Dee Gold Mine

Elko County, Nevada, United States

GoldSilverAntimonyArsenicMercuryThalliumBarium-Barite

⌖ Show on map USGS source ↗

Description

G.W. Delamare

Commodities

PrimaryGold, Silver

TertiaryAntimony, Arsenic, Mercury, Thallium, Barium-Barite

Commodity typeB

Deposit

Deposit typedisseminated gold

Model173: Sediment-hosted Au

Deposit sizeS

Orebody formtabular to irregular

Ore controlNortherly- and northwesterly-trending faults and their intersections host gold mineralization. These faults can host gold values exceeding 0.25 opt gold over narrow widths, suggesting that they are the main conduits for gold-bearing hydrothermal fluids. Dikes occupying the faults host small volumes of high grade ore. Economic gold mineralization rarely migrated more than a few feet from the faults.

Materials

Ore mineralsGold, Pyrite, Barite

GangueStibnite

Geology

Host rockSedimentary Rock,Carbonate · "Vinini Formation", "Bootstrap Limestone", "Carlin Formation"

Associated rockTuff,Dacite

StructureThe mine area has been affected by folding, thrusting, and high angle faulting. At least three stages of folding are recognized: 1) the oldest set trending N-NE, 2) a set trending N-NW with steep, south-dipping axial planes, 3) a set trending E-W, representing south-directed compression. Two stages of thrusting are represented. Both strike-slip and dip-slip movements are recognized on the high angle structures, but dip-slip movement dominates. NE-trending Basin and Range faults cut both Paleozoic and Tertiary units and displace ore horizons downwards on the southerly and westerly blocks. A few joints trending NE have chalcedonic silica developed along the fracture surfaces., Greybeck (1985) proposes that Dee is located at the leading edge of the Golconda Thrust and that beds exposed in the Dee Mine pit lie on the west flank of a close to tight NNE trending antiform.

AlterationSilicification and argillization of originally calcareous siltstones and limestones are the dominant alteration effects. Where mineralized, intrusive dikes of intermediate composition are sericitized and often silicified.

Economic & production

Development statusProducer

Production years1984-2001

First production1984

Last production2001

Discovery year1980

Identification

Deposit ID10310338

MRDS IDM242256

Alternate namesBoulder Creek Mine, Main Zone, Ridge Zone, North Extension, Deep North, Dx Zone, South Extension, Storm decline

RegionNA

Data scoreB

Coordinates41.0324, -116.4276

References

Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, p. 841-843.Abbott, E., Laux, D., Keith, S., 1992, Geochemistry and Ore Deposits - Influence of Magma Chemistry, In Buffa, R. And Coyner, A., eds., Geology and Ore Deposits of the Great Basin - Field Trip Guidebook Compendium, The Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, p. 568.Bergwall, F., 1992, Geology of the Dee Gold Mine, in Buffa, R. And Coyner, A., Eds., Geology and Ore Deposits of The Great Basin - Field Trip Guidebook Compendium, The Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, p. 867.Mining Journal/Montagu Mining Finance, Mining Database, 8/10/91.Bagby, W.C., Pickthorn, W.J., And Goldfarb, R.J., 1985, Pathfinder Elements in Soils over the Dee Disseminated Gold Deposit, Elko County, Nevada, in Krafft, K., ed., USGS Research on Mineral Resources-1985, Program and Abstracts, USGS Circular 949, p.1.Greybeck, J.D., 1985, Geology of the Dee Mine Area, Elko County, Nevada, Unpublished M.S. Thesis, University of Idaho.Jones, R., 1989, Carlin Trend Gold Belt: The Geology, Mining Magazine, Vol. 161, No. 4, P. 256-261.Thorstad, L., 1989, Carlin Trend Gold Belt: The Producers, Mining Magazine, Vol. 161, No. 4, P. 263-267.Ellis, R., 1987, The Dee Gold Mine, Geological Society of Nevada 1987 Fall Field Trip Guidebook, Special Publication No. 6, p. B23-B26.NBMG, 1991-2002, The Nevada Mineral Industry 1990-2001, NBMG Special Publication MI-1990-MI-2002.NBMG, 1994, MI-1993Nevada Division of Minerals,1994.Long, K.R., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., and Ludington, S.D., 1998, Significant deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 90-206A, 33 p.; 98-206B. one 3.5 inch diskette.