash, and south of Bitter 

Spring Pass. The mines are near the crest of the range, and the
GOLD BUTTB MINING DISTRICT. 43

principal camp at Voigt well is about 28 miles southeast of St. 

Thomas. (See fig. 2.) That old Mormon settlement at the junction 

of the Virgin and Muddy rivers is now served by a branch of the 

San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad, which leave the main 

line at Moapa.

LEGEND

Gold Butte Mining CoBonnella

New Era

Winona

8 BigThing

9 Finance

10 Cudice

IOMILES

Cent our interval approximately 200 feet

FIGURE 2. Sketch map of the Gold Butte district, Clark County, Nev., showing approximate topography, major geologic relations, and the positions of the mines, roads, and 

watering places.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The Virgin Range is composed of a series of more or less parallel 

northward-trending ridges north of Gold Butte, but south of that 

. latitude it is an irregular, deeply dissected mountain mass.

Its western face, as seen from St. Thomas, rises from the valley 

of the Virgin, whose elevation is about 1,200 feet above sea level, in 

a series of terraces to Gold Butte, whose elevation is about 4,500 feet 

above sea level. The eastern wall, on the contrary, rises abruptly 

from Grand Wash in a bold, steep slope to a northward-trending
44 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

ridge that is separated from the main mass of the mountains by a 

deep gorgelike canyon, which is followed by the road from Horse 

Springs to Greggs Ferry. (See fig. 2.)

The more or less parallel northward-trending ridges shown in the 

upper part of figure 2 have cliff-like western faces and more gentle 

though still steep eastward slopes. They are separated by moderately deep, straight canyons. The arrangement of these ridges brings 

out in a remarkably striking manner the faulted structure of that 

part of the area shown in the cross section.

The narrow well-marked valley between the regular ridges on the 

north and the irregular mountain mass to the south is a distinct 

feature of the topography. This depression follows a fault zone 

whose northern wall forms about 1-| miles north of Voigt well a 

prominent narrow ridge of nearly perpendicular eastward-striking 

sedimentary beds. (See PL II, B.)

GEOLOGY.

The oldest rocks in the Gold Butte district are pre-Cambrian 

granite, gneiss, and schist, which apparently \uiderlie most of the 

area south of and including Gold Butte. The sedimentary rocks 

forming the eastern and northern part of the area shown in figure 

2 are of Paleozoic age. Partly consolidated Quaternary gravels 

cover a considerable portion of the Grand Wash and are also seen 

along the Muddy and Virgin valleys.

PRE-CAMBRIAN ROCKS.

Biotite granite gneiss is the prevailing rock of pre-Cambrian age in 

the area south of Gold Butte. It is for the most part a light to dark 

gray medium-grained rock, which does not everywhere show gneissic 

banding yet in some places has been so metamorphosed as to have 

become a mica schist. It weathers in rather ragged blocks. The rock 

is composed of quartz, orthoclase, microcline, and some oligoclase 

with more or less abundant dark olive-green biotite. In the schistose facies the biotite is very abundant, but some variations of the 

gneiss contain only small amounts of the dark mica. The feldspars 

in most of the hand specimens collected are somewhat sericitized, 

and the biotite in one thin section is chloritized.

Gold Butte is a roughly elliptical mass of coarse-grained porphyritic granite about 4 miles long from east to west by 2 miles, 

from north to south. This rock has been intruded into the gneiss, 

but as it does not appear to have cut any of the sedimentary rocks 

it is thought to have been intruded in pre-Cambrian time, though its 

age is not certain. This view is somewhat supported by the fact
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 648 PLATE II

.1, NORTH SIDE OF GOLD BUTTE. 

View westward along the depression between the granite and the sedimentary rocks.

£. VIEW EASTWARD UP BITTER SPRING WASH, ABOUT 2 MILES WEST OF THE SPRING.

C1. SOUTHWEST SIDE OF GOLD BUTTE. 

Looking N. 40° E., showing the sheeting and weathering of the coarse-grained granite.
GOLD BUTTE MINING DISTRICT. 45

that the mass is broken by a closely spaced series of joints roughly 

parallel to the major northward-trending fault lines in the region. 

(See PL II, C.)

The rock is pinkish gray when fresh, weathers dull .brown in 

rounded forms, well shown in the illustration, and by disintegration 

has given rise to an immense amount of coarse arkosic sand, which 

fills the valleys north, west, and south of the peak. Over half the 

bulk of the rock in the hand specimens is feldspar; quartz is next in 

abundance and is followed by biotite and some hornblende. Examination of the thin sections under the microscope shows that the 

feldspars are of several varieties. Large phenocrysts of microperthite inclose small fragments of quartz and orthoclase. Microperthite, orthoclase, microcline, and a small amount of oligoclase are 

present in the coarsely granular groundmass. The biotite is dark 

olive-green and shows strong pleochroism. Green hornblende is not 

abundant and is usually closely associated with the biotite. Zircon 

and apatite are common accessory minerals.

Dikes of fine-grained nearly white aplite are seen in places in both 

the granite and schist. Pegmatitic masses consisting of feldspar, 

quartz, and biotite are abundant in the granite, particularly on the 

eastern peak of Gold Butte.

PALEOZOIC ROCKS.

The area mapped as sedimentary rocks on figure 2 is underlain by 

limestones and sandstones of Paleozoic age. At the base of this 

series west of the Bonnella mine (No. 5, fig. 2) there is from 75 to 

90 feet of light-colored sandy quartzite. At this locality there has 

been some strike faulting along the contact, and small pink garnets 

are developed in the quartzite. Upon the quartzite lies 100 to 200 

feet of reddish-purple shaly limestones, overlain in the vicinity of 

the Bonnella mine by light-gray crystalline limestones, which occur 

in beds from 6 inches to 2 feet thick and weather dull red. Interbedded with the limestone are some red and yellow lime shales, which 

are considered the equivalents of the lower part of the Cambrian 

Tonto group of the Grand Canyon section described by Gilbert.1

The beds dip east at steep angles on the contact, and at about 45° 

in the vicinity of the Bonnella prospect. They form a huge hogback that extends for several miles southward from the mine.

The northward-trending ridges north of Gold Butte, which are 

separated by faults, are composed of limestones dipping 45° to 60° 

E. (See fig. 2.) The main ridge, on which most of the prospects

i Gilbert, G. K., U. S. Geog. and Geol. Surveys W. 100th Her. Kept., vol. 3, pp. 162-163, 

184-185, 1875.
46 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

are located, is composed of thin-bedded, pinkish-gray crystalline 

limestones with much dark chert in some beds. There are branching 

twiglike bodies of calcite in certain beds, which somewhat resemble 

fossils, though no identifiable species were found in the small collection of the material brought in for study. Edwin Kirk, of this 

Survey, considers these forms pre-Carboniferous. Gilbert* describes 

similar markings on what he called lower Silurian limestone exposed 

at the mouth of the Grand Canyon. Along the west base of the ridge, 

west of the Lincoln mine (No. 2, fig. 2), there is a belt of darkcolored cherty limestone which appears to be much fractured. What 

is thought to be the bedding dips about 80° E. This belt is bounded 

on the west by a long, narrow outcrop of granitic rock which was 

at first thought to be intrusive but Avhich is now believed to be a 

faulted segment of the pre-Cambrian.

The two ridges on either side of the road from Bitter Springs to 

Voigt well are composed of light pinkish-gray limestone, which 

overlies a persistent 50-foot bed of cross-bedded dark-red sandstone, 

below which there is a considerable thickness of thin-bedded red 

and green calcareous shale and sandstone. In these beds, particularly the red sandy portion exposed for a mile south of Bitter 

Springs, gypsum is seen in small veinlets parallel to and cutting 

across the bedding. On some of the calcareous sandy shales ripple 

marks were noted. In a low saddle about 5 miles northwest of 

Voigt well a few fossils were collected from the upper limestone, 

which G. H. Girty, of the Survey, has examined. He found " Crinoid 

segments, large and small, together with fragments of a shell, which 

appears to belong to the genus Composita. * * * It seems probable that this lot is of Carboniferous age, and the lithology suggests 

Mississippian." The formations in these ridges are thought to represent the lower or middle part of the Redwall limestone, which is 

exposed at the mouth of the Grand Canyon and has been described 

by Gilbert.2

QUATERNARY DEPOSITS.

Bitter Spring Wash from Virgin Eiver eastward nearly to the 

spring is deeply intrenched in partly consolidated, nearly horizontal 

gravels (see PI. II, A), which rest unconformably upon other sedimentary rocks. The gravels include subangular cobbles of sandstone 

and limestone in a matrix of calcareous sandy cement and many 

lenses of sand. The bedding, though in most places distinct, is 

irregular. These gravels appear to have been deposited by moving 

water, rather than in lakes, and strongly resemble the Gila conglomerate of southern Arizona.

i Gilbert, G. K., op. cit,, pp. 184-185. 2 Idem, p. 178.
GOLD BUTTE MINING DISTEICT. 47

Spurr 1 thought these gravels might be of Pliocene age. Lee 2 

has described similar gravels at the mouth of Virgin River, which 

he named the Temple Bar conglomerate, noting their resemblance 

to the Gila.3 It is his opinion that they were formed in Pleistocene time, largely by moving water but partly in a lake formed 

behind a dam of basalt 800 feet thick, which was thrown across the 

Colorado Eiver valley, near the mouth of Williams River. The 

gravels along Virgin River are very similar to the gravel fill of 

Grand Wash east of the Virgin Range. A small part of these 

gravels is shown in the upper right corner of figure 2. In Grand 

Wash basalt flows are intercalated with the gravels, as noted by 

Marvine.4.

BASALT.

A considerable area southwest of Gold Butte is underlain by a 

dark greenish-black vesicular flow rock which is thought to be basalt. 

The rock was examined in the field at only one small isolated exposure and no specimens were obtained for study.

STRUCTURE.

According to Marvine 5 the northern part of the Virgin Range has 

an anticlinal structure. In the part of the range in the vicinity 

of Gold Butte, as will be seen from an inspection of the section on 

figure 2, there are two northward-trending faults, of considerable 

throw, which have divided the range into monoclinal ridges having 

an eastward dip. Besides these major northward-trending faults 

there are a number of less noticeable northward-trending breaks. 

The strike fault between the pre-Cambrian mass and the hogback 

east of Gold Butte is probably not of great magnitude.

This primary northerly trend is complicated by at least two faults 

with easterly strikes. Along the southern of these faults there was 

considerable displacement, as the pre-Cambrian gneiss is brought 

against Mississippian sedimentary rocks. At the contact the silicified 

limestones dip 80° N. for a short distance and then swing into the 

general easterly dip of the main ridge. (See PI. II, B.} Along the 

eastward-trending fault west of the road between Bitter Spring and 

Gold Butte the displacement was apparently not great. The dip of 

the strata north of the fault is to the east at about 45°. For a few

1 Spurr, J. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, pp. 131-132, 1903.

2 Lee, W. T., Geologic reconnaissance of a part of western Arizona: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 352, pp. 17-18, 1908.

3 Idem, pp. 58, 63-64.

< Marvine, A. R., U. S. Geog. and Geol. Surveys W. 100th Mer. Kept., vol. 3, pp. 196-198, 

1875. 

B Idem, p. 194.
48 NOTES ON" MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

hundred feet south of the fault the pinkish-gray limestones dip 20° 

S., but they flatten to nearly horizontal in less than half a mile.

ORE DEPOSITS. 

HISTORY AND PRODUCTION.

So far as could be learned the veins in the Gold Butte region were 

discovered about 1907 and were worked in the following two years. 

They were discovered by Messrs. Bonnella, Burgess, Syphus, and 

Gentry, all of Muddy Valley. In 1908 there was one rather mild " excitement " in the region, during which the townsite of Gold Butte 

was laid out in the flat west of Voigt well. In the fall of 1913 seven 

men ^were working in the district two at prospects near Greggs 

Ferry, on Colorado Kiver, and the remainder in the vicinity of Gold 

Butte.

So far as known the only ore shipiped from this district consisted 

of two small lots of oxidized copper ore taken from shallow workings 

in the Tramp Miner property and the Lincoln mine (Nos. 1 and 2, 

fig. 2).

CHARACTER AND OCCURRENCE OF THE ORES.

Two distinct types of ore deposits are found in the Gold Butte 

district replacement deposits in limestone and quartz veins in the 

pre-Cambrian gneiss and granite.

Small, irregular replacement deposits in limestone, most of them 

along minor fractures, have furnished the only ores shipped from the 

district. The ores consist o£ hematite, limonite, and lesser amounts 

of oxidized copper minerals. At the Lincoln mine a small amount 

of chalcocite, secondary after chalcopyrite and bornite, was found. 

In all the prospects in deposits of this type the ores seem to be' found 

most often at or near the surface. At the Lincoln, Bennett, and Bonnella mines tunnels 25 to 60 feet underground showed only slight 

mineralization, though the porous beds or fault breccias suitable 

for ore deposition were followed by the workings. It seems probable 

that these ores were formed by downward-moving cold waters not 

heavily charged with mineral and that all their metallic burden was 

deposited near the surface. They probably represent concentration 

along particularly favorable channels.

The age of these deposits is problematic, yet there is a suggestion 

that they may have been formed during that late period of geologic 

time in which a large number of copper deposits were formed in the 

"Ked Beds" of the Southwest.

The veins in granite and granite gneiss strike prevailingly northnortheast and have steep dips where they show any inclination from 

the vertical. Those seen are small and not strongly mineralized. 

Milky-white quartz is practically the only gangue mineral, though
GOLD BUTTE MINING DISTRICT. 49

fluorite was noted in the New Era vein. The veins have a strong 

tendency to branch and unite along the strike, but the branches rarely 

leave the lode for any great distance. All the veins show a central 

barren quartz filling, with the sulphides sparingly distributed next 

the walls. Pyrite is by far the most important sulphide, though chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite are seen. The outcrops are not 

strongly iron stained, as the metallic content of the veins is small, 

and for long distances barren white quartz alone is seen on the strike 

of even the most important veins.

The country rock adjacent to the quartz is slightly altered. The 

alteration of the coarse-grained porphyritic granite is more intense 

than the granite gneiss, though it is of the same character in both 

types of rock. The biotite is altered to chlorite, and the feldspars, 

particularly the plagioclase and microcline, are changed to sericite:

At the surface of the more heavily mineralized portions of these 

veins a little free gold has been found. It seems doubtful whether 

they will ever prove to be of much value because of the scarcity 

of sulphides in so much of the quartz and because of the low grade 

of the ore found below the water level, which is at most places not 

far from the surface.

DEPOSITS IN LIMESTONE.

Tramp Miner property. About 3 miles south-southwest of Mud 

 Spring, on the west side of the main ridge north of Gold Butte, there 

is a small group of claims known as the .Tramp Miner property 

(No. 1, fig. 2). This group is controlled by B. W. Whitmore, of 

Bunkerville, but was last worked by Bishop Whitehead, of Overton. 

The development consists of a number of inclined shafts following 

the ore zone, the deepest about 125 feet long, with short levels at 50 

and 100 feet.

The deposit occurs in limestones that clip east at medium angles 

along a more or less open bedding plane, near a zone of fracturing 

that is about parallel to the bedding. The ores are largely limonitic 

but contain irregular pockets and stringers of cuprite and malachite. 

It is said that the single small shipment of sorted ore from this 

property carried about 24 per cent copper to the ton.

Gud-ice claims. The Gudice claims (No. 10, fig. 2) are located on 

the summit of the main ridge about half a mile northeast of the 

Lincoln mine. They were not visited, but it is said,that the little 

development work which has been done shows iron oxide ore carrying some copper carbonates occurring in limestones, as at the 

Tramp and Lincoln mines.

Lincoln mine. The Lincoln mine (No. 2, fig. 2) is developed by 

a shallow incline and two tunnels located about halfway between the 

42680° Bull. 648 16 4
50 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

base and summit of the steep west face of the main ridge 3^ miles 

north of Voigt well. There were three claims in the group, originally controlled by H. W. Burgess. It is understood that no work 

has been done on the property since 1911.

The incline shaft, 50 feet long, dips to the east at 25°, following 

a bedding plane of limestone along which there are 8 to 10 inches 

of limonite. At the bottom of the incline a tight fault striking 

N. 10° W. and dipping. 45° W. cuts off the ore. The direction of 

movement along this slip could not be ascertained, though it seems 

probable from the nature of the faults in this region that the west 

side must have dropped with respect to the beds east of the fault.

The tunnels are 150 feet north of the collar of the incline, and the 

upper drift tunnel is 50 feet below it. This drift runs S. 35° W. for 

about 40 feet in light pinkish-gray crystalline limestone below a bed 

of pearl-gray limestone with abundant white chert. The ores occur 

in a narrow zone below the chert bed in small open watercourses. 

Limonite and occasionally small kidneys of green copper carbonate 

are irregularly distributed through the coarsely crystalline white 

calcite. In a piece of rich heavy dark carbonate ore some chalcocite 

was seen surrounding minute remnants of chalcopyrite and bornite. 

Fourteen tons of sorted high-grade copper ore was shipped from 

a pocket at the mouth of this tunnel.

The lower tunnel is about 75 feet below that just described. A 

crosscut 175 feet long runs S. 60° E., cutting, near the end, what 

appears to be the same porous limestone bed that was shown in the 

upper work. A few small stringers of limonite are exposed in the 

75-foot drift south along the zone, but no copper minerals were noted.

Bennett mine. The Bennett or Quartz King group (No. 3, fig. 2), 

belonging to Harvey Bennett, of Overton, covers a low hill a mile 

northwest of Voigt well. (See fig. 3.) The limestones of this hill 

strike north and dip east at steep angles. They are cut by a series 

of faults with small displacement which trend from north through 

northeast to east. On the west side of the hill there is a fracture 

striking N. 35° E. and dipping 50° ESE., along which there is a 

heavy clay gouge. The limestones for 15 feet west of this fault are 

replaced by massive red limonite and for 10 feet farther west by 

yellow limonite in gradually diminishing amounts. Near the south 

end of this body there is an inclined shaft said to be 100 feet deep, 

following the hanging wall of the ore. At the surface, particularly 

near the hanging wall, there are small veinlets and pockets of copper 

carbonate ore. The replacement is not complete, and even where the 

ore appears to be solid limonite there is a considerable amount of 

lime carbonate.

The two tunnels on the north side of the hill (see fig. 3) are driven 

along faults. The lower tunnel runs south for 100 feet along a
GOLD BUTTE MINING DISTRICT. 51

2-foot zone of limestone fault breccia, which is slightly limonitic. 

The movement along this fault was practically horizontal. The 

upper tunnel for the first 50 feet runs S. 10° W. along the east side 

of a limestone breccia, which is partly replaced by iron, and then 

turns S. 35° W. for 100 feet, following under a clay gouge in limestone breccia which is only slightly iron stained.

The long crosscut tunnel from the gulch southeast of the hill 

runs N. 18° E. for 200 feet parallel to the bedding of the limestones, 

which dips 40° E. It then turns diie north along a barren vertical 

fault breccia. One hundred and twenty-five feet from the mouth of

100 FEET

Fault and dip Ore zone 

Qffault

 Contour interval lOfeet

FIGURE 3. Sketch map showing approximately the topography and relations of the work 

at the Bennett mine, Gold Butte district, Clark County, Nev.

the tunnel a crosscut is turned N. 50° W. and has been driven 200 

feet to a fracture trending N. 80° E. and dipping steeply to the 

north, whi'ch has, been drifted upon 50 feet each way. This barren 

fracture is tight, and the movement along it formed no breccia.

Bonnella properties. The four Bonnella claims (No. 5, fig. 2) are 

about 6 miles east of Voigt well and half a mile east of the contact of 

the granite and the sedimentary rocks. The claims lie along the 

west side of the summit of the hogback formed by the upturned 

Paleozoic limestones. The principal development is in two short 

tunnels near the deep canyon which is cut through the hogback on
52 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

a line with the major eastward-trending fault north of Gold Butte. 

There are some shallow workings half a mile south of the road near 

the summit. All this work is along a bed of massive light bluegray limestone containing small irregular replacement lenses of limonite,- which at a few places on the surface carry small amounts of 

copper silicate. These replacement bodies are associated with 

fractures that strike northeast or east, cutting the bedding, which 

strikes N. 10° E. and dips 45° E.

.DEPOSITS IN GEANITE AND GNEISS.

Gold Butte Mining Co. The Gold Butte Mining Co. formerly 

controlled a group of claims covering the west end of Gold Butte 

(No. 4, fig. 2), on which several small quartz veins were found. 

These, as seen on the surface, have .a north to northeast course and 

are nearly vertical. The company drove a long crosscut tunnel southeastward under the butte from a point about half a mile east-northeast of Voigt well. This tunnel is about 800 feet long and for the 

first 440 feet trends S. 17° E. along a slip plane which dips 45° 

W. and is marked by a thin gouge, at which the tunnel turns S. 42° 

W., continuing for 135 feet. The coarse porphyritic granite is 

bleached and softened for 4 to 8 inches on either side of the fracture. 

Fifty feet from the turn two subparallel fissures about 19 inches apart 

strike N. 51° E. and dip 50° NW. Between these fissures the granite 

is so soft that it has " run " into the tunnel, leaving a cave about 15 

feet high above the roof. The granite for 15 feet on the side of the 

fissures is sericitized and contains some pyrite, which is more abundant near the fissures. The last 160 feet of the tunnel is driven on a 

tight slip striking N. 52° W. and dipping 85° SW., along which the 

granite is scarcely altered. Considerable water issues from this 

fracture.

New Era group. The New Era group (No. 6, fig. 2) of eight 

claims, of which three are on the main vein, is in the flat southeast 

of Gold Butte, not far north of the granite gneiss contact. It is the 

property of W. H. Listen and Scott Alien. The main work is a 

118-foot shaft, now under water below a depth of 40 feet, at which 

there is a 12-horsepower gasoline hoist. There are numerous shallow 

shafts and tunnels along the vein, which can be traced for a. mile. 

It strikes N. 85° E. and is nearly vertical in most of the places where 

it was.seen. The vein ranges in width from 2 to 4 inches, and here 

and there splits into stringers around small masses of the coarse 

porphyritic granite country rock. It is at many places frozen to 

both walls, but at others a thin clay selvage permits the quartz to 

separate from the granite. The granite along the vein is altered in 

a zone measuring 2 to 8 inches. In this zone the feldspars are altered
GOLD BUTTE MINING DISTRICT. 53

to sericite and a little calcite and the biotite to chlorite. The vein 

consists for the most part of white quartz, though one small aggregate of greenish-tinged fluorite was noted. The quartz is well crystallized, and vugs lined with small clear quartz crystals are common. Metallic minerals are sparingly and irregularly distributed, 

usually near the walls of the vein. Pyrite, largely altered to limonite 

.above the water level, is the most common mineral, though a little 

galena is occasionally found.

Winona group. The Winona group of two claims (No. 7, fig. 2), 

belonging to Levi Syphus and Harry Gentry, of St. Thomas, is about 

2 miles south of the New Era and 6 miles southeast of Voigt well. 

A white quartz vein, from 2 to 10 inches wide, which strikes N. 65° E., 

has been followed south for 200 feet by a tunnel. The vein is frozen 

to the granite gneiss walls. Pyrite and occasionally chalcopyrite 

are sparingly scattered through the quartz near the walls.

Big Thing tunnel. The Big Thing tunnel (No. 8, fig. 2) was 

driven by Olli Kosson. It runs S. 65° W. for 300 feet along a white 

quartz vein in granite gneiss. At some places altered gneiss for a 

width of 4 feet is cut by small stringers of quartz, and at other places 

the vein narrows to a single band of quartz about 8 inches wide. 

Chalcopyrite, galena, and sphalerite are here and there present in 

the border zone of quartz, which, however, usually carries only 

pyrite.

Finance group. The Finance group of four claims (No. 9, fig. 2) 

is owned by Messrs. Syphus and Gentry, of St. Thomas. The principal development is a whim shaft, said to be 140 feet deep, in which 

water stands at a depth of about 15 feet. This shaft is sunk on a 

lodelike body of altered granite gneiss that is cut by numerous veinlets of white quartz carrying some sulphides, which strikes N. 35° E. 

and is nearly vertical. At some places the zone is 4 feet wide; at 

others it narrows to a single quartz vein 10 to 12 inches wide.

The granite gneiss is chloritized along the vein, but at a distance 

of a foot from the quartz it is bleached and sericitized. Thin clay 

partings are seen at some places between the walls and the quartz, 

which has here and there been crushed. The sulphides occur at the 

outer edge of the quartz and are not abundant. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are the most noticeable metallic minerals in the partly oxidized ore seen on the dump, though some galena and a little sphalerite were noted. The oxidized iron-stained and copper-stained ore 

above the water level is said to assay from $18 to $20 a ton in gold 

and silver.

Other prospects. It is reported that two men are working a 

quartz vein in granite gneiss a short distance north of Greggs Ferry. 

This property was not visited. It is said that considerable develop-
54 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

ment work has been done and that the ore treated in a small stamp 

mill at Colorado Eiver yielded a small amount of bullion.

ELKO COUNTY. 

ORDER OF DESCRIPTION.

In Elko County, which was part of Lander County prior to 1870, 

there are at least 20 mining districts. 'During the reconnaissance 

made in 1913 the writer somewhat hurriedly covered the region 

south of the line of the Southern Pacific and east of the Ruby 

Mountains. Approximately correct positions of the 13 camps visited 

are shown on figure 1 and Plate I.

In the following pages the districts in the same range or group 

of hills are described together, the Warm Creek, Ruby Valley, and 

Valley View districts, on the east side of Ruby Range, being described first, and the Mud Springs and Delker districts in the Ruby 

Hills and Franklin Buttes following. The mines at Spruce Mountain, at the south end. of the Peoquop Range, are next discussed. 

The Dolly Varden (Mizpah) district, in the Wachoe Mountains, 

and the Kinsley district, in the northern part of the Antelope 

Mountains, are next described; next follow notes on the Luray, 

Ferguson Spring, White Horse, and Ferber districts, in the Toano 

Range. Lastly, the Tecoma district, at the extreme eastern border 

of the State, in the Goose Creek Hills, north of the Southern Pacific 

line, is described.

RUBY RANGE. 

LOCATION AND GENERAL FEATURES.

The Ruby Range, known to the geologists of the Fortieth Parallel 

Survey as the Humboldt Range, is in southwestern Elko County. 

The map of Nevada issued by the General Land Office in 1908 shows 

the main range as the Ruby Mountains and the smaller group of 

mountains east of Clover Valley as the East Humboldt Range. The 

main range is about 80 miles long, extending from latitude 40° N. 

to 41° N., and from longitude 115° W. to 115° 45' W. It trends 

about N. 20° E.

Elko, the county seat, about 25 miles west of the north end of the 

range, is the principal supply point for the settlements in South 

Fork Valley east of the mountains, though Halleck is the shipping 

.point. Wells, on the Southern Pacific, east of the north end of the 

range, is the shipping and supply point for most of the population 

of Ruby and Clover valleys, but of late years Currie, on the Nevada 

Northern Railway, has taken some of the produce. Elko naturally
o 

o

oo

Probably Permian PHoce~ne Recent andPennsyivaman

O O < CO ""I IP 3 S 2. f> 5L =r 2. 2. ^S o 3r sr ° o. at «;(Vt/> S g:^ 3..M i * gW ^ s; « ^?a

-Biotite gr ivf. On west ies quartzit -which, -may

"-S ^

POST-CARBONIFEROUS TERTIARY PROBABLY PROBABLY ORDO- OROOVICIAN? TO CARBON- TERTIARY QUATERNARY 

(May be Cretaceous CAMBRIAN CAMBRIAN AND VICIAN f CARBONIFEROUS IFEROUS 

orearly Tertiary) ORDOVICIAN
RUBY RANGE. 55

is not entirely abandoned as a base, particularly for the ranchers in 

Clover Valley. Prosperous ranches in the valley on both sides of the 

range are located at the mouths of the many streams which rise in 

the mountains. Ruby and Clover valleys, on the east side of the 

range, are particularly fertile, and a considerable area north of 

Franklin Lake (see PL III) is probably available for dry farming, 

as water stands near the surface.

TOPOGRAPHY AND DRAINAGE.

The Ruby Range' (see PI. Ill) is narrow and very rugged and includes some of the highest peaks in the State of Nevada. Its height 

and its ruggedness are accentuated by the fact that the valleys on 

both sides are broad, flat, and lie at a rather low elevation. There 

are three passes by which the. range can be easily crossed. Sacred 

Pass, the northernmost, is low and is traversed by an excellent road. 

Harrison Pass, formerly known as Fremont Pass, which crosses the 

center of the range west of the north end of Ruby Lake, is comparatively low. The road through this pass has recently been regraded 

by the United States Forest Service, so that it now can be easily 

traversed by heavy wagons. The old Overland Stage Road through 

Ruby Pass, formerly known as Hastings Pass, at the south end of 

Ruby Lake in White Pine County, has not been much traveled of 

late years, and the heavy rains in August, 1913, are said to have 

washed out most of the old grade.

The summit of the range is nearer the eastern than the western 

mountain front, and the east face of the mountains presents a more 

formidable barrier than the western face. The central part of the 

range, between Sacred and Harrison passes, shows the strongest and 

most rugged relief. South of Harrison Pass the crest of the range is 

generally even, though some high peaks break the level sky line.

In practically every canyon and gulch which heads in these mountains there are streams of good water, which is not the case in many 

of the ranges of Nevada. The streams usually sink a short distance 

after entering the valleys.

GEOLOGY.

AGE OF CERTAIN ROCKS.

The greater part of the east side of Ruby Range north of Harrison 

Pass is composed of light-colored granitic rocks that in many places 

exhibit a noticeable gneissic structure but in other places are porphyritic and show no indication of banding. The geologists of the 

Fortieth Parallel Survey regarded these granites, as well as a considerable thickness of hornblende and quartzitic schists that overlie
56 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

the granites on the western flank of the range, as of Archean age.1 

At a number of places on the flanks of the mountains isolated bodies 

of Paleozoic sediments rest upon the granite. A portion of sheet 4 

of the atlas of the Fortieth Parallel Survey, including the Kuby 

Range, is shown in Plate III. The mapping of the geology on the 

eastern side of the mountains is somewhat modified as the result 

of the present reconnaissance.

SEDIMENTARY BOCKS.

On the eastern side of the Ruby Range (see PI. Ill) there are 

three areas of sedimentary rocks. The largest of these is the outlying range of hills east of Clover Valley shown in the upper right 

corner of the map. On the atlas of the Fortieth Parallel Survey these 

hills are shown as Archean. They are composed of thin-bedded 

eastward-dipping limestones. Fossils collected at the Polar Star 

mine, at the southeast end of the ridge, indicate that £he beds at 

that place are probably of Permian age. This collection was examined by G. H. Girty, of this Survey, who has identified the following 

species:

Spiriferina pulchra? 

Composita subtilita var.

Batostomella sp. 

Procluctus nevadensis? 

Productus subhorridus?

It seems probable that some of the beds to the north and west of 

the Polar Star may be-Pennsylvanian, though it is thought that all 

the beds on the east side of this ridge are Permian.

The small area of sediments northwest of Smith's ranch, in the 

central part of the range, is much metamorphosed, and its age was 

not definitely determined. At the south there is a belt of lightbrownish quartzite dipping north, overlain by white crystalline 

limestones that are thought to be Ordovician. Both rocks have 

been intruded by fine-grained biotite granite which is somewhat 

gneissic.

West of Hankins ranch, opposite the south end of Franklin Lake, 

is the northern end of the body of Paleozoic sediments which form 

most of the Ruby Range south of Harrison Pass. The following 

description of this series is adapted from Hague's report.2

The sediments south of the area shown on "Plate III dip east at 

low angles. The lowest beds exposed on the west side of the range 

are white to brownish-white vitreous quartzite. The transition 

from the quartzites to the limestones next above is made in a very 

short distance. The limestones are light gray to gray buff for a 

thickness of 1,600 feet, to a line where the color becomes darker

1 Hague, Arnold, U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Kept., vol. 2, pp. 532-541, 1877.

2 Idem, pp. 529-531.
RUBY RANGE. 57

and the bedding much more massive. The limestones of the lower 

portion are interbedded with arenaceous shales; the upper massive 

beds are free from shales, and some beds are dolomitic. A bed of 

white quartzite from 200 to 400 feet thick overlies the limestone and 

is followed above by the dark-colored massive limestones that form 

all the eastern part of the range south of Harrison Pass. The geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey reported "Lower Coal Measures " fossils from the later limestones.

Spurr 1 notes that the lower quartzites may be the equivalents of 

the Cambrian quartzites of the Snake Range in eastern Nevada. 

It is the writer's opinion, based, it is true, on very slender evidence, 

that the lower quartzite is of Cambrian age and probably to be correlated with the Prospect Mountain quartzite, and that the overlying limestone formations include the whole series from Cambrian 

to lower Carboniferous. He is also of the opinion that the quartzite 

and overlying dark limestone seen west of Hankins ranch should be 

correlated with the Ordovician Eureka quartzite and the Lone Mountain limestone of the Eureka section.

The series of dark limestones, which is succeeded below by lighter 

limestones and interbedded shales, he is of the opinion are of Cambrian and Ordovician age, and probably include representatives of 

the Eldorado limestone, Secret Canyon shale, Hamburg limestone, 

Dunderberg shale, and Pogonip limestone of the Eureka district.

The broad level of Ruby Valley east of the range is broken by 

two large swamp areas called Franklin and Ruby lakes. At some 

seasons of the year these swamps are under water, and the southern, Ruby Lake, usually contains water. These two depressions have 

the characteristics of playa lakes, which are common in the desert 

country, but they differ somewhat from most flats of this type in 

that they receive more water than most of the Nevada playas. 

The valley is filled with fine sands and silts, and much of the northern part of the valley could probably be " dry farmed " to advantage. The soil is rich, as is shown by the luxuriant growth of sage 

and greasewopd, and many areas of rabbit brush bear testimony 

to the presence of water not far below the surface. Resting upon 

these silts along the base of the mountains there are small talus fans 

composed of bowlders of biotite granite mixed with finer sands and 

soil.

In the valley west of the range there are great deposits of partly 

consolidated, horizontally bedded sands and fine gravels of the Humboldt formation, which near the mountains grade into a coarser 

material. The bedding dips toward the axis of the valley at low 

angles.

1 Spurr, J. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, p. 60, 1903.
58 NOTES ON MINING DISTEICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

IGNEOUS EOCKS.

In the Ruby Range two distinct types of igneous rocks are exposed, whose distribution is roughly indicated on Plate III. The 

granite underlying the east side of the northern part of the mountains is gneissic in most exposures, though in some places it does 

not exhibit banding. It is a very siliceous rock and in most of 

its facies quartz is the most abundant mineral. Orthoclase is the 

common feldspar, though some thin sections show microcline, and 

one contains a small amount of oligoclase. Brownish-green biotite 

is the common ferromagnesian mineral, though a little light-green 

hornblende is present in some specimens of the rock. Apatite and 

magnetite are' the common accessory minerals, but magnetite is 

not abundant. In some varieties of the granite dark minerals are 

practically absent, but there are all gradations from these aplites 

through muscovite granite to biotite granite. Gneissic structure is 

common, due to the more or less parallel orientation of the mica 

flakes. There are, however, many exposures of fine to medium 

grained biotite granite and not a few bodies of pegmatitic granite.

These granites, which have been considered Archean, are intrusives, 

as is shown at the Friday and Short mines in Smith Creek, and at 

Sacred Pass. In these places dikes of the granite cut the sedimentary beds, and at Smith Creek belts of lime silicate minerals are 

developed along and near the contacts. In this locality, even in narrow granite dikes, there is a suggestion of gneissic structure. In his 

description of the Humboldt (Ruby) Range north of Fremont Pass, 

Hague* often alludes to garnet, fine black threads of hornblende, and 

prisms of actinolite developed in quartzites which form the western 

part of the range. His description casts considerable doubt upon his 

interpretation of the age of the granite. To be sure, its exact age is 

not known, yet it seems to be intrusive into early Paleozoic sediments. 

This rock does not resemble any of the late Cretaceous intrusives seen 

by the writer.

The " granite " of Harrison Pass, which extends northward to the 

vicinity of Smith Creek, was mapped by the geologists of the Fortieth 

Parallel Survey as an eruptive rock. It is a porphyritic quartz monzonite like that in many areas of the intrusive rocks of Cretaceous or 

Jurassic age in the State. Large phenocrysts of orthoclase are commonly well developed in a coarsely crystalline groundmass of feldspar, quartz, and biotite. Orthoclase and oligoclase-andesine are 

nearly equal in abundance in the rock, and together form at least 

two-thirds of its bulk. Flakes of dark-brown biotite are common, 

but some facies carry also hornblende.

1 Hague, Arnold, U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Rept., vol. 2, pp. 532-537, 1877.
RUBY RANGE. 59

The relations between this porphyritic quartz monzonite and the 

biotite granite mass of the north end of the range is not known. The 

scant evidence gathered during this reconnaissance seems to indicate that one may grade into the other. Both varieties show a 

marked westward-dipping jointing, which parallels the trend of the 

range, and in the porphyritic quartz monzonite some masses exhibit 

a rough gneissic banding.

ORE DEPOSITS.

LOCATION.

So far as known there are very fe\v prospects in the north end of 

Ruby Range. Three places on the east side of the range that show 

some mineralization were visited by the writer, and at a fourth, on 

the west side of the mountains, a little northwest of Smith Creek, 

there are said to be deposits similar to those seen at the Short mine.

HISTORY.

The earliest discovery of mineral on.the east side of the Ruby 

Range was made at Cave Creek, about 8 miles south of Harrison 

Pass. According to White 1 the northward-trending veins in limestone Carrying silver chloride and copper and lead carbonates were 

discovered in May, 1869, by Gen. Ewing, of the United States Army.

The next discoveries were the lead-zinc-copper ores of Smith 

Creek, which were opened by the Short brothers in 1903. The Short 

mine and the Friday properties, at the mouth of Smith Gulch, have 

produced a small amount of lead-silver ore. In September, 1913, the 

Short mine was under lease, and no doubt a small quantity of sorted 

lead-silver and zinc ore was shipped during the last year from this 

property.

TYPES OP DEPOSITSl

The deposits at the three localities visited are of distinctly different 

types. In the Warm Creek region lead and zinc carbonate ores 

are found in small, irregular replacement bodies along northwestward-trending fractures that cut limestones of probable Permian 

age. At Smith Creek the deposits of lead and zinc sulphides and 

copper carbonates and sulphides occur in replacement bodies associated with lime silicate minerals characteristic of zones of contact 

metamorphism. West of Hankins ranch scheelite and bismuth have 

recently been discovered in lenslike bodies of contact-metamorphic 

origin, which occur in early Paleozoic sediments intruded by quartz 

monzonite porphyry dikes.

1 White, A. F., State Mineralogist of Nevada Third Biennial Kept., for 1869-70, p. 62 

[1871].
60 NOTES OK MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

WARM CREEK DISTRICT.

Polar Star. The Polar Star group of eight claims (No. 1, PL III) 

was located, according to the notice at the main work, on March 15, 

1912, by T. J. Franks, M. E. Reed, and B. Woolverton. These claims 

are at the southeast side of the Warm Creek ridge, which lies east of 

Clover Valley. The main shaft is 5 miles southwest of Warm Creek 

ranch. The ridge is formed of light-gray, buff-weathering fossiliferous limestone and shales of probable Permian age. The beds strike 

N. 10° W. and dip 20° E. The principal development, on flat ground 

at the east base of the ridge, consists of an inclined whip shaft 64 

feet deep, which has a few feet of water in the bottom. This shaft 

is sunk between two minor faults, which strike N. 45° E. and dip 

at 68° NW. The slips are 4 feet apart at the surface and are marked 

by slickensided faces and narrow clay seams. The fossiliferous 

limestone between these planes is only slightly brecciated, and in 

places large, white calcite crystals have been developed. At a depth 

of 50 feet there are drifts 40 feet northeast and 20 feet southwest 

along the zone. In the face of the southeast drift the hanging-wall 

slip dips to the northwest at 40°, and the footwall slip straightens to 

a dip of 85°. At the top of the face, between the two fractures, there 

is a small opening in which a little lead carbonate and zinc carbonate 

has been deposited. At several places along the hanging-wall slip 

in other parts of the work there are small kidneys and stringers of 

lead and zinc carbonate ores, which occur as replacements in the 

slightly brecciated limestone.

Other prospects. Several pits and shafts have been sunk on what 

appears to be the same fractures southwest of the main workings. A 

little work has been done also on a small body of replacement carbonate ore west of the summit of the low ridge about half a mile 

west-northwest of the Polar Star incline.

RtTBY VALLEY (SMITH CREEK) DISTRICT.

Location and features of the deposits T\\z Ruby Valley district 

(No. 9, fig. 1), so far as could be learned, includes the mines in 

Smith Creek, whose mouth is about 2 miles northwest of Smith 

ranch and 6 miles north of Ruby Valley post office. (See PI. III.) 

The principal properties are the Friday group of nine claims, on 

the north side of the mouth of the canyon, and the Short group, at 

the forks of Smith Gulch, about 2 miles west of Ruby Valley. The 

Friday group was located in 1906 and was acquired by the Friday 

Gold Mining Co. soon afterward. The Short group of seven claims 

was located by J. F. and A. M. Short in 1903. The Michigan claim 

of this group is at present bonded to the Arthur Zinc Mining Co.
RUBY RANGE. 61

The mines of this district occur in a narrow belt of white crystalline limestones which ^strikes about N. 60° E. and dips 45° to 60° N. 

The bedding has not been entirely obliterated and seems to be parallel to the strike of the belt. The limestones continue to the summit 

of the range, and are said to extend across the mountains. Some 

lead prospects 12 miles southeast of Lee post office, on the west side 

of Ruby Range, are said to be in the same belt. These limestones 

have been intruded by a fine-grained biotite granite, consisting essentially of quartz, orthoclase, dark greenish-brown biotite, and a minor 

amount of oligoclase. The intrusion of this granite has metamorphosed the limestone at a number of places into lenses of lime 

silicate rock consisting largely of diopside and tremolite, with a 

little quartz. Phlogopite, the brown magnesium-bearing mica, was 

determined microscopically in specimens from one locality. Garnet 

does not seem to have been developed to any considerable extent. 

Some of these lenses contain galena, sphalerite, and more rarely 

chalcopyrite. So far as developed the ore bodies appear to be neither 

large nor persistent in any direction.

Friday group. The main development on the Friday group consists of a tunnel and open cut at the northeast base of the ridge north 

of Smith Gulch. The tunnel runs S. 70° W. for about 400 feet 

through a marmarized limestone, cut in an intricate manner by a finegrained light-gray granite. The granite consists essentially of quartz, 

orthoclase, and brownish-green biotite, the quartz constituting over 

two-thirds of the rock mass. The limestone in the ridge is a coarsely 

crystalline white rock, which near the granite has been metamorphosed to a brownish-pink aggregate of calcite and phlogopite and 

some quartz. In the small lenslike ore bodies greenish tremolite in 

large, pearly radial forms is intergrown with quartz and the sulphides. Galena is the most abundant sulphide, though copper sulphide must have been present, as there is a small amount of copper 

carbonate in the surface ore. Cerusite and anglesite coat some of the 

galena.

The Crescent workings, in flat ground, about one-fourth mile east 

of the tunnel, consist of a shallow shaft on a vertical fracture trending N. 15° W. and cutting white crystalline limestone and lime silicate rock. No igneous rocks are exposed in the immediate vicinity, 

yet the limestone is altered to a heavy green rock consisting almost 

wholly of diopside and tremolite. Sulphides are not abundant here, 

but a small amount of copper carbonates occurs along the fissure, 

and specks of bornite surrounded by iron oxide and malachite are 

seen in the rock near the fracture.

Short group. The Short group covers a limestone spur between 

the two forks of Smith Gulch. From the north fork a tunnel 250 

feet long has been driven S. 85° W. through white crystalline lime-
62 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

stones, which apparently dip north-northeast at fairly steep angles. 

Three dikes of biotite granite are exposed in the tunnel. The limestones are only slightly metamorphosed, even at the sharp contacts, 

though some brown garnet was noted along one dike in which the 

granite for an inch from the contact contains practically no mica. 

On the surface south of the tunnel mouth large masses of tremolite 

and diopside occur along what appear to be the same dikes that are 

exposed in the tunnel. Galena, sphalerite, and a little chalcopyrite, 

with their oxidation products, are sparingly distributed through all 

these lenses of lime silicate rock.

The Michigan incline is 80 feet deep and dips 45° N. A 50-foot 

drift has been driven to the west from its bottom. This incline is 

about parallel to the bedding of white crystalline limestone, and is 

only a few feet north of a contact of limestone and granite. The 

contact is intrusive, and in the workings there are a number of small 

dikes. The ore makes in lenslike masses parallel to the bedding, 

which consists of radial tremolite, crystalline galena, and dark-brown 

sphalerite. Some bodies are largely sphalerite; others are nearly 

pure galena; yet both minerals seem to be present in all the ore. The 

galena ore is said to carry about 4.5 ounces of silver per ton. Along 

fissures cutting both wall rock and ore there has been a slight amount 

of oxidation, but sulphides surrounded by thin crusts of anglesite 

and cerusite were found directly at the surface.

In a near-by prospect chalcopyrite as well as galena and sphalerite 

is present, though the copper minerals do not seem to be particularly 

abundant in this vicinity.

VALLEY VIEW DISTRICT.

Hankins property. The Valley View prospect (No. 12, fig. 1, p. 

18), known as the Hankins property, after its discoverer, is on the 

eastern side of the Ruby Range, 10 miles south-southwest of Ruby 

Valley post office, opposite the south end of Franklin Lake. (See PI. 

III.) Native bismuth was discovered here early in 1913, and the development on the group of 10 claims consisted at the time of visit of a 

few shallow shafts and a number of trenches. Atkins, Kroll & Co., of 

San Francisco, CaL, who had the property under bond in September, 

were prospecting for scheelite with fair results.

The deposit occurs in white crystalline limestone, a belt of which 

about 600 feet wide lies between quartzite to the west and north and 

dark contorted arenaceous limestone to the south. A number of 

small faults cut these formations, and locally the dark, thin-bedded 

limestones show intricate contorted folds. The edge of the main 

mass of intrusive porphyritic quartz monzonite is nearly half a mile
RUBY RANGE. 63

west of the prospect. Offshoots from this intrusive have invaded 

the sedimentary rocks, usually as narrow dikes parallel to the major 

structure. Most of the dikes are fine to medium grained porphyritic quartz monzonite containing few ferromagnesian minerals. 

Quartz, orthoclase, and greenish-brown biotite are the phenocrystic 

minerals and, together with oligoclase, make up the groundmass. 

One dike apparently grades into a dark porphyry with prominent 

altered plagioclase phenocrysts set in a groundmass of labradorite, 

green amphibole, biotite, and quartz.

Along these small dikes, which ranged in width from a few inches 

to 8 feet, there has been as a rule only slight contact metamorphism. 

In the dark arenaceous limestone chlorite, epidote, and little lightgreen pyroxene have been developed for a few inches from the contacts. The white crystalline limestone has been more intensely 

altered, though the lime silicate zones are narrow and are not particularly noticeable except on close inspection. Some dikelike bodies 

consisting of phlogopite, rutile, and light-green pyroxene seem to 

represent highly metamorphosed beds of limestone rather than intrusive bodies.

Small lenslike bodies of ore are exposed in a number of pits. 

Most of these bodies are near dikes and, like them, parallel the general structure. They usually consist of two more or less welldefined zones. The outer, which is frozen to the coarse calcite crystals 

of the walls, consists of an intergrowth of pod-shaped white crystals 

of scheelite, the largest half an inch in diameter, of large flat greenish-yellow crystals of epidote, and of quartz, chlorite, and calcite. 

Thin sections of this material studied under the microscope show 

that the scheelite at least is a metasomatic replacement of calcite. 

Near the center of the lens native bismuth and pyrite begin to appear. 

The central part of the lenses are usually fine-grained aggregates of 

quartz, phlogopite, and light-green to white pyroxene, in which there 

are small crystals of pyrite, bismuthinite (Bi2S3 ), and native bismuth. Whether these aggregates were originally dikes is not certain, 

though in one pit the suggestion was strong that an 8-inch highly 

altered dike formed the center of the vein. In another pit the center 

of the lens consisted of an aggregate of quartz, phlogopite, and 

pyroxene, with the metallic minerals sparingly distributed through it.

The development was not sufficient at any place to warrant a statement as to the probable continuance of these deposits with increase 

of depth, but the fact that any particular lens of ore does not extend 

for many feet on the surface would raise the question whether any 

large body of ore would be found.
64 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTEE.N NEVADA.

MUD SPRINGS DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Mud Springs district (No. 8, fig. 1, p. 18), sometimes called 

the Medicine Springs district, is at the north end of the .Ruby 

Hills, which form the southeast side of Ruby Valley. The prospects are in the low hills west of Mud Springs Canyon and 6 miles 

northwest of Hamilton Butte, the highest point of the range. They 

ure about 20 miles by road southeast of Ruby Valley "post office. 

Currie, on the Nevada Northern Railway, the nearest shipping point, 

is about 40 miles away by road toward the east-southeast. Wells, 

on the Southern Pacific, is 60 miles north of the main camp. There 

is a good supply of water at Mud Spring, 2 miles to the east, and 

at Medicine Spring, 5 miles northwest of the Deadhorse camp.

GEOLOGY.

All the north end of the Ruby Hills is composed of drab and creamcolored limestones, cherty in many places, in beds 2 to 4 feet thick. 

In the vicinity of the Deadhorse camp a 75-foot bed of yellow calcareous shale and a 25-foot bed of light buif-colored sandy quartzite 

are interbedded with the limestone. In all the low hills north and 

west of Hamilton Butte the limestones dip 10°-15° E. Hague 1 reports that in Hamilton Butte there is a very low westward dip, 

showing a general shallow synclinal structure for the whole group. 

He noted the presence of fossils in many of the limestones and says 

that " they probably represent the upper horizon of the Wahsatch 

limestone." The collections of fossils made by the writer at Medicine Spring, at a prospect a mile south-southwest of Deadhorse, and 

a short distance northwest of the Deadhorse shaft, have been examined by G. H. Girty, who reports the following species:

Derby a? sp. 

Batostomella sp. 

Productus nevadensis? 

Lioclema sp.

Chonetes utahensis. 

Productus (Aulosteges?) sp. 

Spirifer sp. 

Spiriferina pulchra.

These fossils, he says, denote a Permian age for the beds. It 

seems probable that all the formations in the northern part of 

these hills are of the same age, yet some of the limestones along the 

western side of the group may be upper Pennsylvanian.

ORE DEPOSITS.

History and development. It is said that the first discoveries of 

mineral in this vicinity were made in 1910 by Sam Backman, Garfield Bardness, and Fred Martin. The Deadhorse claim, which has

1 Hague, Arnold, U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Rept, vol. 2, pp. 490-491, 1877.
MUD SPRINGS DISTRICT. 65

more development than any other, was located in January, 1911. It 

is now owned by the Nevada Dividend Mining Co., which has sunk 

a vertical shaft 114 feet deep. A station at the 100-foot level had 

been cut and sinking was in progress at the time of visit (September, 1913). Hoisting is done by bucket and whim. On most of the 

other claims in the district little more than location work had been 

done. No ore had been shipped from the camp up to September, 

1913.

Character of the deposits. The deposits are replacements of limestone along small brecciated fractures which strike north to N. 35° E. 

and dip east at steep angles. . In most of the open cuts limonite and 

more or less lead and zinc carbonates and barite constitute the ore. 

At the Deadhorse property residual galena has been found irregularly scattered through the ore, which is largely oxidized to a depth 

of 114 feet. At a number of places there are fair surface indications, 

but it seems doubtful if the metallization is extensive. The hills 

have a relatively undisturbed geologic appearance.

Deadhorse property. The Deadhorse group of five claims (No. 5, 

PI. Ill) is in a saddle southeast of a small butte which is capped 

by brownish-colored sandy quartzite. Under the quartzite there are 

75 feet of yellow to buff calcareous shales, which rest upon the buff 

and drab f ossiliferous limestones in which the ore occurs.

The ore follows a N. 35° E. fracture which dips 80° E. The croppings are 2 to 3 feet wide, stand 1 to 2 feet above the surface, and are 

traceable for over 1,500 feet along the strike of the ledge. They consist of calcite, quartz, and barite, with irregularly distributed small 

pockets of lead carbonates and sulphates. , At the 100-foot level a subparallel fracture 12 feet from the main 

one is exposed in an east drift. The limestone between the two is 

somewhat brecciated, but no marked movement is apparent along 

either slip. In each the brecciated limestone next to the walls is 

slightly iron stained. On the hanging-Avail side there is a foot of 

ledge matter carrying small irregular pockets and stringers of galena 

surrounded by anglesite and cerusite, and on the f ootwall side there is 

4 to 6 inches of iron-stained material. Barite is particularly abundant in -the vicinity of the small lead pockets.

Other prospects. An open cut and shallow shaft oh the Madison 

claim (relocated Jan. 1, 1912, as the Jackpot) is 1 mile southsouthwest of the Deadhorse. The light brownish-gray fossiliferous 

limestones dip 15° E. in this locality. A fracture with a northsouth strike and a dip of 80° E. cuts the beds but shows little or no 

movement. For 2 feet on either side of the open crack the limestone 

is altered to a porous mass of iron oxide carrying some cerusite and 

smithsonite, and in some of the cavities small well-developed crystals 

42680° Bull. 648 16 5
66 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

of calamine and cerusite. Barite is present in varying quantities. 

No sulphides are exposed in the shallow cut.

South and east from the Deadhorse shaft a number of shallow 

pits and open cuts disclose oxidized lead-zinc ores, which occur as 

replacement deposits along more or less vertical, north-striking 

fissures.

DELKER DISTRICT. 

LOCATION.

The Delker district (No. 2, fig. 1, p. 18) is on the northeast side of 

Delker Hill, the easternmost of the low hills which rise in the plain 

east of Kuby Lake and which were called the Franklin Buttes by the 

geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey. These hills are in latitude 

40° 25.' N. and extend from longitude 115° to 115° 7' W. (See PL 

III.) Currie, on the Nevada Northern Kailway, the shipping point, 

is about 25 miles southwest of the mines.

GEOLOGY.

According to Hague 1 the buttes are for the most part composed 

of granitoid rocks. Hague notes, however, the presence of " Lower 

Coal Measure " limestones at the southeast side of the eastern butte. 

He says: " * * * The rocks which form these buttes present an 

interesting gradation from a syenitic granite, through granite porphyry, into genuine f elsite porphyry." From the description of these 

various phases of intrusive rocks, all of which contain both orthoclase and plagioclase feldspar with quartz and biotite, it would seem 

that they are best referred to the quartz monzonite series, which at 

many exposures in the State shows the gradations noted by Hague. 

A thin section cut from a specimen of the intrusive rock collected 

by the writer near the prospects at the northwest side of the east 

butte, shows an inequigranular rock consisting essentially of feldspar 

with quartz, brown biotite, and a little light-green hornblende. 

Oligoclase-andesine exceeds the orthoclase in amount in this particular specimen. It is not porphyritic, though farther south along 

the west side of the butte some rock which appeared to carry the 

same minerals was porphyritic.

ORE DEPOSITS.

History and economic conditions. So far as could be learned 

copper ores were first discovered at Delker in 1894. A little prospecting has been done annually since the discovery, but it is said 

that no ore has been shipped. It is understood that the deposits are

i Emmons, g. F., U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Rept., vol. 2, pp. 491-493, 1877.
SPRUCE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT. 67

largely controlled by J. P. St'ratton, of Cherry Creek, and William 

Griswald, of Euby Valley.

Water has to be hauled from Delker Spring (shown on sheet 4 of 

' the atlas of the Fortieth Parallel Survey as Locust Spring), at the 

south end of the-east butte, or from a spring on M. L. Atwood's ranch, 

iibout 5 miles east of the mines.

A little jumper grows on the buttes, but timbers for mining use 

must be hauled from Spruce Mountain, 25 miles north-northeast.

Types of deposits. At the prospects the quartz monzonite is intrusive into some poorly exposed limestones and interbedded quartzites. Lime silicate zones are developed at a number of places along 

the contact, and copper carbonate ores were seen in a number of 

prospect pits associated with the contact-metamorphic minerals. 

One of the larger workings on the contact is a 50-foot incline shaft 

that follows the quartz monzonite footwall, which strikes N. 70° W. 

and dips 60° N. The intrusive rock also carries a few veinlike deposits along fractures that strike approximately N. 35° E. and dip 

80° NW.

The chief metallic minerals seen are chrysocolla, malachite, and a 

small amount of azurite. Copper pitch ore is present. Some fairly 

large masses of greenish jasperoidal rock are probably mostly chrysocolla. In one specimen a very minor amount of the chalcocite was 

noted.

SPRUCE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Spruce Mountain district (No. 10, fig. 1, p. 18) covers Spruce 

Mountain, the southwestern peak of the Gosiute Range, and lies a 

few miles west of longitude 114° 45' and north of latitude 40° 30'. 

The mines are on the west and north flanks of the peak, which, 

according to the geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey,1 has an 

elevation of 10,400 feet above sea level. The principal supply points 

are Wells, on the Southern Pacific, about 45 miles north, and Currie, 

on the Nevada Northern Railway, 24 miles southeast. Freight is 

hauled to and from Tobar siding, on the Western Pacific Railway, 

21 miles north. *

TOPOGRAPHY.

Spruce Mountain is a somewhat isolated peak west of the axis of 

the main range, with which it is connected by comparatively low 

hills.' It rises nearly 4,000 feet above the flat valleys which surround 

it on all but the eastern side, presenting a rugged topography, particularly to the south and east. Northward a long ridge extends for 

some miles into Antelope Valley.

1 Hague, Arnold, U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Rept, vol. 2, p. 505, 1877.
68 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

GEOLOGY. ' 

SEDIMENTARY KOCKS.

The larger part of the mountain is composed of dark blue-gray A 

limestones in 1 to 4 foot beds, interbedded with some shales and 

quartzites. The structure is complicated by a number of faults, but 

northwest of Spruce Mountain, where the beds are least disturbed, 

it is estimated that the limestones are 2,000 to 3,000 feet thick. They 

were considered to belong to the "Lower Coal Measures" by-the 

geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey,1 who collected the following fossils on the summit and northwest side of the peak:

Productus costatus. 

Productus sernireticulatus. 

Productus nebrascensis.

Eumetria punctulifera. 

Fusulina cylindrica. 

Trematopora.

Among a few fossils collected by the writer at the west base of 

the mountain and in the saddle between Spruce Mountain and Banner Hill (see fig. 4) Dr. Girty identified the following species, which 

he considers indicative of Mississippian age:

Crinoid fragments. 

Stenopora? sp. 

Echiuocrinus sp.

Amboccelia? sp. 

Lithostrotion? sp. 

Chonetes platynotus?

Syringopora? sp.

IGNEOUS ROCKS.

Near the summit of Spruce Mountain there are a number of small, 

poorly exposed bodies of igneous rock. The geologists of the Fortieth 

Parallel Survey 2 noted the presence of both basic and acidic intrusives.

On the north slope of Spruce Mountain, east of the saddle between that peak and Banner Hill, there is a small stock of porphyritic granite with prominent quartz and altered orthoclase phenocrysts. It is light in color, breaks in angular fragments, and contains few iron-bearing minerals, though it is somewhat iron stained 

on the surface. Thin sections of this rock examined microscopically 

show the groundmass to be composed of a granular intergrowth of 

quartz and a feldspar that seems to have been largely orthoclase but 

that is now entirely altered to sericite, quartz, and calcite. No 

original ferromagnesian minerals are seen in the thin section, though 

a little chlorite and iron oxide are present. There are other small 

dikes of similar rock, though no body so large as the one just described was noted elsewhere in. the district.

1 Hague, Arnold, op. cit., pp. 510-511. ? Idem, pp. 511-512.
SPRUCE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT. 69

On Banner Hill and the ridge west of it there are a few small dikes 

of diorite and diorite porphyry. Wherever seen this type of 

igneous rock is highly altered. The most altered rocks are brownish,

 -s *»

£ vl I L

k y g x,i h

c So

 O C C Q. -2 >,=

rather soft, and easily eroded; less highly altered holocrystalline 

rocks are greenish brown and of medium grain. The hornblendes 

are readily determined in the field, though they show some altera-
70 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

tions, but the feldspars are largely altered. Thin sections of the 

rocks from two different bodies show well-crystallized, dark greenishbrown hornblende altering to chlorite and epidote, intergrown with 

feldspar, which in both slides is so much altered that its character 

can not be determined. Its outlines, however, suggest plagioclase. 

The alteration products are calcite, sericite, and iron oxide. A small 

amount of quartz is present in both rocks, but most of it is believed 

to be secondary. Apatite is abundant, particularly in the dike northwest of the Killie shaft.

CONTACT METAMORPHISM.

The limestones have not suffered much contact metamorphism 

along these dikes, though there is a 2-foot zone of greenish lime silicate rock along a dike on Banner Hill, and in the long drift from 

the Killie shaft there is a 12-foot zone of mineralized silicate rock 

between the granite porphyry and limestone. Light-greenish garnet 

is the most common metamorphic mineral, though a little diopside is 

present in the contact zone near the diorite dike on Banner Hill.

STRUCTURE.

Spruce Mountain seems to have been formed as an anticlinal 

fold but to have been much modified, in the vicinity of the mines, 

by the intrusion of the igneous rocks and by two nearly parallel 

normal faults, striking approximately N. 20° E. and dipping as 

shown in figure 4. The western fault seems to have been the larger, 

and is marked by a rather prominent scarp and by several springs 

along its strike. A line of secondary faulting is seen on the west 

slope of Banner Hill. The eastern major fault is shown in a saddle 

on the east side of the summit of Spruce Mountain, and what is 

probably the same fault is cut by workings at the Black Forest 

mine. Both of these faults are thought to have steep dips. (See 

fig. 4.) -

The position of the granite porphyry intrusives is near the fault 

zones. Underground, in the Killie shaft, the porphyry mass, apparently the same as that near the Black Forest and Fourth of July 

mines, extends farther west and north than it does on the surface.

West of the west fault, between Old Sprucemont (abandoned) 

and the divide in which the mines are located, the limestones lie 

essentially horizontal, though showing some minor breaks. Between 

the two major faults the beds, owing to minor faults and the intrusion of the igneous rocks, show considerable diversity in dip, inclining northeast, east, or southeast at low angles. Eastward from 

the east fault the limestones dip east, at first steeply but within a 

short distance only moderately.
SPRUCE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT. 71

A fault which strikes N. 35°-40° E. and dips 50° NW., not exposed 

on the surface, is seen in the Keystone and Copper Queen workings. 

It is a strong normal fault with a belt of crushed limestone 30 feet 

wide along its northwest side. The hill northwest of the fault is 

covered with a deep accumulation of talus, soil, and rubble, as is 

clearly shown in the Copper Queen tunnel and in the northern surface workings of the Keystone.

. MINERAL DEPOSITS. 

HISTORY AND PRODUCTION.

According to Raymond x the discovery of lead-silver ores at Spruce 

Mountain was made in 1869 at the Latham mine. In 1871 2 the 

three original districts Latham, Johnson, and Steptoe were combined to form what is now the Spruce Mountain district, which includes all of the mines in this vicinity. The principal mines in the 

early days were the Latham, Juniper, Fourth of July, and Black 

Forest. The Ingot Mining Co. v acquired the Latham mine and several others in 1871, and in 1872 built a 4|-foot Philadelphia type 

smelter at Sprucemont to treat the lead carbonate ores. This furnace never proved a success, partly because of lack of iron for fluxing and small supply of water and partly because of the presence 

of considerable copper arid not much silver in the ore. For a short 

while 35 tons of ore were smelted daily. The furnace was shut down 

in 1873 and, so far as could be learned, has not been "blown in" 

since. At present there is a 50-ton furnace belonging to C. M. 

Spence in the lower part of the valley northeast of Spruce Mountain. It is said to have smelted a considerable tonnage of ores from 

the Black Forest mine for some years prior to 1910.

Just previous to the panic of 1907 it is said that there was a shortlived revival of activity in the camp. In September, 1913, less than 

10 men were operating in the district and only one small shipment 

had been made by lessees on the Keystone property during the year.

There are no reliable figures of the early production from the 

various mines. One estimate of the total output from the Monarch, 

Latham, Killie, Banner Hill, Black Forest, Spruce, Juniper, and 

Fourth of July is $700,000. The following table of production for 

the period from 1902 to 1912, inclusive, is taken from the Mineral 

Resources reports of the United States Geological Survey.

1 Raymond, R. W., Statistics of mines and mining in the States and Territories west of 

the Rocky Mountains for 1870, p. 152, 1872.

2 Idem for 1872, pp. 160-161, 1873.
72 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA. 

Promotion of the Spruce Mountain district, Elko County, Nev., 1902-1912.

Year.

1902. . .....................................

1903.......................................

1904. ......................................

1905 .......................................

1906.......................................

1907. ......................................

1908.......................................

1909.......................................

1910.......................................

1911.......................................

1912.......................................

^

Gold.

Fine ounces.

62.73

1.16

3.43

5.56

-

72.88

Silver.

Fine ounces. 

189,072

29.175

8,773

10.722

3,648

1,806

75

10,668

14

253,953

Copper.

Pounds,

6,000

116,592

10,977

40,615

174, 184

Lead.

Pounds. 

1,272,600

451,000

122,869

185,257

59,965

201, 861

13,277

2,306,829

Total value.

8145,440

27,003

9,954

16,177

5,862

24, 590

1,489

19,622

605

250,802

OCCURRENCE OF THE DEPOSITS.

The ore deposits are, with a few minor exceptions, replacements 

in limestone, closely associated with fractures and faults and with 

the intrusive igneous rocks. At a few places copper ores occur with 

lime silicate minerals of contact-metamorphic origin. The replacement deposits are of two types, bedded and fissure. Most of the 

production of the district has come from bedded deposits, but the 

fissure replacement deposits are possibly of more importance at 

present.

THE OSES.

Only carbonate ores have been mined up to the present time, and 

lead carbonate ores have been more profitable than those carrying 

copper.

The copper-bearing bodies are found north of the saddle between 

Spruce Mountain and Banner Hill and seem to be smaller than the 

lead bodies south of the saddle. The minerals of the copper ores 

are malachite, chrysocolla, and chalcopyrite. Minor amounts of 

bornite and chalcocite were noted in ores, from Banner Hill, and 

copper pitch ore is rather abundant at the surface. The ores from 

the old Latham mine contained considerable copper carbonate but 

were valuable for their argentiferous cerusite.

The lead-silver ores, all of which are limonitic, contain cerusite, 

anglesite, an oxidized antimony mineral, and residual kernels of 

galena. They seem to be more closely associated with the major 

faults and with the granite porphyry intrusives than with the copperbearing ores.

THE PROPERTIES.

Badger tunnel (No., 1, fig. 4}. The Badger tunnel, 100 feet long, 

runs N. 16° W. along the contact of flat-lying limestone and lime 

shale with a diorite dike. It is about one-half mile west-northwest 

of the Killie shaft. At one place, near the face of the tunnel, a small
SPEUCE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT. 73

lens of copper carbonate ore, apparently a bedded replacement, is 

said to carry lead and silver.

Banner Hill claims (No. 2, fig. 4)- A group of 23 claims controlled by the Johnson brothers, of Wells, covers the western part 

of Banner Hill, north of the Never Sweat property. There are 

a number of shallow surface workings at various places on the 

north and west slopes of the hill on deposits of copper carbonate ores,' 

some of which are associated with small lenses of garnet and diopside, though the majority are bedded or fissure replacements. Kemnants of chalcopyrite are commonly found even in surface ores, 

and bornite and chalcocite are occasionally seen as thin coatings 

between the chalcopyrite and carbonate ores. This group of claims 

is being developed through a crosscut tunnel, which starts in the 

head of Latliam Canyon and runs S. 55° E., cutting limestones interbedded with dark quartzites. In September, 1913, it was 512 feet 

long. About 100 feet from the mouth an 8-foot dike of granite 

porphyry was cut; 450 feet from the mouth a very highly altered 

diorite dike is seen; and 200 feet from the mouth a minor north-south 

fault dips 50° W.

The Banner Hill ledge (No. 3, fig. 4), near the summit of the hill, x 

is a zone of crushed, slightly garnetized limestone along a fracture 

that strikes N. 20° E. and dips 80° W. A lenslike body of copper 

carbonate ore 5 to 15 feet wide in this ledge is developed by a 100- 

foot drift tunnel and a 20-foot winze.

Bingle claim (No. 4, fig> 4)- The Bingle claim, three-fourths mile 

southwest of the Killie shaft, covers a siliceous iron-stained cropping 

20 by 160 feet in area, whose longer dimension strikes N. 50° E. It 

is in limestones which are nearly horizontal and is probably a replacement body 'along a fissure.

Black Forest claim (No. 5, -fig. 4) - The Black Forest claim is on 

the north slope of Spruce Mountain near the eastern fault and 

northeast of the intrusive granite porphyry. Development consists 

of four connected tunnels, of which only the lowest could be entered. 

This lowest tunnel runs 500 feet south of and parallel to the main 

fault, to which there are a number of crosscuts, and near which the ore 

seems to make. Three fractures trending N. 40°-50° E., exposed in 

the tunnel, are cut off by the main fault. The ore bodies were apparently located at the junctions of the cross faults with the main fault, 

and the ore seems to have replaced the crushed, sericitized, pyriteimpregnated limestone below the 6-foot gouge which marks the main 

fault. None of the stopes could be entered and but little ore remains 

on the dump. The ore seen, reported to be like most of that taken 

from the mine, which carried 20 per cent lead and 20 ounces silver a 

ton, is a fine-grained, soft ocherous material containing iron, lead, 

antimony, and silver combined as oxides, carbonates, and sulphates.
74

The individual grains can not be separated for definite determination, but under the microscope at least three distinct substances can 

be seen. The most abundant consists of yellowish-white, minute 

hexagonal crystals, the next of reddish-yellow indeterminable earthy 

masses, and the third of some yellowish-green material.

Copper Queen mine (No. 6, -fig. 4) . The Copper Queen workings 

are between the Killie shaft and the Keystone, near the granite 

porphyry stock. A vertical shaft 100 feet deep, with short levels 

at 60 and 100 feet, and a 39-foot inclined winze from the east 100- 

foot drift, which connects with a crosscut tunnel about 400 feet long, 

constitute the workings. The relations are rather peculiar and are 

probably best brought out in figure 5. At the southwest a wellFIGURE 5. Generalized elevation of the Copper Queen workings, Spruce Mountain district, Elko County, Nev.

marked normal fault plane that strikes N. 35° E. shows deep 

grooves on the polished face parallel to the dip. Above this plane 

is 12 to 18 inches of gouge followed by 25 to 40 feet of crushed limestone, which irregularly carries lenses of copper and lead carbonate 

ores. Above, or northwest of the crushed zone, there is a 30-foot 

dike of granite porphyry, which is seen at the collar of the shaft and 

in the crosscut tunnel. The igneous rock is crushed to some extent 

and contains a little pyrite. Above the porphyry the tunnel runs 

through 300 feet of talus, dirt, and .rubble such as would accumulate 

at the base of a steep slope from ordinary weathering.

Fourth of July mine (No. 7, -jig. 4).~The Fourth of July mine lies 

just west of the eastern fault near the southern end of the granite por-
SPRUCE MOUNTAIN" DISTEICT. 75

phyry stock on the north slope of Spruce Mountain. Whitehill 1 

reported a 187-foot shaft and 694 feet of drifts on the property in 

1873. In September, 1913, most of the old workings were caved, 

though a heavily timbered tunnel could be entered for 300 feet. None 

of the rock seems to be in place, but this effect might be due to intense 

shattering of the 'limestone and quartzite between the fault and the 

igneous stock. The silver-bearing lead carbonate ore is said to have 

occurred in small irregular pockets.

Keystone, mine (No. 8, fig. 4) The Keystone, on the north slope 

of Spruce Mountain about 300 feet above the pass, is worked through 

open cuts, shallow shafts, and short tunnels, largely in loose talus, 

though at places in the upper workings in limestone. At that shaft 

 a fracture zone having an irregular steep dip either north or south 

strikes N". 40° E. In this fracture iron-stained cellular oxidized lead 

ores are found. Limonite, anglesite, cerusite, and residual kernels 

of galena were noted. From the talus below this fracture a considerable quantity of silver-bearing oxidized lead ore has been mined.

Killie (Laiham) mine (No. 9, fig. 4)- The old Latham mine in 

the saddle between Spruce Mountain and Banner Hill was worked 

by tunnels and shallow shafts west of the Killie shaft. The old 

Avorkings indicate that the ores occurred in bedded replacements of 

limestones and shale, which have a very low northeast dip. Raymond 2 reports that in 1872 the shaft was 108 feet deep with considerable drifting in the bedded deposit. The ore was silver-bearing 

lead carbonate but contained some antimony and copper. It is said 

to have averaged $50 to $60 a ton in lead and silver.

The Killie shaft, sunk by the Spruce Mountain Copper Co., is 

east of the old workings and at a slightly lower elevation. It was 

not entered but is reported to be 220 feet deep. At the 200-foot 

level it is said that a drift runs 1,450 feet southeast, toward the Keystone and Fourth of July. The first 1,100 feet of the drift is in 

limestones and the face in granite porphyry. Both rocks were seen 

on the dump, as was also considerable crushed greenish pyriteimpregnated limestone, which is said to occur, together with a 

12-foot belt of pyrite-galena-chalcopyrite ore, at the contact of limestone and granite. It is said that for several feet northwest of the 

contact the limestones are more or less mineralized.

The shaft is equipped with a 25-horsepower gasoline hoist and 

compressor. A sawmill and blower are run by a separate engine 

covered by the shaft house.

1 Whitehill, H. R., State Mineralogist of Nevada Fourth Biennial Kept, for 1871-72, 

pp. 24-28 [1874].

2 Raymond, R. W., Statistics of mines and mining in the States and Territories west of 

the Rocky Mountains for 1872, p. 160, 1873; idem for 1873, p. 217, 1874.
76 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

\

Monarch claim (No. 10,. fig. 4} The old abandoned caved workings of the Monarch and' Hartley claims are in the foothills about 

three-fourths of a mile east of Old Sprucemont. Large dumps at both 

places indicate rather extensive workings in what appear to have 

been bedded deposits occurring in nearly horizontal limestones near 

fractures. Little ore remains about the dumps; that seen is a 

limonitic lead carbonate.

Never Sweat prospect (No. 11, fig. 4-)- The Never Sweat workings were not accessible. They consist of three shafts on a ledge 

striking N. 20° E. and dipping 65°-70° W. and cutting limestones 

interbedded with quartzite. The ore on the dump shows only copper 

carbonate minerals replacing and coating fragments of brecciated 

limestone.

jSpence claims (No. 12, fig. 4-)- Mr. C. M. Spence owns a large 

group of claims east of Banner Hill, which he is developing through 

a long drift from the 200-foot level of a vertical shaft about 2 miles 

east of the summit between Spruce Mountain and Banner Hill. 

The property was not visited, but it is reported that all of the work 

is along a contact of granite porphyry and limestone.

Tramp shaft (No. 13, fig. 4)- The Tramp shaft, about \\ miles 

east-northeast of old Sprucemont, is in the low flat hills, underlain 

b}7 horizontal limestones and shales. It is 60 feet deep and is sunk 

on the south side of a fault trending N. 40° E., along which there has 

been much crushing of the sediments. Pyrite is abundantly disseminated in the breccia and is occasionally seen with chalcopyrite in 

small lenses and stringers cutting the crushed limestone.

DOLLY VARDEN (MIZPAH) DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Dolly Yarden district (No. 3, fig. l^p. 18) covers an isolated 

group of mountains about 16 miles northeast of Currie, a town on 

the Nevada Northern Railway. The northern end of the district 

was named Mizpah in 1905 on the discovery of the veins about 

6 miles east of Mizpah siding on the railroad. Most of the properties in the southern part of the district are on the eastern flank 

of the mountains, extending from the summit eastward beyond 

Spring Canyon. (See fig. 6.)

All the properties are easily reached by good roads from Currie, 

though better roads for heavy traffic from the mines on the east 

side of the mountains reach the railroad at Dolly Varden siding by 

way of Antelope Valley.

There are many good springs on the east side of the range, and 

the principal settlement is Moore's camp at Watson Spring. Dolly 

Varden Spring, formerly called Last Chance, or Cloverdale station,
DOLLY VARDEN (MIZPAH) DISTRICT. 77

is at the break of the mountains and Antelope Valley. There are 

small springs on the west side of the mountains in the vicinity of 

Mizpah and on the Currie road.

Throughout this group of hills water has been reached in most 

of the mine workings at about 60 feet.

LCGEND 

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

 - Quartz monionite and 

associated aplitlc and 

dioritic differentiates

Strike and dip 

Mine working

1 Anchor

2 Atlas

3 Bi-Metalhc

4 Dolly

5 Eugene

6 First Chance

7 Hidden Treasure

8 Iron Duke and Franklin

9 Keystone

10 Lewis

11 Victoria 

IE White Horse

IN£S AT NORTH END OF 

MOUNTAINS

13 Butte Group

14 Mizpah Consolidated

15 Tenderfoot

Contour interval 300 feet

FIGUUB G. Sketch map of the Dolly Varden (Mizpah) district, Blko County, Nov., showing reconnaissance geology, roads, springs, and principal properties.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The hills of the district, known to the geologists of the Fortieth 

Parallel Survey as the Wachoe Mountains,1 rise abruptly 2,000 feet 

from the Gosiute Valley on the west. On the east they rise less 

steeply, sloping up at a moderate angle from Antelope Valley. The 

mountain mass is 8 to 9 miles long north and south and is 4-miles wide 

at its widest portion, near the south end. At the north end a long 

spur separates the Gosiute and Antelope valleys; and at the south a 

broad elevated table-land connects the Dolly Varden Mountains and 

the north end of the Schell Creek Eange.

i Bmmons, S. F., U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Kept, vol. 2, pp. 476-483, 1877.
78 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

GEOLOGY. 

DOMINANT TYPES OF ROCK.

The largest part of this group of hills, and in fact all the higher 

summits north of Dolly Varden Pass, is composed of quartz monzonite. Most of the country rock south of the pass is sedimentary. 

Metamorphosed shales predominate in the vicinity of Watson Spring 

and limestones are exposed near the west base of the mountains along 

the road and in the vicinity of Castle Peak. (See fig. 6.) Later 

eruptive rocks form the lower hills on the east and south, overlying 

both the intrusive rock and the sediments.

SEDIMENTAEY BOCKS.

»

The limestones that cover most of the southern portion of the districk (see fig. 6) are medium thick bedded and are light blue where 

unmetamorphosed but in the vicinity of the ore deposits are white 

and crystalline and contain more or less lime silicate produced by the 

intrusion of the quartz monzonites. On the ridge west and south of 

the Hidden Treasure property they are probably less metamorphosed 

than elsewhere in the district. No fossils were found by the writer, 

but the geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey report finding 

Rroductus subhorridus and AtJiyris roissyi, both "Coal Measures" 

forms, in the limestones of Castle Peak.1

Lime shales, argillites, and' cherty shales, all more or less contact 

metamorphosed, overlie the limestones and underlie a small area in 

the vicinity of Watson Spring. (See fig. 6.)

INTBUSIVE IGNEOUS KOCKS.

Dolly Varden (Melrose) Mountain, is composed of a coarsegrained, somewhat porphyritic quartz monzonite. On weathered 

surfaces it is a deep brownish red but shows lighter-colored facies 

in many places. It is cut by a series of north-south joints which 

dips 80° W. and by an east-west series which stands vertical. A 

rather prominent sheeting dips 10°-15° E. This rock weathers in 

rounded forms but is very resistant.

The quartz monzonite is composed of oligoclase-andesine, microperthite, ferromagnesian minerals, and quartz, named in the order of 

their abundance. Green hornblende and brown biotite are everywhere present but in varying proportions. Apatite and zircon are 

abundant, the former often in large crystals. The rock is inequigranular, and, aside from the accessory minerals, few of its constituents show crystal faces. The quartz occurs as small interstitial

i Emmons, S. F., 'op. cit., p. 478.
DOLLY VARDEN" (MIZPAH) DISTRICT. 79

fillings between crystals of the other constituents and is not conspicuous even in thin sections.

The geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey remarked the peculiarities of this " granite " and assigned it to the Jurassic,1 because 

of its resemblance to other bodies in western Nevada. The following 

analysis is taken from their report:

Analysis of quarts monzonite from the Dolly Varden (Mizpah) district. 

[T. M. Drown, Lafayette College, Pa., analyst.]

Silica__________________-____________- 55.53

Alumina __________________.____________ 18. 65

Ferrous iron_____-.--.____ -- - 6.14

Manganous oxide_________ _.___ ____ . 17

Lime____________________.____________ 5.62

Magnesia_______________.__.______________ 3.37

Soda_____________-__________.___________ 4.84

Potassa__________ _ _ 5.20

Ignition . 65

100.17

The edge f acies of the stock are of finer grain and generally carry 

a larger proportion of dark minerals than the main mass of intrusive rock. In not a few places bodies of the quartz monzonite consist of minerals that are of pegmatitic size.

The quartz monzonite is clearly intrusive into limestones of Carboniferous age but has caused relatively little contact metamorphism in proportion to its size. Narrow zones and lenses of lime 

silicate rock; appear at many places along the southern contact, 

particularly in the area underlain by limestone. Green garnet, 

biotite, epidote, and tremolite are the chief contact-metamorphic 

minerals and are in some places associated with limonitic oxidized 

copper ores that are evidently derived from chalcopyrite arid pyrite 

originally deposited with the lime silicate minerals.

In the stock there are tAvo types of dike rocks, both of which are 

probably derivatives of the quartz monzonite magma, though carrying the constituent minerals in differing proportions. One set of 

aplitic dikes in the Mizpah district is composed almost exclusively 

of oligoclase, microperthite, orthoclase, and quartz. Another series 

of dikes in the same vicinity are fine-grained dark-gray rocks consisting of orthoclase, plagioclase, biotite, hornblende, and quartz. 

In both of these types apatite and zircon are abundant accessory 

minerals, as they are in the quartz monzonite. The basic type of 

dike was noted by the geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey,2 

who mapped an area of diorite north of Melrose Peak.

1 Emmons, S. F., op. cit, pp. 477-478. s Idem, p. 478.
80 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

EXTRUSIVE IGNEOUS KOCKS.

The low hills on the eastern side of the Melrose (Dolly Varden) 

Mountain are carved from flow rocks of two types. Ehyolites, glassy 

to almost wholly crystalline, in a multitude of brilliant colors cover 

by far the larger part of the area shown on figure 6. They are 

apparently younger than the dark andesites that outcrop in a few 

places where the rhyolites have been eroded. As there are, so far as 

Could be learned, no ore deposits in the belt of extrusive rocks, little 

time was spent in examining the country they cover. Where seen 

the flows all have a decided though low dip to the east. In the 

vicinity of Watson Springs the rhyolite is a rather dark brown porphyritic rock, with phenocrysts of plagioclase feldspar set in a 

partly glassy matrix in which orthoclase, quartz, and biotite can be 

determined.

South of the mountains the elevated table-land is formed of nearly 

horizontal flows of Tertiary lavas, which at a distance are dull 

brownish in color. This region was not crossed by the writer, except 

in the vicinity of Currie, where the rocks are glassy rhyolites.

MINERAL DEPOSITS. 

HISTOBY AND PRODUCTION.

So far as could be learned, the first discoveries of mineral in the 

Melrose (Dolly Varden) Mountain were made in 1869, at the silverlead mines in the southeastern hills, near what was called Hicks 

Spring, later Last Chance Spring, and now locally Dolly Varden 

Spring. In 1872 the copper ore at the Victoria was opened and for 

about two years was actively worked, the ores being smelted in a 

Mexican furnace at Dolly Varden Spring. Since the closing of the 

Victoria mine development in the district has been slight. Some 

excitement was caused by the discovery of the gold-bearing veins in 

the Mizpah section in 1905, but it was apparently short lived. Small 

shipments of ore have been made from time to time from the Victoria dump, and a little lead-silver ore has been extracted from the 

mines east of Castle Peak. In September, 1913, there were about 

ten prospectors in the mountains. One company had been operating a churn drill for a couple of years, but at the time of visit it was 

understood that the work was to be discontinued.

The production from the Victoria, Keystone, Eugene, and Hidden 

Treasure mines in the early days can not be learned, but it appears 

not to have been large.

Since 1908 the production, as shown in the following table, taken 

from the Mineral Resources reports published annually by the United 

States Geological Survey, has not been large. Probably most of the 

ore was shipped in small lots "from various properties.
DOLLY VARDEN (MIZPAH) DISTRICT. 81 

Production of the Dolly Varden district, J.90S-J.912.

Year.

1908.......................................

1909.......................................

1910.......................................

1911.......................................

1912.......................................

Gold.

Fine ounces.

9.92

5.85

7.84

.92

24.53

Silver.

Fine ounces. 

545

3,750

3,305

1,768

540

9,908

Copper.

Pounds. 

35, 272

776

8,171

24, 607

68,886

Lead.

Pounds. 

9,071

53,030

32, 309

95, 070

Total 

value.

85.326

3,031

4,396

3; 577

4,421

20,751

CHAKACTEB OF DEPOSITS.

The deposits of the Dolly Varden district are clearly related to 

the quartz monzonite intrusive. They occur as contact-metamorphic 

and replacement deposits in the area'of Carboniferous limestones and 

shales at the south end of the mountains and as veins in the intrusive 

rock in the vicinity of Mizpah.

Deposits in the sediments. The deposits in the sedimentary area 

are of two well-defined types. Oxidized copper ores, presumably derived from original deposits of pyrite and chalcopyrite, are usually 

associated with the lime silicate minerals and are nearer the intrusive 

contact than the lead deposits. The latter, found only in the extreme 

southeast part of the district, are typical replacements, both as fissure 

and bedded, occurring near fissures in limestone.

Copper deposits. The ore minerals of the copper deposits so far 

developed are all of the oxidized variety, though kernels of the 

original chalcopyrite and pyrite remain at many places, and at not 

a few localities, where development has penetrated below water level, 

slightly cupriferous pyrite is seen to be the chief original sulphide. 

Chrysocolla, copper pitch ore, and malachite are most abundant, 

though chalcocite can usually be seen in the richer specimens of ore 

and bornite is exceptionally present. Limonite, as is to be expected, 

is present in abundance in all the copper deposits. The gangue minerals are quartz, green garnet, light-green biotite, and tremolite (with 

calcite and actinolite at some localities). The metamorphism due to 

the intrusion of the quartz monzonite magma has not been as intense 

as in some districts, and the croppings of the lime silicate zones and 

ore bodies are few and small.

It seems rather" doubtful if any large bodies of enriched chalcocite 

ore will be found in this area, as the water table is near the surface 

90 feet at Moore's shaft and 60 feet at the Anchor mine. At Moore's 

shaft the zone of chalcocite ore has apparently been traversed and is 

reported to be very narrow. At the Anchor mine the shaft is now 

at the water level, but the chalcocite zone has not yet been reached. 

42680° Bull. 648 16 6
82 NOTES ON" MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

The original ore apparently contains only a small proportion of 

copper-bearing minerals. The same remarks are pertinent to the 

deposits of the Iron Duke and Franklin group and to those of prospects a short distance west of Watson Spring.

The argentiferous lead-bearing replacement deposits in the vicinity 

of Castle Peak, are closely associated with north-south fractures 

cutting the limestones, along which the ore-bearing solutions have 

evidently moved. The principal minerals of these deposits, all of 

which are silver bearing, are cerusite, anglesite, and residual kernels 

of galena. Here and there a little copper carbonate stain is seen.

Deposits in quartz monzonite. Small quartz veins characterized 

by chalcopyrite and minor pyrite and bismuthinite are typical of the 

veins in the intrusive rock. They are gold bearing, and some free 

gold is said to occur in the veins near Mizpah Spring. The solutions 

which deposited the veins have also altered the adjacent quartz 

monzonite, though usually in very narrow zones. Few such bands 

of sericitized and calcitized rock are over a foot in width, and most 

of them measure only a few inches.

At one place one-half mile east of Mizpah Spring an irregularly 

shaped body of thoroughly altered quartz monzonite about 300 by 

200 feet in maximum dimensions somewhat resembles the croppings 

of the upper leached portion of the " porphyry copper " deposits.

THE PROPERTIES. 

SOUTH END OF THE MOUNTAINS.

Anchor mine (No. 1, fig. 6). The Anchor property, about 1^ 

miles southwest of Watson Spring, belongs to W. G. White and is 

developed by a 60-foot incline equipped with a California whim. 

The incline dips 60° SE. along a zone- of crushed mineralized limestone which strikes N. 55° E. This zone is 10 feet wide and carries 

abundant disseminated pyrite throughout that width. A little copper stain is seen through the mass. Water has been found at a 

depth of 60 feet, and it seems possible that below this level there 

may be a narrow zone of chalcocite ore. On the surface a series of 

low cliffs and saddles on a north-south strike seems to indicate a 

fracture that cuts across the country just west of the shaft.

Atlas claims (No. 2, fig.~ 6}. The Atlas claims, belonging to 

Thomas Boofer, lie east of the Hidden Treasure, in comparatively 

level ground, underlain by xyellowish lime shales and limestones 

which dip 10° to 15° E. Parallel to the bedding there are small replacement lenses and veinlike deposits of chalcopyrite and pyrite 

which are partly altered to copper pitch ore and malachite.
DOLLY VARDEN (MIZPAH) DISTRICT. 83

Bimetallic group (No. 3, -fig. 6). The Bimetallic claims, belonging to George Gordon, are located along the contact of limestone and 

quartz monzonite on the west side of the mountains south of Dolly 

harden Canyon and Phalen Spring. The quartz monzonite near the 

contact is of finer grain than in the main body of the stock; is light 

gray; and, as seen in thin sections under the microscope, consists of 

andesine, a microperthitic intergrowth of plagioclase and orthoclase, 

green hornblende, quartz, and brown biotite. Zircon and apatite are 

abundant accessory minerals, and some magnetite is present. At 

some places biotite is more abundant than hornblende; at others 

the reverse is the case. Narrow zones of lime silicate minerals are 

present at many places near the contact. Green garnet, epidote, and 

plates of light-green mica 1 inch in maximum diameter are the most 

abundant contact minerals, though some tremolite and iron oxide are 

commonly present. At numerous places on these claims limonitic 

copper carbonate ores are associated with lime silicate zones. Residual pyrite and chalcopyrite are occasionally seen, and some chalcocite 

is present, enveloping the original sulphides.

The principal development work is a 265-foot tunnel, which runs 

north along the contact on the east side of a tongue of quartz monzonite, exposing many small deposits of copper carbonates. On 

another claim a 65-foot inclined shaft is sunk in coarsely crystalline 

white limestone, the bedding of which strikes N. 70q W. and dips 

65° S. Tremolite was noted with the copper carbonate ore on the 

dump.

" Dolly wine (No. h fiff- #) The Dolly mine, southeast of Spring 

Canyon, is one of the older lead-silver mines of the district. Most 

of the work at the property is said to have been done in the early 

seventies. The deeper workings are inaccessible at present, but in the 

exposures, in the surface cuts the oxidized lead ores are seen to occur 

as irregular replacements parallel to the bedding of white limestone 

as well as along a north-south fissure which dips 75° W. The limestones strike east-northeast and dip south at low angles.

The ores consist of cerusite and anglesite, in places associated with 

a little copper carbonate and everywhere with considerable limonite. 

No galena was noted in the small amount of ore remaining about the 

old workings.

On the Dolly group, 300 feet north of the Murphy shaft, a drill 

hole was sunk to a reported depth of 240 feet. It starts in limestone, 

and, to judge from the sludge piles, continues in that formation 

throughout. Some pyritic sludge is said to have come from a depth 

of 85 feet down to the bottom of the hole. Some black shaly material, said to have come from a depth of 80 feet, is reported to carry 

silver. However, qualitative chemical tests made in the Survey 

laboratory failed to show the presence of that metal.
84 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

Eugene patent (No. 5, fig. 6). The Eugene patent, one-half mile 

west of Watson Spring, is the property of the Victoria United 

Copper Mining Co. The abandoned workings on the ridge south 

of Watson Canyon are on a large cropping of brown lime silicate 

rock, mostly garnet, quartz, and limonite, in which there are some 

small bodies of high-grade copper carbonate ore. Chrysocolla and 

malachite are the principal ore minerals, to judge from the ore on 

the dump, though some chalcocite and a little chalcopyrite were 

noted.

First Chance group (No. 6, -fig. 6). The First Chance group of 

18 claims, covering both sides of Watson Canyon east of Watson 

Spring, is the property of J. L. Moore, whose camp is at Watson 

Spring. These claims are largely underlain by argillites and lime 

shales, though in .the eastern part of the group the rhyolite flow 

rocks are found on the ridges. The shales strike a few degrees west 

of north and dip eastward at low angles except where locally disturbed as at Watson Spring, where east of what appears to be a 

minor fault they dip 80° E. Locally there are small areas of 

lime silicate minerals, though metamorphism is not so strong on these 

claims as on those nearer the contact. At a number of places copper 

carbonates are seen associated with iron oxides and the contactmetamorphic minerals.

The principal development work, a vertical shaft said to be 260 

feet deep, in which water stands 90 feet below the collar, is about 

one-fourth mile east of Watson Spring. The dump shows much 

coarsely crystallized pyrite, said to have come from a depth of TO 

feet, which is tarnished with the peacock colors of copper. Above 

70 feet the shaft is all in oxidized limonitic material. Some specimens of chalcocite, occurring as small veinlets in the pyritic material, 

are said to have come from, a narrow belt at 150 feet. Below this 

chalcocite zone the shaft is said to be again in argillites and limestones, in which there are bodies of somewhat tarnished pyrite. It 

is proposed to continue this shaft either by sinking or drilling. It 

seems fairly certain that the zone of enrichment has been pierced at 

150 feet, where the chalcocite was found, particularly as permanent 

water now stands above this level.

Hidden Treasure claim (No. 7, -fig. 6). The Hidden Treasure 

claim of the Victoria United Copper Co. is 3 miles south of Watson 

Spring. The deepest work is a 30-foot shaft. Ore is said to have 

been taken from the surface cuts on the ledge. The croppings, 

deeply stained with iron and very siliceous, stand well above the 

surrounding limestone. Copper carbonates are rather abundantly 

distributed through this mass, which can be traced for over a claim's 

length north and south along the strike.
DOLLY VARDEN (MlZPAH) DISTRICT. 85

Iron Duke and Franklin group (No. 5, fig. 6). The Iron Duke 

and Franklin group of eight claims, the property of George Gordon, 

is about half a mile north-northwest of Watson Spring, and a quarter of a mile southeast of the sedimentary quartz monzonite contact. 

In this vicinity thin-bedded shaly limestones and cherty lime shales, 

the prevailing rocks, dip to the east at low angles and apparently 

overlie the limestones exposed farther west near the summit of the 

range. These beds have been intruded by a series of northeasttrending dikes of pinkish-gray feldspathic porphyry. Thin sections 

of this type of rock, examined microscopically, show andesine-labradorite and orthoclase phenocrysts in a microgranular groundmass 

composed chiefly of sericitized feldspar with minor amounts of 

quartz filling interstices. What appears to have been hornblende 

is altered to chlorite, iron oxide, and carbonate. Apatite is very 

abundant. The rock closely resembles some facies of the rock of 

the main stock, and there is little question that these dikes are offshoots of the larger mass.

Along and near the dikes are narrow zones of epidotized pyritebearing rock, which are more abundant in the cherty lime shales 

than in the limestones. Besides epidote and pyrite, the dikes contain some calcite, quartz, and feldspar, as shown by thin sections. 

Bodies of these minerals have been developed at a number of places 

in the group. The pyrite is slightly cupriferous, but so far as noted 

only very small amounts of copper minerals are present in any deposits as yet opened. The main tunnel runs east 200 feet through 

altered sediments and crushed and leached quartz monzonite porphyry. A little pyrite and chalcopyrite : disseminated in the latter 

rock, which is somewhat iron stained.

Keystone mine (No. 9, fig. 6). The old Keystone mine, from 

which it is said that some lead-silver ore was taken in the early days, 

is on the limestone ridge southeast of Spring Canyon. The old, 

inaccessible workings are said to be rather short. Keports indicate 

that the argentiferous anglesite-cerusite ores occurred as replacement bodies parallel to the bedding near north-south fissures which 

dip 45° to 50° E.

Lewis group (No. 10, fig. 6). The Lewis group of. six claims 

is on the flat northwest of the mouth of Dolly Varden Canyon. The 

principal development work, an inaccessible inclined shaft, is a few 

rods north of the main road in the canyon. This shaft, said to 

be 250 feet deep, follows the bedding of white, coarsely crystalline 

limestone which strikes N. 70° W. and dips 40° S. It is about a 

quarter of a mile west of the contact of limestone and quartz monzonite and some contact-metamorphic minerals, chiefly tremolite and 

actinolite, occurring in small radial masses, were found in the ore on
86 NO^ES Otf MINING l>ISTRlCfS IN EAS^E&tt NEVADA.

the dump. This ore is largely oxidized, carrying limonite, chrysocolla, and minor malachite. Specks of chalcopyrite, surrounded by 

a dark sooty mineral, probably chalcocite, are seen in the better 

grade of material. At several cuts and pits on other claims oxidized 

copper ores are associated with the contact minerals.

Victoria claim* (No. 11, fig. 6). The, patented Victoria claim is 

on the east side of the mountains about halfway between the summit and Watson Spring in the south fork of Watson Canyon. The 

croppings, iron-stained cellular quartz and jasper, with some copper 

carbonates, stand about 10 feet above the surrounding country and 

cover an area about 100 feet long north and south by 75 feet wide. 

The country rock in this vicinity is limestone, and a rather indistinct bedding appears to dip 5° E. The shaft, equipped with a small 

steam hoist, is under water below a depth of 80 feet, and could not 

be entered. The limonitic ore on the dump is cellular and very 

siliceous, consisting of brecciated contact-metamorphosed limestone 

and quartz, with chrysocolla, malachite, and a small amount of 

chalcocite. Tremolite, the principal contact mineral of the deposit, 

occurs as veinlets of fibrous asbestos-like material and in fibers 

throughout yellow siliceous altered limestone. It is said that very 

little high-grade ore remainsT>n the dump, from which several shipments of sorted ore have been made.

White Horse group (No. 12, fig. 6}. The five claims of the White 

Horse group, belonging to G. H. Gordon and F. A. Herreld, are on 

the ridge south of Watson Canyon about three-fourths of a mile 

west of the Watson Spring. Several croppings of quartz-garnet 

rocks carrying iron oxide and oxidized copper ores are exposed in the 

shallow workings.

Other prospects. A. few hundred feet west of Watson Spring 

there are some shallow workings on a body of iron-stained pyritebearing lime silicate rock near a dike of leached, somewhat pyritized 

quartz monzonite porphyry. Small areas stained with copper carbonate indicate the presence of a little copper in the original ore which, 

however, appears to consist entirely of pyrite.

Some lead-silver ores occur near the Keystone Mine on two groups 

of claims controlled by G. H. Gordon and Capt. Mahan. A little 

development work has been done on both groups of claims and a 

small quantity of argentiferous lead carbonate ore has been shipped.

A few prospects in the limestone area north of the Lewis ground, 

on claims at the west base of the mountains, belong to Chris Krez. 

The deposits are similar to those on the Lewis ground.

NOKTH END OF MOUNTAINS.

Butte group (No. 13, fig. 6) . Mr. T. F. Banigan, of Currie, Nev., 

controls the Butte group of 12 claims in the hills immediately east
DOLLY VAEDEN (MIZPAH) DISTRICT. 87

of Mizpah Spring, where the gold discoveries were made in 1905. 

Several of these claims have shallow shafts and pits, the deepest of 

which is about 20 feet. With one exception the deposits are in veins 

ranging from a few inches to 2 feet in width and striking N. 16°-27° 

W. with moderately steep west dip. They cut a reddish-gray 

medium-grained quartz monzonite porphyry and are later than a 

series of quartz diorite and aplitic dikes. They consist of quartz, 

chalcopyrite, pyrite, and bismuthinite, and are said to carry free 

gold. Bornite, chalcocite, copper pitch ore, malachite, and azurite 

were seen as alteration products and, in the ores so far developed, 

are probably more abundant than the original sulphides. Some of 

these veins are frozen, but postmineral movement.has produced a 

gouge along many of them. The quartz monzonite near the veins is 

bleached, and sericite is usually developed from the feldspars. Fragments of the altered rock are inclosed in the veins at a few places.

The Eed Hill claim, named from its mass of iron-stained leached 

porphyry, is cut by numerous fractures, none of which appear to 

contain veins. Instead, the igneous rock is altered to a soft lightgray mass of quartz, calcite, and sericite, stained with iron and in 

some places showing specks of what appears to be chalcocite. It is 

said that low assays for copper have been obtained from samples 

taken at various places over an area 300 feet long by 200 feet wide. 

In a chemical test made on some of this material collected by the 

writer the presence of very small amounts of copper was shown. 

Most of this leached body does not appear particularly promising as 

an ore, though at a few places along the fracture zones there are 

fair indications of copper. It, however, may represent the leached 

croppings of a small " porphyry copper " deposit.

Mizpah Consolidated group (No. 1^ -fig. 6). The Mizpah Consolidated Gold & Copper Mining Co., of Philadelphia, owns a group 

of 21 claims near the summit of the north spur of the range 1£ 

miles southeast of Mizpah Spring. Several small veins similar to that 

at Mizpah have been exposed on the surface by the location work on 

the different claims. The principal development work is a 1,300- 

foot crosscut tunnel, which runs N. 72° E. through the quartz monzonite. It is near the summit and can hardly attain a greater depth 

than 300 feet. In the length of the tunnel 10 small quark; stringers 

have been cut, a few of which are barren but most of which carry a 

little pyrite and chalcopyrite. Sericitization of the quartz monzonite 

has taken place along all these fissures. About 5 feet of soft pjrriteimpregnated bleached quartz monzonite at the face of the tunnel 

seems to indicate that a vein or fissure is not far distant. This 

tunnel was driven to cut what is known as the Northern vein, said 

to be 18 inches to 2 feet wide and to contain some very good grade
88 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

copper-gold ore at the surface. It dips 45° W. and from surveys 

would seem to be very near the vein.

Tenderfoot shaft (No. 15, -fig. 6). The Tenderfoot shaft is on 

the summit of the ridge at the north end of the Dolly Varden Mountains about a mile east of Mizpah Spring. It could not be entered, 

as water stands 100 feet below the collar in the 120-foot incline. 

It is sunk on a narrow vein, which strikes N. 40° W. and which dips 

60° SW. near the surface and 45° lower down. The ore on the dump 

indicates that the vein is nowhere over 3 inches wide (average about 

2 inches), and is frozen to the sericitized pyrite-impregnated quartz 

monzonite walls. The alteration of the wall rocks is apparently 

limited to a few inches on either side of the vein. Chalcopyrite and 

minor amounts of pyrite with both white and smoky quartz constitute the ore. In most of the ore the sulphides occupy the medial 

portion of the vein with quartz next the walls, but this is not everywhere the case. All of the ore is partly oxidized, copper pitch ore 

being the usual product, with sometimes a little malachite. It is said 

that the ore carried some bismuth, but the blowpipe failed to show it 

in any of the writer's tests on material collected by him.

Other prospects. Half a mile south of Mizpah Spring there are 

a few prospect pits on a vein which strikes N. 20° W. and dips 85° 

W. This vein is 2 to 4 inches wide and is frozen to the quartz monzonite walls. It carries quartz and remnants of chalcopyrite, 

chrysocolla, malachite, and a -little cuprite.

KINSLET DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Kinsley district (No. 6, fig. 1, p. 18) is at the south end of a 

peculiar long, narrow ridge which lies southeast of the Dolly Varden 

Mountains on the west side of Antelope Valley. (See PI. I.) 

Kinsley Spring, on the southwest- side of this ridge (see fig. 7), is 

38 miles southwest of Currie, the shipping point. The mining properties are all grouped at the south end of the mountains about a stock 

of quartz monzonite porphyry. So far as could be learned they are 

all in Elko County, though very near the county line, o which is 

probably not so far from the mouth of Kinsley Canyon, on the road 

to Tippet. The mines are in sees. 13 and 14, T. 26 N., R. 67 E., and 

sees. 18 and 19, T. 26 N., E, 68 E.

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS.

Water is scarce in the hills, there being no springs except at Kinsley and on the road to Currie, about 8 miles northwest of the camp. 

Kinsley Springs flows about 8 barrels of highly mineralized water in 

24 hours. It issues from red andesite near the contact with the
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

A. KINSLEY MOUNTAIN. 

Looking S. 30° W. across Antelope Valley from White 

:" rrK-otvjy limestone and shale

WEST-SOUTHWEST PART OF KINSLEY DI

Showing contact of the quartz monzonite intrusive mass and the older sedimentary formations, looking east-s
KINSLEY DISTRICT. 89

underlying limestone. It is said that Boone Spring flows a somewhat larger amount of water, but that ft is more heavily mineralized 

than Kinsley.

There is a fair growth of pinon and juniper on Kinsley Mountain, 

and in the granitic area some fair-sized trees are found. Desert 

grasses and forage shrubs are abundant in the valleys and in Antelope 

Valley are said to furnish a fine winter range for sheep and cattle.

PROPERTIES

1 Kinsley Consolidated 

Mines Co.

2 Morning Star

3 Kinsley

Contour interval 300 feet

FIGURE 7. Sketch map of the Kinsley district, Elko County, Nev.,Vshowlng reconnaissance geology and the positions of the principal prospects.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Kinsley Mountain (fig. 7) is a long narrow tongue or island, which 

rises nearly 2,000 feet above the level flat of Antelope Valley. (See 

PL IV, A.) To the south and west low volcanic hills stretch to the 

Antelope and Schell Creek ranges, several miles distant.

As seen from the northwest, this narrow spur looks like a rugged 

wedge dividing Antelope Valley. The slopes are steep, and near the 

center and top of the mountains there are many shear escarpments
90 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTEEN NEVADA.

formed by what appear to be massive beds of limestone. In the 

vicinity of the mines the topographic features are in general low 

and rounded, contrasting sharply with the summit of the mountains. ' (See PI. IV, B.) In detail, however, these apparently smooth 

hills are rough and are formed by numerous layers of limestone. The 

intrusive rock weathers in rounded forms and has been eroded more 

easily and rapidly than the surrounding sediments.

GEOLOGY.

. . SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.

All of the northern part of Kinsley Mountain is composed of darkgray sedimentary rocks, which from a distance appear to dip about 

10° N., modified along the west side of the ridge by an eastward dip. 

Near the center of the mountains a break seems to cut the ridge. 

(See PI. IV, A.) The ridge was not studied in detail, but prospectors 

report that it contains no intrusive rocks except the stock near the 

mines.

The geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey report x that a rather 

complex series of alternating igneous and sedimentary rocks, which 

they considered Archean, occur on the side of the mountains, but as 

they may have visited only the southern part of the^group, it seems 

rather doubtful if they interpreted the conditions correctly, especially 

as the quartz monzonite is clearly -intrusive into the sediments.

Among a few fossils collected by the writer from thin-bedded 

shales and shaly limestones just north of the contact at the summit 

of the ridge, Edwin Kirk, of the United States Geological Survey, 

found some remnants of " indeterminable trilobite fragments," which 

he considered to indicate a Cambrian age. Overlying the shaly beds 

there are about 300 feet of nearly black, dense limestones in beds 3 

to 5 feet thick, which become lighter colored and more massive at the 

top and finally grade into a light bluish gray.

In the vicinity of the quartz monzonite stock the limestones are 

crystalline and light colored, doubtless owing to alteration at the 

time of the intrusion. These rocks are shown by a separate symbol 

on figure 7, for their age is uncertain and they may be younger than 

the limestones of the north ridge, though it is possible that they are 

of the same age as the upper part of the series represented there.

Antelope Valley is filled with a great accumulation of gravels and 

sands and contains several play a basins. (See PI. IV, A.} The alluvial cones about Kinsley Mountain are small but are fairly well developed.

i Emmons, S. F., U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Kept., vol. 2, pp. 483-485, 1877.
91

IGNEOUS EOCKS.

Extrusive rocks. South and west of Kinsley Mountain a large 

area is underlain by flow rocks ranging from gray to brick red in 

color and from porphyritic to glassy in texture. These rocks were 

called rhyolites by the geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey.1

In the vicinity of Kinsley Canyon, however, andesitic flows prevail. Near the mouth of the canyon a gray porphyritic andesite contains phenocrysts of labradorite and numberless minute laths of 

plagioclase in a partially glassy groundmass. Magnetite is abundant 

in the groundmass, and what appears to have been hornblende is now 

altered to a reddish iron oxide. Near Kinsley Spring the brownishblack red-weathering andesites are more glassy. A few phenocrysts of 

andesine and augite can be recognized in thin sections, and spots of 

iron oxide in the form of hornblende seem to indicate the former 

presence of that mineral. A few plagioclase microlites are irregularly distributed through the brownish glass which forms the groundmass.

Intrusive rocks. The intrusive stock at the south end of Kinsley 

Mountain is a quartz monzonite of rather coarse grain and in places 

of somewhat porphyritic texture. It is light gray when fresh, but 

weathers to tawny and brown. The constituent minerals, named in 

the order of their abundance, are orthoclase, oligoclase-andesine, 

quartz, brownish-green biotite, and green hornblende, all of megascopic size. Apatite, magnetite, and titanite are fairly abundant 

accessories. There is little difference in either texture or composition between the edge facies and the center of the stock, but the 

offshoot dikes are as a rule rather free from the dark minerals. 

Aplitic and basic differentiates are not abundant, though both types 

of later dikes were seen at a few places near the center of the stock. 

The basic dikes are usually porphyritic and of fairly coarse grain. 

The phenocrystic, zonally built plagioclase feldspars are set in an 

inequigranular groundmass of hornblende, biotite, quartz, orthoclase, 

and plagioclase. The aplitic dikes are fine-grained light^ tawny rocks 

composed essentially of quartz and the two varieties of feldspars.

ALTERATION.

The dolomitic limestones on all sides of this stock have suffered 

some contact metamorphism. Few of the belts of lime silicate rock 

are over 10 feet wide and most of them are 2 to 4 feet in maximum 

width. They follow the bedding planes rather than the actual contact but are rarely far removed from the intrusive rock. Tremolite 

and wollastonite are the commonly developed contact minerals,

1 Emmons, S. F., op. cit., p. 485.
02 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

though in'places a light-green mica and rarely a gray garnet are 

present. Copper minerals and a little magnetite are associated with 

many of the lime silicate zones.

ORE DEPOSITS.

v

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT.

According to the State mineralogist of Nevada,1 the copper deposits of the Kinsley district were discovered in December, 1862, by 

Felix O'Neil, who was driven out of the country by the Mormons in 

1863. The veins were rediscovered in 1865 by George Kinsley, a soldier, for whom the district was named. Little work was done till 

1867, when a Mexican furnace was built at the springs. This did 

not prove a success, and by 1872 the camp was largely abandoned. 

Comparatively little work has been done in the district. The most 

extensive development is on the Dunyon claims on the northeast 

contact, though the shaft at the Morning Star is said to have been 

over 200 feet deep, and the dump at the old Kinsley property indicates considerable excavation.

It was not found possible to obtain even estimates of the early 

production from this camp, and the United States Geological Survey 

has not published separate figures of its production in recent years. 

It is known that in J913 at least 20 tons of ore, carrying 28.70 ounces 

silver per ton, 8.6 per cent lead, and 3.42 per cent copper were 

shipped from the dump of the Morning Star, and it is probable that 

several carloads of similar grade were shipped by the lessees operating the property during 1913.

CHARACTER OF DEPOSITS.

The developed ore deposits of the Kinsley district are all of contact-metamorphic origin, being clearly connected with the intrusive 

quartz monzonite and usually associated with tremolite and green 

biotite. They have as a rule a more or less veinlike form, for most 

of them lie along fault fissures which strike nearly north and south,- 

though the Morning Star deposit strikes nearly east and west. Besides the contact-metamorphic minerals already mentioned, chrysocolla, malachite, azurite, and limonite are the principal metallic 

minerals, though remnants of the original pyrite and chalcopyrite 

are to be found in most of the workings. Copper pitch ore also 

occurs. A little chalcocite and more rarely bornite is present in some 

places.

1 White, A. F,, Nevada State Mineralogist Third Biennial Kept., for 1869-70, p. 63 

[1871].
KINSLEY DISTRICT. 93

A few small quartz veinlets in the intrusive stock carry pyrite, 

chalcopyrite, and a small amount of galena and the alteration products usually derived from those minerals. These veins are frozen to 

the walls, which show very little alteration.

THE PROPERTIES.

Kinsley Consolidated Mines Co. claims (No. J?, -fig. 7). The Kinsley Consolidated Mines Co. owns numerous claims on the northeast 

contact of the intrusive stock about 2^ miles east of Kinsley Spring. 

The largest workings are about one-eighth mile east of the main contact but near a dike of quartz monzonite which runs northeast from 

the stock. In an eastward branch of the lower tunnel the quartz 

monzonite dike is cut 60 feet from the mouth of the tunnel. A 

whim shaft, said to be 100 feet deep, and four tunnels constitute the 

work. The lower tunnel, whose mouth is approximately level with 

the collar of the shaft, is driven northwestward for'100 feet to intersect the vein, which is then followed N. 21° E. for 160 feet. The 

vein cuts white crystalline dolomite beds, which are essentially horizontal. It dips 55°-60° E. and varies from a tight barren fracture 

to a width of 2 feet, being more or less open throughout. In the 

wider portions of the vein at this level there is some cupriferous 

oxidized iron ore, both limonite and hematite, which is clearly an 

alteration product of cupriferous pyrite.

A 65-foot raise connects this tunnel with one above, whose mouth 

is iOO feet north of the shaft. In this tunnel the vein strikes N. 

25° E. and stands nearly vertical above the tunnel but dips east 

below it. At its level the vein was apparently narrow and consisted 

largely of limonitic material with some lenslike bodies of good-grade 

oxidized copper ore, essentially chrysocolla, malachite, and chalcocite. Some replacement bodies parallel to the nearly horizontally 

bedded limestones occur along the fissure and appear to have contained copper ores associated with tremolite and light greenish-gray 

garnet.

Two tunnels lie between those described, the lower running N. 

10° E. for 100 feet and exposing some small bedded deposits of copper carbonates and the higher running N. 20° E. for 290 feet. This 

last tunnel lies, east of the fissure along which the ore solutions seem 

to have penetrated.

On the hills south of the stock near the mouth of Kinsley Canyon 

some prospects, presumably part of this company's holdings, have 

been opened on a N. 16° W. vertical vein in white crystalline dolomitic limestone, which strikes north and dips 10° to 15° W. The 

vein, which is 1 to 2 feet in width, consists of quartz, part of which
94 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

is chalcedonic, calcite, limonite, and copper carbonates. Residual 

kernels of chalcopyrite are altered in part to bornite and chalcocite 

but largely to copper pitch ore, malachite, and chrysocolla. Limonite 

is abundant. This vein has been opened in numerous places along 

the strike for about 400 feet. A crosscut tunnel 75 feet below the 

croppings has been run 50 feet N. 78° W. without cutting the 

vein but has cut two small fissures which strike N. 5° W. and dip 

85° E. and along which there are indications of mineralization. 

The tunnel and the main shaft on the vein are equipped with, a 

crude tram, which lowers the ore nearly to the level of the road in 

Kinsley Canyon.

Morning Star shaft (No. 2, -fig. 7). The old Morning Star shaft 

is one-half mile east-southeast of Kinsley Spring. The claim belongs 

to the G. A. Lowe estate, but in September, 1913, was under lease to 

E. C. Rowland and John Fasano, who were engaged in cleaning out 

the shaft at the time of visit. They were also shipping the old 

dump, which is said to carry about $25 a ton in silver, lead, and 

copper. By September 30" they had opened the shaft, said to be 275 

feet deep, to a depth of 30 feet, and had exposed the vein 25 feet 

east of the shaft on that level. The vein strikes N. 86° E. and dips 

50° *N. Next the dolomite hanging wall there is a foot of ironstained gouge, below which there are 2 inches of limonitic copper 

carbonate ore, said to carry gold and silver. A second narrow streak 

of ore lies on the footwall separated from the hanging-wall streak 

by 2 feet of limestone. This ore seems to be a replacement along a 

faulted fissure, particularly in the brecciated material along the 

walls. Many fragments of unaltered dolomite are present in the 

ore, which consists of quartz, calcite, malachite, azurite, and chrysocolla. Some silver chloride was seen in the ore and no doubt is 

present with the blue and green copper stains that the prospectors 

speak of as silver chloride or bromide.

Kinsley mine (No. 3, -fig. 7). The old Kinsley surface workings, 

about one-eighth mile north of the Morning Star shaft, show some 

bodies of copper carbonate ores associated with contact-metamorphic 

minerals. The shaft is not accessible but is shown by the dump to 

be deep and to have apparently failed to intersect any ore bodies in 

the dolomite penetrated.

Other prospects. At numerous places in the crystalline dolomite 

hills south of the stock there are shallow openings on small bodies of 

copper carbonate ores, which occur along nearly north-south fissures 

in the vicinity of quartz monzonite dikes. Tremolite and, more 

rarely, greenish mica are developed at a few of the contacts of these 

dikes, though usually the crystalline dolomite has not been further 

altered by metamorphism,
TOANO RANGE. 95

At one prospect about one-fourth mile southeast of the Morning 

Star a small amount of lead carbonate and some copper carbonates 

were seen along a north-south vertical fissure replacement deposit.

TOANO RANGE. 

LOCATION.

The Toano Range extends southward from Toano Pass, east of 

Cobre (see PL I), for 65 miles, to the Elko County line. These 

mountains, called the Gosiute Range by the geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey,1 trend very nearly true north and south, and 

stand as a narrow wall between the Great Salt Lake desert on the 

east and the Basin Mountain country of Nevada on the west.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The range is in.few places more than 6 miles wide. It rises from 

the Salt Lake desert in a long gentle slope, broken near the summit 

by rough, irregular topography sculptured from the massive limestones and quartzites which form the main mountains. The western 

side forms a rough and precipitous wall, notched by deep, steepsided canyons, along the eastern edge of Antelope and Gosiute valleys.

Silver Zone Pass, formerly called Middle Pass, about 16 miles 

south of Toano Pass, used by the Western Pacific Railway, is occupied by a body of what is probably intrusive granitic rock. Don 

<Don Pass is a relatively low -break through the range near its southern end, east of the Dolly Varden Mountains.

GEOLOGY.

Sedimentary rocks. The range is composed for the most part of 

quartzites and limestones, the limestones prevailing. According to 

the geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey, the limestones reach 

their greatest development at Lookout Mountain, the highest peak, 

near the center of the range, a feAv miles northwest of Ferguson 

Spring. (See PI. I.) This series of sediments was all mapped by 

the early geologists as Carboniferous, though it seems probable that 

the formations may include rocks ranging from Cambrian to the 

Carboniferous. A few fossils collected by the writer in 1913 at 

Ferguson Spring have been referred to the Mississippian by G. H. 

Girty, who found Girtyina ventricosa and Echinocrinus sp. among 

them. These fossils were taken from the upper beds of the eastern 

limb of the anticlinal fold south of Lookout Peak, and the immense 

development of limestones involved in this anticline makes it prob1 Hague, Arnold, U, S, Gepl. Expl. 40th Par. Kept., vol. 2, pp. 502-505, 1877.
96 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

able that a large part of the lower beds are older than the Mississippian.

Igneous rocks. At least two bodies of granitic rocks occur in the 

-range. The larger body, at Middle Pass, is described by the geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey as a coarse-grained x light-gray 

intrusive granite but should possibly be correlated with the quartz 

monzonitic intrusives common in eastern Nevada. South of Mount 

Pisgah, about opposite the north end of the Kinsley Mountains (see 

PI. I), a small stock of typical quartz monzonite centers about White 

Horse (Zilig) Spring. The rock is a rather coarse grained porphyritic quartz monzonite with large phenocrysts of pink orthoclase and 

a few of quartz and biotite set in an inequigranular* groundmass of 

oligoclase-andesine, orthoclase, quartz, and biotite, named in the 

order of their abundance. Apatite and magnetite are rather abundant accessories, and in places a little titanite is present. The edge 

phas.e of this stock has a finer grain, is not porphyritic, and carries 

some hornblende as well as biotite.

In the vicinity of Ferguson Spring there is a small area of lightcolored rhyolitic or latitic flows. The rocks are cryptocrystalline and 

are so much altered that the microscopic study of thin sections yields 

little, knowledge that can not be gained from hand specimens. 

Plagioclase and biotite are the phenocrystic minerals set in a very 

fine felsitic groundmass that contains some free silica.

About 4 miles south of Don Don Pass on the east side of the 

Toano Range the low eastward slopes are covered in a few places 

by thin flows of light to dark-gray rocks similar to those near 

Ferguson Spring. At one place the base of a gray, somewhat glassy 

porphyry was composed of a nearly black glass with a few phenocrysts of hornblende and feldspar.

ORE DEPOSITS.

; tURAY DISTBICT.

About 4| miles east of Luray siding, of the Southern Pacific, 

on the south side of Toano Pass (No. 7, fig. 1, p. 18), there are 

a few undeveloped prospects on the Silver Star group and the property of the Cobre Lead Co. The deposits, which were not visited, 

are said to be in light and dark limestones which are somewhat 

folded but which in general strike north and south and dip 30° W. 

The dark limestones are said to underlie the nearly white crystalline 

limestones in which most of the ore occurs. Some of the oxidized 

ore from the Silver Star group, seen at Cobre, consists of white 

crystalline limestone and white opaline quartz. Chrysocolla, mala1 Hague, Arnold, op. cit., p. 503.
TOANO RANGE. 97

chite, and some azurite occur both surrounding and in veinlets 

through a nearly black resinous substance which contains copper, 

lead, and iron, combined as oxide, carbonate, and sulphide. It is 

probably one of the isomorphous gel ore series, called copper pitch 

ore.

FERGUSON SPRING DISTRICT.

Geology. On the west side of the range at Don Don Pass the 

older limestones are dark blue and are seamed with white calcite 

veinlets. They are thin bedded, becoming thicker toward the top. 

Over these beds are massive light blue-gray limestones, in which 

some Mississippian fossils were found at Ferguson Spring. The 

structure is rather complex, but in general this part of the range 

seems to be an unsymmetrical anticline with steep-dipping beds on 

the west and lower dips on the east. At Don Don Pass the western 

limb has been eroded so that the beds all dip eastward, as if that 

part of the range were a monoclinal fault block. In the vicinity of 

Ferguson Spring (No. 5, fig. 1, p. 18) a transverse anticlinal fold 

with a N. 40° W. strike seems to extend across the range. Ferguson 

Spring rises from the western limb of this anticline, where it is 

cut by an east-west break. Near the spring the brownish-gray 

fossiliferous limestones are somewhat cherty. The chert is dark 

and occurs in large masses in a few beds but not throughout all the 

limestones.

Mineral deposits. The deposits near Ferguson Spring are said to 

have been known in the late eighties, but the oldest location notice, 

which was found on the Red Boy or Danger Line claim, was dated 

January 1, 1910. The name Danger Line was repeated on another 

location notice, dated April 27, 1912, found in the same monument. 

The notices call the district " Allegheny."

The deepest work is a 50-foot crosscut tunnel which undercuts one 

of the larger iron-stained croppings. At the depth of the tunnel 

there seems to be very little mineralization, but it may be that some 

ore will be found farther on, as the fissure zone has not been reached 

by the tunnel. Other places in the neighborhood show shallow pits 

and open cuts.

The ore bodies occur on the southwest side of a low hogback which 

rises south and west of Ferguson Spring and in the limestones immediately to the north. All the ores so far developed are oxidized and 

consist for the most part of limonite and barite in irregular replacement deposits that parallel the bedding along east-west fractures. 

The principal break along which mineralization has occurred seems 

to be parallel to but south of that on which the spring rises. The 

largest body is about 300 feet long and 30 feet wide, the croppings 

standing well above the surface. Some areas of copper carbonates 

42680° Bull. 648 16 7
98 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

occur in the limonite, but they are very small and few. Similar 

deposits are said to occur in a low hogback 3 miles east of the spring', 

on the northern limb of the same anticline. a

On the whole the mineralization of this district seems to be weak, 

and it is rather doubtful if any commercial deposits will be found 

in the immediate vicinity of Ferguson Spring.

WHITE HORSE DISTRICT.

In the quartz monzonite stock, which occupies an area about 2 

miles in diameter, forming the peaks on the southwest flank of Mount 

Pisgah (see PL I), there are some small veins. The monzonite is cut 

by north-south joints which dip 70°-80° W., by west-southwest joints 

which stand vertical, and by a flat eastward-dipping sheeting. The 

veins, which are usually parallel to the north-south sheeting, are 

composed of quartz and, so far as developed, carry only oxidized 

ores, showing much limonite, with a minor amount of copper and lead 

carbonates. The walls are sericitized for short distances on both 

sides of the veins. At the dump of the deepest shaft, which reaches 

a depth of 50 feet, there is a little residual pyrite and chalcopyrite, 

surrounded by copper pitch ore, limonite, and copper carbonates. 

A 120-foot tunnel northeast of Zelig Spring exposes two small veins.

FERBER DISTRICT.

Location of mines. The Ferber district is in some low foothills 

3 miles east of the main Toano Range in the extreme southeast corner 

of Elko County, 15 miles north of Ibapah, Utah. (See PL I.) The 

most eastern prospects of the district are about 2 miles west of the 

main freight road from Wendover, on the Western Pacific Eailway, 

to Ibapah, and are close to the State line. Most of the prospects in 

the district are in a low, narrow east-west pass through the ridge 

and are within an area about 2 miles long by a mile wide. Beginning 

at the east, the properties on the north side of the pass are the Knowlton, Red Cloud, Big Chief, Martha Washington, and Ajax. The 

Salt Lake group lies on the south side of the pass opposite the Big 

Chief. The Regent mine is about 2 miles west of the Martha Washington, across the head of a broad, shallow valley which drains north. 

A 15-foot well in the bottom of Ferber Wash, about three-fourths 

of a mile east of the Knowlton property, furnishes all the water used, 

but, without question, water could also be obtained from shallow wells 

in Deep Creek Canyon opposite the mouth of Ferber Wash, where 

there is a small seep at which stock waters.

Geology. The low pass is cut in a small stock of quartz monzonite 

that weathers more rapidly than the surrounding limestones. The 

unmetamorphosed limestones are blue-gray and are distinctly bedded
TOANO RANGE. 99

ill 1 to 2 foot layers. No fossils were found in them, but their lithology and their position on the eastern flank of the Toano Kange suggest that they are of Carboniferous age. In general the beds strike 

east of north and dip southeast, but the structure near the mines is 

complicated and was not studied in detail.

The intrusive rock shows a rather wide range of texture, varying 

from a fairly coarse porphyritic quartz monzonite to a fine equigranular and somewhat gneissic rock that approaches granite. The 

normal porphyritic quartz monzonite has phenocrysts of andesine, 

quartz, and orthoclase (named in the order of decreasing abundance) 

in a fine granular intergrowth of orthoclase, quartz, and andesine. 

Biotite and hornblende occur both as phenocrystic minerals and in 

the groundmass. In some specimens 50 per cent of the rock consists 

of phenocrysts, but the proportions vary from place to place. The 

usual edge phase of this rock is finer grained and is more porphyritic 

than that from the center of the stock. At the Big Chief mine the 

rock is a fine equigranular aggregate of quartz orthoclase, andesine, 

and brown biotite. Gneissic banding has been developed to a slight 

extent near the north edge of the stock, but all gradations between the 

normal phase of quartz monzonite porphyry and the fine equigranular rock were noted.

The Eegent mine is near the south/ contact of a small body of 

pyroxene-andesine rock (gabbro) that contains a small amount of 

interstitial quartz. In general it is a light-gray rock of fine granular 

texture, but in a few places it is of porphyritic texture. When examined in thin section under the microscope, it is seen to consist of 

gray-green augite and andesine with some orthoclase and a small 

amount of quartz. A dike of similar rock was noted about 50 feet 

west of the Martha "Washington ore zone, cutting white crystalline 

limestone. This gabbro is possibly a differentiate of the quartz 

monzonite magma, though its relations to that rock are not definitely 

known.

Ore deposits. The ore deposits of the Ferber district were discovered about 1880 by the Ferber brothers, who did a little work on 

the Big Chief vein and what is now the Salt Lake group. They didnot hold their claims very long, and the properties were relocated 

about 1890. At present the largest property, consisting principally 

of the Martha Washington and Salt Lake groups, is owned by W. M. 

Bradley and associates, of Salt Lake. There are 15 patented claims 

in the district and a large number of locations. So far as could be 

learned the production from the district is quite small, consisting of 

less than 100 carloads of oxidized copper and lead ores which carry 

a little silver and gold.
100 NOTES OK MIKING DISTRICTS IK EASTEBN NEVADA.

The ore deposits, with the exception of the Regent and Big Chief,, 

are typical contact-metamorphic deposits in crystalline limestone 

adjacent to the small stock of quartz monzonite. The contact alteration has resulted in the formation of lenslike masses of epidote, yellowish-brown garnet, calcite, amphibole, and quartz. The bodies of 

lime silicate are usually near the intrusive rocks, and are arranged 

in belts parallel to the contacts, which appear to dip away from the 

stock on all sides. The contact-metamorphic deposits are chiefly 

valuable for copper, which is found in the form of chrysocolla and 

copper pitch ore. Copper carbonate minerals are present in all 

amounts, but do not form a large part of the ore. In some of the 

deeper workings chalcopyrite was noted, and chalcocite was found 

in the workings of the Salt Lake group at a depth of 40 feet. It is 

probably also present in the other mines, though it was not seen by 

the writer. The Big Chief is a siliceous vein cutting quartz monzonite about 100 feet from its north contact. The surface ores are 

limonitic and contain lead carbonate and a minor amount of oxidized 

copper minerals.

The Regent ore body is a shear zone that strikes east and dips south 

in a basic phase of the quartz monzonite. The siliceous ore carries 

principally oxidized lead minerals and a small amount of copper 

carbonate at the surface. At a depth of 100 feet there is a streak 

of massive galena on the hanging wall.

The properties. The Sidong claims, located by G. W. and S. A. 

Knowlton in January, 1908, lie on both sides of Ferber Wash, about 

2 miles west of Deep Creek canyon. The principal development is a 

40-foot whim shaft with 50 feet of drifting at the bottom. A drift 

trending S. TO 0 E., 40 feet in length, has evidently been driven to 

undercut an older 30-foot incline shaft sunk on the ore zone about 75 

feet southeast of the whim. The ore body forms along an open fissure 

that strikes N. 20° E. and dips 80° W. Copper silicate and black 

copper pitch ore with some black oxide are the most abundant copper 

ores, but some malachite and azurite are present. The whim shaft 

is sunk on the contact of altered limestone and a small body of 

medium-grained quartz monzonite. Amphibole, epidote, and skeleton crystals of pink garnet are found in the zone of intense alteration, which is irregular but not wide. In the east drift the intrusive 

contact is peculiar, showing irregular fragments of altered limestone 

in the fine-grained edge phase of the igneous rock through a belt 4 

feet wide. Postintrusive movement along the fissures has brecciated 

this rock and permitted the entrance of the solutions which deposited 

the copper minerals. In replacing the rock the mineralized solutions 

show a marked preference for the limestone, replacing it with chrysocolla and some copper carbonate. The igneous rock is less extensively 

mineralized.
TOAFO KANGE. 101

Several other belts of copper-bearing lime silicate rock appear 

in open cuts on adjoining claims, both north and south of the canyon.

The Eed Cloud workings, on a small flat south of the road in 

Ferber Wash, about a mile west of the Sidong claims, consist of 

several shallow pits sunk in red iron-stained siliceous croppings. 

The limonitic ore body occurs in a zone of brecciated white crystalline limestone on the north side of a vertical fissure that trends N. 60° 

E. and above a fault that strikes N. 45° W. and dips 40° SW. A little 

copper stain is seen here and there in the red ore and a few small 

patches of yellow lead carbonate were noted.

The Big Chief vein, the original discovery in the district, is about 

three-fourths of a mile west of the Eed Cloud workings. The vein is 

2 to 8 feet wide and stands well above the level flat on the summit of 

the pass. It strikes east and is nearly vertical, cutting a fine-grained, 

somewhat gneissic quartz monzonite. The vein is parallel to and 

about 100 feet south of the north contact of the igneous stock. It 

consists of white and dark-gray sugary quartz that on the surface is 

stained with iron and manganese oxides. The quartz has been brecciated and the crevices filled with limonite and with some copper and 

lead carbonates which are said to carry about $14 a ton in silver and 

lead. The vein is opened by several pits and by three shafts, the 

deepest of which goes down about 75 feet. None of the shafts could 

.be entered. No sulphides were noted on the dumps.

The Martha Washington ground is at the west end of the stock 

about half a mile west of the summit of the pass. The deepest shaft 

on this ground, north of the road, is 100 feet deep, with a 50-foot drift 

west at the bottom. The collar of the shaft is in white crystalline 

limestone, which shows some lime silicate minerals and is about 15 

feet west of a 20-foot belt of gossan that consists of epidote, garnet, 

and quartz. The zone of lime silicates, which dips about 60° W., 

crosses the shaft 40 feet below the collar, and is cut along its east 

side by the drift on the 100-foot level. A few residual masses of 

chalcopyrite and bornite, surrounded by copper pitch ore, are found 

at the 100-foot level. Both the croppings and the 40-foot level 

show some copper carbonate and silicate. Most of the ore shipped 

from this claim, said to average 12 per cent copper, has been taken 

from a 50-foot incline about 400 feet south of the road, in the ore 

zone. At this place the mineralization seems to be stronger than it 

is farther north, and the belt of lime silicate rock with abundant 

limonite and copper carbonates and silicates is 6 to 10 feet wide. 

It strikes N. 10° W. and dips about 50° W.

The Ajax workings on what appears to be the southward continuation of the Martha Washington ore zone, consist of a shaft 150 feet 

deep and of about 400 feet of drifting on the 75-foot and 150-foot
102 NOTES ON" MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

levels. Copper carbonate ores with lime silicate minerals and quartz 

have been found in a north-south belt that dips west at medium 

angles.

The Salt Lake group of eight patented claims and five locations 

is on the south side of the pass, opposite the Big Chief. The principal work on the Covellite claim is a 100-foot shaft, but there are 

a number of short tunnels, inclines, and shafts at other places along 

the main ore zone. The ore bodies occur in an east-west belt that 

dips south at low angles, in white crystalline limestone about 200 

feet south of the quartz monzonite contact. Garnet, epidote, amphibole, and calcite are abundant contact-metamorphic products, and 

the copper ores are found in lens-shaped masses with the lime silicate minerals. At the surface copper carbonates and silicates are 

the chief metallic minerals. Copper pitch ore is also present. At a 

depth of 40 feet some chalcocite was noted in the oxidized copper 

ore, and it is said that native copper was found at this depth. A 

few grains of chalcopyrite were noted in the ore on the dumps, but 

the development is not deep enough to have reached unaltered 

sulphides. °

The Regent mine, belonging to Leffler Palmer, of Ibapah, is west 

of the head of a north-draining open valley that lies between Toano 

Range and Ferber Mountain about 2-| miles west of the summit of 

Ferber Pass. The main development is a 150-foot vertical shaft 

on the south side of a low ridge composed of gabbro or pyroxene 

diorite. The collar of the shaft is about 20 feet south of the vein, 

which cuts across the shaft at a depth of 70 feet, and is 30 feet 

south of the shaft at the 300-foot level. It is estimated that the 

vein will be 70 feet south of the shaft at the 150-foot level, which 

had not reached the vein at the time of visit. At the surface a zone 

of yellow and red-stained crushed gabbro 20 feet in width, exposed 

in the open cut, strikes N. 62° W. and dips 70° SW. It is said 

that the ore from the cut has a value of $15 a ton in lead and silver. 

Some of the lead is in the form of powdery cerusite, but plumbojarosite was also seen in the ore. At the 100-foot level there is a 

streak of partly oxidized galena on the hanging wall of the ore zone. 

The 3 feet of ore next the hanging wall is reported to be of better 

grade than the remainder of the vein.

TECOMA DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Tecoma district (No. 11, fig. 1, p. 18) is in the northeastern 

part of the Goose Creek Hills, in northeastern Elko County. The 

district is about 10 miles north of Tecoma, a town on the Southern 

Pacific. The mines are on the west side of the eastern ridge of the
TECOMA DISTRICT. 103

hills, just west of the Utah-Nevada State line. (See PL I.) This 

portion of the Goose Creek Hills has a low rounded topography and 

is not much higher than the Tecoma Valley, which extends westward 

to Toano Pass at an elevation of approximately 4,600 feet. The 

Jackson mine, the most developed property in the district, is 11 

miles north of Tecoma on the north side of a low east-west ridge 

which extends into the valley from the southeastern peak of the 

Goose Creek Hills. The-Dunham claims are half a mile southeast 

of the Jackson on the south side of the same ridge; the Irish Boy 

group is about three-fourths mile east of the Dunham; and the 

Queen of the West shaft is about 2 miles east-southeast of the Jackson mine at the edge of the Tecoma Valley.

GEOLOGY.

The mines are strung along a low anticline whose axis strikes 

about N. 40° W. On the northeast limb of this anticline the beds 

dip 12°-20° NE. and on the southwest side 20°-35° SW. In the 

vicinity of the Queen of the West mine the axis of the anticline 

seems to have swung to nearly north-south and only the eastern 

limb is exposed. The lower beds are gray-blue limestones of Devonian age, containing fossils, among which Edwin Kirk, of the 

United States Geological Survey, has determined bryozoan (?) types 

and Cyathophyllum sp. The bryozoan, he states, is a peculiar type 

which ranges widely through the Devonian of the Western States. 

These limestones, in the vicinity of the Jackson mine on the northeast limb of the anticline, are about 500 feet thick and are overlain 

by 50 to 100 feet of dark-gray quartzite and underlain by a rather 

thin bed of white quartzite, below which there are shaly limestones. 

On the southwest limb of the anticline, in the vicinity of the Dunham 

claims, thin-bedded sandy lime shales and limestones of light-gray 

and drab color carry fossils, among which G. H. Girty has determined Fusulina aff. F. elongata and fragments of crinoids. These 

beds are regarded as probably the equivalent of the White Pine 

shale, of the Eureka district. The anticline is somewhat broken by 

north-northwest fractures, along which the ore bodies are localized.

In the vicinity of the Dunham and Queen of the West properties 

there are some poorly exposed small dikes and sheets of a very much 

altered porphyritic rock which carries large phenocrysts of quartz 

and soft altered feldspar in a fine-grained groundmass. A thin section of this altered granite porphyry shows the groundmass to consist 

of quartz, sericitized orthoclase, some bleached biotite, and what 

appear to have been hornblende crystals, now altered to iron oxide.

On the flat southwest of the mines there are a few low buttes composed of pinkish-gray rhyolite in which flow structure is well developed, so that in places the rocks have a shaly cleavage.
104 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

ORE DEPOSITS.

HISTORY AND PRODUCTION.

The Jackson mine was discovered in 1906 and has been a small 

producer ever since. The latest location, the Irish Boy group, was 

made in January, 1912. The following table shows the production 

from the Tecoma district as published by the United States Geological Survey in Mineral Eesources of the United States.

Production of the Tecoma district, Elko County, 1907-1912,

Year.

1907.......................................

1908.......................................

1909 .......................................

1910.......................................

1911.......................................

1912.......................................

Gold.

Fine ounces. 

3.48

9.53

8.17

.48

.05

21.71

Silver.

Fine ounces. 

946

5.628

5.488

788

349

8

13,207

Copper.

Pounds.

1,803

85

127

2,015

 Lead.

Pounds. 

59,000

294,310

314,861

56,229

20,968

5,352

750,720

Total value.

OO QOA

15,779

16,563

2,899

1,154

249

40,474

CHARACTER OF DEPOSITS

The ore deposits of the Tecoma district are small irregular replacements in limestones of Devonian or Mississippian age and are localized along fissures which strike N. 15°-34° W. The relation between 

the ores and the obscure granite porphyry intrusions is not shown. 

The ores so far developed at all the properties consist of argentiferous cerusite, which is more or less ocherous in the northwestern part 

of the district and which contains some zinc carbonate in the mines 

to the east.

THE PROPERTIES.

Jackson mine. The Jackson mine on the north side of a low ridge 

about 11 miles north of Tecoma is in bluish-gray northeast-dipping 

Devonian limestones. The ore bodies occur along a 1ST. 15° W. fracture which dips 35°-50° W. They are replacements but do not 

appear to favor any particular bed of the 500 feet of limestone exposed on the ridge. The upper workings are tunnels whose total 

length is 500 feet in the ore zone, which is about 20 feet wide. In 

these workings the upper limit of the ore is a bed of white quartzite. 

The main development is a 115-foot inclined shaft with about 35 feet 

of drifting at the "lower level and many irregular raises and stopes 

between that level and the surface. The small irregular ore bodies 

occur throughout a zone 25 feet wide.

The ores are ocherous lead carbonates, of which some from the 

lower level carry a small quantity of galena and anglesite. The 

sorted ore is said to average 25 per cent lead and 10 to 12 ounces
LANDER COUNTY. 105

of silver a ton, though some shipments carrying 44 per cent lead and 

20 ounces of silver have been made. The property is reported to have 

produced $50,000 worth of ore since its discovery in 1906.

Durham claims. The four claims of the Durham group are on the 

south side of the ridge half a mile south-southeast of the Jackson 

mine. The main development work is a 60-foot vertical shaft which 

starts on a fracture that strikes N. 30° E. and dips 60° SE. A 15-foot 

drift on the 30-foot level intersects the ledge. Next the hanging 

wall of the fracture there is 4 inches of clay, below which the 

irregular and rather small ore bodies make in lime shales that dip 

45°-50° SW. The ore is a soft canary-yellow lead carbonate and is 

said to average 40 per cent lead, 32 ounces silver, and $2.50 in gold 

a ton.

Irish Boy group. The Irish Boy group, located January, 1912, 

by Carl Peterson and Dave Douglas of Grouse Creek, Utah, is !£ 

miles east-southeast of the Jackson mine. A 60-foot vertical shaft, 

equipped with a small gasoline hoist, constitutes the main work, but 

is apparently in barren ground. From the surface to a depth of 

10 feet the shaft is in granite porphyry, below which there are thinbedded cherry blue limestones. There was apparently no contact 

metamorphism along this sheet of porphyry.

Queen of the West claims. The Queen of the West group of five 

claims, the farthest southeast of any property in the district, is apparently on the eastern limb of the anticline, where it has swung into 

a north-south trend. The cherty bluish-gray limestones dip about 

45° E. and are cut by an irregular fracture which strikes about 

1ST. 20° W. and dips 75° ENE. The ore occurs near this fracture 

as an irregular replacement of the limestones. It is a dark cellular 

cerusite ore with a minor amount of limonite and a small quantity of 

smithsonite. The high-grade sorted ore is said to carry about 80 

ounces of silver a ton and in some shipments as high as 18 per cent 

of zinc, though the usual zinc content is about 2 per cent. The main 

development is an inclined shaft 120 feet deep on the main fracture.

LANDEB COUNTY. 

LOCATION AND TRANSPORTATION.

Lander County, in the central part of Nevada, has excellent transportation facilities. The main line of the Southern Pacific crosses 

its northern end, and the narrow-gage Nevada Central Eailroad follows Reese River through its center. At both Battle Mountain and 

Austin supplies of all kinds can be obtained. The roads in the county 

are good and numerous lines of stage operate from both terminals of 

the railroad, giving easy access to practically-all parts of the county.
106 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

RAVENSWOOD DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Eavenswood district, in south-central Lander County (No. 15, 

fig. 1, p. 18), is about 20 miles northwest of Austin, the county seat. 

Most of the prospects are on the summit of the Shoshone Range, a 

few miles southwest of Eavenswood Peak, though one property is on 

the eastern side of the range near the head of Eeese Eiver canyon. 

This prospect is about 1-| miles northwest of Vaughn siding on the 

Nevada Central Eailroad. Eavenswood camp is 7 miles west of 

Silver Creek siding, which is 70 miles south of Battle Mountain, the 

junction with the Southern Pacific main line.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Along the west side of Eeese Eiver valley, extending from Silver 

Creek to Vaughn siding, a broad bench lies 150 to 200 feet above the 

river flat. West of this bench Eavenswood Peak rises 2,000 feet in 

a little less than 3 miles. Its eastern face is rough and is cut by deep, 

steep gorges, but to the west it falls off in a gradual slope to Antelope 

Valley. This peak marks the northern end of the southern portion 

of the Shoshone Eange, whose northern portion lies beyond Eeese 

Eiver, which crosses it through a deep, narrow canyon about 6 miles 

to the north. Southward from the peak a ridge approximately 6,500 

feet high extends for several miles.

GEOLOGY.

Classes of rocks. The higher parts of the range are composed of 

dark quartzites, shales, and arenaceous limestones, though on some 

of the ridges north of Eavenswood Peak lighter-colored bluish-gray 

limestones are present. At the East mine, 1^ miles northwest of 

Vaughn siding, the sediments are intruded by dikes of quartz monzonite porphyry. A large part of the lower slopes of the range are 

underlain by rhyolitic and andesitic lavas, remnants of which also lie 

on the summits of the ridges, as though the whole range had once 

been buried under the volcanic rocks.

Sedimentary rocks. The older sedimentary rocks exposed in the 

Sell Canyon road about 5 miles northwest of Silver Creek siding 

are dark brownish-drab micaceous quartzites and dark-greenish and 

drab micaceous shales, which strike N. 20° W. and dip 30° W. 

Among a few fossils collected from a bed of shale at this locality 

Edwin Kirk, of the United States Geological Survey, recognized the 

Cambrian forms Hyolithes sp. and indeterminable fragments of 

trilobites. These quartzites and shales appear to be at least 500 feet
RAVENSWOOD DISTRICT. 107

thick, and are overlain by 120 feet of lighter-colored quartzite, 500 

feet of yellowish-drab, red, and bluff thin-bedded calcareous shales, 

300 feet of gray iron-stained quartzites with some shales, and at 

least 1,700 feet of dark-gray crystalline limestones in medium thin 

beds. Calcite veinlets cut these limestones in all directions, and 

black chert is abundantly distributed throughout the formation. 

The exact age of these formations is not known, but it is thought 

that they are all of Cambrian age and may possibly be correlated 

with the lower part of the section at Eureka, Nev., described by 

Hague.1

In the vicinity of the Eavenswood camp the main structural feature is the persistent north strike and west dip of the sediments. The 

dip is 45° W. at the head of Sell Canyon, but west of the camp 

diminishes to about 15°. A secondary structure at the camp has 

thrown the westward-dipping beds into a shallow synclinal fold so 

that a short distance south of the camp the beds dip 35° to 45° NW. 

A large number of the properties are located in this syncline along 

northeast-trending fractures which have broken the beds.

At the Rast mine, near the head of Reese River canyon, the nearly 

black limestones and lime shales strike N. 10° E. and dip 45° W. 

On the summit of the ridge southwest of the mine the dark rocks 

are overlain by lighter-colored heavy-bedded limestones.

The benches along Reese River between the head of the canyon and 

Silver Creek are underlain by light-buff partly consolidated sands 

and silts, which were referred by the geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey to the Tertiary Truckee formation. 2 These beds are 

exposed only on the sides of the washes, where the rhyolite that covered them has been eroded.

Along the Reese River bottoms there are small areas of Quaternary silts which are extremely fertile. In this part of its course 

Reese River flows above ground, and most of this bottom land is 

irrigated and under cultivation.

Igneows rocks. The limestones at the Rast mine have been intruded by a number of dikes of light-gray to white, rather coarsegrained, somewhat porphyritic quartz monzonite. A few of these 

dikes exposed in the crosscut tunnel have been more or less altered, 

and most of them contain some disseminated pyrite. A thin section 

of this rock examined microscopically shows it to consist of about 

equal amounts of feldspar and quartz and a very minor proportion 

of light-green biotite. Magnetite and apatite are rare accessory 

minerals. The feldspars, particularly the plagioclase, which seems 

to be near andesine, and the microperthite are sericitized, but the

1 Hague, Arnold, Geology of the Eureka district, Nev.: U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 20, 

pp. 34-41, 1892.

- Emmons, S. F., U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Kept., vol. 2, p. 639, 1877.
108 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

more abundant orthoclase has suffered only slight alteration. The 

normally dark-gray to black limestone is changed to a nearly white, 

coarsely crystalline rock in the vicinity of these dikes, but no lime 

silicate minerals were noted at any place.

So far as determined there are no intrusive rocks in the vicinity 

of Ravenswood camp, and from information obtained from the 

operators in the district it is thought that none are nearer than those 

near the East mine or those to the south-southeast, which were spoken 

of as granites.

Along the eastern face of the range there are thin flows and flow 

breccias, pinkish drab to red-drab in color, which so far as seen are 

typically developed rhyolites. Along the Sell Canyon road the 

material resembles a fine breccia of fragmental spherulitic rhyolite 

with a few quartz and biotite fragments. Near the East mine the 

rocks are thin flows of porphyritic rhyolite containing rather abundant small phenocrysts of quartz, orthoclase, and biotite in a partly' 

glassy groundmass containing orthoclase quartz and biotite. Rhyolites are also present on the western slopes of the mountains.

The rhyolites are younger than the light-colored friable sandstones of the Truckee formation, which they cover on the eastern 

side of the range. They are in turn covered in some places to a 

considerable depth by deposits of gravel and wash from the mountains.

On the summit of the range at Ravenswood camp remnants of 

andesitic flows cap the higher parts of some of the ridges, notably 

the ridge between Ravenswood camp and the Queen shaft. At this 

place the reddish biotite andesite showing a distinct flow lamination 

is about 60 feet thick. At other places the remnants are 5 to 15 

feet in thickness.

ORE DEPOSITS. 

HISTORY.

Ravenswood, one of the early organized districts in the Reese 

River country, is at the northern terminus of the Shoshone Mountains. According to Browne, 1 silver was the principal metal sought 

in early days, and as the veins near Ravenswood Peak were rich 

only in copper, they were abandoned by the disappointed prospectors. 

According to White,2 the veins that occur in a belt 10 miles long 

and 2 miles wide on the east- side of the Shoshone Mountains in 

limestone and slate were discovered in 1863 by a party from Austin. 

The Shoshone ore deposit, located in February, 1870, is a northwest1 Browne, J. R., Mineral resources of the States and Territories west of the Rocky 

Mountains for 1867, p. 413, 1868.

2 White, A. F., Nevada State Mineralogist Third Biennial Rept., for 1869-70, p. 44 

[1871].
RAVENSWOOD DISTRICT. 109

southeast vein 6 feet wide that dips 45° NE. and carries more galena 

than copper. It seems probable that this property is now known 

as the A. J. C. No. 5 claim, upon which there is an old abandoned 

shaft from which a small shipment of lead ore is said to have been 

made by Mr. Clayton in 1895. The main properties were later controlled by Mr. Oddie and associates, who inaugurated a short-lived 

boom in 1906 and 1907. At the present time most of the claims are 

held! in two groups, one by Mr. J. M. Pine, of Denver, Colo., and 

the other by an association of people from Ely, Nev. A few claims 

are held independently.

So far as can be learned there has been a very small production 

from the camp, and all of the ore was apparently mined previous to 

1902, for the statistics of mineral production collected by the United 

States Geological Survey since that year show no output from 

Ravenswood.

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS AND DEVELOPMENT.

Transportation is not difficult in this district, as the railroad is 

less than 12 miles from the most remote workings and is within 3 to 

4 miles of many of the prospects. There are fairly large pinon and 

juniper trees on the range, some of which grow near the camp. 

Water is abundant along the Reese River valley but in the mountains occurs only in a few small springs, that at Ravenswood camp, 

supplying about three or four barrels a day, being one of the larger.

The deepest development, the Queen shaft, is down about 240 feet. 

The Red Bird shaft, said to be 80 feet deep, was filled with dirt and 

water in the latter part of September, 1913. Most of the claims 

have a few 10-foot prospect holes on the croppings of the veins and 

lenses. The development of the district is really insufficient to give 

a basis for economic geologic study.

TYPE OF DEPOSIT.

In the vicinity of Ravenswood the ores occur in small lenslike 

quartz veins, which either parallel or cut the rather indistinct 

bedding of dark shales, quartzites, and limestones of Cambrian age. 

These veins, consisting of both light and dark quartz and occasionally 

barite, carry some chalcopyrite, antimonial galena, and tetrahedrite, 

all of which sulphides are said to carry silver and a little gold. The 

sulphides are seen at the surface at many places, but are somewhat 

oxidized at the greatest depths obtained in the prospects. The chalcopyrite usually alters to blue or green chrysocolla and more rarely 

to azurite. Galena alters to anglesite, cerusite, and occasionally to 

lead phosphate (pyromorphite), occurring as a yellowish-green coating on joints in the ore and country rock near the veins. The carbonates of copper and lead are only slightly developed. The quartz
110 NOTES ON" MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTEEN NEVADA.

in many veins is barren or only slightly mineralized. The veins 

themselves are small, and none of them have been traced for any 

considerable distance on the surface. Many of the quartz bodies have 

the appearance of lenses rather than veins.

THE PBOPEETIES.

Pine properties. On the Portland claim, about one-fourth mile 

south-southeast of Eavenswood camp, there are a few shallow surface workings on a deposit of oxidized ore in a brecciated yellowishbrown shale lying above a flat strike fault. The shales strike N. 

33° E. and dip 75° NW. In one cut the ore goes to a depth of 4 feet 

to the nearly horizontal fault plane, below which what appear to be 

similar shales show no mineralization. Between the fragments of 

the breccia, quartz, minor amounts of blue or green copper silicate, 

and some yellowish earthy lead phosphate have been deposited.

On the next claim south of the Portland a vein trending 1ST. 60° W. 

and dipping 80° NE. is exposed by the surface workings. The 

country rocks, drab and yellow arenaceous shales, with some yellow 

limestones, strike N. 60° W. and dip 50° N. The narrow white 

quartz vein is stained with blotches of copper carbonates surrounding small particles of a gray-black copper sulphide which appears to 

contain antimony, but blow-pipe tests on this mineral were not 

entirely conclusive.

The Eed Bird shaft, about 3£ miles south-southwest of the camp, is 

in the canyon bottom. The cloud-bursts of the summer of 1913 filled 

this shaft, which is said to have been 80 feet deep on the incline, 

with debris and had carried away a considerable portion of the dump. 

The ledge strikes N. 40° W. and dips 50° SW. parallel to the bedding 

of the slate and limestone country rock. The hanging-wall rock is 

a thin-bedded buff lime shale and the f ootwall a greenish shale. The 

ledge is about 4 feet wide and has more the form of a lens than a 

vein, though it seems to be traceable for about 500 feet along the 

surface. It consists of dark-gray smoky quartzite, in which a small 

amount of pyrite and chalcopyrite is irregularly distributed. On 

some of the joints there are films of copper silicate and carbonate. 

As seen in thin sections under the microscope this siliceous material 

is seen to be a quartzite in which the outlines of the original quartz 

grains are marked by bands of black inclusions.

About half a mile west-northwest of the Eed Bird, on the southeast side of the canyon in whose head Eavenswood camp is located, 

a short crosscut tunnel and shallow shaft open up a 3-foot ledge 

of silicified black shale stained with copper silicates that is said to 

carry good-grade silver ore. This ledge strikes N. 15° E. and dips 

75° W., cutting the formation, which in this place strikes N. 10° E. 

and dips 65° W.
EAVENSWOOD DISTRICT. Ill

On the A. J. C. No. 4 claim, about a mile southwest of the Queen 

shaft, a 25-foot incline develops a 2-foot lenslike body of quartz 

stained with copper silicate and lead carbonates. A little residual 

chalcopyrite was seen in the ore and a few specks of what appeared 

to be galena.

On the A. J. C. No. 5 claim, about three-eighths mile south of the 

camp, there is an old inaccessible inclined shaft, reported to be 80 

feet deep, from which some ore is said to have been shipped. A 

few pieces of siliceous ore on the dump are stained with chrysocolla 

and carry galena, gray copper, and stibnite. On the surface the vein 

seems to strike N. 10° W., and to dip TO0 E. It is said to have varied 

from 2 to 3 feet in width through the Avorkings.

The Queen shaft, about one-fourth mile southwest of Kavenswood 

camp, on the southeast side of the canyon, is equipped with a small 

gasoline hoist. In the middle of September, 1913, it was approximately 240 feet deep. There is a 120-foot drift on the 154-foot level 

with a 75-foot crosscut, about 80 feet of drifting on the 70-foot level, 

and a drift tunnel about 120 feet long which intersects the shaft 32 

feet below the collar. The dark limestones and shales in this ridge 

strike N. 45° E. and dip 20° NW.

On the surface the vein strikes N. 32° E. On the 70-foot level it 

strikes N. 35° E. and dips 85° SE. and is 6 feet wide, with fair 

walls, and consists of quartz, with some partly oxidized copper and 

lead sulphides. At the tunnel level the vein is 8 to 10 inches wide, 

with a smooth, well-marked f ootwall along which there has been some 

postmineral movement. The hanging wall of the vein is ill defined. 

The wall rocks on this level are calcareous shales and limestone.

The mineralization along this vein was spotty, there being considerable white and dark quartz filling without any sign of metallic 

minerals. At other places, irregularly scattered along the strike, 

small masses of sulphides occur. Chalcopyrite and silver-bearing 

antimonial galena seem to have been the chief primary minerals, 

though what appeared to be gray copper was noted in some of the 

ore on the dump. As a rule, the minerals are not intergrown and 

no age relations were determined. The galena alters to anglesite 

and minor amounts of cerusite, and thin films of the greenish-yellow 

lead phosphate are present on fractures in the ore. The chalcopyrite 

alters to bluish and greenish silicates, with very minor amounts of 

carbonate.

In the shaft, at a depth of 80 feet, a flat northeast-dipping fault 

cuts off the vein, and in none of the work below that level was ore 

seen. It was unfortunate that the shaft was in such condition 

that this break could not be studied in detail and a definite idea 

obtained of the direction or amount of movement along it; the movement, however, appears to have been rather small, as the rocks are
112 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

little disturbed near the plane and there is not much gouge. In the 

crosscut on the 154-foot level there is a N. 10° W. fracture that dips 

65° E.; along which there has been a normal movement which does 

not appear to have been great. This can not be the same as the flat 

fault seen in the shaft.

Ely properties. A. number of claims on the summit and eastern 

side of the range, controlled by a group of men from Ely, Nev., are 

locally known as the Giroux Ely group.

The Independence No. 2 claim, a mile east-southeast of Eavenswood camp, on the ridge south of the head of Sell Canyon, is developed by a few shallow workings on a 2 to 3 foot bedded vein in 

shales that strike N. 50° E. and dip 35° NW. The vein consists 

of white and dark quartz in which there are small amounts of copper 

silicates, galena, and chalcopyrite.

On the Independence No. 1 claim the lode strikes N. 45° W., 

stands vertical in some places, and dips 40° N. in other pits. It is 

exposed in four prospect pits over a length of 250 feet. It consists 

of two or three narrow quartz stringers that are subparallel, but 

branch and join along the strike. A little lead and copper stain is 

seen on much of the quartz, but so far as noted no sulphides have 

been found.

The Lead King ground lies south of the Independence claims and 

about 1£ miles southeast of Eavenswood camp. A 10-foot shaft 

reveals a 4-foot lens of white quartz, somewhat stained with limonite 

and copper silicate, that strikes N. 30° E. and dips 85° E., cutting 

dark-gray and brownish limestones which have been much disturbed. 

At the bottom of the shaft there is some antimonial galena and a little 

gray copper.

On the Shamrock No. 1 claim a prospect pit has exposed four 

narrow white quartz veins irregularly spaced in a 4-foot vertical zone 

of brecciated gray-brown crystalline limestone which strikes N. 35° 

W. These stringers continue with their average width in bun7 and 

greenish shales interbedded with the limestone. A small amount of 

copper silicate is present in this quartz. At another shallow pit a 

N. 20° E. vertical quartz vein carries, beside copper silicate, some 

partly oxidized chalcopyrite.

In six pits on the Shamrock No. 2 a vertical quartz vein is exposed, 

which strikes N. 20° E., cutting the interbedded shales and limestones. It consists of white and gray quartz and is not strongly 

mineralized. At some places it reaches a minimum of 5 feet but 

averages about 2 feet in width. In the narrow portions chalcopyrite 

is seen in the quartz, altering to copper pitch ore and copper silicates.

On the Emmet claim, three-fourths mile south of the Shamrock, 

a north-trending vein which dips 45° W. cuts the shales at an acute 

angle. The vein is 2 feet wide and consists of white .quartz, which
LINCOLN COUNTY. 113

has been crushed and partly recemented. Copper silicates, limonite, 

and a little residual chalcopyrite were seen in the ore on the dump, 

which is said to carry gold, silver, lead, and copper.

The Wild Horse claim is a mile south-southeast of Ravenswood. 

A small lenslike replacement consisting of somewhat iron-stained 

quartz, barite, and calcite, carrying a little copper carbonate, lies in 

lime shales above a bed of quartzite.

Lombardy group. The Lombardy group, commonly called the 

Rast property, is on the southwest side of Reese River, near the 

head of the canyon and about 1£ miles northwest of Vaughn siding. 

The vein, which outcrops near the summit of a north-south ridge, is 

opened by two shallow inclines, from which a little ore is reported 

to have been shipped. The vein strikes N. 10° E. and dips about 

50° W., nearly parallel to the bedding of dark limestones. It is 8 to 

16 inches wide, with fair walls. The ore is an antimonial silverbearing galena, with possibly a little gray copper. Anglesite and 

some cerusite are the alteration products. A parallel vein, opened 

by a few shallow pits farther up the hill, carries chalcopyrite and 

sphalerite, as well as the minerals seen in the first vein. A crosscut 

tunnel, now 400 feet in length, has been started from the base of the 

rHge east of the veins, which have not been cut as yet. In this tunnel 

the limestone is crystalline and much sheared along a series of fractures which strike N. 10°-20° E. and dip 60°-70° W. There has also 

been some movement along practically vertical east-west fractures. 

A light-colored, rather coarse grained quartz monzonite has intruded 

the sediments but has caused little or no contact metamorphism. 

Pyrite in small cubes is abundant in some dikes and in the limestone 

adjacent to several of the intrusive masses. As seen in the tunnel 

the dikes are irregular, very narrow, and have been sheared and 

crushed since their injection.

Other prospects. The Last Chance, 3£ miles south of Ravenswood, is a 4-foot quartz vein that cuts the bedding of yellow and 

green shales which strike N. 20° E. and dip 40° W. Chalcopyrite 

and antimonial galena and their oxidation products are sparingly 

distributed through the vein.

On the Warrior claim a ledge of what appears to be a dark quartzite strikes N. 40° W. and dips west and is more or less stained with 

copper silicate.

LINCOLN COUNTY.

MINERAL DEVELOPMENT.

Lincoln County, established in 1866 from part of Nye County, included all of southeastern Nevada/ In 1906 the southern half was 

set apart as Clark County, with Las Vegas as the seat. Pioche, one 

of the old Nevada mining camps, was flourishing in the sixties, and 

42680° Bull. 648 16 8
114 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

has been the seat of Lincoln County since 1869. For many years 

Milf ord, Utah, was the nearest railroad point. In 1873 the narrowgage railroad was built from Pioche to the smelter at Bullionville, 

now known as Panaca. In the seventies and early eighties 110 

stamps were working on Pioche ore, and at least two smelters have 

been built to treat the product of the Meadow Valley district. In 

1907 Pioche was connected by rail with Caliente, on the San Pedro, 

Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad.

The mines in the Atlanta, Bristol, and Patterson districts of northeastern Lincoln County were visited during the later part of October. They are grouped about a valley which lies east of the south 

end of the Schell Creek Range and north of Pioche. (See PL I.) 

On all the maps of Nevada this valley is named Duck Valley, presumably from Duck Lakes, which are south,of Geyser post office at 

the north end of the valley, but according to the recorder of Lincoln 

County 1 the northern end of this valley south to an east-west line 

through Bristol Pass should be called Lake Valley, and south of that 

line, where the valley narrows, it should be called Patterson Wash. 

According to a recent decision of the United States Geographic 

Board, this valley will in the future be known as Lake Valley.

ATLANTA DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Atlanta district (No. 16, fig. 1, p. 18) is about 40 miles northeast of Pioche, its shipping and supply point, in a parklike basin on 

the northeastern flank of the Fortification Range. This range, really 

a spur of the Schell Creek Range, separates Lake Valley on the southwest from Spring Valley on the northeast. (See PI. I.)

The mines are north and west of a prominent, though relatively 

low mountain, which rises slightly above the rolling hills on the 

northeastern side of this low divide. (See fig. 8.)

GEOLOGY.

Spurr believed these mountains, which he called the Cedar or 

Clover Mountains, to be entirely composed of lavas. 2 similar to the 

rocks examined by him along Meadow Valley Canyon,3 where he 

observed the following sequence of events:

1. Deposition of the Paleozoic series of quartzites and limestones.

2. Elevation of this series to a land mass and the erosion of the rocks to 

produce a system of mountains and valleys. This was attended by little or no 

folding.

1 Letter dated June 17, 1914.

2 Spurr, J. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, pp. 36-37, 1903.

3 Idem, pp. 139-148.
ATLANTA DISTRICT. 115

3. Pouring out of great masses of white biotite rhyolite (early Tertiary).

4. The formation of a series of water-laid rhyolitic sandstones and tuffs, 

interbedded with thin sheets of rhyolite and rhyolite breccias. This whole 

series is roughly estimated at 4,000 feet thick and at the top contains relatively 

more tuffs, while at the bottom there are relatively more lavas. Several slight 

unconformities and many slight erosion gaps occur in the series.

5. Folding to a considerable degree of the whole crust.

6. Explosive eruptions of pyroxene andesites and latites of moderate extent.

7; The formation of a series of water-laid brown volcanic tuffs or sandstones 

and breccias, with interbedded quartz-bearing volcanics, chiefly dacites arid 

reddish rhyolites. The sandstones were relatively thick at the bottom of the

- \, LEGEND

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

White rhyolite tuff

"Vault" 

Strike and dip

FIGORB 8. Sketch map and sections of the Atlanta district, Lincoln County, Nev.

series, the volcanics at the top. The entire thickness of the series is estimated 

at 3,500 feet. There are some petty erosion intervals.

8. General folding, comparatively gentle.

9. Deposition of at least 2,000 feet of brown or red conglomerates and soft 

sandstones, which are accompanied by very few volcanic flows and so are distinct from the preceding formations. They have remained nearly horizontal 

and are probably, in large part at least, lake beds. They have been referred 

to the Pliocene.

10. Drainage of the Pliocene lake, erosion, and slight local folding in the 

Pleistocene.

11. Outpouring of thin sheets of rhyolite, tordrillite, and pyroxene-olivlne 

basalt.
116 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

12. The formation of a small amount of high-stream gravels.

13. Cutting down of the canyon bed to its present position. 

The thickness of the basal rhyolite is not known. A very roughly estimated 

section of the overlying formations is as follows:

Section in Meadow Valley Canyon.

Feet.

Rhyolite tuff series________________________ 4,000 

Andesite _____________________________ 600 

Red lava and sandstone____________________ 3, 500 

Pliocene sandstones and conglomerates____________ 2, 500

10,600

The observations of the writer confirmed Spurr's conclusion in so 

far as the western and southern part of these mountains is concerned, but it seems that a considerable area in the northeastern part 

of the range is underlain by sedimentary rocks, which are buried beneath the volcanic rocks. At Atlanta the mountain south of the 

town is composed of a fine-grained vitreous white quartzite, in thick 

beds which dip east-northeast at medium to low angles. (See fig. 8.) 

The ridge east of the town is composed entirely of light-gray crystalline limestones in beds 2 to 4 feet thick, which strike east and west 

and dip 15°-30° N. These two formations are separated by a fault 

which strikes N. 30° W. and dips 60° SW. (See fig. 8.) North of 

Atlanta Peak dark limestones apparently overlie the quartzite, 

though this relation is not certain, as a detritus-filled canyon separates the exposures.

No fossils were found in the sedimentary rocks, so their age is not 

known, though it is believed possibly to be Cambrian ^>r Ordovician, 

as white quartzites at least 1,000 feet thick, overlain by 4,000 to 5,000 

feet of dark and light limestones of Cambrian age,1 form much of 

the south end of the Snake Range, which lies northeast of Atlanta 

across Spring Valley.

A light-gray to white biotite rhyolite tuff overlies both the quartzite and limestone and has been involved in the faulting. (See 

fig. 8.) About 200 feet of the tuffs are exposed. They are overlain 

by dark-red flow rhyolites, which form a large number of the buttes 

north and west of Atlanta. It is the belief of the writer that the 

rhyolite tuffs and flows are probably the equivalents of No. 4 of 

Spurr's section. (See p. 115.)

ORE DEPOSITS.

History. Silver was mined in the late sixties and early seventies in 

the Silver Park district, which is now known as Atlanta. These

i Howell, B. E., U. S. Geog. Surveys W. 100th Mer. Kept., vol. 3, p. 241, 1875. Weeks, 

P. B., Geology and mineral resources of the Osceola mining district, White Pine County, 

Nev.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 340, pp. 119-122, 1908.
ATLANTA DISTRICT. 117

0

mines were evidently known to the geologists of the Wheeler Survey, 

for the position of the Silver Park district is accurately shown on a 

map of eastern Nevada which accompanies the progress report for 

1869.1 So far as known, no descriptions of the mines in this vicinity 

have been published; it is impossible to find any account of the early 

production of silver from this camp; and no production has been reported to the United States Geological Survey since 1902. It seems 

highly probable, however, that the Atlanta mine will be a producer 

in the near future, and it is known that lessees on the Silver Park 

property made some shipments of high-grade silver ore in 1913.

Occurrence of the ores. At the Atlanta, Bradshaw, and Solo Joker 

mines the ores occur in zones of cemented breccia along zones of 

faulting. At the Bradshaw the rich silver minerals occur in fractures in a dense, very hard, red jasper. The ore zones at the Atlanta 

and Solo Joker are more open breccias, consisting of fragments of 

limestone, rhyolite tuff, quartzite, chert, and jasper, partly cemented 

by quartz, and containing much limonite and some pyrolusite. Some 

of the ore from these properties has the cellular platy structure commonly developed in veins of the late Tertiary period of mineralization. In this kind of ore the quartz is seen to be replacing barite. 

The fact that these ores occur in faults involving the rhyolite tuff, 

and that fragments of the tuff are included in the silicified breccias, 

is clear evidence that they were formed after the extrusion of those 

lavas which Spurr assigns to early Tertiary time. At all the mines 

of the district silver and gold are the valuable constituents of the 

ores, and so far as known the base metals play a very minor part in 

the mineralization. At all of the properties silver is an important 

constituent of the ore, though at the Atlanta mine gold is the most 

important. Very minor amounts of copper and lead carbonates are 

present in most of the ore, but limonite and manganese oxide are 

present in all of it.

The Silver Park deposit is different from the others of the district in that the ores occur in limestone in small quartz veins that 

have the appearance of replacement veins along open watercourses. 

So far as known silver is the only valuable metallic constituent of 

the ores, though copper and lead carbonates are present in most of 

the thoroughly oxidized material mined from this deposit.

THE MINES.

Atlanta mine. The Atlanta group of 11 patented claims and 5 

locations was acquired by the Atlanta Consolidated Gold Mining 

& Milling Co. in 1906. The group covers the north and east sides 

of Atlanta Peak, and the principal development work is on the

1 Wheeler, G. M., U. S. Geog. Surveys W. 100th Mer. Prelim. Rept, 1869.
118' NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

0

fault (see fig. 8) east of that mountain. The vertical shaft, equipped 

with a 50-horsepower steam hoist, was 225 feet deep in October, 1913, 

with about 350 feet of crosscuts and drifts on the 100-foot level 

and much less work on the 200-foot level. The No. 2 shaft, about 

500 feet to the south, is 75 feet deep, and some shallow workings 

one-fourth mile south of the hoist shaft are on the continuation of 

the ore zone. . .

The main ore zone lies above or west of the fault, which separates 

limestone on the east from quartzite and rhyolite tuff on the west. 

This fault strikes approximately N. 30 e W. and dips 42° WSW. 

in the main shaft and in the workings one-fourth mile south. At the 

latter place the fault clearly separates limestone on the footwall (east 

side) from quartzite on the west. Here it is an open crevice, between 

walls that in places are 2 to 4 feet apart. There was apparently 

little mineralization at this locality.

The main shaft starts in rhyolite tuff. It cuts the ore zone about 

90 feet below the surface and passes out of it near the 200-foot 

level. At the 100-foot level the drift eastward shows the ore 

breccia to be 150 feet wide and to rest upon a crystalline limestone 

footwall, and drifts north and south show it to be at least 100 feet 

long. The ore breccia consists of fragments of rhyolite tuff (replaced by silica), chert, and limestone, partly cemented by white 

quartz. Thin sections of the altered tuff, examined under the microscope, show it to be completely silicified into a fine inequigranular 

aggregate of quartz. Some of the quartz is clear, but most of it is 

crowded with minute black inclusions, in many places arranged in 

plumelike forms. When examined under high power, some of the 

larger inclusions are seen to be red and translucent and are thought 

to be hematite, but the character of the great majority can not be 

determined.

In some of the ore angular cells surrounded by narrow bands of 

quartz have replaced plates of barite. These resemble the quartzadularia veins formed in late Tertiary time. A careful examination of several thin sections of this type of ore failed to show any 

adularia such as is commonly present in this type.

The fine-grained free gold of this ore is largely carried in the 

limonitic material that partly cements the breccia. This consists 

predominantly of limonite, pyrolusite, and minute white quartz 

crystals. Some gold is said to occur in the hard silicified rhyolite 

tuff. On the limestone hill east and north of the Atlanta shaft, large 

croppings of red jasper along a north-northeast course intersect the 

main fault at an acute angle. It is said that all these croppings 

carry some gold, and that the main ore body, 75 feet wide, averages 

$4.25 in gold and silver a ton.
ATLANTA DISTRICT.

Specimens of rhyolite tuff and ore, said to have been found at a 

depth of 145 feet in the main shaft, are coated on joint planes with 

canary-yellow, finely crystalline carnotite that contains both uranium 

and vanadium. It was apparently deposited in joints formed after 

the gold mineralization of the ore.

Bradshaw mine. The old Bradshaw mine is on the south end of 

Atlanta Mountain about a mile south of the Atlanta mine. (See 

fig. 8.) It is developed by a large open cut and an incline shaft 

about 75 feet long with 50 feet of drifting near the surface.

The workings are on the western and larger of two zones of red 

jasperoid which strike N. 45° W. and dip 50° NE. The western zone, 

500 feet long and 150 feet wide, is a firm hard silicified breccia of 

quartzite, limestone, and jasper cemented by red jasper. Narrow 

open crevices and stringers, which strike N. 60° W. and dip 40° 

NE., cut the jasper and are said to carry the rich oxidized silver 

ores. No recognizable silver minerals were seen in the small amount 

of second-grade ore on the dump; though a few purplish-gray 

iridescent stains may be very finely divided particles of silver 

haloids. Limonite in minutely botryoidal form was seen in the 

crevices.

Silver Park mine. The Silver Park mine, known also as the Jesse 

Knight property, is a little over a mile west of the Atlanta shaft. In 

October, 1913, it was leased to Devlin and Hoskins, who are reported 

to have shipped during the summer a carload of ore that carried 100 

ounces of silver to a ton. This property is said to have been worked 

in the late seventies. The shaft is in limestones south of a shallow 

gulch. Porphyritic rhyolite tuffs overlie the limestone north of the 

gulch, the contact striking N. 70° E. and dipping 40° N. The old 

shaft is said to be nearly 100 feet deep but was obstructed 50 feet 

below the surface. The workings consist of small, very irregular, 

inclined drifts and stopes which follow open watercourses. The 

main channel along which mineralization has occurred strikes east, 

but other channels trend north. In these watercourses large crystals 

of " dog-tooth" calcite have been deposited and considerable manganese oxide and limonite filled into the drusy openings. Between 

the walls and the calcite and also along what appear to be bedding 

planes are narrow quartz veinlets which constitute the ore. The 

silver minerals are all of the oxidized type, and so far as known no 

original sulphides have been found. The yellow stains on the ore 

are argentiferous lead carbonate. Aggregates of minute green and 

blue crystals are silver-bearing copper carbonates, and thin purplishgreen stains seem to be a mixture of copper and lead carbonate. The 

richest ore is coated with irregular dirty brown films of soft waxy 

horn silver. Some of these scales of horn silver cover as much as a 

square inch, and are one-sixteenth inch thick. A thin section of a
120 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

piece of rich ore shows horn silver scattered through the quartz as 

well as in the joints, A few specks of a blue-gray metallic mineral, 

which is semitranslucent and is decidedly red in reflected light, 

proves to be ruby silver.

Solo Joker claim. Two claims about a mile west of the Atlanta 

mine, one of which is known as the Solo Joker, are owned by the 

Bank of Pioche. These claims are half a mile south of the Silver 

Park mine. In this vicinity the rhyolite tuff is about 20 to 50 feet 

thick, covering the dark limestones. At the main workings a small 

area of limestone is exposed on top of a ridge. The ore body is a 

silicified breccia of rhyolite tuff, limestone, and jasper 10 to 15 feet 

wide, and is in the form of an angle, one leg of which strikes N. 60° 

E. and the other N. 35° W. Some quartz seen on the dump looks 

like the platy cellular quartz-adularia vein material of the late Tertiary deposits. When examined in thin sections the quartz is seen 

to be replacing barite and to be crowded with minute black and red 

inclusions, many of which have plumelike forms. Limonite, hematite, and pyrolusite occur as coatings in the drusy cavities. No 

metallic minerals were seen in the ore, which is said, however, to 

carry gold and silver.

PATTERSON DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Patterson district (No. 18, fig. 1, p. 18) covers the south end 

of the Schell Creek Mountains, in Patterson Pass. South of this 

low pass the same uplift is known as the Ely Kange, whose southward extension, in the vicinity of Pioche, is known as the Highland 

Range. The eastern entrance to Patterson Pass is about 45 miles 

north of Pioche, and the main road from that town to Ely, in 

Lake Valley, passes within 4 miles of the old mining properties in 

the summit of the pass. (See PI. I.) Several claims have been 

located in Swartz Canyon, about 3 miles north of Patterson Pass.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The southern part of the Schell Creek Range is a very narrow 

north-south ridge, higher than any of the near-by ranges except the 

Snake Range. Patterson Peak, about 10,000 feet in elevation, is 6 

miles north of the pass, whose elevation is approximately 7,250 feet. 

Lake Valley, 4 miles east of the summit of the range, is about 6,500 

feet above sea level. Cave Valley, west of the mountains, probably 

somewhat higher than Lake Valley, is long and narrow, looking 

more like a canyon than the usual desert valleys of Nevada. From 

both valleys the mountains rise in steep slopes and in many places 

in cliffs of considerable height.'
PATTERSON" DISTRICT, 121 

GEOLOGY.

SEDIMENTARY EOCKS.

The geology of the Schell Creek Eange in the vicinity of Patterson 

Pass was described by Howell as follows: x

From Patterson, which is at the southern termination of the range, northward for 25 to 30 miles, the rocks * * * appear to dip toward the east at 

high angles. * * * At Patterson a heavy bed of quartzite is exposed. * * * 

A few miles farther north this is covered with conformable bluish-gray limestone; limestone was also seen to the west of the quartzite at Patterson, 

apparently forming with it a faulted anticline. * * * This limestone agrees 

lithologically with that of the Snake Range to the east and of the Highland 

Range to the south and is underlain with a similar bed of quartzite.

Spurr,2 in reviewing the geology of southern Nevada, says:

Inasmuch as at least the southern portion of the Highland Range consists of 

Cambrian limestones, which were classed by Mr. Howell as Carboniferous, 

* * * and since the same Cambrian series occurs in the Snake Range, it 

seems likely that these rocks near Patterson may also be Cambrian.

As seen by the writer the quartzites and overlying limestones of 

this portion of the Schell Creek Range appeared to be very similar 

to the series on the east side of the range in the vicinity of Aurum 

and Schellbourne. Spurr 8 obtained Cambrian fossils from the 

shales lying between the quartzite and limestone near Schellbourne.

At the western side of Lake Valley limestones, poorly exposed and 

largely covered by gravels and silts, seem to conformably overlie the 

quartzites which form all of the eastern flank of the mountains in 

this vicinity. In the lower part of Swartz Canyon the limestones 

overlie 400 feet of light-colored quartzite, which in turn overlies a 

great thickness of dark reddish-brown quartzite. The quartzites 

continue to the divide at the head of Swartz Canyon, but north of 

the saddle they are overlain by 100 feet of dark shales and mica 

schists that are covered both north and south by gray crystalline 

limestones which weather in light colors. The lower limestone beds 

are somewhat shaly, but at Patterson Peak the limestones are in 

thick massive beds. Patterson Pass is cut in massive dark crystalline 

limestones in beds, some of which are 50 feet thick. Spurr 4 states 

that Cambrian fossils were found by Weeks in the limestones above 

the quartzites near Patterson. Some thin beds of dark shale are interbedded with these limestones.

1 Howell, E. B., U. S. Geog. and Geol. Surveys W. 100th Mer. Rept., vol. 3, p. 242, 

1875.

2 Spurr, ,T. B., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, p. 40, 1903. 

s Idem, p. 39. 

* Idem, p. 20, footnote.
122 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

IGNEOUS ROCKS.

So far as seen this part of the Schell Creek Kange is devoid of 

igneous rocks with the exception of a narrow granite porphyry dike 

which cuts across the divide at the head of Swartz Canyon. This 

dike, 50 feet wide, strikes N. 45° W. and is nearly vertical. It 

weathers readily and is inconspicuous. Where exposed in some 

shallow pits the rock is iron stained, fine grained, and is speckled 

with biotite plates one-eighth inch in maximum diameter and with 

a number of pinkish phenocrysts that were at first thought to be 

orthoclase, but that, when examined in thin section, proved to be 

calcite, which presumably had replaced the original feldspars. The 

mica is remarkably fresh in view of the apparent altered condition 

of the hand specimen. The largest part of the rock is composed of 

quartz of two generations and of orthoclase. The texture is peculiar 

in that grains of clear quartz are surrounded by quartz carrying 

abundant inclusion prisms of orthoclase. The halos of the matrix 

quartz extinguish at the same time as those of the original quartz, 

yet have a somewhat radial appearance which is accentuated by lines 

of minute black inclusions.

There is very little contact metamorphism along the dike, but 

about one-fourth mile northeast of the summit lime shales, lying 

above the true shale and below the massive limestones, have been 

altered to masses of quartz, calcite, diopside, fluorite, sphalerite, and 

pyrite.

STRUCTURE.

In Swartz Canyon the sedimentary beds all strike north and south 

and dip east. At the mouth of the canyon the dip is 36,°, but near the 

summit it is about 15°. Just east of the divide a strong north-south 

fault which seems to dip east at a steep angle has broken the strata. 

West of this fault the beds appear to have been lowered relatively 

to those east of the break. The qua'rtzites and overlying limestones 

near the summit of the range dip east at low angles, but about halfway down the west slope east dips as high as 60° were recorded. 

(See fig. 9.)

Halfway between Patterson Pass and Swartz Canyon a nearly 

vertical fault that strikes N. 50° W. interrupts the general structure 

of the range. South of this fault the limestones have been brought 

against the quartzites, which occur north of the break. Near the 

fault the bedding strikes N. 45° E. and dips 50° SE., but farther 

south in the pass the strike is N. 18° E. and the dip 15°-20° ESE.
PATTEKSON DISTRICT. 123

ORE DEPOSITS. 

HISTORY.

Eich silver ores were found in Patterson Pass about 1869,1 though! 

the deposits may have been known to the Indians before their discovery by the whites.2 Soon after the discovery over 200 claims were 

located in the hills north of the pass, where all of the deposits had 

been found. The ores were rich oxidized material carrying $212 

to $520 in silver and $22 in gold a ton. White reported that lead, 

antimony, copper, and iron were present in the ore. Apparently the 

activity of this camp was short lived, and there does not seem to have

APRROXIMATE SCALES

Horizontal 

1334 5 MILES

Vertical

.5,000 FEET

FIGURE 9. Diagrammatic sections of the south end of the Schell Creek Range near 

Patterson Pass, Lincoln County, Nev. East-west section along Swartz Canyon ; northsouth section at' summit of range, o, Gray crystalline limestone, weathers light 

colored; I), dark shales and schists; c, dark-colored quartzite; d, intrusive granite.

been any deep mining on any of the claims. There are no records 

of production from the district, either in the early days or in the 

last decade.

OCCURRENCE OF THE ORES.

In the limestone hills north of the pass some small replacement 

veins of white quartz and calcite strike N. 10°-20° E. and are nearly 

vertical. The walls are frozen in most places, though in one shaft 

postmineral movement has formed a thin selvage approximately on 

the east wall of a narrow quartz vein. The quartz and calcite are

1 Raymond, R. W., Statistics of mines and mining in the States and Territories west 

of the Rocky Mountains for 1869, pp. 178-179, 1870. Wheeler, G. M., Preliminary report 

upon a reconnaissance through southern and southeastern Nevada in 1869, p. 12, 1875.

2 White, A. F., Nevada State Mineralogist Third Biennial Kept, for 1869-70, p. 93 

[1871].
124 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

/>

well crystallized and metallic minerals are not abundant. Occasionally thin yellow films of argentiferous lead carbonate are seen on 

quartz crystals, and more rarely small pockets of greenish-blue 

silver-bearing copper carbonates are present.

Near the summit, on the west side of the mountains about 2 miles 

north of the pass, a group of claims belonging to E. L. Eobertson cover 

a fault which strikes N. 50° W. A shallow incline northeast of the 

fault is driven on an iron-stained body of crushed shale immediately 

above quartzite. This lenslike zone has a maximum width of 8 feet 

and averages about 4 feet. Near the center of the zone 10 inches to 2 

feet of crushed rock coated with copper carbonates constitutes the ore. 

It is cut off at the south by the fault. One hundred feet south of these 

workings, still northeast of the fault, a 50-foot tunnel runs north 

along the contact of the shale and quartzite. At this place strike 

faulting has formed a heavy gouge on the hanging wall, which dips 

15° E. Below the gouge the crushed shale contains a small amount 

of copper carbonates as thin patchy coating.

On the summit of the range at Swartz Canyon Mr. Jacob Swartz 

is developing a group of claims by a crosscut tunnel, which runs N. 

25° W. for 300 feet through a dark, slightly calcareous quartzite. 

About 100 feet above the tunnel an iron-stained cropping of altered 

lime shale lies at the base of the limestones. In this zone the shale 

is altered to a heavy dark-green rock consisting of quartz, calcite, 

diopside, and fluorite, which carries some sphalerite and pyrite. At 

the level of the tunnel the quartzites are unmetamorphosed, but 

there are thin films of sphalerite and pyrite in the joints which cut 

the formation. In one rather strong east-west joint with steep north 

dip a few scales of molybdenum were seen.

BRISTOL DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Bristol district (No. 17, fig. 1, p. 18) is near the center of 

the Ely Kange, about 15 miles north-northwest of Pioche. Bristol 

Pass crosses the range 2 miles north of the camp. Most of the mines 

are on the west side of the mountains, though one of the largest 

properties, the Day (Jack Kabbit) mine, is on the northeast side. 

A narrow-gage railroad connects this mine with Pioche.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Most of the mines are in a cove on the south side of an east-west 

spur of the range (see fig. 10) at elevations ranging from 7,200 to 

8,300 feet above sea level. The summit of this ridge is nearly 8,500 

feet in elevation. Both north and south of the summit the steep 

slopes are broken by cliffs and the topography is rough. South and
BRISTOL DISTRICT. 125

west of Bristol low foothills extend to Bristol Valley, whence the 

water supply for the camp is obtained from wells. North of the 

summit the slopes are particularly steep, there being a drop of nearly 

2,000 feet in a little over a mile between the summit and the Day 

(Jack Rabbit) mine, which is near the upper edge of the long alluvial 

slope on the southwest side of Lake Valley. The ridge is notched 

by short, steep, dry canyons with almost vertical sides.

LEGEND

Dark-gray crystalline limeStone, in places siliceou^ 

and cherty beds I to 4 feet 

thick; cut by calciteveinleta

Fault

X-»°

Strike and dip

*

Mine

Road 

~~fra!f"

Contour interval 100 feet

FIGURE 10. Sketch map of the Bristol district, Lincoln County, Ner. 

GEOLOGY.

This part of the Ely Range is composed of limestone of a prevailing dark-gray to black. Some of the beds are crystalline, but many 

are very dense, hard, and siliceous and in places look like argillites or 

fine-grained quartzites. Dark shales are interbedded with the limestones, particularly near the base of the section exposed south and 

east of Bristol camp. Most of these limestones are in beds 1 to 4 

feet thick and are distinctly bedded. It is believed that this limestone is the equivalent of the Hamburg limestone of the Eureka section. Practically all of the beds strike east and dip from 5°-10° N. 

Minor local variations occur in the general strike and dip, but no-
126 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

where are the sediments strongly folded and nowhere do they exhibit steep dips. West of the main fault along the west base of the 

mountains the limestones and overlying quartzites dip east-northeast. 

Near the fault, dips as high as 30° were recorded, but farther west 

low dips again prevail.

So far as known all the ore deposits occur in the dark limestones 

which are referred to the Cambrian.

Walcott 1 described the Cambrian section in the west side of the 

Highland range halfway between Bennetts well and Stampede Gap 

as follows:

Summary of Cambrian section of the Highland Range west of Pioche.

Bottom not exposed. Feet. 

Quartzite ______________________________ 350 

Limestone and shales, argillaceous and arenaceous_____ 1, 450 

Massive limestones________________________ 3, 000

4,800

He further states that the limestone member of this section may 

be 5,500 feet thick in the mountains north of his measured section. 

The white quartzite on the west side of the range (see fig. 10) was 

correlated with the Ordovician Eureka quartzite of the section at 

Eureka, Nev., by Walcott, who adds: " No strata overlying the upper 

quartzite were observed in the Highland range between Bennetts 

Springs and 2 miles north of Bristol."

Along the west side of the productive district there is a fault whose 

course is roughly indicated by outcrops of the brecciated fine-grained 

white quartzite. (See fig. 10.) It seems possible that there may be 

two subparallel faults southwest of Bristol. On the ridge northwest 

of the camp but one fault was noted, and it appeared to stand vertical. Along the western side of the fault the white quartzite has 

been dropped against the underlying Cambrian limestones. The 

magnitude of the faulting was not worked out in this reconnaissance, 

but it would appear that the relative displacement must be at least 

1,500 feet. Spurr 2 says of this fault:

Between the Silurian foothills and the Cambrian rocks of the main range 

there appears to be a great break, bringing about juxtaposition of strata which 

in their normal stratigraphic succession are separated by nearly 2 miles of 

intervening sediments.

In the main body of the limestones there are many minor fissures. 

One set strikes east-northeast and dips south at medium angles; the 

other set is nearly parallel to the main fault west of the range. The

1 Walcott, C. D., Second contribution to the studies on the Cambrian faunas of North 

America: U. S. Oeol. Survey Bull. 30, pp. 33-36, 1886.

2 Spurr, J. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, p. 46, 1903.
BRISTOL DISTRICT. 127

north-northwest fissures usually dip east at steep angles, though 

some dip west.

So far as known, no intrusive igneous rocks occur in this part of 

the range. One body of iron-stained material, which occurs along 

the main fault zone a mile south of the Home Run mine, was locally 

thought to be a porphyry, but proved, on examination, to be a fault 

breccia composed of rather coarse fragments of limestone and quartzite in, a fine calcareous sandy matrix.

MINEKAI, DEPOSITS. 

HISTORY AKD PRODUCTION.

According to Whitehill,1 the Bristol district was organized April 

10,1871, by Hardy, Hyatt, and Hall. The ore deposits of this region 

were known in the late sixties, as most of this region had been prospected shortly after the discovery of Pioche, which took place in 

1863. A smelter was built at Bristol Well in the late seventies, and 

later, a 5-stamp mill at the same place.2

In 1877 the Hillside Co. was organized to take over the properties 

of Mr. Steele, which included the Hillside mine and the well and 

smelter. At that time the incline on the Hillside fissure was 200 feet 

deep,3 and the vein was reported to be 5 to 8 feet wide, carrying ore 

which averaged $100 a ton in silver and lead.

The Census report for 1880 4 says that at the Hillside and Day 

mines galena and cerusite ores in limestone were being mined.

For several years the Hillside and Bristol companies operated the 

Hillside and May Day deposits on the west side of the range. The 

Day (Jack Rabbit) mine in Lake Valley was operated independently. 

These properties and several others near Bristol were consolidated 

in 1911 by the Day-Bristol Consolidated Mining Co., which, in 1913, 

was operating the May Day and Gypsy mines and had leased the 

Inman, Tempest, and Hillside properties. The Day (Jack Rabbit) 

was idle, and it was reported that the lower workings were below the 

ore zone. This company at present holds 23 patented claims and 4 

locations.

The production of the mines in the vicinity of Bristol previous to 

1904 could not be learned, though undoubtedly many thousand dollars worth of silver, lead, and copper were recovered during the 

period from 1869 to 1904.

1 Whitehill, H. R., Nevada State Mineralogist Fourth Biennial Rept., for 1871-72, pp. 

111-112 [1873].

2 Abbott, J. W., Pioche, Nev.: Mini and Sci. Press, vol. 95, pp. 176-179, 1907.

8 Whitehill, H. R., Nevada State Mineralogist Seventh Biennial Rept., for 1877-78, p. 

77, 1879.

4 Bmmons, S. F., and Baker, G. F., Statistics of technology of the precious metals: 

Tenth Census, vol. 13, p. 36, 1885.
128 NOTES ON" MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA. 

Production of mines in the Bristol district, Lincoln County, Nev., 1904-1912.

1904. ......................................

1906.......................................

1907.......................................

1908.......................................

1909.......................................

1910........................................

1911.......................................

1912.......................................

Gold. '

Fine ounces. 

48.39

43.05

11.32

13.79

13.54

10.57

4.35

145.01

Silver.

Fine ounces. 

26.580

37.649

15,624

143,420

19 Sfi7

999

143,598

7,134

387,871

Copper.

Pounds.

442,520

103,845

273,386

162, 815

6,581

12,086

33,581

1,034,814

Lead.

Pounds. 

100,000

284,000

13,552

294,976

86,233

28 063

11,889

818,713

Total value.

$20,000

127,709

32, 115

124,774

31,824

1,375

79,099

10,809

427,705

OCCURRENCE OF THE ORES.

All of the ores mined in the Bristol district occur as replacements 

of limestone of Cambrian age. As a rule the replacement of the 

limestone was most intense at the junctions of two sets of more or 

less open fissures. One set of fissures strikes N. 45°-60° E. and 

dips 45°-50° SE.; the other set strikes N. 10° E. to N. 10° W. and 

as a rule dips steeply east. The larger ore bodies of the May Day, 

Gypsy, and Hillside occur above or southeast of fissures of the eastnortheast series of fractures and east of the north-south fissures and 

are usually lenticular in shape. The ore deposits along the northsouth series of fissures are more commonly thin tabular bodies that 

somewhat resemble veins but that are clearly replacement deposits.

CHARACTER OF THE ORES.

The ores so far mined in the Bristol district are almost entirely 

oxidized. Lead carbonate ores containing some zinc carbonate and 

carrying more or less copper and silver are found in most of the 

mines. Copper ores consisting of chrysocolla, copper pitch ore, and 

lesser amounts of the copper carbonates, are found in other deposits. 

In the Gypsy and Hillside mines both classes of ore occur in the 

same stopes. Near the hanging wall of the shoots lead carbonate 

ores practically free from ,copper minerals are found; but on the 

footwall copper ores predominate, in some places to the exclusion 

of lead minerals. Limonite and the black sooty manganese oxide 

pyrolusite are abundant constituents of the ores in the copper stopes 

and are present in smaller quantities in most of the lead ores. Silver 

is carried in both the lead and copper ores, but it seems to be the 

general experience that the copper carries more silver than the lead.

Residual nodules of galena surrounded by thin envelopes of anglesite are found in some of the lead carbonate ores. A specimen of 

ore said to have come from the lower levels of the Hillside mine 

consists of chalcocite mixed with a little galena. The chalcocite is 

coated with crusts of malachite, which also cuts the sulphide in
BRISTOL DISTRICT. 129

veinlets. Galena and chalcocite were the only sulphides seen by the 

writer in the ores of this district.

ORIGIN OF THE DEPOSITS.

The bodies of oxidized copper and lead ores always occur above 

planes which would interfere with the downward circulation of 

waters. They usually occur above or south of the northward-dipping, 

eastward-trending fissures, and on the hanging-wall side of the northward-trending fissures. Most of the few bedded deposits exposed in 

various mines occur above shaly or dense siliceous beds which have 

prevented the downward movement of the waters. The deposits so 

far opened are with little question thought to have been formed by 

downward-moving waters and are probably the result of a longcontinued process. The source of the metals is not clear, as no deposits of primary sulphides have been opened in the district. It 

may be that deposits of the original sulphides will be found at 

greater depths on the fissures, but from all that is now known it 

seems as reasonable to suppose that the oxidized ores were derived 

from sulphide deposits that have been entirely removed.

Since the ore bodies now being mined were formed by downwardmoving waters, it is of some interest to know to what depth they 

may be expected to continue. It is to be presumed that primary 

sulphide ores, if any, will not be present in large quantities above 

the ground-water level. As there are no springs in these mountains, 

it must be admitted that the water table is lower than the bottoms of 

any of the canyons. That it is probably considerably deeper than 

most of the canyons is evidenced by the dryness of the lower workings at the Jack Rabbit mine, which are at least 1,800 feet lower than 

the lowest workings of the Gypsy.

The possible continuation of the ores with depth is another serious 

question which can be answered only by development; yet it may be 

mentioned in this connection that below the 900-foot level in the 

vertical shaft at the Day mine there seems to have been no considerable mineralization, and that even on the 600-foot level long stretches 

of the fissure are barren of ore bodies, to judge from the stope maps.

THE PROPERTIES. 

DAY-BRISTOL CONSOLIDATED MINING CO.'S MINES.

Features of the operations. Most of the better known and most 

developed mines of the Bristol district are controlled by the DayBristol Consolidated Mining Co. The group of 23 patented claims 

and 4 locations extends from Bristol across the range northward 

beyond the Day (Jack Babbit) mine. This company also controls the 

wells 5 miles west of Bristol camp, which are the sole water supply 

42680° Bull. 648 16 9
130 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

of the camp. The more important mines controlled by this company, 

named from south to north, are the Gypsy, May Day, Vesuvius, 

Inman, Tempest, Hillside, Iron, and Day (Jack Rabbit). In 1913 all 

the ore mined at these properties either by lessees or the company 

was hauled by team to the terminus of the narrow-gage railroad at 

the Day mine at a cost of $4 to $6 a ton. In October, 1913, the plans 

for an aerial tram over the range from the Day to the Gypsy mine 

were completed, and it was expected that this tram would be completed early in 1914. When this tram is in operation it should reduce 

the freight charges by about $4 a ton.

Gypsy and May Day mines. The Gypsy and May Day mines, controlled by the Day-Bristol Co., are on the ridge a short distance 

north of Bristol camp. (See fig. 10.) The lower shaft, the Gypsy, 

is vertical, and was about 500 feet deep in October, 1913, with drifts 

at 100,135, 150, 300, 350, 400, and 500 feet. The May Day incline is 

sunk 41° SSE., about on the dip of the fissure. It was 500 feet 

long with levels 100, 200, 250, 300, 350, and 500 feet on the incline. 

The bottom level of the May Day incline connects with the 300-foot 

level of the Gypsy shaft. There is a 22-horsepower gasoline hoist 

and a 1-drill compression at the May Day and a 50-horsepower hoist 

and 5-drill compression at the Gypsy.

On this ridge the dark siliceous limestones strike east and dip 

10° N. They do not appear to have suffered any folding and show 

little displacement along the fissures that were the channels of the 

mineralizing solutions.

The Gypsy ore body occurs along a fissure that strikes N. 

6°-10° W. and dips 80° E. and the May Day along one that strikes 

N. 60° E. and dips 43° S. On the 300-foot level the May Day fissure 

cuts across the Gypsy fissure 250 feet north of the vertical shaft. 

(See fig. 10.) At the 350-foot level the intersection is 150 feet 

north of the shaft; near the 400-foot level what seems to be the 

May Day fissure is exposed in the Gypsy shaft; and on the 500-foot 

level a fissure with a strike similar to the May Day is exposed in 

the workings 100 feet south of the Gypsy shaft.

The principal mineralization of these fractures appears to be 

near their intersection. Movement along the May Day which seems 

to have taken place prior to the formation of the carbonate ore 

bodies has cut off the Gypsy vein. The probable continuation of 

the Gypsy fissure is seen on the 300-foot level of the May Day about 

50 feet east of the place where the drift from the Gypsy shaft 

intersects the May Day workings. The northward continuation of 

the Gypsy is represented by two tight fissures about 4 feet apart 

that strike N. 43° E. and dip 85° E. (see fig. 11), along which there 

has been only slight mineralization.
BRISTOL DISTRICT. 131

Probable continuation 

of Gypsy fissure

5OO-FOOT LEVEL 

MAY DAY 

/NCLINE

50 FEET

The Gypsy fissure is a more or less open watercourse. In places 

it opens into caves lined with calcite crystals or, more rarely, with 

stalagmites of calcium carbonate. Brownish red limonite and some 

soft black manganese oxides coat the drusy surfaces. Along this 

fissure the limestone has been replaced by the carbonate ore minerals, but the extent of replacement varies widely, and the ore bodies 

are very irregular in detail. The larger ore bodies of the Gypsy 

seem to occur near the intersection with the May 

Day fissure, and as a consequence pitch 40° to 45° 

S. In the upper levels of 

the Gypsy shaft, which 

are farther from the junction than the lower levels, 

the ore bodies were not so 

large as those stoped between the 250 and 400 foot 

levels. On the 100-foot 

level the copper stopes 

south of the shaft are 4 to 

6 feet wide and lie on the 

footwall of the fissure below a narrow lime horse. 

They are in medium-grade 

ore traversed by a central 

18-inch streak of highgrade copper carbonate. 

Above the horse there is a 

streak of lead carbonate 

ore of varying width. At 

the 150-foot level the ore 

body was 14 feet Avide, the 

lower 10 feet carrying copper Carbonate and the Up- FIGURE ll. Sketch map to show the probable contlnper 4 feet lead Carbonate. U!ltion of tlie ^ fissure north of the May Day 

 ¥-» Ji nm i- , ^ -, vein, Bristol district, Lincoln County, Nev. 1" rom the 250-root level

to the greatest depth attained at the time of visit there was a nearly 

continuous shoot of ore 20 to 40 feet wide and averaging about 150 

feet long which pitched 45° S. on the vein. This ore body occurs 

above the May Day-Gypsy intersection and has been mined in the 

Perry and Green stopes and the Loyd winze. In the stopes in this 

ore shoot nearly pure lead carbonate ore was found near the hanging 

wall and copper ores next the footwall.
132 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

Lead carbonate said to carry some silver was the only lead mineral 

noted in the mine. The chief copper ores are copper pitch,.malachite, 

chrysocolla, and a copper-bearing iron oxide. The copper pitch ore 

varies from a black substance which resembles pitch to an earthy 

reddish or greenish compound containing some copper. The black 

variety appears to consist of copper and manganese with almost no 

iron. By far the greater part of the copper ore is a copper-bearing 

limonite in which the copper seems to be in the form of red copper 

oxide, probably in large part in the small masses of the carbonate 

minerals irregularly scattered throughout the limonite.

Along the May Day fissure the mineralization was apparently not 

so intense as along the Gypsy, though at the intersection of the two 

there were large bodies of ore. Some normal movement, which displaced the Gypsy fissure and produced a rather heavy clay gouge on 

the footwall, seems to have taken place. The incline shaft is in 

the fissure for 300 feet, at which depth is cut the footwall, and at 

the 500-foot level is 200 feet north of the fracture. At this level 

the vein is tight in much of the drift, but opens in places to a width 

of 2 feet. In the more open portions of the fissure some high-grade 

copper pitch and carbonate ore was deposited in shoots which seem 

to pitch 30° E. on the vein. One ore shoot of copper-bearing iron 

oxides on this fissure extends from the surface to a depth of 200 feet. 

On the 100-foot level it is 300 feet long and about 60 feet wide.

A streak of rich copper pitch ore on the hanging wall of this body 

has been mined. The May Day ore bodies apparently carry very 

little lead, but contain some zinc at the 300-foot level. Considerable 

silver is reported in the limonitic copper ore. The Bonanza stope 

is in a body of good-grade limonite copper .ore which occurred at 

the junction of the May Day and Gypsy fissures but was longest on 

the strike of the former fissure. It extended from the 300 to the 

500 foot levels and was about 120 feet long. A streak of rich black 

copper oxide followed the hanging wall of this ore body.

Vesuvius mine. The Vesuvius ore bodies, which lie on the summit 

of the ridge about one-fourth mile north of the May Day incline 

and 200 feet above it, are bedded replacements of limestones which 

dip 5° N. The replacement occurs south of a N. 60° E. fissure, which 

dips 45° S. and which is exposed in the back of the lower flat roomlike stope. The largest body of ore was west of a N. 16° W. vertical 

fracture on the east side of the stopes. Two bedded deposits, about 

50 feet apart, are exposed in the workings. The lower consists of 

lead and zinc carbonate that clearly replaces dark limestone. The 

ore body was apparently 2"to 3 feet thick, had a fairly regular floor 

but an irregular roof and lateral limits and was about 50 by 100 feet 

in largest horizontal dimensions. The upper bed, 18 to 24 inches 

thick, carries much more copper carbonate than the lower bed but
BRISTOL DISTRICT. 133

contains both lead and zinc carbonates. It makes above and south 

of the fissure that trends N. 60° E. and west of the vertical northsouth break. Both ore bodies occur in nearly pure limestone above 

beds of very dense siliceous shaly limestone.

Inman mine, The Inman mine, about 1,000 feet north of the 

Vesuvius mine, is in a body of copper carbonate ore, said to carry both 

zinc and lead, which occurs in several fissures. (See fig. 12.) These 

fissures cut a dense hard dark-gray siliceous limestone which has not 

been replaced by ore to. any considerable extent. Practically all 

the ore occurs between the walls of the fissures and seems to have 

resulted from the replacement of brecciated rock. The fissure which 

strikes N. 80° E., dips 60° S., and is followed by a 100-foot tunnel, is 

2 to 4 feet wide. It is filled with a limonite ore carrying copper, lead, 

and some zinc in the form of carbonates. In the 20-foot winze near 

the face of the tunnel some small bedded replacements were noted. 

The Inman vein, which strikes N. 25° W. and dips 70° E., has been 

underhand stoped to a depth of 50 

feet. It is 10 inches to 2 feet wide, 

with well-defined walls of dense 

black limestones which have not 

been replaced by ore minerals. 

The vein is filled largely with 

dark-red to black copper pitch ore 

and with some chrysocolla. About 

40 feet west of the Inman a nearly 'QQ so o______100 FEET 

parallel fissure 1 to 3 inches wide, ^- = veins 

filled with copper-stained ffouge FlGURE 12-~Inmau mine- Brlsto1 district,

. . , r . , to . Lincoln County, Nev. in the wider portions but practically barren in the narrower, is exposed in a 15-foot open cut. The 

shaft 80 feet west of the Inman vein is on a fissure which strikes 

N. 46° W. and is nearly vertical. It is from 10 to 18 inches wide 

and carries oxidized copper ores.

Tempest mine. The Tempest mine, at an elevation of 8,100 feet, 

is about a mile north of Bristol. (See fig. 10.) The 350-foot incline shaft has short drifts at the 60, 150, and 200 foot levels and 

about 350 feet of drift on the 300-foot level. The workings are on a 

fissure which strikes N. 80° E., dips 80° S., and is filled with 10 

inches to 2 feet of crushed limestones and gouge. The irregular 

bodies of oxidized copper ores occur in the hanging wall. At the 

1.50-foot level a body of ocherous ore 4 to 6 feet wide carries small 

amounts of copper carbonate. On the 300-foot level east of the 

shaft a fairly continuous streak of copper pitch ore 2 to 4 inches 

wide lies above the gouge. This ore is said to carry some silver. The 

shaft has been equipped with a small steam hoist by the lessees, Nesbit and Boiling.
134 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

Iron mine. The Iron mine, owned by the Day-Bristol Consolidated Co., but under lease to J. A. Nesbit, is about a mile northwest 

of Bristol camp. (See fig. 10.) The fissure is opened by three shafts, 

the southernmost of which was being worked in October, 1913. This 

shaft was 380 feet deep, with four levels about 90 feet apart. The 

longest drifts on the 200-foot level total 165 feet, mostly south of the 

shaft. Above this level the ore has been stoped to the surface. The 

ores make in irregular lenses 6 feet in maximum width in either the 

foot or hanging wall of the fissure, which strikes N. 12°-15° E. and 

dips 48° E. The ore is soft iron-stained lead carbonate, and the 

lower-grade ore contains much unreplaced limestone. A considerable 

quantity of high-grade sorted ore seen on the dump is hard massive 

cerusite. In this class of ore rounded residual kernels of galena are 

surrounded by layers of anglesite and cerusite. A very minor amount 

of copper carbonate is present in some ore, and thin films of silica 

have been deposited in openings and crevices in the ore. Two grades 

of ore are sorted at the mine, neither of which is said to carry much 

silver. Freight charges to Pioche from this mine are $4 a ton, and 

about 55 tons a month are shipped.

Hillside mine. The Hillside mine is the most northern of the 

mines on the west side of the range and is not far below the summit, 

at a barometric elevation of 8,225 feet. In the fall of 1913 it was 

leased by the Hillside Leasing Co., which at the time of visit was 

installing a gasoline hoist and was cleaning out the old workings. 

This mine, one of the early producers of the camp, was most extensively worked between 1870 and 1885. The incline is 900 feet in 

depth, with drifts about 100 feet apart. The second, seventh, and 

eighth levels were open for some distance, but the remainder of the 

old workings could not be entered for more than a few feet. The 

incline is on the fissure to the fifth level, but below that it has 

been sunk in the hanging wall.

The Hillside ore body occurs along a strong fissure which strikes 

N. 60°-63° E. and dips on an average 40° SE. In the upper 

150 feet the dip is about 75° S. The increase of dip near the surface may be due to a subparallel vertical fissure which occurs 35 

feet below the main vein at the 200-foot level and intersects the 

vein at the surface. Both of these veins were stoped to the 200-foot 

level.

It is said'that the main ore shoot was 120 feet long and that the 

shaft was near the center of the shoot. Between the second and 

fifth levels the ore zone is said to have averaged about 16 feet wide. 

At a few places near the shaft between these levels pillars of ore 

showed two and some of them three slips cutting the ore about parallel to the footwall. At the seventh level, about 400 feet below
BRISTOL DISTRICT. 135

the collar of the incline, the ore body averages about 14 feet 

It is divided into two distinct classes of ore. Next the hanging wall 

a fairly continuous narrow belt of lead carbonate is separated from 

the lower ore body by a horse of limestone 2 to 6 feet thick. The 

lower ore body varies from 6 to 10 feet thick and consists of a mixture of limonite, copper carbonates, and copper pitch ore. This 

ore body continues to the eighth level and has been stoped for some 

distance southwest of the shaft. On the eighth level, 300 feet 

southwest of the shaft, the Hillside fissure is cut off by a vertical 

fracture that strikes N. 15° E., along which there has been some 

mineralization. The ore body at this intersection has been stoped 

and it was impossible to determine the nature of the fault movement. In the copper ore body on this level some masses of sulphide 

have been found. A. specimen of this material, said to assay 54.05 

per cent copper, 72.5 ounces silver, 4 per cent lead, and 0.04 ounce 

gold a ton, proves to be a mixture of chalcocite, galena, and malachite. The carbonate occurs as veinlets cutting and coating the 

sulphide, which on first inspection seemed to be entirely chalcocite.'

Day (Jack Rabbit] mine. The Day (Jack Rabbit) mine is on the 

northeast side of the range, about 2 miles north of Bristol. (See fig. 

10.) A. settlement at this property, fair sized in 1912, was deserted 

except for a watchman in 1913, owing to the closing of the mine.

The Day shaft, about 2,000 feet south of the Jack Rabbit incline, 

is nearly vertical and reaches a depth of about 900 feet, with 12 levels. 

The largest ore bodies were stoped from the surface to the third level 

and between the fourth and the ninth levels. The lower stopes were 

on bodies of ore which occurred along a fissure bearing approximately 

N. 45° E. From the fourth to the sixth levels this fissure dips southeast, but below the sixth level it dips at an average of 50° N"W. The 

maps of the mine indicate that little stoping was done below the 

ninth level.

The Jack Rabbit incline bears S. 50° W. and is approximately 1,200 

feet long on the dip, which is 20°-30° S. In the upper levels, principally above the 200-foot level, there are a series of abandoned stopes 

on some replacement deposits in limestone along a fissure which 

strikes N. 10° W. and dips 60° W. The ore body was tabular along 

the strike of the fissure and ranged from a few inches to 4 feet thick. 

The rich ore, as shown by the exposures in a few pillars, was entirely 

a mixture of cerusite and horn silver that seems to have occurred next 

the hanging wall in a relatively thin seam.

The lower levels of this incline connect with the workings on the 

Day ore body, the 900-foot level of the Jack Rabbit incline connecting 

with the sixth level of the Day shaft. A. long southwest drift, caved 

1,750 feet from the incline, seems to follow the Day fissure, which is
136 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

barren in much of the drift. The ore body is a replacement of dark 

crystalline limestones whose structure was not ascertained. The 

principal replacement seems to have taken place southeast of the 

more or less open fissure and to have extended into the limestones 

for 4 to 30 feet. It may be that the locus of this replacement occurred 

at the junction of the fissure trending N. 45° W. with the one trending N. 10° W., though this was not definitely determined.

The ore in the lower stopes visited consists for the most part of red 

and brown hydrous iron oxide that usually contains some copper and 

in many places carries appreciable amounts of copper carbonate. 

A large part of the red ore which does not appear to contain copper 

will give copper reactions if tested chemically. This low and medium 

grade ore contains in places bodies of soft black or dark-brown manganese oxide, which are said to constitute the higher-grade silver ore 

of the mine. They carry small stains of copper carbonate and here 

and there yellowish green stains that may be silver chloride. In the 

specimen of this manganiferous ore collected by the writer chemical 

'tests revealed only a small amount of silver chloride.

OTHER PEOPEKTIES.

Malefactor claims. The two Malefactor claims, a mile south of 

the Home Run mine, are along a belt of iron-stained breccia that 

strikes N. 15° W. and is from 20 to 50 feet wide. This breccia occurs 

about on the strike of the western fault. (See fig. 10.) The eastern 

fault zone is represented by a breccia about one-fourth mile east of 

the claims. No development work has been done on the claims, which 

were located in August, 1913, by Thomas Grover. Siliceous float 

that carries residual galena and is more or less stained with yellow 

earthy cerusite and occasionally by copper carbonates, indicates 

that some fair-sized quartz veins probably occur in the yellowish 

shaly limestone between the two fault zones.

Home Run mine. The Home Run mine, near the south end of 

the Bristol district, is not far east of the large fault along the west 

side of the Highland Range. The main work is an incline 250 feet 

deep, which pitches 80° N. on a fissure that strikes N. 17° E. and 

dips 60° E. This fissure is tight in most places and the dense siliceous 

limestones which it cuts have not been replaced to any considerable 

extent. Some small bodies of copper carbonate and manganese oxide 

ore above the 200-foot level parallel the bedding of the limestones, 

which dips 5° N. At the bottom of the shaft crevices which enter the 

main fissure at an acute angle and dip TO0 E. contain small lenses 

of copper carbonate ore. A quarter of a mile south of the shaft on the 

Home Run ground an eastward-trending vertical fissure, developed
NYE COUNTY. 137

by an inaccessible shaft presumably about 50 feet deep and by a 

number of open cuts, carries siliceous copper ore.

Kismet properties -The Kismet Mining Co. controls a group of 

seven patented claims and two locations lying east of the Day-Bristol 

properties. The principal development work is on the Adelaine 

claim (see fig. 10), where a shaft about 40 feet deep is sunk .on a 

fissure that strikes N. 60° W. and dips 45°-60° N. Cerusite and copper carbonates replace the limestone along the fissure and bedding 

planes adjacent to it. In a tunnel 50 feet west of the shaft 12 to 

18 inches of cerusite ore carrying a little copper lies parallel to the 

bedding, which dips 10° N. Most of this ore carries zinc carbonate 

and some of it is said to run as high as 19 per cent zinc.

On several of the other claims of this group there are shallow 

shafts and cuts on small replacement deposits carrying lead and 

copper carbonates.

Ida May claim. The Ida May property, on the north slope of the 

ridge about a mile west-southwest of the Day mine, was not visited. 

The workings are said to show the replacement deposits similar to 

those common in the Bristol district.

NYE COUNTY. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

Nye County includes a considerable part of south-central Nevada. 

With the exception of the Las Vegas & Tonopah Railroad, which 

crosses its south end, there are no railroads within its boundaries. 

Tonopah, the county seat, is at the extreme western boundary, and 

is served by a branch of the Southern Pacific which leaves the main 

line at Hazen. Transportation facilities are not of the best in most 

of this region, where horse-drawn vehicles or automobiles are the 

only freight carriers. Fortunately, most of the roads in the northern part of the country, where the majority of the mining districts 

are located, are good desert roads. Travel is therefore not so difficult as it is in the more sandy desert region to the south. Tonopah 

to the west and Ely to the east are the main supply points of northern Nye County. Mail stages that start from these towns and from 

Austin, Lander County, serve most of the northern county. The 

southern part of Nye County has no stage service, as there are few 

settlements of any description in this region.

There are at least 33 mining districts in Nye County. Two of 

these, situated on the east side of Eailroad Valley, in the Grant and 

Quinn Canyon ranges, in the northeast part of the county, Avere 

visited by the writer in October, 1913. (See PI. I.) The Troy 

(Irwiii Canyon) district (No. 19, fig. 1, p. 18) is about 30 miles 

and the Willow Creek district (No. 20) nearly 50 miles south of
138 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

Currant post office. Mormon Well, near Willow Creek district, is 

about midway between Ely and Tonopah, from either of which places 

it can be reached by stage.

TROY (IRWIN CANYON) DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

Troy and Irwin canyons (No. 19, fig. 1, p. 18), on the west side 

of the Grant Eange, enter the east side of Railroad Valley about 

30 miles south of Currant post office. A triweekly automobile stage 

runs between Ely and Currant. The road south from Currant is a 

good desert road except for a short sandy stretch about 15 miles 

south of Currant. The old Troy mine is near the head of Troy 

Canyon, 7 miles east of Railroad Valley. (See PI. V.) Most of the 

properties in Irwin Canyon north of Troy are within 4 miles of the 

valley and are much easier of access than the Troy mine. The 

Vanderhoef claims are said to be in unsurveyed T. 6 N., R. 57 E., 

and are southeast of Bullwhacker and Willow springs, shown on the 

Land Office map of Nevada issued in 1908.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Troy and Irwin canyons are two westward-draining channels that 

are about 2£ miles apart and are separated by a rugged spur of the 

Grant Range. Troy Canyon rises approximately 3,000 feet in the 

7 miles between its mouth and the old Troy mine, whose elevation 

is 8,650 feet by barometer. The summit of Grant Range, somewhat 

over a mile east of the Troy mine, is nearly a thousand feet higher 

than the mine. Irwin Canyon rises about 1,500 feet from its mouth 

to Vanderhoef camp, a distance of 4 miles. A characteristic of both 

canyons is the steep rise in the lower 2 miles of their courses.

The stock of quartz monzonite at the edge of Railroad Valley 

(PI. V) rises as a prominent knob above the valley and is joined 

to the main range by a pass at least 600 feet lower than the summit 

of the hill at the western end of the ridge. The divide north of the 

lower part of Irwin Canyon is relatively low, and north of it a 

broad arm of Railroad Valley extends eastward for several miles 

toward the axis of the Grant Range. South of the ridge south of 

Troy Canyon a broad deep notch extends southwest toward Garden 

Valley, which separates the Grant and Quinn Canyon ranges.

Railroad Valley, lying west of the Grant and White Pine ranges, 

is about 80 miles long and 16 miles wide. It is practically level and 

contains a large playa basin whose center is about 20 miles southwest 

of Currant post office. Gently sloping outwash plains and cones 

extend from the mountains for several miles toward the axis of the
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 648 PLATE V

_ K ' N / / / / x^o * /.^ I > ' / \ i \\\ >* .» r N ^r*/^' N ' t * / ;ftr . f/V/.v- /> - /.-., (\/////>yli~^ - v-:'/ 'A/ ~]''-^H75'"-~\^/

SKETCH MAP OF THE TROY (IRWIN CANYON) DISTRICT, NYE COUNTY, NEV.
TROY (IRWIN CANYON) DISTRICT. 139

valley. Along the east edge of the valley between Troy Canyon and 

Currant a number of large springs, whose waters are used to irrigate 

ranches of considerable size, issue from the outwash gravels not far 

from the break of the mountains.

GEOLOGY.

In Troy and Irwin canyons a considerable thickness of shaly 

limestones overlain by white quartzite, which is in turn overlain by 

massive bedded limestones, have been intruded by a large stock of 

quartz monzonite, which forms a prominent mountain at the edge of 

Railroad Valley. (See PI. V.) The extent of the igneous rock 

is not known, though it is believed that it does not continue many 

miles northeast of the area shown.

SEDIMENTAEY ROCKS.

The oldest sedimentary rocks are black and drab thin-bedded lime 

shales and argillites. They are best exposed in Troy Canyon 

between the old town and the Troy mine. The rocks have been 

folded into a number of shallow anticlines and synclines and in the 

vicinity of the Troy mine into a rather tight anticline. (See PL V.) 

In this fold the nearly black calcareous argillites have been altered 

to black micaceous schists. The* thickness of this formation was not 

worked out but is roughly estimated to be about 3,000 feet.

The quartzite that overlies the shale east of the Troy mine and 

outcrops in small exposures at the mouth of Troy Canyon and on 

the divide north of Irwin Canyon is a fine-grained vitreous white 

rock about 200 feet thick, which seems to be very persistent.

The limestones overlying the quartzites were not seen in place 

except at the mouth of Troy Canyon, where they are evidently 

altered by the intrusion to crystalline marble-like rocks of light 

color. The cliffs east of the Troy mine are composed of thick beds of 

dark blue-gray semicrystalline dolomitic limestone. The limestones 

north of Irwin Canyon are in comparatively thin beds and where 

seen near the intrusive contact they are crystalline.

The white quartzite of the series exposed in this region is believed 

to be the equivalent of the Ordovician Eureka quartzite. If this is 

the case, the underlying shaly limestones should be referred to the 

Ordovician Pogonip limestone, and the overlying massive beds to 

the Lone Mountain limestone, also Ordovician, of the section at 

Eureka, Nev., described by Hague.1

Spurr 2 evidently had little hesitancy in correlating these formations with the Ordovician section of Eureka.

1 Hague, Arnold, Geology of the Eureka district, Nev. : U. S. Gcol. Survey Mon. 20, 

pp. 47-62, 1892.

2 Spurr, J. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California: U. S.'Geol. Survey Bull. 208, pp. 67-71, 1903.
140 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

IGNEOUS ROCKS.

Quartz monzonite. A stock of quartz monzonite forms the mountain northwest of Troy and extends northeast for an unknown 

distance beyond the area shown on Plate V. The typical rock is 

light gray, rather coarsely crystalline, and of very uneven grain. 

Most of the mass is inequigranular rather than porphyritic, though 

decidedly porphyritic facies were seen. Movement along the southeastern edge of the stock has produced gneissic banding. Biotite 

and muscovite, together with quartz and two kinds of feldspar, are 

visible in hand specimens of the typical quartz monzonite. The 

quartz and feldspar are more abundant than the micas. In thin section andesine, quartz, orthoclase, muscovite, biotite, apatite, and 

magnetite, named in the order of their abundance, are seen to form 

the rock. In some sections the micas are more abundant than orthoclase. In the gneissic portion of the stock the banding is due rather 

to crushing than to rearrangement of the constituents. In one specimen, however, the micas tended to have their plates arranged parallel 

to the banding. In not a few places, particularly in the south fork 

of Irwin Canyon, near the contact, there are large masses of the 

quartz monzonite whose constituents are of pegmatitic size.

Near Irwin camp a body of dark rock seems to be intrusive into 

the quartz monzonite, but there is little question that it is a differentiation product from the same magma. This is a fine-grained gray 

equigranular rock consisting essentially of orthoclase, andesine, 

quartz, greenish-brown hornblende, colorless pyroxene and abundant 

apatite and magnetite.

The western and southern contacts of the stock appear to stand at 

steep angles and at only a few places was there any indication of 

the development of lime silicate minerals along the contact, but the 

limestones and lime shales have been altered to crystalline rocks. At 

the Lock mine, south of Troy, which is directly on the contact, no 

lime silicates were noted. The northern contact, north of Irwin 

Canyon, dips 15° N.

RJiyolite. On the north side of Troy Canyon, about a mile north 

of Troy, a narrow dike of a purplish-red glassy rhyolite trends 

northeast about parallel to the edge of the stock. Phenocrysts of 

orthoclase, quartz, and biotite composing about one-fourth of the 

rock, are set in a deeply iron-stained glass in which there are microscopic spherulites that seem to be quartz. Float of somewhat similar 

rock was seen at the mouth of the south fork of Troy Canyon.
TKOY (IRWIN CANYON) DISTRICT. 141

ORE DEPOSITS. 

HISTOET.

The Troy ore deposit, covered by the Gray Eagle and Troy claims, 

was discovered in 1868, according to Kaymond,1 and was bought by 

a Yorkshire, England, company in 1869. This company built a 

20-stamp mill with Stetefeldt furnaces at Troy, 5£ miles west of 

the mine. Raymond reported that the lode conformed to the stratification of dark argillaceous shale and consisted of zinc blende with 

some chalcopyrite and pyrite in a white quartz gangue. The English 

company is reported2 to have spent about $500,000 and to have shut 

down permanently in 1872, after a two years' trial, as the silver 

content of the ore was too low to pay the mining and treatment costs.

The Lock mine was worked by the same company, and has beenprospected by various persons since the English company shut down.

The Esmeralda claims, near Irwin camp, were located by F. L. 

Irwin in 1905. Some work has been done each year to develop the 

ground, but so far as could be learned, no ore has been shipped. 

E. E. Vanderhoef, of Ely, Nev., located the 13 claims of the Vanderhoef group in August, 1912, since which time development has been 

under way.

THE PBOPEETIES.

Troy mine. The old abandoned workings on the Troy and Gray 

Eagle lodes are at the head of Troy Canyon, about 5£ miles east of 

the camp and mill, at a barometric elevation of 8,650 feet. (See 

PL V.) The main work was through an incline shaft, said to be 500 

feet deep, that was under water in October, 1913. A tunnel about 

100 feet below the collar of the shaft was caved near the mouth but 

is shown by the dump to be of considerable length. Other tunnels 

run north and south from the gulch on the lode. The northern tunnel 

could be entered for a short distance. These workings are on large 

lenslike bodies of white quartz which dip 40°-50° E., parallel to 

the thin-bedded black lime shales on the east limb of an anticline 

shown in cross section on Plate V. Some particularly black beds 

are argillaceous lime shales that have been made schistose and that 

strike N. 50° E. and dip 45° SE. The white quartz lenses are irregular in detail and, where seen, vary from a few inches to 20 feet thick. 

The hanging wall seems to be much more regular than the f ootwall 

in the lens opened by the tunnel on the north side of the canyon.

1 Raymond, R. W., Statistics of mines and mining in the States and Territories west 

of the Rocky Mountains, for 1873, p. 227, 1874.

2. Whitehall, H. R., Nevada State Mineralogist Fifth Biennial Rept., for 1873-74, pp. 

76-77, 1875.
142 NOTES'ON" MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

Much of the quartz on the damp is barren, though some specimens 

showing the light-blue and green stains of copper were found. 

Similar ore seen about the old mill at Troy is said to carry silver, 

but chemical tests failed to show the presence of that metal in appreciable amounts. Some ore obtained in a 60-foot winze from the 

north tunnel is white quartz with small amounts of black sphalerite 

and a little copper-bearing pyrite. The two sulphides are intergrown. Tests of the pure zinc sulphide show that it contains traces 

of copper and considerable iron as well as zinc. It is reported that 

galena was found with zinc sulphide in the main shaft, though none 

was seen on the dump.

Lock mine. The workings of the Lock mine are on the east and 

west sides of a low saddle on the ridge about three-fourths mile south 

of Troy. (See PI. V.) East of the saddle a tunnel has been driven 

west-southwest for about 500 feet on the contact between the quartz 

monzonite and lime shales. The lime shales have suffered no contact 

irietamorphism in this vicinity. The contact is nearly vertical and 

considerable postintrusion movement has occurred along it. The 

quartz monzonite near the contact is somewhat gneissic and is cut 

by a great number of small faults along which the movement, as 

evidenced by striae, was nearly horizontal. These small faults strike 

N. 40° E. or N. 60° W. The tunnel follows the fault planes and in 

consequence is very tortuous. At one place it follows a 4-foot seam 

of slightly iron-stained bull quartz that cuts the quartz monzonite, 

and is said to carry some gold. West of the saddle several short 

inclines and tunnels have been driven in a lenslike body of ironstained quartz that lies parallel to the bedding of the lime shales 

about 100 feet south of the intrusive contact. The shales strike 

N. 20° E. and dip 25° E. The lens seems to pinch out in a distance 

of 100 feet on the dip and is not continuous along its strike for more 

than 300 feet.

Vanderhoef claims. The Vanderhoef claims are on both sides of 

Irwin Canyon about 4 miles from the edge of Eailroad Valley. 

There are 13 claims in the group, but development is largely confined to the Lilly and Garden claims north and south of the canyon near the camp. (See PI. V.) Two tunnels, 180 feet and 60 feet 

long, are on the south side of the canyon, and other tunnels, 100 feet 

and 50 feet long, are on the same lode north of the stream. The lode 

which averages 20 feet wide, consists of white quartz that is somewhat 

iron stained at the surface and contains some galena, sphalerite, and 

pyrite at a shallow depth. The sulphides are not abundant and are 

irregularly spotted throughout the gangue. Pockets of cerusite 

found at the surface are said to have assayed 60 ounces a ton in 

silver. The lode occurs in a small lens of micaceous shaly limestone, 

engulfed in the quartz monzonite, which strikes about N, 70° W,
TROY (IRWIN CANYON) DISTRICT. 143

and dips south at medium angles. On account of the steep slope of. 

the canyon sides, the croppings on either side of the creek were 

thought to be different bodies of quartz, but this does not seem to 

be the case.

Hatter property. The Haller claims are near the top of the hill 

northwest of Vanderhoef camp in Irwin Canyon. In this locality the 

contact of the shale, quartzite, and quartz monzonite dips north and 

west at low angles. A very thin bed of white quartzite lies between the 

intrusive rock and the schistose lime shales in which the ore occurs. 

The ore body, a thin tabular replacement of the shales parallel to the 

bedding, is developed by a short tunnel and flat stopes. At the back 

of the stopes a fault, along which the movement was nearly horizontal, has cut off the ore. This fault strikes N. 85° E. and dips 

85° N". The ore minerals are galena, sphalerite, and some pyrite. 

There has been very little oxidation of the ore, though some thin 

crusts of anglesite and cerusite were seen lining cracks in the sulphide ore.

Irwin group. The five claims of the Esmeralda group, located 

in 1905 by F. L. Irwin, are on the north side of Irwin Canyon, 

about 2 miles east of Eailroad Valley. (See PI. V.) These claimscover a series of veins cutting quartz monzonite.

The No. 1 vein, about one-fourth mile north of Irwin camp, strikes 

N. 75° E. and dips 75°-80° N. in places but is nearly vertical in others. 

It is developed by a shaft with an east drift 150 feet at the 80-foot 

level, below which water stands in the shallow sump. Above this 

level the vein is seen to vary from a few inches to a maximum width 

of 3 feet. It consists of white quartz, much pitted and stained 

with iron near the surface, that is said to contain free gold. At the 

80-foot level large bunches of somewhat oxidized pyrite are irregularly distributed throughout the quartz, and occasionally small 

masses of a mixture of dark sphalerite and galena are seen. The 

vein is separated from both walls by one-half to 2 inches of gouge 

that is said to carry gold. The quartz monzonite is rusty and sericitized for 2 feet on either side of the vein.

The No. 2 vein, opened by a 40-foot shaft about 300 feet northwest of the No. 1 shaft, consists of 2 feet of quartz and 3 feet of 

crushed, altered, iron-stained quartz monzonite. Below the altered 

country rock there is a clay gouge. Pyrite and minor amounts of 

sphalerite and galena are sparingly distributed throughout the 

quartz and altered rock near the bottom of the incline.

A tunnel a short distance northeast of the No. 2 shaft starts in 

altered quartz monzonite and runs north into sedimentary rocks. 

About 3 feet of quartzite lies above the fault that marks the contact, 

which dips 15° N. Above the quartzite lies crystalline limestone,
144 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

which is also exposed in the low hills for a considerable distance to 

the north.

Near Irwin camp a small, poorly exposed body of altered diorite 

clearly intrudes the quartz monzoiiite.

Other prospects. South of Irwin Canyon several prospects on 

quartz veins in the quartz monzonite are very similar to those developed at the Esmeralda. Many of these veins at the surface are not 

much iron stained and few are developed sufficiently to show sulphides. As a rule the veins in the quartz monzonite strike N. 50°~75° 

E., about parallel to the most prominent jointing of the stock. Some 

of the veins are frozen to the wall rock in some places, but most of 

them are separated from it by gouge. The quartz monzonite is 

bleached and sericitized for a few inches on both sides of the veins, 

the zone of alteration being about as wide as the quartz filling of the 

vein.

It is reported that some prospects in the massive limestone above 

the quartzite at the head of Troy Canyon are on bodies of lead ore 

said to carry silver and gold. Some ore, said to have come from 

these prospects, consists largely of cerusite but shows also kernels of 

galena and a little anglesite.

WILLOW CREEK DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Willow Creek district of northeastern Nye County (No. 20, 

fig. 1, p. 18) is in the foothills on the northwest side of the Quinn 

Canyon Mountains, near the south end of Railroad Valley. According to W. B. Colwell, a deputy mineral surveyor of Ely, Nov., the 

springs which constitute the. main water supply of the district are 

about 2.7 miles S. 12° 30' W. of the southeast corner of T. 5 N., 

R. 55 E. (see fig. 13), in Willow Canyon, about 2 miles from Railroad Valley. The center of the district is approximately 12 miles 

north of latitude 38° and 15 miles east of longitude 116°. '

Willow Creek is about 90 miles southwest of Ely, on the Nevada 

Northern Railway, and about the same distance from Tonopah in 

the western part of the State. From either of these towns it may 

be reached over a fair desert road. In 1913 an automobile stage made 

daily trips between Ely and Currant post office, on Kern Creek at 

the north end of Railroad Valley. A somewhat irregular stage service between Currant and Tonopah follows the east side of Railroad 

Valley south to Mormon Well, where it turns westward and goes to 

Tonopah by way of Twin Springs.
WILLOW CHEEK DISTRICT. 

TOPOGRAPHY.

145

The Willow Creek prospects are in the lower foothills of the range 

in westward and northwestward draining canyons. Willow Canyon 

is in lime shales except in its lower part, where it cuts a small stock

Vein

FIGUUB 13. Sketch map of the Willow Creek district, Nye County, Nev.

of quartz monzonite. Its middle portion leads through low rounded 

hills, but in the monzonite area it is deep and steep sided. Its head 

is in dense massive limestones and is rugged. Gold Canyon is in 

thin-bedded siliceous mica schists and has steep cliff-like Avails. 

42680° Bull. 648 16 10
146 NOTES ON MIKING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

The prospects are at elevations of 6,600 to 7,000 feet, by barometer, and are not over 1,500 feet above the general level of Railroad 

Valley. East of the mines the main range rises to 9,000 feet above 

sea level.

GEOLOGY.

SEDIMENTARY BOCKS.

The veins are found in thin-bedded yellowish and dark-gray 

shaly limestones which grade into massive dark-gray limestones. 

They strike approximately north-northeast and dip rather steeply 

east. The lower shaly beds north of Gold Canyon are schistose 

and contain abundant light-brown biotite. Above the shales 

are thick-bedded dark-gray limestones, which are overlain by 

about 200 feet of vitreous white quartzite thought to be the equivalent of the Ordovician Eureka quartzite. The lower schistose 

shales are thought to be of Upper Cambrian age,1 possibly the 

equivalent of the Dunderberg shale of the Eureka section, and the 

overlying lime shales and limestones are considered to be the equivalent of the Ordovician Pogonip limestone.

Spurr,2 in discussing this region, says:

In the foothills at the north end of Quinn Canyon Range * * * an 

exposure of rusty-brown shaly limestone was found * * * from which 

fossils were collected. They were determined by Mr. Walcott as Cambrian. 

* * * On the steep west face of the northern end of the Quinn Canyon 

Range the mountains near the base consist of massive, often shaly, dark-blue 

to gray-blue limestone, much broken and veined as a consequence of granite 

intrusions. On account of the alteration the organic remains obtained from 

this limestone are not identifiable. Six hundred or 800 feet above the base 

of the limestone, as exposed, comes about 200 feet of hard white vitreous 

quartzite, which one at once recognizes as probably the Eureka formation.

IGNEOUS BOOKS.

Quartz monzonite. At the mouth of Willow Creek a low rounded 

bill of quartz monzonite intrudes the sedimentary rocks. The north, 

west, and south contacts of this stock are nearly vertical, as is much 

of the eastern contact, but a long tongue of the limestone extends 

over the stock from the east side. (See fig. 13.) The rock is light 

gray and inequigranular and weathers in tawny or buff colors. 

Here and there it contains rather large white quartz and a few 

orthoclase phenocrysts, and in many places carries biotite and hornblende of megascopic size. In thin section the rock is seen to carry 

nearly equal amounts of zonally built andesine and orthoclase. The 

feldspars are more abundant than quartz, brown biotite, and light1 Hague, Arnold, Geology of the Eureka district, Nev.: U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 20, 

pp. 41, 47-57, 1892.

2 Spurr, J. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, p. 69, 1903.
WILLOW CREEK DISTRICT. 147

green hornblende. Apatite and magnetite are common, though not 

abundant, accessory minerals, and a minor amount of rutile is present. The plagioclase feldspars are only slightly sericitized, but some 

of the other minerals show alteration.

Along the south contact in Willow Canyon the shaly limestones 

have been altered to lime silicate rocks. The contact-metamorphosed 

zones are usually narrow, in no place exceeding 15 feet in width. 

A few blocks of limestone engulfed in the quartz monzonite have 

also been metamorphosed, though some only slightly so. The material from the contact zone in Willow Canyon is roughly banded, 

carrying similar minerals in the different bands but in different 

proportions. Iron oxide, bluish green amphibole, and brownishyellow- garnet are the most abundant minerals, but quartz and calcite are present in places in considerable amounts.

Andesite porphyry. Near Osterlund camp in Willow Creek (see 

fig. 13) several small areas of a dark-gray to black igneous rock 

intrude the sediments. This rock, called diorite by the prospectors, 

proves to be a glassy porphyritic andesite. Large well-developed 

crystals of andesine-labradorite and a yellow amphibole are the 

phenocrystic minerals. They are set in a dark glass crowded with 

specks of magnetite and a few plagioclase microlites. The amphibole is largely altered to calcite. A small amount of calcite is developed parallel to the cleavage cracks of some of the plagioclase 

crystals.

Alasldte porphyry. On the south side of Willow Creek about 200 

feet above the canyon bottom an irregular dike of fine-grained white 

porphyry shows slightly iron-stained croppings. The dike varies 

from 20 to 100 feet in width, strikes about parallel to the canyon, 

and seems to stand about vertical. The rock consists, essentially 

of microscopic grains of orthoclase and quartz, in some places carrying phenocrysts of quartz. In the specimens collected the orthoclase is altered to sericite.

Rhyolite. On the summit of the south side of Willow Creek the 

edge of a flow of dark.-gray porphyritic rhyolite is seen. Similar 

rock is said to cover a considerable area of the mountains south of 

Willow Creek, being particularly well developed in Big Creek 

Canyon.1 A thin section of this rock shows phenocrysts of quartz, 

orthoclase, biotite, and oligoclase set in a dark glass base.

ORE DEPOSITS. 

HISTORY.

The oldest claim in this camp, the Eustler, was located in June, 

3911, by Charles Sampson and David Jenkins. These men located

1 Spurr, J. B., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, pp. 72-73, 1903.
148 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

five adjoining claims during 1911 and 1912, and the group was purchased by George Wingfield in April, 1913. It is reported that 

about 40 tons of ore shipped from this property carried about $8 in 

gold and $65 in silver a ton. The excitement in the district in 1913 

was caused by the discovery in April, 1913, by Steve Papas and 

W. E. Blackwell, of free gold in the Melbourn vein. At the time of 

visit the four Melbourn claims were bonded to Mr. Osterlund and 

associates, of Ely, Nev. A 500-pound shipment of high-grade freegold ore made in October, 1913, is said to have returned $39.40 a 

pound.

OCCURRENCE AND CHARACTER OF THE OKES.

At least two types of ore deposits occur in the Willow Creek district, but the development in the fall of 1913 was hardly sufficient 

to permit a complete understanding of the deposits.

One type is represented by the Melbourn, Battle Axe, and Mayflower in Willow Creek and by the Last Chance and Gold Spring in 

Gold Canyon. These are quartz veins carrying free gold closely 

associated with a little talc and calcite. The white quartz, without 

talc, is said to contain little or no gold. So far as development 

shows, the original minerals of these veins were pyrite and chalcopyrite. The veins cut across the bedding of the sediments and 

were deposited in open fissures. Movement since the deposition of 

most of the veins has crushed the quartz. The talc and free gold 

are found in the crushed belts of quartz rather than in the parts 

of the veins which were not crushed. As examined in thin sections 

the uncrushed quartz is seen to be strained and to be crowded with 

minute inclusions which seem to be solid. The croppings of the veins 

are nowhere highly iron stained and do not seem to have been 

strongly mineralized.

The second type of deposit is best exposed at the Rustler mine 

but is also seen at the Queen of the West. These deposits appear to 

be replacements of limestone along bedding planes near fissures. 

Arsenopyrite and argentiferous tetrahedrite appear to have been 

the principal minerals originally deposited. The ores so far developed are oxidized to masses of a copper pitch ore, limonite, and 

copper carbonate and silicate. Free silver is seen in much of the 

ore from the Rustler, and it is said that silver chloride has been 

found. The ore is valuable chiefly for silver, but carries small 

amounts of gold and copper.

THE PROPERTIES.

Gold Spring group. The Gold Spring group of five claims is in 

Gold Canyon (the northernmost canyon shown on fig. 13). The 

principal development work is in the canyon bottom at a barometric
WILLOW CREEK DISTRICT. 149

elevation of 6,850 feet. In this vicinity the dark lime shales are 

rather siliceous, have in many places been changed to mica schists, 

and are cut in all directions by veinlets of calcite and quartz, which 

have a prevailing north-northeast strike and steep east dip. A vertical vein that is followed by a short tunnel running N. 60° W. on the 

north side of the canyon appears to be the continuation of a vein 

striking N. 45° W. and dipping 52° NE., that is exposed in shallow 

workings on the south side of the canyon. In the south workings a 

vein striking N. 80° E. and dipping 50° N. intersects the westnorthwest vein. Both veins are composed of white quartz and in 

places are frozen to the walls, from which many narrow quartz 

veinlets enter the main fissure. Some of the quartz is fine granular 

with drusy vugs, though most of it is in fairly large crystals developed perpendicular to the vein walls. A few casts of pyrite and 

iron oxide pseudomorphs of pyrite were seen, and in one specimen 

the pyrite was not completely oxidized. The quartz has been 

crushed by later movement, which is indicated by a thin selvage on 

the footwall of the vein as well as by the crushed quartz. Along 

'the joints produced by this crushing free gold and green talc have 

been deposited. The richest ore invariably contains talc.

Last Chance tunnel. The Last Chance tunnel, on claims belonging to William Wittenburg and Dr. Weller, of Goldfield, is 600 feet 

west of the Gold Springs work. It is a crosscut running N. 10° 

W. for 175 feet, following the bedding of micaceous slates, which 

dips 75° E. This tunnel had not yet cut the main vein, which is exposed in some pits and open cuts on the hill. This vein strikes N. 

70° W., is nearly vertical, and consists of white quartz with some 

green talc. The tunnel cuts a 2 to 6 inch vein of white quartz that 

strikes N. 65° W. and dips 85° S. It is frozen to the hanging wall 

but is separated from the footwall by a paper-thin gouge.

Willow Creek Mining Co?s claims. The Willow Creek Mining 

Co., controlled by George Wingfield, is operating a group of six 

claims in Saversburg Canyon about 2£ miles SE. of Mormon Well. 

(See fig. 13.) The main work is on the Rustier claim, which was 

located in June, 1911. The development consists of a shaft about 50 

feet deep and a 120-foot tunnel which cuts the shaft 40 feet from 

the mouth and 20 feet below the collar. A crosscut tunnel has been 

started to intersect the ore body at a depth of 125 feet. The country 

rock is a dark-blue limestone interbedded with shaly limestones. The 

formations strike N. 20° E. and dip east at low angles. Two fissures 

intersect at the shaft, one striking north and dipping 45° E. and 

the other striking N. 25° W. and dipping 85° E. Along the latter 

there is about 2 feet of crushed ore stained with iron and copper. 

The tunnel exposes a flat westward-dipping fissure, along which
150 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

some ore has been deposited for about 115 feet. At the end of the 

tunnel a northward-trending fissure which dips 75° E. is followed 

by 8 inches to 2 feet of ore but is pinched and barren at the end of 

a short drift. The main ore body is in the nearly vertical fissure 

cut near the mouth of the tunnel. What is apparently a lens of ore. 

is about 6 feet thick and 15 feet long at the tunnel level and about 18 

inches thick at the bottom of the shaft. The material is all oxidized 

and carries considerable limonite, with some copper carbonates and 

silicates. Some of the ore from the bottom of the shaft consists of a 

partly oxidized mixture of arsenopyrite and a dark, nearly black 

submetallic mineral which contains silver, copper, iron, antimony, 

and a little sulphur. A polished surface of the sulphides shows the 

dark material to be a mixture of a soft light-gray metallic mineral 

and a nearly black nonmetallic substance. Both are in too fine distribution to be accurately determined, but it is thought that the gray 

mineral is a silver-bearing tetrahedrite and the nonmetallic substance an oxide that contains copper and possibly silver. This ore 

has been considerably crushed and carries limonite and native silver 

deposited in its joints. It is believed that the original deposit was 9- 

fissure replacement of the limestone rather than a true vein.

Queen of the West prospect. The, Queen of the West deposit is 

developed by two pits. It seems to be a replacement of limestone 

immediately above shaly limestone. The ore is an - iron-stained siliceous material that carries a little copper carbonates and silicate and 

is said to contain silver.

About a quarter of a mile northwest of the Queen of the West 

prospect (see fig. 13) a 2-foot vein strikes N. 20° E. and dips 45° E., 

about parallel to the bedding of the shaly limestones. The footwall 

of this vein is a narrow dike of porphyritic quartz monzonite. The 

vein, frozen to the hanging wall, consists largely of arsenopyrite 

and quartz, but evidently carries some tetrahedrite, as the ore is copper stained.

May-flower claim. The Mayflower vein on the south side of Willow 

Creek near the springs (see fig. 13) strikes N. 80° E. and dips 85° S. 

It is developed by some shallow pits and cuts for about 300 feet. It 

cuts directly across the bedding of greenish-gray lime shales which 

strike N. 20° W. and dip 45° E. The vein varies from 2 to 3 feet 

in width and is separated from both walls by gouge. Next to the 

hanging-wall slip there is a broad band of white quartz with welldeveloped crystals, which stand perpendicular to the wall. In the 

quartz there are a few small bodies of copper-bearing pyrite, largely 

altered to a black resinous mineral resembling copper pitch ore. On 

the footwall there is a band of coarsely crystalline white calcite that 

is apparently unmineralized.
WHITE PINE COUNTY. 151

Melbourn mine. The Melbourn vein, about a mile above the spring 

on the north side of Willow Canyon, was developed by a drift tunnel 

150 feet long, with a 50-foot winze about 30 feet from the tunnel 

mouth. The vein strikes N. 67° W. and dips 40°-70° S. It varies 

from 10 to 18 inches in width and consists of white quartz that has 

been crushed and carries green talc along the joints. Some fragments of altered lime shale country rock are included in the quartz. 

Near the mouth of the tunnel a dike of glassy andesite porphyry 

forms the hanging wall of the vein but is apparently cut by it. The 

vein is separated from the dike by 1 to 2 inches of gouge but is frozen 

to the shale walls, though at a numbeV of places slip planes about 

parallel to the vein lie in the walls outside of the quartz. Calcite 

accompanies the quartz and talc in the 60-foot winze. Specks of 

limonite in this ore have cubical forms as if the oxide was derived 

directly from pyrite. Native gold is the valuable constituent of the 

ore. Some beautiful specimens of gold in the talc were seen at Ely 

and the mine. Most of the gold is associated with the green talc, 

though some is said to occur in the slightly iron-stained quartz. A 

northward-trending fault, which dips 45° E., cuts the vein 70 feet 

from the mouth of the tunnel. East of this fault the vein has been 

displaced 4 feet to the north, indicating a reverse movement along 

the fault.

Battle Axe claims. The three Battle Axe claims are on the south 

side of Willow Creek, south of the Melbourn ground. (See fig. 13.) 

The vein exposed in the east claim strikes N. 42° E. and dips 60° SE. 

and is lodelike, consisting of a main vein 10 inches wide and several 

narrow subparallel sugar-quartz stringers. The vein has been traced 

for about 300 feet along its strike. It cuts the lime shales and also 

a large body of alaskite porphyry which is intrusive into the shales. 

(See fig. 13.) In a number of pits greenish talc occurs with the 

quartz, but so far as seen it is not very .abundant. The quartz is said 

to average about $6.40 a ton in gold and silver.

WHITE PINE COUNTY. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

White Pine is the middle county of the east tier in Nevada. (See 

fig. 1, p. 18.) Ely, the county seat, is near the center of the county in 

Steptoe Valley, which for many years was one of the main routes of 

travel from the Southern Pacific to the southeastern part of the 

State and is now followed by the Nevada Northern Railway, 

which leaves the main line of the Southern Pacific at Cobre. Many 

of the mines of White Pine County were opened in the sixties, 

and the main routes of travel have been established for many years. 

The Overland Stage Route passed through the northern part of the
152 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

county by way of Tippett, Schellbourne, and Cherry Creek. (See 

PI. I.) The roads in this county are almost all good, and the numerous stage lines that radiate from Cherry Creek and Ely make all 

parts of the county easily accessible. Most of the mountains are of 

sufficient height to be well watered, and as a consequence the great 

majority of the valleys are under cultivation in many places.

Nine of the 12 mining districts in this county were visited in 

1913, and are described in.the following report by ranges. (See PL I 

and fig. 1, p. 18.) The most western district visited was the Bald 

Mountain, at the south end qf the Ruby Mountains, in the northwest 

corner of the county. In the Egan Range the districts from north to 

south are Cherry Creek (Egan Canyon), Hunter, Granite (Steptoe), 

and Ward. In the Schell Creek Range, east of Step toe Valley, the 

districts are Aurum (including Schellbourne, Siegel, Old Aurum, 

and Muncy Creek), Duck Creek, and Taylor. The most eastern district visited was the Kern, at the south end of Kern Mountains in 

the northeastern part of the county.

BALD MOUNTAIN DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

Bald Mountain district (No. 22, fig. 1, p. 18) is in a pass between 

North and South Bald mountains, the former peak being 7 miles 

south of Ruby Pass (formerly called Hastings Pass) and 12 miles 

south-southwest of old Fort Ruby, a station on the Overland Stage 

route at the south end of Ruby Lake. (See PI. I.) The center of 

the district is about 6 miles south of-latitude 40° and 4 miles west of 

longitude 115° 30'. (See fig. 14.) It is at the south end of the Humboldt, or, as it is now called, the Ruby Range.

Joy post office, in Water Canyon, is served biweekly from Eureka, 

56 miles southwest of the camp. Freight is usually brought into this 

country from Elko or Halleck on the Southern Pacific, about 80 miles 

north of Joy, though some supplies are obtained from Currie, Cherry 

Creek, and Ely on the Nevada Northern Railway, 40 to 50 miles to 

the east.

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS.

Springs are not numerous in the district, though water rises in 

Water Canyon above Joy, below the Copper, Basin mine on the east 

side of the divide and in a number of small seeps at various places 

in the gulches north of Joy. Most of the shallow shafts, particularly 

in the area of intrusive rock near Joy, are under water, and it would 

seem that a fair water supply could be obtained by pumping from 

any of them. Wood is fairly abundant and some of the pinon trees 

in the vicinity are of sufficient size for mining timbers. It is said 

that good timber can be obtained a few miles southwest of the mines.
BALD MOUNTAIN DISTRICT. 153

There are no mills in the district, and the long freight haul has 

greatly hindered development. In September, 1913, very little work 

was being done. The mine workings at the Copper Basin, probably 

the most extensive at any one place, could not be entered.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The low hills in which the Bald Mountain district is situated form 

the southern end of the Ruby Eange. A low, even-crested divide

LEGEND

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

Contour interval approximatelySOOfeet 

FiauiiE 14. Sketch map of the Bald Mountain district, White Pine County, Nev.

y

Strike and dip

* / n 

Mine workings

PROSPECTS 

I Anna tunnel 

i Carbonate shaft

3 Copper Basin

4 Copper King

5 Gold King

6 Mountain View

7 Oddie tunnel

8 Redbird

continues southward for several miles to the White Pine Range. 

From Himtington Valley on the west side the mountains rise in a 

gradual even slope to Bald Mountain. The northeast flank of that 

peak appears to be more abrupt, but eastward a moderately high 

plateau country extends for some distance, joining the south end of 

the Ruby Hills southeast and east of Ruby Lake. (See PL I.)

Barometric readings give the elevation of Joy as 7,400, South 

Bald Mountain as 9,000, Bald Mountains as about 9,400 feet, and 

Copper Basin Pass as approximately 7,800 feet above sea level.
154 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

GEOLOGY.

DOMINANT BOCKS.

As pointed out by Hague,1 Ruby Range south of Harrison (Ruby) 

Pass consists " of a single series of limestones conformably underlain 

by quartzites, the latter appearing along the western base, while the 

entire summit and eastern face presents only heavy massive limestone," which Hague considered of Devonian or Carboniferous age. 

On the atlas accompanying his report, west half of Sheet IV, Bald 

Mountain is shown as intrusive granite. During the brief visit on 

which this report is based only the vicinity of the mines was studied-, 

yet it seems that the " granite " occupies a comparatively small area 

south of Bald Mountain. (See fig. 14.)

SEDIMENTABY BOCKS.

From the few data obtained relative to the stratigraphic and structural geology, it would appear that Bald Mountain is a low anticline, whose western limb has been eroded so that the older beds are 

exposed on the western flank. The thin bed of vitreous white 

quartzite mapped by the geologists of the Fortieth Parallel Survey 

along the eastern side of the mountain is believed to correspond to 

the Ordovician Eureka quartzite of the Eureka district, which is 

50 miles southwest of Joy in the Diamond Range across Huntington 

Valley. The underlying light-colored limestones forming the main 

body of Bald Mountain are considered to be the equivalent of the 

upper part of the Ordovician Pogonip limestone.2 The lower part 

of the limestones overlying the supposed Eureka quartzite is believed to be the equivalent of the Lone Mountain limestone.

The main body of the " granite " stock has been intruded in this 

limestone along a fault striking N. 60° W., which is best seen at the 

Copper Basin workings. This fault separates the light-colored limestone on the north from a body of dark-gray to black fine-grained 

rough-textured dolomitic limestones which form most of South Bald 

Mountain, where they are interbedded with some dark quartzites and 

brownish shales. The latter are seen in the south fork of Water 

Canyon about three-quarters of a mile south of Joy. This series is 

considered to be equivalent to the lower part of the Pogonip limestone.

Huntington Valley is deeply filled with partly consolidated, horizontally bedded sands, which toward the mountains grade into fine 

sandy conglomerates that dip gently toward the valley. Deep washes 

are cut into these beds, which are described by King 3 as the Hum1 Hague, Arnold, U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Rept.. vol. 2, pp. 528-532, 1877.

2 Hague, Arnold, Geology of the Eureka district, Nev.: U. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 20, pp. 

48-57, 1902. 

«King, Clarence, U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Kept., vol. 1, p. 438, 1878»
BALD MOUNTAIN" DISTRICT. 155

boldt formation and are thought by him to be of Pliocene age. The 

long even sloping ridges of the Humboldt and the larger canyon 

bottoms are masked by accumulations of recent gravels and wash. 

That part of Euby Valley shown on figure 14 is underlain by fine 

sands and silts which are in part lake and in part fluviatile deposits.

IGNEOUS ROCKS.

The " granite" is not conspicuous, for it weathers easily and is 

eroded more rapidly than the sedimentary rocks. It is clearly an 

intrusive rock, as is shoAvn by the numerous offshoots from the stock 

and by the contact metamorphism of the adjacent sediments. It was 

surely formed after the deposition of the Ordovician beds and before that of the late gravels. Its age can not be proved more nearly, 

but its similarity to igneous rocks at many other places in Nevada 

whose age is more clearly demonstrated makes it probable that it is 

late Cretaceous or early Tertiary.

This rock consists of orthoclase, oligoclase-andesine, quartz, 

microcline, and biotite, with common though not abundant accessory 

apatite and magnetite. It is a quartz monzonite and even in the 

center of the stock usually has a porphyritic texture. In the coarser 

facies the feldspars, usually orthoclase, are the largest phenocrysts, 

though some quartz grains are of phenocrystic size. The groundmass is inequigranular and few of the constituent minerals have 

crystal faces. The marginal facies of the stock are somewhat finer 

grained than the center, yet as a whole the rocks vary little in 

texture. The small offshoot dikes have a microgranular groundmass studded with quartz, orthoclase, and biotite phenocrysts.

Aplite is not abundant, though some small dikes free from dark 

minerals were noted northeast of Joy. The only basic dike seen 

was a highly altered dike 10 to 18 inches wide, which the thin section shows to be made up of orthoclase, actinolite, and biotite, with 

some large quartz phenocrysts.

ALTERATION OF THE ROCKS.

The intrusion of this quartz monzonite porphyry has not caused 

much metamorphism of the surrounding rocks. The lighter-colored 

limestones north of Water Canyon have suffered more than the dark 

dolomitic limestones south of the stock. Where the metamorphism 

is greatest in the limestone there is a zone of light-greenish lime 

silicate rock from 20 to 40 feet wide. Some of the shales in the central part of the south fork of Water Canyon have been altered to 

hornstones.

Along the veins in the quartz monzonite porphyry narrow belts 

of bleached rock have resulted from the development of calcite and
156 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

sericite in the feldspars and the alteration of the biotite to masses of 

chlorite and carbonates. Most of the quartz and apatite crystals 

in these altered zones have remained unaltered. At the Oddie tunnel this type of alteration is further advanced than at any other 

place seen in the district. In a belt about 40 feet wide and of undetermined length the quartz monzonite porphyry is altered to a 

soft white mass which still retains the texture of the original rock. 

It consists of sericite, calcite, and kaolihite set with little-altered 

quartz crystals. Some pyrite is disseminated throughout this body 

and occasional stains of iron oxide and copper carbonates give it 

somewhat the appearance of the leached portions of some of the 

" porphyry copper " deposits.

ORE DEPOSITS. 

HISTORY.

So far as could be learned, the earliest discoveries in the Bald 

Mountain district were the silver deposits about 4 miles southeast of Joy. The State mineralogist of Nevada 1 says that the Nevada 

claim was located August 20, 1869. He describes the mine as being 

between two peaks 8 miles south of the Overland Stage Road, in the 

vicinity of two mineral belts, one of free metal 600 yards wide and 

4 miles long east of the south peak, and one of base metal 500 yards 

wide and 2 miles long near the summit of the south peak. He adds 

that the ore of the Nevada claim carries iron, antimony, lead, and a 

trace of copper, besides silver chloride that gives it a value of $128 

a ton. Between $16,000 and $20,000 is said to have been taken from 

the surface works in this deposit.

It seems probable that some of the ore bodies at Water Canyon 

were known in the early days, but it appears doubtful if they were 

worked much before 1876. The Copper Basin and the old shaft on 

the Carbonate group were probably exploited in the late seventies 

or early eighties.

The camp is still in the prospecting stage, and little real development has been done, owing in part to the great distance to mills or 

transportation. At the Copper Basin property there has been more 

concentrated work than at any other place in the district, and it is 

reported that during 1905 and 1906 some copper carbonate ore was 

shipped from that ground.

TYPES OF DEPOSITS.

So far as development shows all ore deposits of the Bald Mountain 

district are closely connected with the intrusion of the quartz monzonite porphyry. Ores occur in veins in the igneous1 rock, as replace1 White, A. F., State Mineralogist of Nevada Third Biennial Kept., for 1869-70, p. 78, 

[1871].
BALD MOUNTAIN DISTRICT. 157

ments in limestone, and in small bodies associated with the lime 

silicate contact minerals. So far as could be determined, none of 

these types are strongly mineralized.

Veins in igneous rocks: In the main stock east of Joy a large 

number of small white quartz veins cut the quartz monzonite porphyry, usually parallel to a well-defined nearly vertical sheeting that 

strikes N. 20° E. Some veins strike N. 60° W. to east-west and dip 

south. The veins are for the most part frozen to the walls, which 

have been sericitized for short distances on both sides of the quartz. 

The metallization of these veins is not strong. The principal metallic 

mineral is pyrite, some of which is cupriferous, although stibnite 

and marcasite are commonly present in minor quantities. These 

minerals are more abundant near the walls of the vein and are also 

seen in the altered wall rocks adjacent to the vein. The central parts 

of the veins are composed of white quartz, and vugs lined with druses 

of clear quartz crystals are common. Gold is said to be the only valuable constituent of the veins. Sulphides are found at the surface, 

and as the water table is very near the surface there is little hope of 

finding better-grade ores with depth.

Deposits in limestone. In the limestone areas several deposits of 

oxidized copper ores occur, either as replacements along simple fractures which 'usually trend N. 20° E. or N. 60° W., or in zones of 

brecciation following the same general courses. Their chief value is 

in copper, though gold and silver are said to be present in varying 

amounts. The ores are limonitic but contain chrysocolla, malachite, 

copper pitch ore, and occasionally cuprite and pyrolusite. So far 

as known no copper sulphides have been found in any of the workings in deposits of this type. In the massive limestones the replacement rarely extends for more than 8 inches from the fissure along 

which the solutions moved, but where the ores occur in zones of 

brecciated limestone mineralization may extend over 30 to 40 feet.

Contact-metamorphic deposits. On the western side of the main 

stock some copper carbonates were noted in a very small mass of 

lime silicate rock. A few pits have been sunk.

PLACERS.

The gravels of Water Canyon are said to be auriferous for about 

4 miles west of Joy and have- been worked to some extent about half 

a mile west of the settlement, but no washing was under way in September, 1913. Pay dirt 18 to 24 inches thick! is said to rest on bedrock and to have an Werburden of 6 to 13 feet of wash, in which a 

little gold is irregularly distributed. The gold is said to be rather 

coarse, and nuggets worth from $2.50 to $10 have been found. The 

present water supply is not sufficient to wash these gravels, but they 

might be worked by dry processes.
158 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

THE PKOPEKTIES.

Anna tunnel (No. 1, -fig. 14) The Anna tunnel in the south fork 

of Water Canyon about a mile east-southeast of Joy is owned by 

W. A. Smith. It runs N. 20° E. for 60 feet on a fracture in quartz 

monzonite porphyry, along which there has been some movement. 

No quartz is shown by this work, but the iron-stained bleached 

country rock on either side of the fissure is said to carry a little gold.

Carbonate group (No. 2, -fig. 14). The Carbonate group of seven 

claims on the east side of South Bald Mountain belongs to August 

Munter and Jacob Mayer, of Joy. The No. 1 tunnel is an irregular 

incline 100 feet long that reaches a depth of about 30 feet along 

a vertical fracture that strikes N. 25° E. in fine-grained, nearly 

black dolomite interbedded with quartzite. The wall rocks from 

8 to 12 inches on either side of the fissure have been replaced to a 

small extent by copper carbonates. The small pockets of ore are 

irregularly distributed, and the mineralization does not appear to 

be strong.

The Carbonate claim, an old abandoned patent, is in a saddle which 

marks a zone of faulting that trends N. 25° E. The old shaft is 

caved at the mouth. What ore remains on the dump is a mixture 

of limonite and copper carbonate. The zone of brecciated limestone 

50 feet wide is all more or less iron stained and shows copper carbonates at several pits. Northeast of the shaft some obscure croppings 

of quartz monzonite porphyry appear on the line of this fault.

Copper Basin group (No. 3, fig. 14). The Copper Basin group of 

25 claims covers the divide at the head of the south fork of Water 

Canyon. It is the property of Simonson & Hannon, of Skelton, 

Nev., but is known as the Scaggs property. The development, which 

Avas inaccessible at the time of visit, consists of two crosscut tunnels 

driven to the ore zone from the main gulch east of the divide and a 

large open cut with shaft on the divide. The ore makes along a breccia 

zone of light-colored limestone and quartzite, which strikes N. 60° W. 

and is thought to mark the largest fault in the camp. Some of 

the material on the dump is a very highly altered quartz monzonite 

porphyry impregnated with copper carbonates. The ore on the 

dumps consists of limonite, copper pitch ore, chrysocolla, malachite, 

and pyrolusite, and seems to be entirely a replacement of the brecciated rock. It is said that small shipments of ore were made from 

this property in 1905-6, which carried better than 4 per cent copper 

and $11 in gold a ton. On the surface the altered and somewhatmineralized zone seems to be about 20 feet wide, but it is said that 

underground good ore was found throughout a width of 40 feet.

Copper King group (No. 4, fig. 14). The- Copper King group of 

nine claims, owned by Robert Raftize, of Joy, is 1-| miles northwest
BALD MOUNTAIN" DISTRICT. 159

of the camp. Development work in shallow shafts and tunnels has 

been done on several claims. One shaft 50 feet deep to water is in a 

nearly vertical, north-striking 50-foot zone of crushed iron-stained 

limestone that carries irregular pockets of limonitic gold-copper ore. 

A small exposure of porphyry is near the shaft, and about one-fourth 

mile to the northwest there is a dikelike mass of jasperoidal breccia, 

striking N. 50° E., which in some places is stained with copper carbonates. At the east end of this breccia a north-south dike of muchaltered quartz monzonite porphyry carries a little pyrite.

Gold King group. The Gold King claims (No. 5, fig. 14), 21 in 

number, controlled by Munter, Mayer, and Ziege, of Joy, Nev., cover 

the central portion of Water Canyon in the quartz monzonite 

porphyry area.

A number of shallow workings have been sunk on different small 

quartz veins. The Gold King No. 1 incline one-half mile east of Joy 

is 30 feet deep on a vein that strikes N. 29° W. and dips 75° WSW. 

Two to three inches of white quartz is frozen to the walls, which are 

sericitized for a few inches on either side. The quartz looks rather 

barren, though occasionally small bunches of pyrite and marcasite 

are seen. Some black quartz, lining vugs, proves to be an intergrowth of stibnite and quartz. The owners say that gold tellurides 

have been determined in this ore. No telluride minerals were noted 

by the writer, but traces of tellurium were found by qualitative 

chemical tests in some of the material collected by him.

The Essex tunnel, just across the gulch from the Gold King incline, runs S. 20° E. for 146 feet along a series of subparallel quartz 

veins 4 to 6 inches wide. Two rather persistent quartz stringers 

about 18 inches apart are the most mineralized. The quartz monzonite porphyry between them, is sericitized and contains some disseminated pyrite and is said to assay $19 a ton in gold. Postmineral 

movement along the hanging wall of this vein is evidenced by 

grooves which dip 50° to 65° S.

A tunnel one-half mile northeast of Joy runs due east for 160 feet 

through quartz monzonite along two slip planes, which dip steeply 

south and are a fraction of an inch to 2 feet apart. The wall rock is 

slightly altered along them, and a little pyrite is seen in the softened 

bleached quartz monzonite. On the hill east of the tunnel mouth 

there are a number of white quartz veins that strike N. 20° E.

A mile northwest of Joy a short tunnel follows a vein that strikes 

N. 40° W. and dips 85° SW. and is 10 to 16 inches wide. Stibnite 

and pyrite are sparingly distributed in the otherwise barren white 

quartz.

The western claims of the Copper King group are on the contact 

of the limestone and the quartzite, which is marked by a zone of
160 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

light greenish-gray lime silicate rocks. Some jasperoid has been 

developed outside of the contact zone, and a few small irregular 

pockets of copper carbonate ores are present within it.

Mountain View group (No. 6, -fig. 14) . The Mountain View group 

west of the Copper Basin consists of seven claims owned by J. W. 

West, of Joy. A number of prospect pits have opened small bodies 

of copper carbonate ore near fractures in a dark-blue crystalline 

dolomite. At the time of visit, Mr. West was starting to sink a shaft 

which was to be equipped with a whim.

Oddie tunnel (No. 7, -fig. 14)- The Oddie tunnel is the principal 

development on the Blue Bell group of 20 claims belonging to 

August Munter, Jacob Mayer, and Max Ziege, of Joy. It is in the 

south fork of Water Canyon, a little over a mile east-southeast of 

Joy. The tunnel runs N. 61° E. for 120 feet through iron-stained 

sericitized quartz monzonite porphyry. Its last 40 feet is in a zone 

of intensely altered rock in which there is a minor amount of disseminated pyrite and some small barren quartz veinlets. This mass 

of highly sericitized and calcitized quartz monzonite porphyry is 

approximately 40 feet wide on the surface. So far as noted underground it does not carry copper minerals, but on the surface at the 

east side of the zone a little copper carbonate ore is shown in some 

shallow workings. It may represent the leached croppings of a 

mineralized mass of porphyry.

Redbird group (No. #, fig. 14). The Eedbird group of six claims, 

the property of J. G. Merritt, is in Water Canyon, one-fourth mile 

west of Joy. A 40-foot breccia of limestone and white quartzite, 

heavily iron stained and in places containing small irregular pockets 

of copper carbonate ore, strikes N. 40° W. and dips 20° SW. Numerous open cuts, shallow shafts, and tunnels have been driven into 

the mass over a distance of 300 feet. The bottom of one shaft 25 

feet deep has reached what seems to be very much altered monzonite 

porphyry.

Crown Point mine. The Crown Point mine, about 4 miles southeast 

of South Bald Mountain, was not visited. It is said to have been 

worked in 1876. The rich silver ores are said to occur in small pockets 

irregularly distributed through a width of 20 feet in the vicinity of a 

vertical fissure trending N. 60° W. and cutting fossiliferous limestone. Parallel to this vein there is said to be a porphyry dike which 

in places forms the southwest wall of the ore. Stibnite and gray 

copper are present in some of the ore seen at Joy, though most of it 

is a soft copper-stained material carrying silver, probably in the 

form of silver chloride.

Other prospects. Mr. Albert Dees has a group of six claims about 

4 miles north of Joy on the northwest side of Bald Mountain. Some 

good stibnite ore reported to have come from this property was seen
CHEERY CREEK (EGAN CANYON) DISTRICT. 161

in the settlement. It is said that the ores occur in rather small, 

irregular pockets in limestone and that little development has as yet 

been done on any of the claims.

A group of eight claims on the south side of South Bald Mountain, 

controlled by G. Brant and Max Arnold, of Hilton, Nev., is reported 

to have small bodies of copper carbonate ore irregularly distributed 

along fissures in the dark dolornitic limestone.

CHERRY CREEK (EGAN CANYON) DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Cherry Creek (Egan Canyon) district (No. 23, fig. 1, p. 18) 

is in the Egan Range, 90 miles south of Cobre, on the Southern 

Pacific, and 50 miles north of Ely, the seat of White Pine County. 

The earliest discovery of mineral in this district was made in Egan 

Canyon (see PI. I), a deep cleft that passes entirely across the range 

and that formed part of the Overland Stage Koute between Salt 

Lake and San Francisco. The Nevada Northern Railway, in Steptoe 

Valley, which connects Ely with the Southern Pacific, passes about 

4 miles east of the town of Cherry Creek, at the mouth of Cherry 

Creek, a smallcanyon 5 miles north of Egan Canyon. In the early 

days Cherry Creek was, next to Hamilton, the largest town in 

White Pine County, but of late .years it has dwindled in size and 

population. It is still the main supply point of the northern part 

of White Pine County and the point from which the mail stages 

leave for Spring Valley east of the Schell Creek Kange. (See PL I.)

TOPOGRAPHY.

The town of Cherry Creek is at the upper edge of a long gentle 

slope that rises about 600 feet in the 4 miles west from the railroad. 

(See fig. 15.) North and west of the town the mountains rise 

abruptly by steep slopes marked by many cliffs to an elevation of over 

8,000 feet in less than 3 miles. From Cherry Canyon south to Egan 

Canyon the ridge is low and the hills have rounded slopes rather 

than abrupt rises. Egan Canyon is a deep narrow notch through 

the range, south of which the mountains rise abruptly to heights considerably greater than those to the north. West of Egan Canyon 

a narrow north-south valley is bounded on the west by a northwardtrending range of low rolling hills.

GEOLOGY.

The eastern side of the Egan Range, in the vicinity of Cherry 

Creek and Egan Canyon, is composed of quartzites and argillites 

overlain by limestone and intruded by small dikes and masses of 

quartz monzonite.

42680° Bull. 648 16 11
162 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

SEDIMENTARY BOCKS.

The older sedimentary rocks are exposed along the east base of 

the range and are particularly well exposed at Egan Canyon and 

north of Cherry Creek. They are brownish quartzites in distinct 

massive beds, which strike north-northeast and dip west at medium 

angles. Some dark arenaceous, micaceous, and argillaceous shales 

are interbedded with the quartzites, and near the top of the series 

the quartzites become thin bedded and nearly white.

LEGEND

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

MINES 

) Biscuit

2 Cherry Creek mines

3 McMurry prospect

4 New Century

5 Exchequer

6 Star

7 Burning Question 

6 Gocomongo

9 Gillifcan

10 Wide West Massive-bedded dark

Thin-bedded shales

BlacH shales interbedded

Trail

Approximate scale 

Contour interval 300 feet

FIGURE 15. Sketch map of the Cherry Creek (Egan Canyon) district, White Pine

County, Nev.

Emmons 1 considered these sediments to be older than Carboniferous, and Spurr 2 called them Cambrian.

The quartzites and shaly quartzites are at least 3,000 feet thick. 

They are thought to be the equivalent of the Cambrian Prospect 

Mountain quartzite of the Eureka section, described by Hague.3

iEmmons, S. F., Egan Canyon district: U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Kept., vol. 3, pp. 

445-449, 1870.

" Spurr, J. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, pp. 47-49, 1903.

3 Hague, Arnold, Geology of the Eureka district, Nev. : TJ. S. Geol. Survey Mon. 20, 

pp. 34-36, 1892.
CHERRY CREEK (EGAN CANYON) DISTRICT. 163

At the west end of Egan Canyon thin-bedded green and red, somewhat calcareous shales overlie the quartzites. Northwest of Cherry 

Creek (see fig. 15) a blue-gray crystalline limestone overlies the 

quartzite, with dark shales near the base of the limestone. These 

beds are probably to be correlated with the Cambrian Eldorado 

limestone of the Eureka section. West of the area examined by the 

writer Silurian, Devonian, and Carboniferous rocks were identified 

by Spurr.1

On the east side of the range the sediments strike N. 10°-30° E. 

and appear to have a monoclinal dip of 30°-45° W. Spurr 2 says 

that on the west side of the mountains the sedimentary rocks dip 

east and that the range is cut from a shallow syncline whose axis 

strikes north-northeast.

IGNEOUS HOCKS.

Quartz monzonite. Small masses of quartz monzonite porphyry 

are exposed at the mouth of Egan Canyon and in Cherry Canyon 

about a mile west of the town. A narrow dike of this rock outcrops 

Avest of the Star mine and is exposed in the west drifts on the 

seventh and eighth levels. The quartz monzonite is a porphyritic 

rock Avith pink orthoclase phenocrysts up to one-half inch in largest 

dimension. The fresh rock is light gray, but most of the exposures are 

weathered to a light tawny gray. When examined under the microscope the rock is seen to consist of feldspar, quartz, dark greenishbrown biotite, and a little brown hornblende. Orthoclase and oligoclase-andesine are in equal amounts. Apatite, magnetite, and titanite 

are. common though not abundant accessory minerals. The quartz 

monzonite porphyry dike on the sixth and seventh levels of the 

Star mine is almost completely altered to sericite and calcite, though 

the porphyritic texture is Avell preserved.

Diabase. A specimen of what was supposed to be biotite schist, 

obtained on the tunnel level of the Star mine about 800 feet west of 

the shaft, proved to be a fine-grained diabase consisting of plagioclase, clove-brown augite, biotite, and a little magnetite. The rock is 

nearly black and in handv specimens resembles the black arenaceous 

shaly quartzites \vhich lie on both sides of the dike. The dike seems 

to be older than the vein, which cuts across all the formations on 

this level.

ORE DEPOSITS.

HISTORY AND PRODUCTION.

The first discovery of ore in this region was made in 1861 on the 

Gilligan vein, in Egan Canyon, by John O'Dougherty,3 one of a

1 Spurr, J. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada and adjacent portions of California : U. S. 

Geol. Survey Bull. 208, pp. 48-52, 1903.

- Idem, p. 53.

3 Krowne, .T. R., Mineral resources of the States and Territories west of the Rocky 

Mountains for 1867, p. 411, 1868.
164

party of immigrants who were following the Overland Stage Route 

to California. He built the first mill in Nevada in 1864 to treat the 

ores of the mine. Stretch* reports that the total production of the 

mine up to 1866 was $60,000.

The records of the Gold Canyon Mining district begin in 1863, 

but the first entries are of bills of sale of previously located claims. 

In 1874 and 1875 Gen. Rosecrans was operating the Gilligan vein 

for the San Jose Mining Co. The Cherry Creek district was cut off 

from the Gold Canyon district in 1872, and the boundaries of this 

district, as given in the first volume of the district records, are as 

follows:

Beginning at the mouth of Cherry Canyon, running north along the east 

base of Egan Range to the mouth of Goshute Creek, thence west through 

Goshute Canyon to west base of mountains, thence south to the head of Cherry 

Creek, thence east to point of beginning.

The first claim recorded in the Cherry Creek district was the 

Teacup, located September 21, 1872, by John Corning and Peter 

Carpenter.

It is said that the mines of this district were most actively worked 

between 1872 and 1883, during which time the population of Cherry 

Creek was about 6,000. There was also a fair-sized town at the head 

of Egan Canyon up to 1877. In 1884 mining began to wane, and 

in 1893, with the demonetization of silver, it practically ceased. 

Since 1895 some work has been done at various properties by different 

companies, particularly at the Star, Exchequer, and Biscuit mines.

The production of the early days is not known, though estimates 

range from $6,000,000 to as high as $20,000,000. The following table 

shows the production from 1902 to 1912 inclusive, as reported to the 

United States Geological Survey.

Production of the Cherry Creek district, White Pine County, Nev., 1902-1912,

inclusive.

Year.

1902...............................................

1903...............................................

1904...............................................

1905................................................

IQfifi

1907 ...............................................

1908 ...............................................

1909...............................................

1910 ...............................................

1011

1Q19

Gold.

Fine 

ounces. 

506.87

5, 170. 26

524.44

146. 43

. 241.88

134. 77

78.55

325.27

1. 451. 01

73.19

11.03

8,663.70

Silver.

Fine 

ounces. 

14, 157

33, 493

5,325

15

52

4,779

2,870

20, 125

88, 247

2,287

572

171, 922

Copper.

Pounds.

315

9,622

410

1,151

11, 498

Lead.

Pounds.

56, 744

121, 759

10, 138

35, 575

224, 216

Total 

value.

$17, 838

120, 947

1O QCrt

3,036

5,035

5,940

3,045

19 670

84^227

3

OQO

9 ^71

279,291

1 Stretch, R. H., Nevada State Mineralogist Ann. Kept., 1866, p. 102, 1867.
CHERRY CREEK (EGAN CANYON) DISTRICT. 165

TYPES OP DEPOSITS.

There are two somewhat overlapping types of veins in the Cherry 

Creek (Egan Canyon) district. One type, represented by the Wide 

West, Cocomongo, and possibly the McMurry prospect, has its principal value in gold, carried in a white quartz gangue that shows a 

minor amount of pyrite and less galena. The other and by far the 

most important in the district is represented by the Exchequer, Star, 

Biscuit, Cherry Creek, and Gilligan veins, which carry galena, 

sphalerite, pyrite, and rich secondary silver minerals. That there 

may be a transition between these two types is strongly suggested 

by the Exchequer-New Century vein, in Exchequer Canyon, north 

of Cherry Creek. West of the canyon, on the Exchequer ground, 

the quartz carries the base-metal sulphides and contains more silver 

than gold; and east of the canyon, on the New Century ground, what 

appears to fee the same vein is not strongly mineralized, but carries 

pyrite, gold, and silver. It may be that the gold and silver bearing 

portions of the veins are those parts which have.not been strongly 

mineralized, and that the ore shoots will all prove to be of the leadzinc type, carrying more silver than gold. In both types the veins 

are strong in the quartzites but tend to finger out where the fissure 

enters argillaceous shales. This is particularly well shown on the 

Gilligan and Star veins.

At the upper tunnel on the Cherry Creek Co.'s property the ore 

body is a mineralized quartz monzonite dike carrying galena, sphalerite, and pyrite. It is evident that the dike was metallized after its 

consolidation, and it is believed that most of the veins of the district 

were formed shortly after the intrusion of the quartz monzonite.

The lead-zinc veins have been crushed since the deposition of the 

original ores and have been enriched by descending waters which 

have deposited rich silver minerals such as argentite, proustite, and 

an antimonial silver-lead-copper mineral of uncertain composition. 

The enrichment of the Star vein, as indicated by the largest stopes, 

Avas greatest between the third and seventh levels but extended to 

a depth of 600 feet vertically below the croppings. At the Biscuit 

mine argentite and copper carbonates are said to have been found 

to a depth of 1,100 feet on the dip of the vein.

THE MINES. 

CHEEKY CREEK.

Biscuit mine (No. 1, fig. 15). The Biscuit mine is about 2| miles 

northwest of Cherry Creek, near the summit of the range at an 

elevation of 7,800 feet. This property, known as the Teacup mine, 

was worked in the early days and again in 1907 and 1912. It is said
166 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

to have produced about $3,000,000 worth of silver. It is developed 

through an incline shaft equipped with a 60-horsepower gasoline 

hoist. The incline is 1,100 feet deep, dipping 30° W. to the 60-foot 

level, 50° to the 100-foot level, 40° to the 800-foot level, and about 

10° below that level. It follows under a 25-foot bed of greenish 

gray shale, interbedded in limestones, which strike N. 10° E. Some 

movement has occurred along this contact. Lenslike bodies of 

white quartz are found in the limestone under the gouge, the largest 

lens being between the 100 and 200 foot levels south of the shaft. 

There are many drifts at many levels in the shaft, but none of them 

appear to be long, and most of them were caved in October, 1913. 

Much of the white quartz of the ore is barren looking but in certain 

places is speckled with minute particles of a soft black metallic 

mineral containing silver and a little copper and sulphur. This is 

either argentite or stromeyerite, but in the few specimens found there 

is not enough of the mineral to absolutely determine the composition. A small amount of copper carbonate has been deposited on 

joints of the richer ore.

Cherry Creek mines (No. 2, -jig. 15). The Cherry Creek Mines 

Co. owns 22 claims on the hills north of Cherry Canyon, about ! £ 

miles west of town. A patent notice at the lower tunnels places 

the claims in sees. 25 and 36, of T. 24 N., R. 62 E. The main ore 

body is opened by a tunnel 300 feet above the canyon bottom, on the 

north hill. This tunnel, caved at the mouth, is said to be 600 feet 

long on the lode, which strikes N. 30° E. and dips steeply west. The 

lode is in quartzite about 100 feet west of and parallel to a large 

dike of quartz monzonite. It is said to average 12 feet in width and 

to open out in places to a maximum of 30 feet. The ore on the dump 

is a highly altered porphyry containing abundant pyrite and galena 

and some sphalerite irregularly scattered through the altered rock. 

Some pieces of nearly pure sulphides indicate that the metallic 

minerals were concentrated in places. In some of the more disseminated ore the crystals of pyrite are coated with thin black 

films of chalcocite.

The National tunnel, whose portal is on the north side of Cherry 

Creek, about 1£ miles west of town, has been driven N. 10° W. for 

1,400 feet but has not as yet cut the ore body exposed in the upper 

work. The tunnel is started near the west side of a dike of quartz 

monzonite 250 feet wide that strikes N. 31° E. and dips 30° W. In 

the tunnel the igneous rock is seen to be cut by a series of eastwardtrending fractures that dip 20°-30° N.

In the Brady tunnel, whose mouth is a little lower than and west 

of the National tunnel, some small quartz veins in the quartz monzonite strike N. 80° W., dip 30°-50° S., and carry a little pyrite. The
CHERRY CREEK (EGAF CANYON") DISTRICT. 167

wall rock is sericitized for a short distance on each side of these 

small veins.

McMurry prospect (No. 3, fig. 16}. The McMurry prospect is 

on the north side of Cherry Canyon, 2 miles west of town. An open 

cut exposes a zone of crushed, iron-stained, silicified quartzite 15 

feet wide, which strikes N. 35° E. and dips 70° W. Some narrow 

quartz stringers cut the zone, and along them^the quartzite contains minute specks of pyrite and molybdenite. The value of this 

ore is not known, but it may carry a little gold.

New Century tunnel (No. 4, fig> 16}- The New Century tunnel is 

driven to develop the Old Imperial, Ben Butler, Jim Blaine, New 

Century, and Emma claims, on the ridge east of Exchequer Canyon, 

about 2 miles north of Cherry Creek. The main workings in 

Exchequer Canyon consist of a drift tunnel 600 feet long, which cuts 

a vertical shaft 100 feet from the mouth. The shaft is 275 feet deep 

but was not accessible. The tunnel follows a quartzite fault breccia, 

2 to 6 feet in width, that strikes N. 70° E. and stands nearly vertical 

or dips steeply north. This breccia constitutes the ore. At the end 

of the drift the vein is cut by a fault that strikes N. 10° W. and dips 

60° E. Below this fault there is 10 feet of soft altered quartzite 

that is said to carry some silver. ___

The quartzite fault breccia has been partly cemented by quartz, 

 and the healed rock shows very small crystals of pyrite. In some 

joints in this breccia there are small patches of copper silicate stain 

and here and there a little yellow stain that may be lead carbonate. 

No large bodies of sulphides have been found, even at the bottom of 

the shaft, but the ore is said to average about 30 ounces silver and a 

little gold to the ton. One piece of ore found on a dump, said to 

have come from the 250-foot level, contains minute specks of galena 

and pyrite, and under the blowpipe shows iron, lead, silver, copper, 

and a very faint black antimonlal mirror in the closed tube, thus 

indicating the probable presence of gray copper.

Exchequer tunnel (No. 5, -jig. 15). The Exchequer tunnel runs 

west from the canyon on the same vein as the New Century. A 

vertical shaft at the mouth of the tunnel, said to be 186 feet deep 

but containing 100 feet of water, is equipped with cage, 30-horsepower steam hoist, and 6-drill compressor. The tunnel is said to 

be 800 feet long, but the open stopes near the mouth can not be 

crossed. The ore shoot is said to have extended for 600 feet along 

the tunnel level and to have been 2 to 3 feet wide, expanded to 8 feet 

in places. Near the shaft the vein splits, but reunites 100 feet west. 

The south part of the vein was the most productive. The ore above 

water level is very siliceous and looks like that at the New Century. 

It is said that much of the rich surface ore mined in the early days
168 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

contained considerable horn silver. Some ore found on the dump, 

said to have come from below water level, is base, consisting largely 

of galena, sphalerite, and pyrite. In one specimen of this sulphide 

ore a small vug lined with minute quartz crystals contained also 

some thin scales of a dark metallic mineral that looks like dark 

ruby silver but was in too small a quantity to allow definite blowpipe tests. It is said that the Exchequer vein, which has yielded 

about $3,000,000 worth of silver, was to be reopened in the fall 

of 1913.

Star mine (No. 6, fig. 15). The Star mine, consisting of four 

claims on the west side of the mouth of Exchequer Canyon, is about 

1-| miles north-northeast of Cherry Creek and is the property of the 

Glasgow Western Exploration Co., whose business was in the hands 

of Joseph Ralph in March, 1913. The mine is developed by a vertical shaft approximately 750 feet deep, with eight levels, and by a 

tunnel about 1,200 feet long, which intersects the shaft 340 feet below 

the collar. The old workings above the tunnel level are caved and 

much of the work below that level is inaccessible. Below the tunnel 

level two subparallel veins about 30 feet- apart are exposed in the 

workings. On the fourth level the drifts on both veins extend about 

400 feet west and 600 feet east of the shaft; on the fifth level they 

extend at least 200 feet east and 800 feet west; on the sixth level 

1,000 feet west; and on the seventh level 1,200 feet west. The east 

drifts on both the sixth and seventh levels are inaccessible but are 

not very long.

The north vein has an average strike of N. 78° W., and the south 

vein strikes N. 72° W. Their intersection is shown in both the sixth 

and seventh levels, about 1,000 feet west of the shaft. At some 

places the veins are vertical, but at most places along the drifts they 

dip steeply south, cutting directly across the bedding of quartzite 

and shales, which strike N. 30° E. and dip 35° NW. Both veins are 

strong in the quartzites, even where they are thin bedded, but finger 

out in the shales, as is clearly shown at the west end of the tunnel 

level, at the east end of the fourth level, and at the face of the west 

drift on the seventh level.

The veins are cut by a number of minor faults that strike north 

or N. 30° E. and stand vertical or dip steeply west. The movement 

along these breaks seems to have been normal, for the vein west of 

the faults is displaced 2 to 4 feet to the south. A fault on the fourth 

level about 250 feet east of the shaft strikes N. 10° E. and dips 

45° E. The fault zone is 20 feet wide and is marked by a very thick 

gouge and considerable breccia. East of the fault zone the vein is 

displaced 20 feet north. The movement along this fault is believed 

to have caused the repetition of the shale seen on the surface east 

of the shaft and in the shaft to a depth of 160 feet. A second im-
CHEERY CREEK (EGAN .CANYON) DISTRICT. 169

portant fault is exposed at the west ends of the drifts on the sixth 

and seventh levels. On the sixth level the fault strikes N. 70° W. 

and dips 76° W., but on the seventh level it strikes N. 40° W. and 

dips 50° NE. The movement along the fault as shown at both 

levels was horizontal. West of the fault a narrow dike of very 

much altered porphyry, impregnated with pyrite, was probably a 

quartz monzonite, as phenocrysts of quartz and both orthoclase and 

plagioclase can be recognized. The feldspars are largely altered to 

calcite and sericite and these minerals form the groundmass of the 

rock.

The stopes indicate that the south vein was the most productive. 

One shoot on this vein, extending for 900 feet along the drift, varied 

from 1 to 6 feet and averaged about 2 feet in width. It lies below 

argillaceous shales, exposed at the west end of the levels. The vein 

fingers out and is not mineralized in the shales. The western end 

of the shoot pitched 45° W. to the 400-foot level and 25° W. between the fourth and eighth levels. The ore consists of galena, 

sphalerite, and pyrite, carried in a white quartz gangue. The vein 

shows depositional banding but has been crushed by postmineral 

movement. Rich secondary silver minerals are seen in small 

amounts in cracks of the original ore, even at the eighth level, 

which is at least 400 feet below the original water level. Euby silver 

and a light-gray mineral, probably tetrahedrite, that contains silver 

and lead as well as copper seem to be the most valuable secondary 

minerals, though secondary chalcopyrite is more abundant. It is 

said that polybasite and argentite have been found in ore from the 

eighth level. In one specimen of enriched ore the silvery-gray mineral, together with chalcopyrite, replaces the original galena but 

occurs in veinlets in the sphalerite. The ore in this shoot on the 

eighth level is said to average 0.32 ounce gold and 17.47 ounces 

silver a ton. Some of the enriched ore carries as much as 614 ounces 

of silver a ton.

The north vein is narrower than the south vein, averaging about 

1 foot wide. It is composed of quartz and pyrite, with much less 

sphalerite and galena than the south vein. The ore is said to average 0.24 ounce gold and 6.47 ounces silver a ton.

The Star shaft is vertical and below the tunnel level is north of 

both veins. It is well timbered and is said to be in heavy ground. 

The surface equipment is a large double cylinder steam hoist and 

six-drill compressor. The mine makes a great deal of water. In 

1913 five men were employed in pumping, and it was said that the 

mine would fill to the tunnel level in a few months if pumping were 

stopped. A partly dismantled mill stands at the mouth of the tunnel, 

to which level all ore was hoisted. The mill has two Blake crushers, 

twenty 1,200-pound stamps, and Wilfley tables and Frue vanners,
170 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

with the necessary classifying apparatus. For a time the tailings and 

middlings were reground in a tube mill and cyanided, but in 1913 

the leaching tanks had been removed. The mill is run by a 150- 

horsepower gas engine supplied by a 200-horsepower gas producer.

EGAN CANYON.

Burning Question group (No. 7, fig. 15). The Burning Question 

claims are on the north side of Egan Canyon near its western end 

and southwest of the Gilligan vein. Mr. G. 0. Kellsey is developing a 20-foot zone of quartzite, sparingly impregnated with pyrite, 

which is said to carry some gold. It was reported in the mining 

journals in the spring of 1914 that he had opened a pocket of rich 

gold ore. This quartzite is about 100 feet east of the shale belt that 

cuts across the head of Egan Canyon.

Cocomongo claims (No. 5, fig. 15).-. The Cocomongo claims extend for about 3 miles along the west side of the Egan Range south of 

Egan Canyon. At a number of places narrow quartz veins cutting 

the quartzite strike about N. 15° E. and dip 30° E. or trend eastward 

and stand vertical. The northward-trending lodes are about parallel 

to the strike of the quartzites but dip east across the westward dip 

of the sediments. None of these veins are well mineralized. They 

consist of white quartz, in some places iron stained and in a few 

places containing a little pyrite. It is said that one or two pockets 

of very rich free gold ore have been found at the surface. The veins 

apparently do not persist in the shales which overlie the quartzite, 

and they appear to finger out in a narrow belt of shale interbedded 

with the quartzite.

The principal development work is a 600-foot crosscut tunnel about 

2 miles south of Egan Canyon. On the south side of the head of

Egan Canyon an irregular tunnel about 400 feet long exposes a few 

narrow quartz veinlets and a series of northward-trending faults that 

cut off the veins. A 40-ton mill on this property, equipped with 

1,000-pound Nissen stamps, plates, and concentrating tables, all 

driven by a 50-horsepower gasoline engine, has apparently never 

been used.

Gilligan vein (No. 9, fig. 15). The Gilligan vein, on the north 

side of Egan Canyon, near its western end, was the first vein discovered in the district. It was .worked by the Social & Steptoe Co. 

for many years and in 1869 was developed to a depth of 400 feet.1 

In 1913 the incline was said to be 900 feet deep and the drainage 

tunnel, which connects with the 400-foot level, 1,200 feet long. The 

lower workings and the tunnel were under water in October, 1913.

1 Emmons, S. F., Egan Canyon district: U. S. Geol. Expl. 40th Par. Rept, vol. 3, pp. 

445-449, 1870.
CHERRY CREEK (EGAN CANYON) DISTRICT. 171

The vein strikes N. TO0 E. and dips 65°-68° N., cutting quartzites 

and shales. In the quartzite the vein ranges from 2 to 8 feet in width 

and has a beautifully marked hanging wall. The footwall is not 

well defined, and quartz stringers are abundant in it for some distance below the vein. At the 100-foot level the vein enters a shale 

belt 365 feet east of the shaft. In the shales, which strike N. 30° E. 

and dip 30° W. the vein is represented by 6 inches to 2 feet of crushed 

shale with almost no quartz and showing no mineral. In the east 

drift, 265 feet from the shaft, the vein again enters quartzite and is 

well marked, being about 6 feet wide between good walls. The filling is crushed quartzite, quartz, and some sulphides, but it was 

apparently not rich enough to pay for mining. Most of the ore 

has been removed from the parts of the mine Avhich could be entered, but a few pillars show that the vein consisted of white quartz 

and sulphides that have been crushed since the mineralization. The 

quartz next the hanging wall appears to carry less mineral than that 

8 to 10 inches above the footwall, the two streaks being separated 

by a thin selvage. Galena appears to be the most abundant sulphide in the ore that is left, though some soft black argentite was 

seen on a specimen found on the dump. Thin coatings of lead and 

copper carbonates are seen on joints in the ore at the 100-foot level, 

and horn silver is said to have been the most valuable mineral in the 

ore from a surface stope northeast of the main shaft. Emmons 1 

reported that the ore ran from $40 to $200 a ton and that the bullion 

was two-fifths gold and three-fifths silver.

The mill in Egan Canyon, above the tunnel, belonging to this 

company, was in bad repair in 1913.

Wide Wes\t growp (No. 10, -fig. 15}. The Wide West group of 

twelve claims and four mill sites is in the hills north of Egan 

Canyon on the east side of the Egan Range. A 5-stamp amalgamation and concentration mill is at the mouth of Egan Canyon. The 

Wide West vein, in the head of Gold Canyon, a small steep gulch 

about one-fourth mile north of Egan Canyon, is developed by tAvo 

tunnels. The upper tunnel runs north parallel to the bedding of 

thin-bedded quartzite (which dips 70° W.) for 172 feet, to the vein, 

which strikes N. 60°-70° E. and dips 32°-50° S. and is followed by a 

drift for 220 feet. A winze connects this tunnel with the lower one, 

which runs N. 35° W. for 380 feet to the vein, cutting the bedding of 

the quartzites at an acute angle. At this level the drift N. 50° E. on 

the vein is 125 feet long and the drift southwest is 300 feet long. The 

vein as exposed by these tunnels ranges from 2 inches to 2 feet in 

width (average, 10 inches). It is frozen to the hanging wall but is 

separated from the footwall by a thin clay selvage. It consists of

1 Emmons, S. F., op. cit, p. 447.
172 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

barren-looking milky-white quartz that is only slightly stained with 

iron oxide on the joints and in places shows a few widely scattered 

crystals of pyrite. The pyrite at the upper tunnel level is largely 

altered to a dark-brown oxide. The ore at the lower tunnel level 

is less oxidized and shows a few specks of galena in its more heavily 

mineralized parts. This ore is said to carry some gold and silver, 

but from all that could be learned is rather low grade. The matrix 

of the quartzite near the vein is somewhat sericitized and shows 

some minute crystals of pyrite between the quartz grains which form 

most of the rock.

HUNTER DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Hunter district (No. 26, fig. 1, p. 18) is on the west side of the 

Egan Kange about 25 miles south-southwest of Cherry Creek, which 

is its shipping and supply point. The Hunter mine is about 10 miles 

northwest of Steptoe post office, which is on the west side of Steptoe 

Valley, 23 miles north of Ely. (See PI. I.)

GEOLOGY.

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.

In the vicinity of the Hunter mines the mountains are formed of 

dark massive-bedded dolomitic limestones which dip 25°-30° W. 

and overlie the Cambrian quartzites exposed farther north in the 

range. Among some fossils collected by the writer at the Hunter 

mine Edwin Kirk determined Bryozoa and Cyathophyllum sp., 

which he states occur in the Nevada limestone, of Devonian age, 

of the Eureka district.

IGNEOUS BOCKS.

The limestones at the mines are intruded by at least three large 

dikes of granite porphyry. The igneous rocks are altered and exact 

determination of their constituents is not possible. They contain conspicuous rounded, somewhat smoky quartz phenocrysts one-eighth inch 

in maximum diameter; other phenocrysts that appear to have been 

feldspars but that are now altered to a soft white substance, and, 

generally, a few flakes of dark greenish-brown biotite. Examined in 

thin sections the phenocrysts that were thought to be feldspars are 

seen to consist of a mixture of quartz, an isotropic substance with index higher than balsam, and some calcite. The groundmass of the 

rock is microgranular, consisting of quartz, altered feldspar, and some 

biotite. It exhibits less alteration than would be expected from the 

complete breaking down of the feldspar phenocrysts.
HUNTER DISTRICT. 173

ORE DEPOSITS. 

i

HISTOJJY AND PRODUCTION.

The lead-silver ores of the Hunter mines were discovered in 1871, 

according to Whitehill,1 and were most extensively worked between 

1877 and 1884. At that, time the ores smelted on the ground were 

said to carry about 48 ounces silver and 48 per cent lead a ton. Some 

very rich silver chloride ore is said to have been mined at that time 

in a pipelike deposit on the Crown Point lode. The 18 patented 

claims in this district were bought by the Vulcan Mining, Smelting 

& Kenning Co. in 1907. In 1913 this company, under the direction of 

Mr. H. Ornauer, was reopening the main workings on the Vulcan 

and Copperhead Split ore bodies.

According to data collected by the United States Geological Survey, the total production of the Hunter properties from 1905 to 

1908, inclusive, was 28,072 ounces silver, 118,584 pounds of copper, 

and 412,305 pounds of lead, having a total value of $60,316.

DEVELOPMENT.

The main development at the Hunter district is through a crosscut 

tunnel about 1,700 feet long, which trends southeast into the mountains. This tunnel intersects the Copperhead Split and the Vulcan 

ore bodies, the latter at a depth of 400 feet on the dip. The Vulcan 

is also opened higher up by a 300-foot drift tunnel, and the ore 

shoot, which had a drift length of 75 feet, is said to be stoped to 

the lower tunnel level. The ore bins and power house are at the 

mouth of the main tunnel. A steam-driven compressor supplies air 

for the hoist at the winze on the Copperhead Split ore body and 

for two hammer drills.

Water from a spring 3 miles north of the mine is piped to both 

the power house and camp. Sufficient pifion for mine timbers can be 

found on the mountain east of the mine.

GEOLOGY OF THE TUNNEL.

The first 400 feet of the tunnel are through somewhat crystalline, 

rather dark gray fetid-smelling dolomitic limestone in beds 1 to 

3 feet thick, which strike about north and dip 30° W. At 400 feet 

the tunnel cuts the western side of a 75-foot dike of granite porphyry 

which dips steeply west. The contacts are sharp and show no contact metamorphism along either side. Postintrusion faulting with 

horizontal movement is shown. The Copperhead Split ore bodies lie 

along this dike.

A second dike, 80 feet wide, is cut at 800 feet from the portal, and 

a third, 60 feet wide, at 970 feet. From a point 1,320 feet from the

1 Whitehill, H. R., Nevada State Mineralogist Fourth Biennial Kept, for 1871-72, p. 

145 [1873].
174 NOTES ON" MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

portal to the face the tunnel is in granite porphyry. The Vulcan 

ore body lies west of this mass of porphyry, but the fault along which 

the ores occur has cut into the dike at places.

The limestones along these dikes appear to be unmetamorphosed 

even at the contacts, and the dikes themselves do not show any 

change in texture or size of grain. Postintrusion faulting is seen 

along all the dikes. Movement along practically all these faults 

seems to have been horizontal, as evidenced by deeply cut grooves on 

the walls. Much breccia has been formed along most of the faults 

and it is in these brecciated masses that the ore bodies occur.

OCCURRENCE AND CHARACTER OF THE ORE BODIES.

The Copperhead Split ore body is cut by the tunnel 575 feet from 

the mouth, where it strikes K 30° E. and dips 75° E. It is a limestone fault breccia about 5 feet in width below a dike of altered 

granite porphyry. The lead carbonate ores occur as irregular masses 

in the breccia and are usually associated with coarsely crystalline 

white calcite. In a winze, 130 feet below the tunnel level, the breccia 

strikes north and dips 45° E. A stope at this level is 150 feet long, 

15 feet high, and 6 feet wide. The ore, an ocherous lead carbonate 

containing some residual masses of galena coated with thin films of 

anglesite, seems to have been formed by partial replacement of the 

limestone breccia, as it includes many fragments of limestone. In 

some places in this stope malachite is rather abundant, and most of 

the limonitic ore carries copper, even where it shows little copper 

carbonate. The assay returns of some of the shipments of ore mined 

in 1913 show the lead ore to carry on the average 0.01 ounce gold, 

15 ounces silver, 13 to 16 per cent lead, 4.5 per cent copper, and 5 

per cent zinc. Sorted copper carbonate ore shipped in 1913 carried 

27 to 34 ounces of silver and 10 to 11 per cent copper.

The Vulcan ore body is cut 1,500 feet from the mouth of the 

tunnel. It strikes about S. 30° E. and dips irregularly, varying 

from vertical to 40° NE. or 70° SW. At the tunnel level the ore is 

in altered granite porphyry, but in the upper workings and in a 

drift 200 feet north of the tunnel it occurs in a breccia at the contact 

of the limestones and the dike. As shown in the drift the fault 

breccia along the contact is 30 feet wide. The ore is all oxidized 

and is similar to that being stoped from the Copperhead Split body, 

though it is said to have carried less copper.

GRANITE (STEPTOE) DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Steptoe or, as it was formerly called, the Granite district 

(No. 25, fig. 1, p. 18), includes a portion of the east side of the 

Egan Range about 12 miles long and 4 miles wide. Steptoe post
6BANITE (STEPTOE) DISTRICT. 175

office, ais W. D. Campbell's ranch in the southeast corner of the 

district, is 5£ miles southwest of Granite siding and 23 miles northnorthwest of Ely, on the Nevada Northern Railway. (See PL I.) 

Most of the mines are easily accessible, and roads from the mouths 

of the various canyons lead toward Granite siding. In recent years 

the roads have been used to some extent by woodchoppers and are 

in fair shape. The Cuba mine, about 2 miles west of Steptoe post 

office, is difficult of access, as many of the Avorkings are on a ridge 

with precipitous, slopes.

GEOLOGY.

This part of the Egan Range is composed of yellow and red 

weathering quartzites, exposed at the east base of the mountains, 

overlain by green and red shales, above which lie massive light-gray 

compact limestones which form all the higher mountains. In the

Range

E.

Steptoe 

Valley 

i 

! a.

a* Gravel and silt

6= Limestone

c° Shale

rf^Quartzite

e* Intrusive granite

APPROXIMATE SCALE

0 I 

i i________I

2 Miles

B

FIGuKB 16. Diagrammatic sections of the east front of the Egan Range, Steptoe district, White Pine County, Nev. A, At Water Canyon, 10 miles north of Steptoe post 

office; B, 4 miles northwest of Steptoe post office.

northern part of the district, at Water Canyon, the sedimentary 

rocks are intruded by a large stock of granite that varies from 

equigranular to porphyritic in texture. In other places in the district there are small dikes and masses of granite porphyry.

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.

The oldest sedimentary rocks are most extensively exposed in the 

vicinity of Water Canyon, about 10 miles north of Steptoe post office. 

They are quartzites of a rather light color on fresh fractures, but 

weather yellow or red on the surface. About 2 miles above the 

mouth of Water Canyon they are folded into a tight anticline, across 

whose axis the stream has cut. At the east they are cut off by a 

large stock of granite. Northeast of the mouth of Water Canyon
176 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

limestones overlie the igneous rock. (See fig. 16, A.) In the western limb of this anticline the quartzites are lighter colored and 

thinner bedded near the top of the series than in the lower part. 

The quartzites are overlain by about 150 feet of greenish, drab, and 

red shales, which grade into the overlying limestone. At the base 

the limestone is dark gray and dense and lies in beds 6 inches to 

1 foot thick. The higher beds of the series are more massive, and 

alternating light and dark gray bands are conspicuous.

About 4 miles northwest of Steptoe post office the limestones form 

practically all of the mountains, though the underlying shales and 

thin-bedded light-colored quartzites appear in the foothills. (See 

fig. 16, B.)

Though no fossils were found in any of these sedimentary rocks 

during the reconnaissance, the writer has little hesitancy in referring them to the Cambrian. They probably are the equivalents of 

the Prospect Mountain quartzite and the Eldorado limestone of the 

Eureka section.

IGNEOUS BOCKS.

About 2 miles above the mouth of Water Canyon, in the northern 

part of the district, a body of granite intrudes both the quartzite and 

the limestones. (See fig. 16, A.) This is the south end of what 

seems to be a large body of granitic rock that extends for some 

miles along the east front of the range^toward Cherry Creek. The 

typical rock of the middle portion of this stock is a coarse, inequigranular to porphyritic granite, which weathers in rounded forms 

and produces an immense amount of coarse arkosic sand. At the 

west side of the stock the rock becomes much finer grained and 

appears to contain less of the iron-bearing minerals than the typical 

rock. In the coarse-grained rock large crystals of quartz, pink 

orthoclase, and biotite are conspicuous and in many places are the 

phenocrystic minerals that are set in an inequigranular groundmass 

composed of the same minerals and of what seems to be a plagioclase 

feldspar. In the fine-grained phase of the rock oligoclase is less 

abundant than quartz or orthoclase, and a little muscovite and what 

appears to be bleached biotite are present.

Four and a half miles northwest of Steptoe post office, near the 

Nubagah claim, there is a dike of granite porphyry which has a 

purplish-red color. Bounded quartz phehocrysts are thickly studded 

through a fine-grained matrix of quartz, orthoclase, and glass. Some 

phenocrysts, having the form of feldspars, are altered to quartz, 

calcite, and iron oxide.

A few hundred feet west of the Cuba ore body some inconspicuous, weathered croppings of a much-altered yellowish-green granite 

porphyry have small rounded grains of quartz, sericitized feld-
GRANITE (STEPTOE) DISTRICT. 177

spars, and some biotite as their phenocrystie constituents. The 

groundmass is fine grained and seems to be made up of quartz, feldspar, and chlorite.

STRUCTURE.

In general the rocks of the southern two-thirds of the Granite 

 district dip west at low to medium angles. About a mile south of 

Water Canyon there seems to be an eastward-trending break in the 

mountains. South of this fault the quartzites are shifted so that 

they are seen only in the foothills (see fig. 16, B), but due north 

of it they dip eastward on the east limb of a tight anticlinal fold. 

(See fig. 16, B.)

ORE DEPOSITS.

HISTORY AND PRODUCTION.

According to Mr. W. D. Campbell, the Ben Hur vein was located 

by himself in 1894 and was the earliest location in the Granite district. The Cuba and Stinson ore bodies were discovered in 1902 and 

the Campbell and Blaine groups in 1907. The latest discovery of 

ore was made in 1913, on the Nubagah claim, by Baird and Campbell. 

The gold deposits were worked earliest, and Mr. CampbeH states 

that he has recovered about $15,000 Avorth of bullion from ores mined 

from the Ben Hur, Stinson, and Campbell groups. This ore was 

milled in a 5-stamp water-driven amalgamation mill at Mr. Campbell's ranch. Some lead ores from the Cuba and Bunker Hill and 

Sullivan mines have been shipped to the Utah smelters. In October, 

1913, the Cuba was being worked, under lease, by E. E. Vanderhoff, 

of Ely, Nev. None of the older properties were being worked, but 

the Nubagah was being prospected.

According to figures collected by the United States Geological 

Survey, the total production of the Granite or Steptoe district from 

1902 to 1912 inclusive was 454.28 ounces gold, 615 ounces silver, and 

114,772 pounds of lead, having a total value of $14,633.

TYPES AND OCCURRENCE OF THE ORE DEPOSITS.'

Two distinct types of ores are shown in the Granite district. One 

type carries gold and a little silver in quartz veins in quartzite. The 

Blaine, Campbell, Stinson, and Ben Hur, all deposits of this type, 

have a gangue of white quartz or brecciated quartzite. Metallic 

minerals are very scarce, and so far as developed all of the gold is 

free milling. The second type carries lead and a very little silver 

in fissure replacements in limestone. Carload shipments of sorted 

galena from the Cuba are said to run 74 to 78 per cent lead and 2.75 

42680° Bull. 648 16 12
178 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

ounces silver a ton. The most important metallic mineral is galena, 

which is found at the surface, with a minor amount of cerusite and 

anglesite. Coarsely crystalline white calcite is the characteristic 

gangue mineral, though some siderite has been found in the Cuba 

ore body.

THE PROPERTIES.

GOLD VEINS.

Alvin mine. The Alvin vein on the W. D. Campbell group is 

opened by a 150-foot shaft, a drift tunnel 200 feet long that intersects 

the shaft at a depth of 75 feet, and a 75-foot drift on the 150-foot 

level of the shaft. This work is in low foothills'about 6 miles northwest of Steptoe post office. The vein cuts thin-bedded light-yellow 

siliceous limestones and calcareous sandstones that lie at the top of 

the quartzite series. It strikes N. 50° E., stands nearly vertical, and 

ranges in width from 8 inches to 4 feet (average about 18 inches). 

The filling is a yellow clay carrying crushed fragments of limestone 

and some calcite and quartz. No metallic minerals are visible. Ore 

from the tunnel level is said to have averaged $8 a ton in gold, and 

that from the bottom level about $3 a ton. A sample of ore from the 

tunnel level, panned by the writer, gave a very small concentrate of 

pyrite and magnetite.

Ben HUT mine. The Ben Hur vein is opened by a series of open 

cuts and a drift tunnel 300 feet long, about 3 miles northwest of 

Steptoe post office. In this vicinity the thin-bedded, light-colored 

quartzites strike north and dip 60° W. The vein strikes N. 44° E. 

and dips 53° SE. It is filled with barren-looking white quartz, not 

much stained with iron, that averages 10 inches in width but in places 

widens to a maximum of 14 inches. Faulting along the footwall of 

the vein has crushed the quartz and wall rock so that in places there 

are 2 feet of yellowish clay with fragments of quartz and quartzite. 

The hanging wall is very irregular, and the quartz is frozen to it in 

most places. The ore near the surface is said to have carried about 

$10 in gold a ton, but at the tunnel level it is said to be too low grade 

to pay mining and milling charges.

Blcdne prospect. The Blaine property, near the head of Water 

Canyon, is about 12 miles north-northwest of Steptoe post office. 

The main development on this property is a tunnel driven southwestward from Water Canyon for 1,200 feet. The first 150 feet of 

the tunnel trends S. 50° W. along a 2 to 4 inch vein of white quartz 

that dips 60° SE. This vein cuts quartzite, but postmineral movement along both walls has produced a narrow selvage between the 

quartzite and vein. A fault that trends north and dips 75° W. cuts 

off the vein 150 feet from the portal. Beyond this vein the tunnel 

continues as an irregular crosscut in quartzites, in some places fol-
GRANITE (STEPTOE) DISTRICT. 179

lowing the bedding and in other places following fractures with 

north or northeast strike. The last 210 feet of the tunnel follows a 

2 to 8 inch lode of gouge, crushed quartzite, and vein quartz that 

strikes N. 60° E. and dips 50° N. The lode is slightly iron stained 

and contains a few minute crystals of pyrite and a little magnetite. 

It is said to carry gold, but no free gold was obtained in pannings 

made by the writer. Grooves on the walls of this vein are horizontal. 

A 600-foot incline raise on the Blaine vein connects with the surface 

work, where the vein is seen to be on the west limb of an anticline, 

in quartzite, about 50 feet east of the lowest shale bed of the overlying series. (See fig. 16, A.)

Stinson mine. The Stinson veins, the property of W. D. Campbell, about 4| miles northwest of Steptoe post office, are developed by 

several short tunnels, open cuts, and a lower tunnel 300 feet long. 

One 10-inch lode striking N. 40° E. and dipping 35° NW. consists 

of three subparallel slips, with intervening fractured quartzite. The 

other lode strikes N. 40° E., dips 35° SE., and averages 10 inches 

wide. Both fissures are filled with yellowish clay and quartz. Pannings of the ore from these veins give more concentrates than ore 

from any of the other veins in the district. The concentrates consist of magnetite and a few specks of pyrite. Sorted ore from the 

surface of these veins is said to have carried from $30 to $80 a ton 

in gold.

LEAD DEPOSITS.

Bunker Hill and Sullivanmine. The Bunker Hill and Sullivan ore 

body, the property of people from Moscow, Idaho, is 8 miles northnorthwest of Steptoe post office in light buff-gray, thin-bedded, somewhat siliceous limestones that strike north and dip 40° W. Slightly 

oxidized galena occurs in irregular masses in a fault breccia 2 to 10 

feet wide that strikes N. 30° E. and dips 60° W., and also in small 

tabular bodies parallel to the bedding of the limestone. The property is developed by a 75-foot crosscut tunnel that intersects a whim 

shaft about 30 feet below the collar. The shaft is 160 feet deep, but 

shows little ore below the tunnel level. The galena is clearly a replacement of the limestone. Postmineral movement has crushed 

both the limestone and ore, producing what is known Us steel galena.

Cuba, mine. The Cuba fissure, about 2 miles west of Steptoe post 

office, strikes N. 40°-43° E. and dips 40°-65° SE., cutting across the 

bedding of light and dark colored dense limestones in beds 2 to 4 

feet thick that strike N. 20° E. and dip 30° W. The fissure has been 

 opened by a number of short tunnels and open cuts for about 3£ 

miles through a vertical distance of 500 feet. In most places the 

fissure is filled with large crystals of white calcite or brownish ironbearing calcite and in places shows drusy openings. In this gangue
180 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

there are scattered, irregular bodies of galena. The largest body of 

ore was mined from a tunnel at a barometric elevation of 8,100 feet, on 

the north side of the hill across which the fissure runs. This body, 

averaging about 2 feet wide, was 75 feet long on the drift and about 

25 feet high on the dip of the vein and pitched northeast in the fissure. 

At both ends of the ore shoot the barren calcite filling of the fissure 

continues. About one-half mile south of this body, in the bottom 

of a gulch, at a barometric elevation of 7,600 feet, tunnels on the 

fissure open some smaller bodies of ore. There is very little oxidation on this vein. Nearly pure galena outcrops all along its strike, 

but occasionally small amounts of anglesite and cerusite are seen 

as thin crusts coating the galena directly at the surface. The sorted 

galena is said to carry about 2.75 ounces of silver a ton.

Nubagah prospect. The Nubagah prospect is 4|- miles northwest 

of Steptoe post office, in the middle part of the east slope of the 

Egan Range, where the massive limestones are the country rock. 

A 10-foot shaft is sunk on a tight fissure with north strike and steep 

east dip. A little galena and cerusite replace the limestone for a 

short distance on both sides of the fissure. The largest body of ore 

was found directly at the surface and east of the fissure.

WARD DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND GENERAL FEATURES.

The Ward district (No. 29, fig. 1, p. 18) includes a few square miles 

of the east front of Egan Range, about 16 miles south of Ely, its 

shipping and supply point. A good road in Steptoe Valley leads to 

the camp (barometric elevation, 8,025 feet) at the base of the 

range, which rises abruptly from the valley floor at least 1,500 feet 

in about 2 miles. The principal mines are in sees. 14 and 15, though 

some claims are in sees. 9, 10, and 16, of T. 14 N., R. 63 E. (See 

fig. 17.) Small springs occur in the vicinity of the mines, and a good 

stream of water flows in Willow Canyon about 4 miles south of the

camp.

GEOLOGY.

This part of the Egan Range seems to consist entirely of a series 

of thin-bedded, light and dark blue-gray Carboniferous limestones 

that have been intruded by an intricate system of quartz monzonite 

dikes. In the surface exposures the igneous rocks are not conspicuous, but in the various mine workings large amounts of them may be 

seen

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.

The limestones, which form the greater part of the surface exposures in the Ward district, are in beds 10 inches to 2 feet thick.
WARD DISTRICT. 181

They are usually of a light blue-gray color, though some beds are 

dark gray and some contain a large amount of brown chert. Between 

the Paymaster and the Mammoth tunnels (Nos. 6 and 8, fig. IT), 

lime shales are interstratified with the true limestones. Among a 

few fossils collected by the writer on the, trail halfway between the 

Paymaster and Martin White tunnels (Nos. 6 and 9, fig. 17), G. H. 

Girty identified the Pennsylvanian forms Rhombopora sp., Productus 

sp., and Spvrifer aff. 8. earneratus. Spurr* reports that a large collection of Permian fossils was obtained from limestones on the southeastern slope of Hamels Peak, whose summit is about 6 miles northwest of Ward. (See PI. I.)

MINES

(Defiance shaft 6Paymaster lower tunnel

2 Defiance upper tunnel 7 Pleiades shaft

30efiance lower tunnel SMammoth tunnel

4Good Luck Shaft 9 Martin White tunnel

S Paymaster upper 10 Welcome Stranger

tunnel'and shaft tunnel .. .' ' : "

LEGEND 

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS

APPROXIMATE. SCALE

Quartz monionite

Strike and dip

e

Horizontal bed

5?

Shaft

TuTn'el

Road

Dry canyon

FIGURE 17. Sketch map of the Ward district, White Pine County, Nev.

In the vicinity of Ward the sedimentary rocks have a north or 

north-northwest strike and a low east dip. South of the mouth of 

Ward Canyon the limestones are horizontal. A rather strong fault 

seems to strike north-northwest across Ward Canyon a mile west of 

the Ore Bins and east of the upper Defiance workings (Nos. 1 and 

2, fig. 17). This fault appears to dip east and is thought to have 

dropped the beds on the east relatively to those on the west.

IGNEOUS .HOCKS.

All of the dike rocks of this district are much altered and most 

of them have been mineralized to some extent. A specimen of fairly

1 Spurr, .J. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, p. 52, 190S.
182 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

fresh rock from the dump of the lower Paymaster tunnel seems to be 

a quartz monzonite porphyry, though it may be a granite porphyry. 

Phenocrysts of a plagioclase feldspar too much altered for definite 

determination, with some quartz, biptite, and possibly orthoclase are 

the phenocrystic minerals. The feldspars are altered to masses of 

calcite and sericite and the biotite is chloritized. The groundmass 

consists of a microgranular intergrowth of quartz and feldspar, the 

latter being sericitized. Apatite is an abundant accessory mineral. 

In most places where seen the highly altered porphyritic rocks retain 

their texture, though in many places all the minerals, except quartz 

and apatite, are changed to sericite and calcite. Crystals of pyrite 

and galena are widely disseminated in the highly altered igneous 

rocks.

The limestones near the dikes are comparatively free from lime 

silicate, minerals, though in some places they have been silicified and 

in other places altered to soft iron-stained masses of sericite or calcite. Near the Welcome Stranger tunnel (No. 10, fig. IT) a small 

mass of dark lime silicate rock lies along the contact between limestone and a porphyry dike, and near the face of the'lower Defiance 

tunnel (No. 3, fig. 17) the limestones are silicified and contain some 

narrow bands of lime silicate. The most abundant contact-metamorphic mineral in the district is a brownish-gray garnet, though 

a little light-colored pyroxene, calcite, and quartz are usually present 

in the zones of lime silicate rocks.

ORE DEPOSITS.

HISTORY AND PRODUCTION.

The ore bodies of the Ward district are said to have been discovered about 1869. The district was organized in 1872, at which time 

Eaymond 1 says that the Martin White Silver Mining Co. of San 

Francisco owned most of the mines in the district. This company 

started development in October, 1874, and during the yejir sank the 

Paymaster shaft 190 feet. Raymond says that all the mines show 

considerable quantities of ore, principally sulphurets, assaying from 

$40 to $300 a ton. Whitehill 2 reports that Ward had a population 

of 1,000 in 1876, and that a 20-stamp mill and two furnaces of 35 

tons' capacity each were in operation. The Austin chloridizing 

process was used for a time on the rich carbonate ores from the 

Paymaster and Defiance mines. Whitehill 3 reported that the total

1 Raymond, R. W., Statistics of mines and mining in the States and Territories west 

of the Rocky Mountains for 1874, p. 272, 1875.

2 Whitehill, H. R., Nevada State Mineralogist Sixth Biennial Kept., for 1875-76, pp. 

167-168, 1877.

8 Whitehill, H. R,, Nevada State Mineralogist Seventh Biennial Rept., for 1877-78, 

pp. 160-175, 1879.
WARD DISTRICT. 183

production of the district was $550,000 to the year 1878. It is said 

that the mines were actively worked until about 1882. Plate 1 says 

that the Martin White Silver Mining Co. did not mine any ore of 

less than $50 grade, as a consequence of which many tons of fairgrade ore are yet in the mines.

In 1906 practically all of the claims in the Ward district were 

acquired by the Nevada United Mines Co., which now owns 12,000 

acres of patented mining ground and 1,000 acres of ranch land at the 

mouth of Willow Creek, whose waters they own. According to the 

estimates of the present owners, $7,000,000 has been taken from these 

ore bodies. The mines have been idle for several years, but some ore 

has been shipped from the old dumps. In 1913 a small force of men 

was reopening the Good Luck shaft and the lower Paymaster tunnel 

with a view to working the large body of low-grade ore left by the 

early operators.

OCCURRENCE AND CHARACTER OF THE ORES'.

The ore bodies of the Ward district are closely associated with the 

intrusive quartz monzonite porphyry. They usually occur along the 

contacts of the igneous rocks as replacements and veins both in the 

intrusive and limestone. The mineralization took place after the 

consolidation of the quartz monzonite porphyry, and that rock is 

everywhere sericitized and calcitized and contains finely disseminated 

pyrite and galena. The large ore body at the Good Luck appears to 

be a. block of altered limestone included in the porphyry. The 

Defiance body at the surface is a mass of brown limonite cut by fissures in which rich lead carbonate was found. As seen in the lower 

tunnel 500 feet below the croppings, it is a mass of silicified limestone about 300 feet wide impregnated with sulphides.

The rich ore mined in the early days was largely argentiferous 

lead carbonate that carried the silver in part as chloride. The old 

.workings were apparently above the water level. The sulphide zone 

was cut at a depth of 160 to 180 feet, and the sulphide ores were 

found to consist largely of sphalerite, pyrite, and galena, with chalcopyrite in some places. As a rule, however, there does not seem to 

have been a large amount of copper in any of the primary ore bodies.

THE MINES.

Defiance mine. The Defiance ore body, at an elevation of about 

9.500 feet 1£ miles northwest of Ward, is developed by a shaft, now 

inaccessible, a drift tunnel aggregating 800 feet near the top of the 

hill (Nos. 1 and 2, fig. 17), and a crosscut tunnel 1,300 feet long, 500 

feet below the croppings (No. 3, fig. 17). The croppings are about

1 Plate, H. K., The old camp of Ward, Nev.: Min. and Sci. Press, vol. 94, p. 281, 1907.
184 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

200 feet wide and at least 600 feet long along the east side of a quartz 

monzonite dike that strikes north. They consist of cellular darkbrown hydrous iron oxide that in places shows a little copper stain 

and in places is cut by northeastward-trending fissures filled with 

yellow lead carbonate. These streaks of sand carbonate constituted 

the rich silver ore mined in the early days. It is said that similar 

ore continued to the bottom of & winze 140 feet below the tunnel level, 

at which depth a wall that dipped 40° W. cut off the ore. The lower 

crosscut tunnel runs N. 70° W. for 1,300 feet. Near the end of the tunnel a belt of silicified limestone containing abundant pyrite and some 

chalcopyrite and galena lies east of a strong fault that strikes N. 40° E. 

and dips 50° E. Near the fault some narrow bands of gray garnet 

carry galena and pyrite. Farther east the limestones are silicified 

and show bands of sulphides as well as the bands containing disseminated minerals. The bands of sulphides, some of which are 20 feet 

wide, consist almost entirely of pyrite but show a little chalcopyrite. 

In the bands of .silicified limestone, pyrite is more abundant than 

galena, and both minerals are apt to be segregated to some extent 

in bands and nodular masses. This whole zone of mineralized rock 

has been fractured, and little veinlets of calcite carrying secondary 

galena or a little pyrite permeate it everywhere.

It seems probable that the face of this tunnel is not far from the 

eastern edge of the quartz monzonite dike exposed on the hill above 

the tunnel mouth. There is little question that the body of sulphide 

ore exposed at the end of this crosscut is the extension of the oxidized 

iron croppings of the Old Defiance workings.

Good Luck shaft. The Good Luck shaft. (No. 4, fig. 17), about 

half a mile northwest of Ward, is vertical and is said to connect with 

3,500 feet of workings. The 280-foot level of this shaft connects with 

the lower Paymaster tunnel (No. 6, fig. 17). The Good Luck ore 

body seems to be a replacement of the southern part of a block of 

limestone included in the large quartz monzonite dike. At the 260-' 

foot level the limestone in an area 60 feet by 150 feet is altered to a 

soft ocherous mass containing irregular streaks and bunches of hard 

dark-brown iron oxide and pockets of yellow sand carbonate,.which 

is the high-grade ore. The east, south, and west boundaries of the 

ore body at this level are porphyry that is bleached and mineralized 

at the contacts. The north boundary is not definitely marked, the 

ocher grading through iron-stained rock into unaltered limestone. 

The ore at this level is said to average less than $10 a ton. On the 

160-foot level the ore body is at least 150 feet by 250 feet in area, as 

shown by a large number of crosscuts and drifts. The east boundary 

only is definitely marked by the porphyry,. which dips 55° W. At 

this level the bodies of sand carbonate seem to be larger than in the 

lower level, and some irregular bodies of hard lead carbonate occur.
WARD DISTRICT. 185

The ore body at the 135-foot level is about 300 feet long and about 

200 feet wide, and is said to average $17 a ton in lead and silver. 

The ore is redder than in the lower levels and carries some manganese oxide, particularly in the zone between the good ore and 

barren limestone at the north end of the body.

Paymaster mine. The Paymaster mine is developed by abandoned 

shafts and tunnels about a quarter of a mile northwest of Ward and 

by the Paymaster lower tunnel (No. 6, fig. IT) a few hundred feet 

west of the camp. This tunnel runs north-northwest for 1,200 feet 

under the old Paymaster workings to the Good Luck ore body. In 

the tunnel the northeast-dipping limestones are intruded by a number 

of small and large dikes of quartz monzonite porphyry. The limestones are somewhat silicified along the contacts but do not appear 

to be so highly altered as the intrusive rock, which is in many places 

changed to a mass of sericite and calcite that is thoroughly impregnated with sulphides. The alteration and mineralization of the intrusive rock is particularly strong near a series of fractures that 

strike N. 20°-40° W. and have a flat northeast dip. The Paymaster 

ore body is not well shown in this tunnel and the old workings can 

not be entered. The material on the dump of the upper tunnel 

(No. 5, fig. 17) indicates that part of the rich ore obtained was an 

ocherous sand carbonate. Specimens of both limestone and porphyry 

from this dump carry galena, sphalerite, and pyrite, and one of them 

carries a small amount of what seems to be argentite and a leadcopper-silver antimony-bearing mineral. A joint in a specimen of 

the sulphide ore contains a soft greenish-drab carbonate mineral that 

contains zinc and copper and shows light-purplish and green stains 

that denote silver and copper and are called silver chloride by the 

miners. The dumps have been sorted many times and practically all 

the ore has been shipped.

The dump of the lower tunnel consists of bleached quartz monzonite porphyry and limestone that shows little contact metamor- 

,phism. In the ore bins there are several tons of sulphide ore. Black 

sphalerite, galena, pyrite, and chalcopyrite (named in the order of 

decreasing abundance) occur in veinlets and irregular replacement 

veins in both altered igneous rock and limestone but appear to be 

more abundant in the quartz monzonite. From the poor exposures 

of the Paymaster ore body in this tunnel it would seem that the 

original ore minerals will probably be found in the immediate 

vicinity of the contacts of limestone and porphyry and that the larger 

bodies will be found in the porphyry, particularly near fissures that 

strike northwest. Blowpipe and rough chemical tests indicate that 

the original sulphide minerals do not contain large quantities of 

silver, and it seems probable that the chief metals found at depth 

will be zinc and lead.
186 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTEEN NEVADA.

The Martin White crosscut (No. 9, fig. IT), which starts at the 

camp, is said to be 3,200 feet long and to undercut both the Paymaster and Good Luck ore bodies. It was caved near the mouth in 

October, 1913, and could not be entered.

Pleiades shaft. The Pleiades shaft (No. 7, fig. 17) is about 500 

feet north of the Good Luck shaft across a shallow gulch. It is 250 

feet deep with three short levels. The small ore bodies are irregularly scattered in a zone of crushed limestone and quartz monzonite 

porphyry along the footwall of a dike of the intrusive rock which 

strikes N. 40° W. and dips 50° SW. Oxidation extends to about 

the 100-foot level, below which the ore is comparatively low grade, 

consisting of sphalerite and galena, with minor amounts of pyrite 

and chalcopyrite.

Mammoth tunnel. The Mammoth ore body (No. 8, fig. 17) is 

developed by open cuts and a short tunnel. The croppings, which 

are much like the Defiance croppings, consist of cellular brown limonite. They are 60 feet wide and 300 feet long on the surface a few 

feet west of a quartz monzonite porphyry dike.

Welcome Stranger tunnel. The Welcome Stranger tunnel (No, 

10, fig. 17) is about half a mile west of Ward on the north side of 

the canyon. The tunnel is about 500 feet long and trends N. 20° W. 

It starts 50 feet west of a 50-foot dike of quartz monzonite, which 

it cuts 200 feet from the mouth. The dike is altered and contains 

small cubes of pyrite and some galena. The limestone for 30 feet 

west of the dike is silicified and contains some disseminated pyrite 

and galena and also narrow bands of lime silicate rock with sulphides. 

The faulted contacts of the dike in several crosscuts expose gouge 

and crushed rock that contains sphalerite, pyrite, and galena. A 

number of east-west veins cutting both the limestone and porphyry 

carry sulphides and quartz.

AURUM DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Aurum district (No. 21, fig. 1, p. 18), as described'in this 

report, includes the north end of the Schell Creek Range, lying in 

Tps. 20, 21, and 22 N., Rs. 65 and 66 E., and comprises the Muncy 

Creek, Silver Canyon, Siegel Canyon, and Schellbourne subdistricts. 

(See PI. VI.) The Schell Creek Range is long and is relatively 

narrow in its northern portion. Spring Valley lies east of the mountains and Steptoe west of them. Both of these valleys have typical 

broad flat bottoms with several playa basins along their axes. The 

mines and prospects on the east side of the range were visited during 

the reconnaissance on which this report is based. Aurum post office, 

.at the mouth of Muncy Creek, in Spring Valley, is 42 miles by road
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 648 PLATE VI

LEGEND 

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.

SKETCH MAP OF THE AURUM DISTRICT, WHITE PINE COUNTY, NEV.
ATJBTJM DISTRICT. ' 187

southeast of Cherry Creek, its shipping and supply point. Schellbourne, on the west side of the mountains, in Steptoe Valley, is 18 

miles southwest of Cherry Creek. A triweekly mail service from 

Cherry Creek by way of Schellbourne gives easy access to this region. 

Of late years most of the ore shipped from the east side of the range 

has been hauled to Currie on the Nevada Northern Railway, about 

40 miles north of Cherry Creek. (See PI. I.) The road over the 

Schellbourne summit has very steep grades, particularly on the west 

side of the range. The road northward to Currie has easier grades 

throughout its length.

TOPOGRAPHY.

In the portion of the Schell Creek Range shown on Plate VI both 

the east and west slopes are rugged, but the eastern side rises more 

abruptly from the level floor of Spring Valley than does the western 

side from Steptoe Valley. Some of the northern part of the area 

shown is underlain by volcanic rocks, and here smooth gentle slopes 

prevail. The crest of the range is well above 9,000 feet, and the valleys on both sides are about 5,500 feet above sea level. A peculiar 

echelon series of indentations on the east front of the range seems 

to be due to faults which have moved the south blocks toward the

east.

GEOLOGY.

The northern part of the Schell Creek Range is composed of a 

very thick series of quartzites, limestones, and shale, with a prevailing western dip, that have been intruded by dikes and stocks of 

granite porphyry. The sedimentary rocks have been moved along 

eastward and northward trending faults, which are believed to be 

older than the intrusions, though this point was not definitely established. In the northern part of the area both the sedimentary 

rocks and the intrusives are buried beneath dull brownish and yellowish volcanic rocks which form a considerable group of mountains, extending northeast to the Kinsley and Kern ranges. (See 

PI. I.)

SEDIMENTARY HOCKS.

The oldest sedimentary rocks exposed along the east front of the 

range are dark-weathering dense quartzites that lie in beds 1 to 10 

feet in thickness. They are well exposed in the lower parts of 

Muncy and Silver creeks and along the ridge south of Siegel Canyon. They strike prevailingly north and dip west at medium angles. 

In Muncy Creek the quartzites are at least 2,000 feet thick, and east 

of the Siegel mine at least 4,000 feet. In most places they are overlain by dark gray-blue limestones in beds that are 1 to 2 feet thick 

at the bottom but that a little above become massive, with bedding
188 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

planes that are not easily recognized. At the Siegel mine dark shaly 

quartzites and limestones occupy a narrow zone between the true 

quartzites and the limestones. In most places, however, the change 

from siliceous sediments to calcareous deposits is very abrupt, with 

no intermediate beds of shaly or conglomeratic material. So far as 

known to the writer limestones form all of the summit of this part 

of the range and, with some calcareous shales, extend to the base of 

the foothills on the Steptoe Valley side.

No identifiable fossils were found by the writer in any of tho 

sedimentary rocks in the vicinity of the ore deposits. Gilbert 1 reports that " by the aid of some fossils collected * * * at Rulpyville and Schellbourne the conclusion is ventured that the base of 

the series, including the entire quartzite series and the lower portion 

of the limestone, may be set down as Lower Silurian, while the upper 

limestones are as recent as Devonian, and perhaps Carboniferous."

Spurr 2 found Cambrian fossils in some dark-blue limy shales on 

the west side of Schellbourne Pass and correlated the formations on 

the west side of the mountains with the Cambrian " Prospect Mountain" [Eldorado] limestone, Secret Canyon shale, and Hamburg 

limestone of the Eureka section. It is the writer's belief that the 

quartzites and limestones on the east front of the range are the 

equivalents of the Prospect Mountain quartzite and the Eldorado 

limestone, of Cambrian age of the Eureka district.

STRTJCTUKK.

From the east base to the summit of the range the sedimentary 

rocks have a prevailing strike of N. 10°-30° E. and a dip of 

10°-^:00 W. (average about 30°). So far as noted in this reconnaissance there is practically no folding of the sediments, which seem to 

have been tilted by an elevation of the beds along a fault that coincided approximately with the east front of the range. This was 

evidently the interpretation of Gilbert,3 who says: "This entire 

series (11,000 feet of quartzites and schists), together with the superimposed limestones, is tilted in one mass to the west." A portion of 

the fault is shown south of Old Aurum, separating the limestone of 

the east foothills from the quartzites forming the mountains immediately on the west. A second faulting apparently occurred after the 

westward tilting of the rocks. These faults trend approximately 

east, and the movement along them has carried the south blocks 

toward the east, giving to the east front of the range the echelon arrangement already noted. In this reconnaissance only the broadest,

1 Gilbert, G. K, Tbe geology of portions of Nevada, Utah, California, and Arizona: 

U. S. Geog. and Geol. Surveys W. 100th Mer. Kept., vol. 3, pp. 30-31, 1875.

2 Spurr, «T. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, p. 39, 1903.

3 Gilbert, G. K., op. cit., p. 31.
AUBUM DISTRICT. 189

most noticeable structural features were mapped, and on Plate VI 

the positions of only the larger faults are indicated. About a mile 

southeast of the Gold Crown mine, in Siegel Canyon, there are at 

least two minor eastward-trending faults, along which there has been 

some displacement. Some faulting is also suspected northwest of 

Aurum post office, though no conspicuous breaks are shown by the 

topography or geology.

It is thought that the intrusion of the granite porphyry occurred 

after faulting had occurred along both systems, but absolute confirmation of this supposition was not found. One granite dike west 

of Old Aurum in Silver Canyon appears to continue directly across 

an eastward-trending fault plane, along which there has been at least 

500 feet of displacement.

IGNEOUS BOCKS.

Intnwive rocks. Intrusive igneous rocks were noted in the vicinity 

of most of the mines. As a rule the intrusions take the form of 

dikes that in general strike parallel to the bedding of the sedimentary rocks but do not everywhere conform to their dip. (See PI. VI.) 

The largest body of intrusive rock noted is northwest of Aurum 

post office. Its southern end, a tongue about 1,200 feet wide, penetrates both quartzite and limestone. This rock is a light-gray granite 

porphyry carrying rounded quartz crystals and orthoclase, biotite, 

and some plagioclase as thickly studded phenocrysts in a microgranular groundmass that seems to be composed essentially of 

orthoclase and quartz. No fresh specimens of this rock were found, 

and the thin sections show a sericitization and calcitization of 

the feldspars. The border facies of this intrusive is a nearly black 

glassy rock with minute phenocrysts of quartz, orthoclase, and biotite. The small stock south of the Kansas property is composed of 

similar minerals, though quartz phenocrysts are not so conspicuous 

as in the larger mass. The small dikes in Silver Creek are granite 

porphyries. Some of them contain abundant rounded phenocrysts 

of quartz, but others are felclspathic, though the microscope shows 

that they are all quite siliceous.

All of the specimens of intrusive rock collected by the writer are 

altered, and it is not possible to determine the constituents of the 

fine-grained groundmass and the plagioclase feldspars. The alteration seems to be of the same type in all places, consisting of a change 

of the feldspars, particularly plagioclase, to sericite and calcite, and 

a bleaching of the ordinary dark-brown biotite to a light greenisli 

brown or to a mineral resembling muscovite. Calcite is developed in 

the groundmass and in the altered phenocrysts, but some calcite has 

evidently been added to the altered rocks.
190 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

The smaller dikes have apparently caused no contact metamorphism of the sedimentary rocks. The quartzites do not appear to 

have been altered even by the large stock near Muncy Creek; but the 

limestones in this vicinity, particularly those in the block between 

the large and small stocks near the Defiance mine 2£ miles northwest of Aurum post office, are altered to masses of yellow-brown 

garnet, with quartz, calcite, magnetite, and copper and iron sulphides. A little light-colored fibrous pyroxene is developed as radial 

growths in some of the rock but is not abundant.

Extrusive rocks. North of Siegel Canyon and extending west 

along the Schellbourne road to within one-fourth mile of the summit 

are thick flows of red, brown, purple, and yellow extrusive igneous 

rocks. Similar rocks cover a considerable area north and east of that 

shown on Plate VI, extending eastward to the Kern Mountains and 

north to the Kinsley district. (See PI. I.) Small isolated areas of 

volcanic rocks lie north of Schellbourne on the west side of the range 

and are said to cover a considerable area in the low hills on the east 

side of Step toe Valley, south of Schellbourne.

The volcanic rocks in the vicinity of Kinsley are brown, purple, 

and yellow andesites. Near Siegel Canyon most of the flows are andesitic, carrying phenocrysts of plagioclase, pyroxene, and biotite. In 

some places the rocks are silicified, so that the groundmass is largely 

quartz, and some of the plagioclase feldspars have quartz injected 

parallel to the albite twinning lamellae. Spurr 1 considered the extrusive rocks at Schellbourne Pass to be pyroxene aleutites. There are, 

so far as known, no metalliferous deposits in the extrusive rocks, and 

little attention was paid to their character and distribution during 

the present reconnaissance.

ORE DEPOSITS.

HISTORY AND PRODUCTION.

According to Raymond 2 the ore bodies on the west side of the 

Schell Creek Range in the vicinity of Queen Springs and Schellbourne were discovered in 1871, as were also the silver-bearing veins 

at Piermont on the east side of the range, 15 miles south of Muncy 

Creek. In these ores silver was the principal valuable constituent, 

occurring native and as chloride and combined with sulphur and 

antimony or arsenic. In 1872 Raymond 3 reported that the mines had 

not proved so good as was expected, as the ores were spotted in the 

veins, which as a rule were low grade.

1 Spurr, J. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, p. 44, 1903.

2 Raymond, R. W., Statistics of mines, and mining in the States and Territories west 

of the Rocky Mountains for 1871, pp. 200, 203, 1873.

3 Idem for 1872, p. 168, 1873.
AUEUM DISTRICT. 191

Most of the mines along Silver and Siegel creeks are said to have 

been located by Simon Davis in the early eighties. The Grand 

deposit and other properties in the foothills north of Muncy Creek 

were located by Mr. Noe at about the same time. At one time Aurum 

and Muncy were flourishing towns, and a 5-stamp mill, located at 

Aurum, was treating the silver-lead ores obtained from the mines 

near the head of Silver Creek. In 1913 a little ore was being taken 

from the Amargosa and Greco-American mines, development was 

under way at the Lucky Deposit and Queen of the Hills properties, 

and the ore dump of the Siegel mine was being shipped. So far as 

known there are no accurate figures of the early production of the 

mines in the north end of the Schell Creek Mountains. It seems 

probable, however, that the production has not been large. The 

Siegel and Lucky Deposit mines have produced more silver than any 

of the other properties.

Figures of production for 1902-1907, inclusive, collected by the 

United States Geological Survey, show a production of 74.74 ounces 

of gold and 245,367 ounces silver, having a total value of $127,163. 

No production was reported for 1908-1912 inclusive, but in 1913 

there was undoubtedly a small production of lead and silver from 

ores mined on the east side of the range.

OCCURKENCE AND CHARACTER OF THE ORES.

Practically all the ore bodies on the eastern side of the north 

end of the Schell Creek Kange are found in the limestones which 

overlie the quartzite. At the Signal mine in Silver Canyon the ores 

occur at the top of the quartzite series only a few feet from the 

overlying limestones. Most of the ore bodies are replacements of 

limestone along fractures which trend east. They are somewhat 

tabular lenses usually parallel to the fissures, but in some places lying 

along the bedding planes of the limestone. The replacement ore 

bodies so far developed carry silver and lead, and as most of them 

are not developed below the zone of oxidation the ore minerals are 

largely cerusite, though some smithsonite, anglesite, and residual 

galena are usually present. The Siegel mine has been developed 

below the oxidized zone, and the original ores consist of pyrite, 

galena, and arsenopyrite, which occur disseminated in the limestones adjacent to a strong east-west fault. The oxidized ore of 

this deposit is a soft black material containing principally manganese and iron but carrying silver and some lead.

Northwest of Aurum post office, in the southeastern part of the 

area shown on Plate VI, small ore bodies of contact-metamorphic 

origin carry copper, gold, and silver. Pyrite and chalcopyrite with 

their oxidation products are found directly at the surface of these
192 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

deposits, but none of the development has penetrated to sufficient 

depth to reach unaltered sulphide.

At the Signal mine in Silver Canyon pyrrhotite and some chalcopyrite have replaced the matrix of slightly calcareous quartzites and 

also a small dike of granite porphyry intrusive into both the 

quartzites and limestone.

So far as could be learned the oxidized lead ores all carry silver, 

but the ratio of silver to lead varies greatly, some ore carrying very 

low silver, and other ore, particularly that containing galena, running up to 1 ounce of silver to each unit of lead.

The surface ore of the Gold Crown, Siegel, and Lucky Deposit 

mines is a soft black manganese oxide which is reported to be the 

richest ore found in the region. From blowpipe and chemical tests 

it would seem that what silver this material carries must be largely 

in the form of chloride.

THE PROPERTIES. 

MUNCY CREEK.

Amargosa group. The Amargosa group of five claims is near the 

summit of an eastern spur of the Schell Creek Range, about 4 miles 

north west of Aurum post office. (See-PL VI.) In the vicinity beds 

of blue limestone 2T to 75 feet in thickness are the country rocks. 

They have a fetid smell, but no fossils were found in them. Bodies 

of ocherous sandy lead carbonate are opened by two inclines to a 

depth of 70 feet. A hard reddish-brown iron oxide that is found as a 

shell about the lead carbonate ores contains a little zinc carbonate as 

well as cerusite. A carload of sorted lead carbonate ore shipped in 

1913 is said to have carried 52 per cent lead and 6 ounces silver a 

ton. The bodies of ore are irregular and those so far developed are 

not large. They occur along a more or less open fissure that strikes 

east and dips 60° N".

Defiance prospect. The Defiance property about 2£ miles northwest of Aurum, on a low ridge between two small canyons, is 

developed by an inaccessible shaft and some open cuts along the ore 

zone. The country rock on this claim is a thin-bedded dark-blue 

limestone which strikes N. 30° E. and dips 10° NW. The beds are 

cuto by an eastward-trending fissure that dips 45° S., along which 

the irregular mineralization has occurred. Small masses of the rock 

have been altered to cellular iron oxide and dark greenish-brown 

garnet that carry copper carbonates and a little cerusite. The oxidized copper minerals are not abundant in this ore and usually surround grains of pyrite and chalcopyrite. Malachite and a soft red 

copper pitch ore are the most abundant minerals seen, though a 

little chrysocolla and azurite are present in places.
AUEUM DISTRICT. 193

Grand Deposit claims. The Grand Deposit property of five claims 

is in the lower part of a southeast-draining canyon cut along the 

east margin of a granite porphyry stock about 3 miles north-northwest of Aurum post office. (See PI. VI.) The development is 

through an incline shaft 150 feet deep that dips 60° SW., with short 

drifts at 60, 100, and 150 feet. These workings are in a zone of 

intensely crushed iron-stained limestone that contains some pockets 

of lead and copper carbonates. This zone is about 120 feet wide at 

the lowest level, at least 50 feet wide at the 100-foot, and 30 feet 

wide at the 60-foot. On the upper level a 2-foot streak of hard lead 

carbonate near the east side of the ore zone grades into unaltered 

limestone. At the surface the west side of the cropping is granite 

porphyry, but as exposed underground the west limit of the ore is 

a fracture that strikes N. 50° W. and dips 75° SW.

Kansas claims. The three Kansas claims are south of the Defiance 

prospect (see PI. VI), near the north contact of a small body of 

granite porphyry. All of the ores occur in the limestones, which in 

this vicinity are broken by a number of westward and northward 

trending fissures. The development work consists of a number of 

shallow shafts and open cuts on pockets of iron oxide and copper 

carbonate minerals that are in places associated with brown garnet, 

epidote, and calcite. A small amount of pyrite and chalcopyrite 

surrounded by nearly black copper pitch ore is found with contactmetamorphic minerals in several pits. The largest pocket noted 

was 15 to 20 feet wide and about 200 feet long.

SILVER CANYON.

Greco-American group. The Silver group of 8 claims, owned by 

the Greco-American Co., of Ely, Nev., is in the head of Silver Canyon about 2 miles west-southwest of the old deserted town of Aurum. 

(See PI. VI.) On the east side of the head of the canyon the main 

development is a 100-foot incline, which dips 25° N. 35° E., from 

the bottom of which a narrow irregular" drift runs eastward for at 

least 100 feet along a fissure that dips 70° SE., cutting light-colored 

crystalline limestones that strike N. 40° E. and dip 50° W. Small, 

very irregular replacement deposits lie along the fissure, in some 

places parallel to it and in others forming along bedding planes of 

the limestone. These ore bodies consist of reddish-brown iron oxide 

with a large amount of nearly white argentiferous lead carbonate. 

Some of them contain soft black manganese oxide, though this mineral does not seem to be generally present in the ore. The ore is 

all hand sorted on the dump and sacked for shipment.

On the west side of the head of Silver Canyon there are some 

abandoned tunnels on eastward-trending fissures in limestones. The 

- 42680° Bull. 648 16 13
194 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

dumps indicate th&t the ores were very similar to those at the GrecoAmerican mine.

Lucky Deposit mine. The Lucky Deposit mine is south of the 

mouth of Silver Creek, about one-half mile from the old town of 

Aurum (see PI. VI), on a low hill of dark blue-gray limestone that 

is separated from the quartzite immediately west by a fault that 

seems to dip steeply east. The limestone beds near the fault dip 10° 

W. but east of the mine dip 10° E. They are intersected by numerous open fissures that strike about parallel to the main fault and 

stand vertical or dip steeply east. Two irregular tunnels which attain a maximum depth of 50 feet constitute the development. They 

show several lenses of ocherous ore containing hydrous iron oxide 

and lead carbonate that is said to carry from 40 to 60 ounces silver 

a ton. Some small bodies of soft brownish-black material in this 

ore contain manganese and iron oxides that are said to be high-grade 

silver ore, carrying as much as 200 ounces a ton. The lenses are 

found both parallel to the bedding and to the fissures, but are most 

often near the fissures. They vary from 1 to 2 feet in diameter and 

are connected by narrow fissures that contain a little ore.

Signal mine. The Signal mine is on the cliffs about 150 feet above 

and south of Silver Canyon, a mile west of Old Aurum. It is on a 

strong eastward-trending fault, along which there has been considerable displacement of the beds. (See PL V.I.) The main ore body 

is at the top of the quartzite series in beds of somewhat calcareous 

sandy quartzites that lie below the true. limestones. A dike of 

granite porphyry lies 150 feet east of the ore body, and a large mass 

of similar rock was seen in the limestone about one-fourth mile 

south-southwest of the mine. The ore body is developed by two 

short parallel tunnels 50 feet apart that run west along the main 

fault and by a 30-foot shaft near their mouths. The propping of the 

ore body is fractured quartzite, deeply iron stained, that shows some 

copper silicates and carbonates. The ore at the bottom of the shaft 

is not much oxidized. It consists of quartzite and some small dikelets 

of granite porphyry impregnated with bronze-colored pyrrhotite 

and minor amounts of chalcopyrite. In thin sections the sulphides 

are seen to be intergrown and to occur largely as replacements of 

the calcareous material in the quartzite, though some pyrrhotite 

apparently replaces the quartz grains. The larger masses of sulphide 

are associated with a yellowish-brown chloritic mineral and with 

sericite. This ore is said to carry both gold and copper.

SIEGEL CANYON.

Gold Crown mine. The Gold Crown mine is in the upper part of 

Siegel Canyon, about 4 miles southeast of Schellbourne. (See PI. 

VI.) It was relocated in 1913 as the Silver Leaf. The thin-bedded
AUEUM DISTRICT. 195

dark-blue limestones at the mine strike N. 10°-15° "W. and dip 40° 

W. They are cut by a vertical fissure striking N. 40° W., east of 

which the ore bodies occurred. None of the old tunnels could be 

entered, but exposures in some open cuts indicate that the ore 

occurred as thin lenses parallel to the bedding of the limestone. No 

ore mineral except soft brownish manganese oxide was found on the 

dump, and the limestone near the lenses is changed to a black, 

coarsely crystalline carbonate containing manganese and iron. It 

is said that the silver occurred with the black or brown manganese 

oxide and that there was very little lead in the ore.

May Queen group. The May Queen group of eight claims, formerly called the Burke property, is on the summit of the Schell Creek 

Eange about 3| miles southeast of Schellbourne. In 1913 .this property was under option to H. L. Siegel and F. Falkner, who were 

doing some development on the main body. The country rock is a 

blue, somewhat dolomitic limestone in beds 1. to 2 feet thick, which 

strike N. 10° W. and dip 40° to 50° W. A very much altered feldspathic porphyry dike, seen in indistinct croppings northwest of the 

ore body, seems to trend northeast and to be 15 to 20 feet wide. The 

ore body occurs along a fissure that strikes N. 5°-10° W. and dips 

80° W. The croppings are 60 feet long and 10 to 15 feet wide 

and consist of limonite and small amounts of argentiferous cerusite. 

At a depth of 80 feet residual nodules of galena surrounded by 

crusts of anglesite and cerusite began to be found in the ore. These 

nodules are said to assay about 80 per cent lead and 80 ounces silver 

a ton.

Siegel mine. The Siegel mine is- about a mile south of Siegel 

Canyon, in the N. -J sec. 2, T. 21 N., R. 65 E., 6 miles southeast of 

Schellbourne. (See PL VI.) The upper workings are in massive 

bedded limestones that dip 56° NW. The lower tunnel starts in 

thin-bedded dark-colored lime shales, which overlie the massive 

dark-colored quartzite that forms all of the ridge east of the mine. 

The upper workings consist of a crosscut tunnel which trends S. 

10° E. for 100 feet to a fault that strikes S. 61° E. and dips 65° N., 

along which drifts extend at least 350 feet east and 100 feet west. 

An incline winze, evidently connecting with the lower tunnel, starts 

300 feet east of the crosscut. The lower tunnel starts 350 feet below 

and about 900 feet north of the upper workings and runs S. 10° W.

The ore in the upper tunnel is black and for the most part rather 

soft, though some masses of it are hard. It consists essentially of 

manganese oxides, with some iron oxide and a carbonate that appears 

to be manganiferous siderite. It is said to carry 40 to 60 ounces 

silver and 3 per cent lead a ton. Chemical tests indicate that the 

silver is carried as a chloride.
196 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

Sulphide ore found on the dump of the upper tunnel is similar 

to material on the lower dump, consisting of finely disseminated 

pyrite, a little of which is arsenical, and galena, in limestone, shale, 

and quartzite. A little rhodochrosite is present with calcite in this 

class of ore, which is said to carry about 10 per cent lead and 10 

to 20 ounces silver a ton.

WEST SIDE OF THE KANGE.

None of the mines on the west side of the Schell Creek Range 

were being worked in 1913, and as it was said that most of the old 

developments could not be entered, the properties at Ruby ville, about 

4 miles south of Schellbourne, were not visited.

The El Capitan mine at Rubyville is said to be in a 20-foot ledge 

of white quartz that strikes north and dips west, cutting limestone 

and shale. The quartz is said to carry argentite with some silver 

chloride and copper carbonate and to be much like the ore found at 

the Teacup vein at Cherry Creek.

About three-fourths mile east of Schellbourne an abandoned 200- 

foot tunnel trends S. 70° E. into faulted limestone. No ore was seen 

in the tunnel, but it is reported that some, small pockets of argentiferous cerusite were found at this property.

DUCK CREEK DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Duck Creek mining district (No. 24, fig. 1) covers a low ridge 

west of the main Schell Creek Range, from which it is separated by 

Duck Creek, which enters Steptoe Valley about 6 miles north of the 

smelter town of McGill. (See PI. I.) Most of the mining properties of the district are on the west side and on the summit, at the 

northern.end of the ridge within 3 miles of McGill, the shipping 

point. The Success mine is on the divide at the head of Duck Creek, 

nearly due east of Ely and 18 miles by road from the railroad.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The Schell Creek Range east of McGill splits into two parallel 

ridges. The higher main mountains lie east of the north-draining 

valley of Duck Creek and attain an elevation of at least 9,500 feet 

above sea level. The west ridge, sometimes called the Duck Creek 

Ridge, is narrow and has a comparatively level summit at an average 

elevation of 8,200 feet. Its entire west front rises abruptly from 

Steptoe Valley in steep slopes and cliffs. Duck Creek heads near 

the Success mine, flows due north for about 16 miles, then turns 

abruptly west and cuts through Duck Creek Ridge in a narrow, deep 

canyon about a mile long. All the larger canyons entering Duck 

Valley head in the Schell Creek Range to the east.
DUCK CREEK DISTRICT. 197 

GEOLOGY.

The Duck Creek Ridge is composed of a series of thick-bedded 

blue-gray, somewhat crystalline limestones, which dip west at medium 

to low angles. Near the west base of the hills the limestones are overlain by about 300 feet of thin-bedded dark shales, succeeded by thinbedded dark limestones. Duck Valley is apparently cut from shales 

which overlie the westward-dipping quartzites and limestones that 

form the main Schell Creek Range. It is thought that the rocks of 

the Schell Creek Range are of Cambrian age and that the limestones 

of the Duck Creek Ridge may be Ordovician and equivalent to the 

Ordovician Pogonip limestone of Eureka, Nev. No identifiable fossils were discovered during this reconnaissance and the correlation is 

tentative, but it is concurred in by A. C. Spencer,1 who paid a hasty 

visit to this vicinity in connection with his studies of the Ely district. 

Dense white quartzite that Spurr thought to be the Ordovician 

Eureka quartzite appears to overlie the supposed Pogonip limestone 

in the hills about 6 miles south of McGill.2 It should be understood, 

however, that there has been considerable faulting in this part of the 

Schell Creek Range and that it will require detailed geologic work 

to unravel the stratigraphic and geologic problems.

Igneous rocks appear to be scarce in the northern part of the Duck 

Creek Ridge. Southeast of the Gallagher ranch, at the mouth of 

Duck Creek canyon, a small butte composed of a granular igneous 

rock that is probably a granite rises from the alluvial gravels of 

Steptoe Valley. A thin flow of rhyolite caps the butte and extends 

onto the limestones of the hills to the east. On the Ely Gibraltar 

ground, which lies on the west side of Duck Creek Ridge 3 miles 

north of McGill, two narrow dikes strike, the one about east and 

the other northeast. The rocks are too much altered for identification but are thought to be granite porphyries from the few quartz 

phenocrysts that they contain and from the abundance of orthoclase 

and quartz in the fine-grained groundmass. The rocks are sericitized and are cut by many veinlets of calcite.

ORE DEPOSITS. 

NATURE OF THE ORES.

So far as could be learned the ore bodies of this region have not 

been known for many years, and probably most of the prospects 

have been opened within the last 10 years. The Success ore body was 

discovered in 1907. It is not possible to give the production of the 

district, as the published figures evidently include the output of 

mines in the Steptoe or Granite district in the Egan Range.

1 Oral communication.

" Spun-, J.'E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, p. 40, 1903.
198 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

The ore deposits of this region are of the replacement type, occurring along fissures parallel to the bedding of the inclosing limestone. 

The mineralization is similar everywhere in the district. The most 

valuable constituent is lead, which occurs as galena even at the surface, 

though both cerusite and anglesite are abundant in the ores so far 

mined. In some prospects copper carbonates occur but are subordinate to the lead ores. The sorted lead ores carry a small quantity 

of silver, usually less than 5 ounces to the ton.

THE PROPERTIES.

Success mine. The Success mine is on the divide at the south end 

of Duck Valley. The workings are in dark blue-gray crystalline 

limestones that seem to underlie white quartzite and to overlie thinbedded limestones. About one-half mile east of the mine cliffs of 

the quartzite are apparently faulted into their present .position. At 

the mine the formations strike N. 35° E. and dip 40° SW., but a short 

distance to the north similar beds lie horizontal. The mine has not 

been working since 1910 and access underground could not be gained 

at the time of visit. The following notes-include information supplied by D. C. McDonald, of Ely, who discovered the ore body.

The ore body is developed by an incline that dips east and is 325 

feet long, with levels at 110 and 200 feet and some sublevel work. 

The ore body is 8 to 20 feet wide on the 100-foot level, dips east, and 

pitches north. The ore seems to occur as bedded replacement of 

limestone above some thin shaly argillaceous beds. The ore is all of 

the oxidized type, consisting mostly of sand carbonate, though 

carrying some massive hard cerusite ore. It is iron stained and contains barite in some specimens seen by the writer on the shaft dump. 

No sulphides were noted in the ore bins and Mr. McDonald said that 

none had been found in the workings. The sorted ore is said to 

average 65 per cent lead, 40 ounces silver, and $10 gold a ton. The 

ore body has been faulted, and the shaft below the 110-foot level is in 

limestone to the 200-foot level, which is in shale. The property consists of 22 patented claims, and several ore bodies of similar character 

are reported to occur at other places on the ground.

Ely Gibraltar claims. The Ely Gibraltar Mining Co. owns a 

group of 18 claims covering the west slope and summit of Duck 

Creek Ridge, about 3 miles north of McGill. The principal development work is a crosscut tunnel, which starts at the edge of Steptoe 

Valley on the Front claim, trends S. 53° E., and was approximately 

900 feet long in October, 1913. Throughout most of the tunnel the 

massive crystalline limestones, which strike N. 10° E. and dip 

50°-70° W., show little disturbance and no mineralization. Near 

the face of the tunnel a belt of gray crystalline limestone about 50
DUCK CREEK DISTRICT. 199

feet wide contains a little galena associated with masses of white 

calcite crystals, some individuals of which are 2 inches across. The 

belt lies above a slip that strikes N. 35° W. and dips 40° NE. A 

narrow eastward-trending dike 150 feet north v of the tunnel is exposed in several cuts.

A few carloads of lead ore have been shipped from an open cut, 

about one-fourth mile southeast of the mouth of the tunnel. The ore, 

which is galena surrounded by some anglesite and cerusite, occurs as 

bedded replacements along a closely spaced series of fissures that 

strike N. 10°-15° W. and dip 35° E. A few small bodies of copper 

pitch and copper carbonate ore are associated with the lead minerals 

directly at the surface, and the presence of zinc is shown by blowpipe 

tests. This may be the cropping of the body of altered rock exposed 

at the face of the tunnel, as the ore minerals are similar and large 

crystals of white calcite are prevalent in both places.

In a second zone of slightly iron stained and coarsely crystalline 

croppings 150 feet east of the open cut just described, a small amount 

of zinc carbonate accompanies the lead minerals. Four hundred feet 

east of the main open cut a 10-foot dike of much-altered intrusive 

rock strikes N. 51° E. and dips 75° SE. Movement has produced 

gouge on both walls. A 4 to 6 inch streak of quartz on the footwall 

side is said to carry about $1.50 gold a ton.

Lead King claims. The Lead King claims, 14 in number, are on 

the summit of Duck Creek Ridge, 3 miles east-northeast of Ely, at an 

elevation of approximately 8,100 feet. Several shallow shafts and 

prospect pits have been sunk on small bodies of partly oxidized lead 

ore in the northern part of the ground. The ores occur in lenses parallel to the bedding of limestone which strikes north and dips 45°-50° 

W. The main work is a tunnel about 500 feet long running southward near the crest of the hill at the south end of the group. A 

fissure that trends N. 50° E. and dips 60° S. is cut by the tunnel 415 

feet from the mouth. Galena and some lead sulphate and carbonate 

are found in the crushed limestone near the fissure and in irregular 

bedded replacements near it. The sorted ore is said to average 69 

to 72 per cent lead and 3 ounces silver a ton in carload lots.

Mayflower group. A tunnel on the Mayflower group near the 

mouth of a canyon directly east of the concentrating plant at McGill trends south and was 1,195 feet long. It follows what appears 

to be a strike fault in limestones that dip steeply west. Two cross 

faults which strike N. 70° W. and dip steeply to the south have been 

followed by short drifts. No ore was noted in the tunnel and none 

was seen on the dump. An oxidized body of ore on the summit of 

the hill 1,000 feet above the tunnel level is thought to lie along one of 

the cross faults cut by this tunnel.
200 NOTES ON MINING DISTKICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

TAYLOR DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND HISTORICAL DATA.

The Taylor district (No. 28, fig. 1) includes two mining properties 

which lie close together in the low foothills on the west side of the 

Schell Creek Kange about 16 miles south-southeast of Ely. The 

mines are about 2 miles east of the stage road from Ely to Osceola 

(see PL I) and are easy of access, both by wagon and automobile. 

A good-sized town was built in a little canyon south of the mines 

in the period of greatest activity (1872-1878), but it has been long 

abandoned. Whitehill 1 reports that the ores carrying galena and 

copper were discovered in July, 1872, by Messrs.* Taylor and Platt, 

and Kaymond 2 says that the Taylor mine was bought in 1875 by 

the Martin White Co., of Ward, for $14,000. It .is said that the 

total production from the two mines in this district is about 1,000,000 

ounces of silver.

w. E.

Argus

incline

MONITOR SHAFT

Limestone Alaskite porphyry dike Ore Tone Highly altered 

feldspathic dike

500 500 1,000 FEET

FIGURE 18. Generalized cross section of the Monitor and Argus claims, Taylor dfstrict,

White Pine County, Nev.

In 1913 the Argus Mining Co. was prospecting the old Taylor 

deposit with churn drills. According to this company the ore from 

the lower body will average $16 a ton, mostly silver but including 60 cents to $r.20 gold. It is the intention of the company to 

prospect this ground fully and possibly to install a cyanide plant.3

GEOLOGY.

In the vicinity of the mines outcropping limestones of undetermined though possibly Ordovician age dip east at low angles. They 

have suffered a large amount of faulting along a series of northwardtrending eastward-dipping planes (see fig. 18), movement along

1 Whitehill, H. R., Nevada State Mineralogist Fifth Biennial Rept., for 1873-74, p. 77, 

1875.

2 Raymond, R. W., Statistics of mines and mining in the States and Territories west 

of the Rocky Mountains for 1875, p. 194, 1877.

3 Eng. and Min. Jour., vol. 96, p. 952, 1913.
TAYLOR DISTRICT. 201

which seems to have been normal and to have taken place at least in 

part after the formation of the ores.

A narrow, fine-grained granite porphyry dike, poorly exposed in 

the eastern part of the Monitor ground, consists of dense white rock 

carrying small hexagonal quartz phenocrysts about one-sixteenth inch 

in diameter and a few highly altered phenocrysts that appear to 

have been orthoclase. The groundmass is a, microgranular aggregate 

of quartz and orthoclase. A second dike about 1,000 feet east of 

the Argus workings is a soft, iron-stained, highly altered rock, 

whose original character can not be determined, though it seems to 

have been a feldspathic rock with considerable quartz.

ORE DEPOSITS.

The Monitor and Argus ore bodies are presumably faulted segments of a once continuous ore body that dips east at low angles 

parallel to the dip of the sedimentary rocks. (See fig. 18.) The 

greater part of the Monitor workings were not accessible at the time 

of visit and it is not known whether any minor faults occur in that 

body or what the relation of the alaskite porphyry dike is to the 

ore body. The ore body in the Argus workings lies in a bed of 

brownish-gray limestone about TO feet thick below a 15 to 20 foot 

bed of fine-grained black limestone. The limestone of the ore bed is 

somewhat brecciated and has been completely silicified along some 

roughly parallel bands that lie about midway of the upper and 

lower halves of its width. These siliceous bands, constituting what is 

said to be the better grade of ore, carrying $TO to $80 per ton, are 

porous and are lightly stained with copper and lead carbonates. 

Microscopic examination shows that some dark-gray metallic mineral 

accompanied the silicification and chemical tests show that this contains iron, copper, and small amounts of arsenic, silver, and lead. 

On both sides of these bands of high-grade ore silicification and 

mineralization have penetrated the limestone for varying distances 

and have formed a low-grade ore said to carry $6 to $10 a ton in 

silver and gold. This low-grade ore is cut by innumerable calcite 

veinlets, along which small areas of chrysocolla and cerusite stain 

are here and there apparent The ore zone therefore varies from 

40 to TO feet wide with from 4 to 10 feet of barren limestone near the 

center. In the early days only the two richer streaks appear to have 

been mined, and the flat stopes on them vary from 3 feet to 6 feet in 

height. The east dipping ore body has been broken by three normal 

faults with north strike and steep east dip. The segments east of 

the faults are dropped 16 feet to 20 feet. Along the fault planes 

there are some large stopes, one of which, at least 100 by 50 feet in 

cross section and 60 feet high, must have yielded fairly high grade 

ore to have been mined in the early eighties, when production costs
202 NOTES ON MIKING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA^

were higher than at present. Some postmineralization movement 

has occurred along the faults, but it is thought that the greatest 

movement occurred prior to the mineralization.

A specimen of sulphide ore found near the west side of the Monitor ground in some open cavelike stopes near the upper part of the 

ore zone consists of dense black limestone cut by veinlets of white 

calcite that carry galena, yellowish-brown sphalerite, and a lightgray mineral composed of copper, arsenic, sulphur, and some silver. 

The three minerals seem to be intergrown, but it is possible that the 

argentiferous copper arsenide may be a product of enrichment. A 

small quantity of oxidized ore on the dump of the Monitor shaft 

carries malachite and cerusite that is shown by chemical tests to be 

silver-bearing. It is said that the richest ores mined in the early 

days contained gray copper (presumably enargite), but whether the 

richness was original in the deposit or was due to enrichment was 

not demonstrated by the examination of the properties.

KERN (EAGLE) DISTRICT: 

LOCATION AND ACCESSIBILITY.

The Kern district (No. 27, fig. 1) includes a large indefinite area 

in the northeastern part of White Pine County, comprising all of 

the Kern Mountains and the eastern part of the Antelope Hills. (See 

PI. I.) The Kern Mountains are a part of the general uplift of the 

Snake Range in southeastern White Pine County and of the Toano 

Range in Elko County. The few prospects in these mountains are 

widely scattered. Those at the head of Deep Creek are most easily 

accessible from Wendover, Utah, a town on the Western Pacific 

Railway, about 115 miles to the north. Others on the west and 

south sides of the mountains are tributary to Cherry Creek on the 

Nevada Northern Railway but are also accessible by a practically 

level road that extends north along Antelope 'Valley to Dolly Varden 

siding, about 20 miles north of Currie. Biweekly mail service from 

Cherry Creek to Tippett station, in Antelope Valley, is maintained 

by way of Schellbourne and Aurum, a total distance of 66 miles.

GEOLOGY.

During the reconnaissance on which this report is based the southwestern part of the Kern Mountains and the eastern part of the 

Antelope Hills were visited. The main mass of the Kern Mountains 

is apparently composed of a fine-grained light-colored muscovite 

granite that intrudes dark limestones and shales in the southwestern 

part of the mountains.
KERN (EAGLE) DISTRICT. 203

SEDIMENTARY KOCKS.

On the western and southwestern flanks of Kern Mountains the 

foothills and lower spurs of the main mountains are formed of dark, 

thin-bedded crystalline limestones, with some interstratified shales 

which dip steeply southwest or west. No fossils were found during 

the reconnaissance, so the age of the rocks is not known, but they are 

thought to be very old. /

Ho well* noted 200 to 400 feet of quartzites overlying the granite 

at the head of Deep Creek and underlying shale and 3,000 to 5,000 

feet of bluish-gray limestone at Pleasant.Valley, both localities being 

on the east side of the range. He also found Carboniferous fossils 

at Uiyabi Pass.

Spurr 2 considers this series of quartzite, shale, and limestone to 

be of Cambrian age, similar to the rocks near Wheeler Peak, in. which 

Cambrian fossils have been found.

IGNEOUS KOCKS.

The granite which seems to form all the central part of the Kern 

Mountains is a light-colored fine-grained rock which weathers in 

rounded forms and is clearly distinguishable from the dark sedimentary rocks on the west and southwest flanks.

Concerning the Kern Mountains, Spurr 3 says:

Upon the north side of the Kern Mountains granite is found in contact with 

the schistose Cambrian quartzites and also with the overlying metamorphic 

limestones. The central portion of the Kern Mountains is made up of this 

granite, with the Cambrian rocks on the flanks. A specimen examined microscopically proved .to be a biotite-muscovite granite, approaching alaskite. On 

the borders of the granitic mass are found siliceous granitic dikes which cut 

the Cambrian quartzite schists. At one locality, which is on the southwest 

side of Pleasant Valley and near the State line, is found a broad belt of confused alaskite dikes showing a tendency to change into muscovite-biotite granite 

on the one hand and into larger quartz veins on the other.

Spurr believed that the granite is Archean, notwithstanding the 

fact that numerous dikes of it appear in the overlying Cambrian 

sediments.

At the south end of the mountains the granite has an even grain, 

and few of the minerals which compose it have crystal outlines, 

though in some places mica plates are fairly well developed. Orthoclase and microcline are about equally abundant and the same is true 

of quartz and feldspar. Muscovite in small plates is more abundant 

than biotite. In Water Canyon the granite for about T5 feet north

1 FTowell, E. E., U. S. Geog. and Geol. Surveys W. 100th Mer. Rept,, vol. 3, pp. 241-242, 

1875.

" Spurr, J. E., Descriptive geology of Nevada south of the fortieth parallel and adjacent 

portions of California : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 208, pp. 28-29, 1903.

3 Idem, pp. 26-29.
204 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

of the contact has a marked schistosity parallel to the contact. The 

granite breaks into thin slabs along planes in which the muscovite 

flakes are oriented, and the quartz and feldspar crystals are crushed. 

Schistosity along the edge of the granite seems to be developed at all 

places. In Water Canyon on the southwest side of the mountains the 

normally fine-grained rock-grades into either a porphyritic muscovite 

granite in which orthoclase phenocrysts 2 inches in maximum length 

are set in a fine-grained groundmass of microcline, orthoclase, quartz, 

and muscovite, or into a coarse pegmatite of large crystals of all the 

constituent minerals.

This granite is clearly intrusive into the sedimentary rocks which 

form the low fringing hills' at the southwest side of the mountains. 

The contact is regular on the whole, but numerous dikes run parallel 

to the bedding of the sediments near the true contact. Most of these 

dikes are fine grained, though some are pegmatitic rocks and one 

shows what appears to be a gradation from granite pegmatite into a 

quartz vein.

The contact between the igneous rock and the sedimentary rocks 

on the south and west sides of Kern Mountains is everywhere clearly 

distinguishable from a distance, for the intrusive rock is light colored and weathers into rounded forms, and the limestones are dark 

and tend to weather into crags and sharp pinnacles. The contact is 

marked by saddles on the spurs and by gullies on both sides of the 

major canyons that cut across the contact. Along the west face of 

Kern Mountains, near Glenco Spring, the contact seems to strike a 

few degrees east of north and to dip very steeply west. In Water 

Canyon, at the southwest corner of the mountains, the contact strikes 

N. 70° W. and dips 80° S. In the first canyon east of Water Canyon it strikes N. 45° W. and is vertical. The granite is schistose 

for 100 feet northeast of the contact, and the limestones are crystalline and have a platy fracture for 200 feet south of it. About half a 

mile south of the contact the thin-bedded dark-gray limestones dip 

about 45° SW. and are cut by fractures that strike parallel to the 

contact.

ORE DEPOSITS.

HISTORY.

According to the district records, kept at Tippett post office, the 

Kern district was organized May 7, 1869, by Messrs. H. T. Fitzhugh, 

John Eyre, J. Alnathan Smith, E. S. Smith, G. W. Chase, T. A. 

Stoutenberg, and B. B. Bird. The district as first organized included 10 square miles about Sentinal Peak, which stands near the 

head of Sentinel Canyon, about 12 miles from Antelope station, on 

the Overland Stage Eoute. On May 2, 1870, the boundaries of the 

district were changed to include all of the Kern Mountains south of
KERN (EAGLE) DISTRICT. 205

old Fort Filmore. At a miners' meeting held July 4, 1872, the district was enlarged to include the eastern part of the Antelope Hills, 

where the Red Hills mine is located, and the name was changed to 

Eagle. Most of the claims in the Deep Creek and Pleasant Valley 

country were located in the early days, and the Well Annie, or 

Glenco, property was worked in the early eighties. There are no 

records of production from any of the properties.

CHARACTER OF ORE BODIES.

In the granite core of the Kern Mountains there are quartz veins, 

some of which, in the southeastern part of the mountains, carry 

hiibnerite, and others, as at Glenco Springs, carry gold and silver 

associated with enargite,' galena, and sphalerite. In a few places 

small deposits of oxidized lead and copper ores have been found in 

the sedimentary rocks that surround the intrusive core. None of 

the deposits have been extensively worked in recent years.

THE PROPERTIES.

Glenco property. The Glenco group, formerly the Well Annie, 

consists-of 14 claims near Glenco Springs, on the west side of the 

Kern Mountains, about 7 miles east-southeast of Tippett post office. 

(See PI. I.) The property has not been worked for many years and 

was not visited, as it was said that the 100-foot tunnel and 70-foot 

winze on the main vein were under water. The contact of granite 

and limestone runs a little east of north in this part of the Kern 

Mountains. The vertical vein is said to trend northeast, lying entirely in granite some distance east of the contact, and to be 6 to 8 

feet in width. Some ore, said to be from the vein at Tippett, is a 

white quartz carrying galena, sphalerite, and enargite that is said 

to carry $8 in gold and varying amounts of silver. Some ironstained cerusite ore, seen at Tippett, is said to come from undeveloped 

prospects on the group that lies in the limestone west of the granite.

Red^Hills mine. The Red Hills mine, at the east end of the Antelope Hills, about 15 miles south-southeast of Tippett post office, was 

worked in 1912 but was idle at the time of visit in 1913. In this 

vicinity outcropping light-colored reddish-weathering crystalline 

limestones strike north and dip 30° W. On the west side of the hill 

a rather thick bed of white calcareous sandstone, which outcrops 

near the top of the hill, just west of the Red Hills mine, is overlain 

by light and dark colored, somewhat cherty limestones in beds 1 to 

2 feet thick. No fossils were found in the limestones and their age 

is not known.

The Red Hills mine is developed by an open cut 40 feet long and 

20 feet deep at its face; by an inclined winze, apparently about 70
206 NOTES ON MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA.

feet deep, 50 feet north of the open cut; and by a 50-foot crosscut 

tunnel, from whose face a winze is sunk to a reported depth of 200 

feet. The winzes could not be entered, for the ladder had been removed when work was stopped. The workings are all in a 20-foot 

zone of brecciated limestone that strikes N. 10° E. and dips 55°-TO° 

[W. and that has been somewhat mineralized near the west wall. At 

the surface small bodies of iron-stained sandy lead carbonate have 

been partly removed, but the ore on the dump of the tunnel, presumably taken from the deep winze, is a hard gray lead carbonate.

At the base of the hill about one-fourth mile to the east a 200-foot 

tunnel is driven S. 80° W. on a fracture that dips 75° S. Near the 

mouth of the tunnel a small body of brownish sandy material contains some lead carbonate.

Began tungsten prospects. The Regan tungsten prospects are on 

the southeast side of the Kern Mountains south of the head of 

Pleasant Valley, 3^ miles north-northeast of Mike Spring and about 6 

miles from the Utah line. The mines were visited in October, 1914. 

The veins were discovered in 1910 by C. G. Simms and Casten 

Olsen and were optioned to 0. A. Turner, who was at that time 

working the tungsten properties near Osceola.1 At present they are 

held by Messrs. Simms ancl Olsen.

The veins, which include nine 2 to 15 feet wide and numerous 

smaller ones, outcrop over an area approximately a mile wide and 2 

miles long on the strike of the veins, which averages N. 20° E. The 

country rock is a coarse-grained muscovite-biotite granite approaching pegmatite, which is intruded by a series of east-west biotite porphyry (kersantite) dikes and by a few porphyritic biotite granite 

dikes. The dikes were formed before the veins, for both types are 

squarely cut by'the quartz. The granite is cut by a closely spaced 

system of joints that strikes approximately N. 20° E. and dips 50° 

E. The hiibnerite-quartz veins are parallel to this jointing, which 

appears to have determined the position of the veins. The largest 

vein is developed to a maximum depth of 60 feet by a 200-foot funnel 

and by several shafts. In some places it is frozen to the walls, but 

in most places postmineral movement has crushed the vein filling 

and produced some gouge on both foot and hanging walls. The 

granite for a short distance on both sides of the vein is softened by 

sericitization of the feldspars, and small cubes of pyrite are distributed throughout the altered rock.

The vein filling is largely white quartz in which the metallic minerals are irregularly distributed, usually in small bunches or pockets. The light-brownish hiibnerite is the most abundant metallic 

mineral, but galena, sphalerite, and a small amount of bismuthinite

1 U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources, 1910, pt. 1, p. 739, 1911.
KEEN" (EAGLE) DISTRICT. 207

are present here and there in the veins. In vugs in the main vein 

needle crystals of htibnerite, cubes of purplish fluorite up to one-half 

inch on a side, and crystals of triplite have been found. Triplite is 

rare, but the fluorite and needles of hiibnerite are more abundant.

Except for the presence of the rarer minerals the vein material 

resembles some phases of the pegmatitic dikes that grade into quartz 

veins near Water Canyon, and it is believed that the veins, though 

of the true fissure type, are the end products of the pegmatitic 

intrusions.

It is said that the disintegrated granite wash which covers the 

floor of the valley in which the prospects are situated, contains sufficient hiibnerite to wash if enough water were available.

Other prospects. On the east side of the Kern Mountains in the 

head of Pleasant Valley some lead-silver and copper-silver deposits 

are said to occur in blue limestone near the granite contact. These 

properties were discovered in the early days of the carnp but have 

received little attention, apparently on account of the distance from 

railways.

In Water Canyon, at the southwest side of the mountains, about 

12 miles southeast of Tippett post office, lenses of quartz parallel to 

the bedding of thin dark-blue limestones near the granite contact 

have been somewhat developed. A large part of the quartz on the 

three dumps is barren or contains a little hematite. Some specimens 

have thin yellow coatings of lead carbonate and one piece of quartz 

carried a speck of galena.

INDEX.

A.

Page.

Acknowledgments to those aiding_ 17 

Ajax claims, description of 101-102 

A. J. C. claims, description of__ 109, 111 

Alaskite porphyry, description of_ 147 

Alvin mine, description of _ _ 178 

Amargosa group, description of 191, 192 

Anchor mine, description of____ 81, 82 

Andesite, description of_ _ _ 147 

Anna tunnel, description of____ 158 

Aplite, occurrence of_________ 155 

Argus claim, description of-- 200, 201-202 

section of, figure showing- 200, 201-202 

Atlanta district, description of___ 114 

geology of ______ 25, 32,114-116 

map of-- _ __________ 115

ore deposits of__________ 33,

34. 38, 39, 41, 42, 116-120

sections in, figures showing__ 115

Atlanta mine, description of____ 33,

38, 39,117-119

Atlas claims, description of _ 82

Aurum district, description of__ 186-187

geology of ____ 24, 29, 32, 187-190

igneous rocks of____ __ 189-190

map of __________________ 186

ore deposits of______-___ 34,

35. 39, 40, 41, 42, 190-196

production of ________ 191

structure of __________ 188-189

topography of _ 187

B.

Badger tunnel, description of____ 72-73 

Bald Mountain district, description

of_____________ 152 

geology of_______ 25, 28,154-156 

igneous rocks of _ _ _ 155 

map of ________________ 153

ore deposits of ___ 34,

35, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42,156-161

placers of__ ____-___ 157

stibnite from _______ 42,160-161

topography of _ _ _ _ _ 153

Banner Hill claims, description of_ 73

Barite, occurrence of-________ 65

Basalt, occurrence and character of_ 47

Battle Axe claims, description of_ 148,151

Ben Hur mine, description of _> 177, 178

Bennet mine, description of__ 48, 50-51

map of ____ _________ 51

Bibliography ______________ 19-21

Big Chief vein, description of__ 100, 101

42680° Bull. 648 16 14

Page.

Big Thing tunnel, description of_ 53 

Bimetallic group, description of _ 83 

Bingle claim, description of_____ 73 

Biotite granite, age of-__ __ 31-32 

description of ___________ 30, 45

occurrence of _ _ _ _ 44-45 

Biscuit mine, description of _ _ 165 166 

Bismuth, occurrence of_ 35-36, 59, 62-63 

Bitter Spring, geology near __ 46 

Bitter Spring Wash, view of_____ 44 

Black Forest claim, description of_ 73-74 

Blaine prospect, description of 177,

178-179

Bonnella mine, description of_ 45, 48, 51-52

Bradshaw mine, description of_ 117, 119

Brady tunnel, description of___ 166-167

Bristol district, description of___ 124

geology of_______ 24-26, 125-127

map of_____ ___________ 125

ore deposits of ________ 34, 

39,40, 41, 42,127-137 

production of____ _ _ 128 

section in _____________ 136 

topography of _________ 124-125 

Browne, J. R., on minerals of Nevada___________ 108 

Bunker Hill mine, description of__ 179 

Burning Question group, description

of_____________ 170 

Butte group, description of-°_______ 86-87

C.

Cambrian rocks, occurrence and

character of______ 24-25

ore deposits in _ _ ___ 33

Campbell group, description of___ 177, 178

Carbonate group, description of _156, 158

Carboniferous rocks, occurrence and

character of______ 26-27 

Cherry Creek district, description

of___ ________ 161

geology of _ 24,28,31

igneous rocks of_________ 163

map of _______________ 162

ore deposits of __ __ 36,

39, 40, 41, 42,162-172

production of________ 164

topography of _ __ 161-363

Cherry Creek mines, description

of________ 165, 166-167 

Clark County, deposits and mines

in_____________ 42-54 

publications on _________ 20

209
210 INDEX.

Page.

Cocomongo claims, description of_ 165,170 

Contact-metamorphic deposits, occurrence and character 

of _______ 35-36, 92,157 

Copper Basin claim, description

of ___________ 156,158 

Copperhead Split mine, description

of___________ 173-174 

Copper King group, description

of___________ 158-160

Copper minerals, occurrence of_ 34, 35, 36

Copper ores, occurrence of______ 37,

48-49, 59, 67, 72, 81-82, 92, 97, 98,

108, 127-129, 156, 173, 201-S02

See also particular districts.

Copper Queen mine, description of_ 74

section of_____________ 74

Crescent mine, description of____ 61

Crown Point mine, description of_ 160

Cuba mine, description. of_ 177,179-180

D.

Day-Bristol Consolidated Mining Co.,

claims of____ 127, 129-130.

Day mine, description of__ 127,135-136

Deadhorse property, description of- 65

geology near 66

Defiance mine, description of- 182,183-184

Defiance prospect, description of 192

Delker district, description of____ 66

geology of_____________ 28,66

ore deposits in______ 35,37,66-67 

Devonian rocks, occurrence and

character of_ 26 

Diabase, occurrence of_______ 31,163

Disseminated deposits, occurrence

of_____________ 38 

Dolly mine, description of 83 

Dolly Varden district, description

of_____________ 76-77

geology of____ 26,28,30,32,78-79

igneous rocks of : 78-79

map of ____ _ 77

ore deposits of____ ___ 34,

35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 80-88

production of 81

topography of __________ 77-80

Duck? Creek district, description of- 196

geology of_______ 25-26,29,197

ore deposits of_______ 34,197-199

topography of ^ 196

Duck Creek Ridge, geology of " 197

Dunderberg shale, description of 24

Dunham claims, description of 103,105

E.

Eagle district. See Kern district.

Egan Canyon, mines in 170-172

See also Cherry Creek district. 

Egan Range, geology of- 175-177,180-182

section of, figure showing_ 175 

El Capitan mine, description of 196

Page.

Eldorado limestone, description of_ 24 

Elko, description of__________ 54-55 

Elko County, deposits and mines

in____________ 54-113 

publications on _________ 20 

Ely Gibraltar claims, description

of___________ 198-199 

Ely properties, description of____ 112 

Ely Range, geology of__________ 125

Emmet claim, description of___ 112-113 

Emmons, S. F., on geology of

Nevada __ 78, 79, 90, 91, 127 

Esmeralda claims, description of- 141,143 

Essex tunnel, description of_____ 159 

Eugene patent, description of__ 84 

Eureka quartzite, description of__ 25 

Exchequer tunnel, description of__ 165

167-168 

Extrusive rocks. See Igneous rocks.

F.

Faults, occurrence of_________ 23 

Ferber district, description of____ 98

geology of ____ 28, 30-31, 32, 98-99

ore deposits of ____ 34, 35, 99-102 

Ferguson Spring district, geology of_ 96, 97

ore deposits of _____ 34, 39, 97-98

See also Toano Range. 

Field work, outline of_______ 17-19 

Finance group, description of _ 53 

First Chance group, description of_ 84 

Fourth of July mine, description of- 74-75 

Franklin group, description of___ 85 

Friday group, description of 58, 59, 60-61

G.

Geology, description of________ 23-33

early investigations of___-__ 19 20 

Gilbert, G. K., on geology of Grand

Canyon __ __ _ 46

on geology of Schell Range__ 188

Gilligan vein, description of- 165, 170-171

Girty, G. H., fossils determined by_ 46,

56, 64, 68, 95, 106

Glenco property, description of 205

Gold Butte, geology of________ 44-46

views of ___ _ _ __ 44

Gold Butte district, description of_ 42-44

. geology of ______ 26, 28, 32, 44-48

map of _ __ - _ - _ 45

ore deposits of_ _ _ 34,

 37, 39, 40, 42, 48-54

age of ___ _ _ 33

structure of-_ - 47-48

topography of____ ___ _ 43-44

veins of __-___ _ 48-49

Gold Butte Mining Co., claims of 52

Gold Crown mine, description of _ 192,

194-195

Gold King group, description of 159-160 

Gold Spring group, description of_ 148-149 

Gold veins, occurrence of____ _ 37-38 

Good Luck shaft, description of 183,

184-185
INDEX. 211

Page.

Gosiute Range. See Toano Range. 

Grand Deposit claims, description

of___________ 191, 193 

Granite, occurrence of 58-59, 155 

veins in __________ .48-49, 52-54 

See also Muscovite granite; 

Biotite granite ; Granite porphyry.

Granite district, description of 174-175

geology of__________ 29, 175-177

igneous rocks of 176-177

ore deposits of _ 34, 36, 41,177-180

production of 177

section in, figure showing 175

structure of 177

Granite porphyry, description of 29-30

ore deposits and relation of 30

Gray Eagle claim, description of 141

Greco-American group, description

Of ________ 191,193-194 

Gudlce claims, description of 49 

Gypsum, occurrence of 46 

Gypsy mine, description of 127,.

128,130-132 

H.

Hague, Arnold, on rocks of Nevada. 24, 

25, 26, 56, 58, 64, 66, 68, 95, 

146.

Haller property, description of 143 

Hamburg limestone, description of 24 

Hamburg shale, description of 24

See Dunderherg shale.

Hnnkins property, description of 62-63 

Hidden Treasure claim, description

of____________ 84 

Highland Range, section in 126 

Hill, J. M., work of 15,17 

Hillside mine, description of_: 127,

134-135

Home Run mine, description of__ 136-137 

Howell, E. E., on geology of

Nevada _______ 121, 203

Humboldt formation, description of- 27

Humbolclt Range. See Ruby Range.

Hunter district, description of 172

geology of ____- 26, 29,172,173-174

igneous rocks of 172

ore deposits of 34, 39, 40,173-174

Hunter mine, description of 172,173

I.

Ida May claim, description of 137

Igneous rocks, age of 31-32, 33

extrusion of __ 23-33

intrusion of____.._____ 23, 28-32

occurrence and character of__ 28 33

ore deposits in___ 33-34, 37-38,157

See also particular districts.

Independence claims, description of_ 112

Inmnn mine, description of_____ 133

map of________________ 133

Intrusive rocks. See Igneous rocks.

Irish Boy group, description of 103, 105

Pago.

Iron group, description of _ 85 

Iron mine, description of_______ 134 

Irwin Canyon. See Troy district. 

Irwin group, description of-__ 143-144

J.

Jackpot claim, description of____ 65-66 

Jack-Rabbit mine, description of_ 135-136 

Jackson mine, description of_ 103,104-105 

Joy. See Bald Mountain district.

Kansas claims, description of____ 193

Kern district, description of __ 202

geology of_____ 25,30,31,202-204

igneous rocks of---_____ 203-204

ore deposits of_ _______ 34,

38, 40, 42, 204-207

Kern Mountains, geology of___ 202-204

Keystone mine (Dolly Varden district), description of__ 85

Keystone mine (Spruce Mountain 

district), description 

of____________ " 75

Killie mine, description of _____ 75

Kinsley Con. Mines Co., claims of_ 93-94

Kinsley district, description of__ 88-90 

geology of_ _ 25, 28, 90-92 

igneous rocks of-_________ 91 

map of _ _ 89 

ore deposits in__ 35, 37, 39, 40, 92-95 

topography of _____ 89-90 

views in______________ 88

Kinsley mine, description of____ 94

Kinsley Mountain, description of__ 89-90 

geology of __ 90-92 

view of _______________ 88

Kinsley Spring, flow of_______ 88-89 

view near _____________ 88

Kirk, Edwin, fossils determined .

by 103,106 

on geology of Nevada__ 46, 90,172

Kismet properties, description of__ 137

L.

Lake Valley, location of _ __ 114 

Lander County, deposits and mines

of ___ 105-113

description of _ ______ 105

publications on__________ 20

Last Chance claim, description of__ 113

Last Chance tunnel, description

of___________ 148,149 

Latham mine, description of_____ 75 

Lead King claim (Ravenswood district), description of__ 112 

Lead King claim^ (Duck Creek district), description of_ 199 

Lead minerals, occurrence of____ 34-36 

Lead ores, occurrence of_______ 34, 

59-62, 65, 72, 80, 82, 104, 109, 

127-129,173,. 177,183,191,198
INDEX.

Lee, W. L., on Temple Bar conglomerate _________ 47

Lewis group, description of _ 85-86, 

Limestone, replacement deposits in_ 48-52,

81-82, 157 

Lincoln County, deposits and mines

of___________ 113-137 

description of__________ 113-114 

Lincoln mine, description of__ 48,49 50 

Lindgren, Waldemar, on copper pitch- 40 

Literature of region, list of_____ 19-21 

Lock mine, description of______ 141, 142

Lombardy group, description of ___ 113 

Lone Mountain limestone, description of__________ 25 

Lookout Peak, geology of______ 95-96 

Lucky Deposit mine, description of- 191,

192, 194

Luray district, ore deposits of__ 40, 96-97 

See also Toano Range.

M.

McMurry prospect, description of_ 165,167 

Madison claim, description of__ 65 

Malefactor claims, description of_ 136 

Mammoth tunnel, description of__ 186 

Map, index, of eastern Nevada :_ 18 

Martha Washington claim, description of ________ 99, 101 

Marvine, A. R., on geology of Nevada __________ 47 

May Day mine, description of____ 127,

128, 130-132

Mayflower claim (Willow Creek district) , description of- 148,150 

Mayflower group (Duck Creek district), description of 199 

May Queen group, description of__ 195 

Meadow Valley Canyon, section in 116 

Melbourn mine, description of___ 148, 151 

Melrose Mountain, geology of ___ 78, 80

Michigan incline, description of __ 62 

Mineralization, nature of_______ 37-38 

time of______________ 33 

Minerals, descriptions of__ _ 39-42 

Mining districts, descriptions of__ 42-207 

location of, maps showing___ 18, 20 

See also particular districts. 

Mizpah Consolidated group, description of__ ______ 87-88 

Mizpah district. See Dolly Varden 

district.

Mizpah Spring, ores near_____

Monarch claim, description of_.

Monitor claim, description of_.

section of, figure showing .

82 

76

. 200 

200

Morning Star claim, description of_ 92, 94 

Mountain ranges, description of _ 21-22 

Mountain View group, description of_ 160 

Mud Springs district, description of_ 64-66 

geology of______________ 28, 64

ore deposits of______ 34, 39, 42, 64 

Muncy Creek, mines in_______ 192-193

Muscovite granite, age of. 

description of______

Page.

31

 30

N.

National tunnel, description of__ 166 

Nevada, eastern, maps. of, showing

mining districts, etc 18, 20 

Nevada claim, description of_____ 156 

Nevada limestone, description of__ 26 

Never Sweat prospect, description

of____________ 76 

New Century tunnel, description of- 165,

167

New Era group, description of___ 52-53

Nubagah claim, description of__ 177,180

Nye County, description of-___ 137-138

 geology of _ _ _ _ 25

mines and deposits in____ 138-151

publications on__________ 21

0.

Oddie tunnel, description of _ _ 160 

Ordovician rocks, occurrence and

character of ______ 25-26 

Ore deposits, character of ___ 33-34 

geologic distribution of______ 33 

relations of, investigation of_ 15 

See also Replacement deposits; 

Contact - metamorphic 

deposits; Veins.

P.

Patterson district, description of__ 120 

geology of __________ 24, 29,121 

igneous rocks of_.________ 122 

ore deposits of__ 34, 40, 42, 123-124 

structure of____________ 122 

figure showing 123

Paymaster mine, description of__ 182,

183,185-186

Pine properties, description of__ 110-112 

Placers, gold, occurrence of____ 157 

Plate, W. R., on Ward camp____ 183 

Pleiades shaft, description of____ 186 

Pogonip limestone, description of__ 25 

Polar Star group, description of__ 60 

Portland claim, description of____ 110 

Pre-Cambrian rocks, occurrence and

description of- _ 28 

Prospect Mountain limestone, description of_______ 24 

See Eldorado limestone. 

Prospect Mountain quartzite, character of_________ 24

Q.

Quartz monzonite, analysis of____ 79

description of __:_______ 28-29,

78-79, 140,146-147, 163

. ores in _ __________ 29,82
INDEX. 213

Page.

Quaternary deposits, occurrence and

character of____ _ 27-28

Queen of the West claims (Tecoma 

district), description 

of___________ 103,105

Queen of the West prospect (Willow Creek district), description of_____ 148,150

Queen shaft, description of 111-112

R.

Railroad Valley, description of 138-139

Ransome, F. L., preface by___ _ 15

Rast mine, description of__ 106,107, 113

Ravenswood district, description of_ 106

' geology of __ 25, 28, 32,106

igneous rocks of __ 107-108

ore deposits in____ 36, 39, 42,108-113

topography of __ 106

Kaymond, E. W., on mines of

Nevada__ 141,182,190, 200 

Red Bird group, description of 160 

Red Bird shaft, description of___ 110 

Red Cloud claims, description of___ 101 

Red Hill claim (Dolly Varden district), description of 87 

Red Hills mine (Kern district), description of-___ 205-206 

Reese River, geology on 107 

Regan property, description of _ 206-207 

Regent mine, description of____ 98,

99,100,102 

Replacement deposits, occurrence

and character of 34-35

Rhyolite, description of __ 140,147

Rhyolite tuff, ores in_________ 38

Robertson group, description of - 124

Ruby Hills, geology of________ 64

Ruby Range, description of_____ 54-55

geology of ___ 25,

27, 30, 31-32, 55-59,154

igneous rocks of _ 58-59

ore deposits of_______ 35,59^63

topography of __ 55

view of ___ 54

Ruby Valley district, description of_ 57

ore deposits of__ 35,41,42,59,60-62

See also Ruby Range.

Rustler claim, description of___ 147-150

S.

Salt Lake group, description of_ 99,

100,102

Sand dunes, occurrence of_____ 27 

Scheelite. See Tungsten. 

Schell Creek Range, description of 120

geology of _____ 121-122, 187, 197 

Secret Canyon shale, description of_ 24 

Sedimentary rocks, ore deposits in_ 33-36

See also Stratigraphy.

Shamrock claims, description of _ 112 

Short group, description of__ 58, 59, 60-62 

Shoshone claim, description of 108-109

Page.

Sidong claims, description of-____ 100

Siegel Canyon, mines in __ 194-196

Siegel mine, description of __ 187-188,

191, 192, 195-196

Signal mine, description of 191,192,194 

Silver Canyon, mines in __ 193-194 

Silver Leaf mine. See Gold Crown

mine.

Silver ores, character of__ __ 34

occurrence of __ 34-36,

59, 72, 80, 82, 104, 116-117,

123, 127, 128-129, 141, 148,

156, 165, 173, 183, 190, 205

Silver Park district. See Atlanta

district.

Silver Park mine, description of_ 119-120 

Silver Star group, ores of __ 96 

Smith Creek district. Bee Ruby

Valley district.

Solo Joker mine, description of__ 117,120 

Spence cLaims, description of 76 

Spruce Mountain district, description of_________ 67 

geology of 26,29,30,68-71 

igneous rocks of _ 68-70 

map of _ _ 69 

ore deposits of_ 34, 

35, 39, 40, 41, 42, 71-76 

production of 71-72 

structure of _ _ _ 70-71 

topography of ____ _ _ 67 

Spurr, J. E., on geology of Nevada. 47, 

57, 114-116, 121, 126, 

139, 146, 188, 190, 203 

Star mine, description of 165, 168-170 

Steptoe district. See Granite district.

Stihnite, occurrence of__ _ 42, 160 

Stinsou mine, description of 177,179 

Stratigraphy, description of 23-28 

Structure, features of _ 23 

Success mine, description of 197, 198 

Sullivan mine, description of 179 

Swartz Canyon, geology of 121-122 

Swartz claims, description of 124

T.

Taylor district, description of_ _ 200

geology of _______ 26, 29, 200-201

ore deposits of__ 34, 40, 42, 201-202

section of, figure showing __ 201

Tecoma district, description of__ 102-103

geology of 26, 29, 103

ore deposits of_ 34, 39, 41,104-105

production of _ 104

Tempest mine, description of 133

Tenderfoot shaft, description of 88

Tertiary deposits, occurrence and

character of __ 27 

Toano Range, description of 95 

geology of 26, 32, 95-96 

igneous rocks of _ __ 96 

ore deposits of 96-102 

topography of 95
214 INDEX.

Page.

Topography, description of 21-23 

Tramp Miner property, description

of_____________ 49

Tramp shaft, description of 76

Troy district, description of : 138

geology of ____ 25,28,32,139-140

igneous rocks of 140

map of 138

ore deposits of__ 36, 37, 42,141-144

'topography of 138-139

Troy mine, description of 141-142

Tungsten ores, occurrence of 35-36,

38,59, 205, 206-207

V.

Valleys, description of 22-23

Valley View district, geology of 28

ore deposits of- 39,40,41,42,59,62-63

Vanderhoef claims, description of- 142-14J3

Veins, occurrence and character of_ 36,

37-38, 48-49, 52-54

Vesuvius mine, description of 132-133 

Victoria claim, description of 80, 86 

Virgin Range, description of 43-44 

Voigt well, geology near 46 

Vulcan mine, description of 173-174

W.

Wachoe Mountains, description of_ 77

Walcott, C. D., on geology of

Nevada _________ 126

Ward district, description of _ 180 

geology of ___ 28,180-182 

igneous rocks __ 181-182 

map of ____ 181 

ore deposits of- __ 34, 40, 182-186

Warm Creek district, ore deposits

of _____ 35, 42, 59, 60

Page.

Warrior claim, description of____ 113 

Water Canyon, geology of ___ 155, 204 

mines in ______________ 207 

placers in _____________ 157 

water in ___ _______ 152 

Welcome Stranger tunnel, description of________ 182,186 

White, A. F., on ore deposits of

Nevada 59, 92,108,123,156 

Whitehill, H. R., on mines of

Nevada _________ 127, 

141,182-183, 200

White Horse district, geology of 28, 98 

ore deposits of-_________ 37, 98 

White Horse group, description of_ 86 

White Pine County, deposits and

mines of_______ 152-207

description of- ______ 151-152

publications on __________ 21

White Pine shale, description of__ 26

Wide West group, description of__ 165,

171-172.

Wild Horse claim, description of__ 113 

Willow Creek district, description

of 1 _ 144-146

geology of 25, 28, 31, 32,146-147

igneous rocks of _ 146-147

map of _____ 145

ore deposits in__________ 34,

36, 39, 41, 42,147-151

topography of 145-146

Willow Creek Mining Co., claims

of _______ 149-150 

Winona group, description of____ 53

Z.

Zinc ores, occurrence of 34-35, 59, 60, 65

o