Paradise Peak Mine

Nye County, Nevada, United States

GoldSilverMercuryBarium-BariteBismuthLeadThalliumIronAntimonyTitaniumTinMolybdenum

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Description

Mr. and Mrs. William Arnell

Commodities

PrimaryGold, Silver

SecondaryMercury

TertiaryBarium-Barite, Bismuth, Lead, Thallium, Iron, Antimony, Titanium, Tin, Molybdenum

Commodity typeB

Deposit

Deposit typevolcanic-hosted hot-springs type

Model154: Epithermal quartz-alunite Au

Deposit sizeM

Orebody formdisseminated; stratiform

Ore controlAlunitic and silicic alteration and precious metal mineralization appear to be controlled by throughgoing NW-trending high-angle fractures and faults, which are perhaps related to pre-Basin and Range extension. Hydrothermal breccia zones, possibly forming rings, are a major control of Au-Ag deposition.\n

Materials

Ore mineralsGold, Pyrite, Cerargyrite, Silver, Acanthite, Cinnabar, Embolite, Iodyrite, Alunite, Chalcedony, Opal, Leucoxene, Illite, Kaolinite, Limonite, Orpiment, Realgar, Barite, Stibnite, Jarosite, Chalcopyrite, Galena, Sphalerite, Tetrahedrite, Pyrrhotite, Marcasite, Plumbojarosite, Hematite, Sulfur, Metacinnabar, Corderoite, Montroydite, Calomel

GangueQuartz

Geology

Host rockWelded Tuff,Volcanic Breccia (Agglomerate),Rhyolite,Dacite · "the composite tuff"

Associated rockAndesite,Volcanic Breccia (Agglomerate)

StructureWalker Lane structiral zone, Three major orientations of faults are exposed in the Paradise Peak Mine: 1) NW to WNW, 2) N to NNE, 3) E-W. All faults may have been active during the hydrothermal system and acted as conduits for hydrothermal fluids. Many of the NNE-trending faults appear to have post-mineralization movement. In addition, "ring faults" down-drop the central ore zone. Hydrothermal breccias are abundant in all levels of the deposit mined to date and are a major influence on ore grades. Three major types are recognized: 1) early white silica matrix breccias primarily developed in quartz-feldspar porphyry, 2) heterolithic black matrix breccia primarily developed in the ore-hosting tuff, and 3) heterolithic opal-jarosite matrix breccias. Types 1 and 3 are generally barren; black matrix breccias (type 2) formed during a major period of au mineralization and commonly constitute high grade gold-silver ore. Matrix of black matrix breccias is composed of fine-grained sugary quartz (<0.05 mm), anatase, and locally, fine-grained sulfide minerals (mostly pyrite or marcasite); vugs are common and are filled by coarser-grained quartz, barite, sulfides, and occasionally visible gold. The deposit is overlain by a black matrix hydrothermal breccia that was the discovery outcrop.

AlterationAlteration comments: propylitization, alunite-jarosite alteration, argillization, dense silicification, powdery silicification (acid leaching?). Oligocene andesite and Oligo-Miocene tuff underlying the principal ore host rocks are weakly to strongly propylitized, which probably reflects deuteric alteration that predates the main hydrothermal system at paradise peak. Hypogene alunite-jarosite alteration primarily occurs as a crudely stratiform layer 20-40 m thick below hydrothermal breccias that cap the deposit and above the main silicified ore zone. Argillic alteration consists dominantly of smectite, opal-ct, quartz and leucoxene, with minor mixed layer illite-smectite and/or kaolinite present. Unoxidized argillized rocks also contain 5-15% disseminated fine grained pyrite and/or marcasite. Argillization is well developed in the upper andesites that overlie the main silicified zone and in the dacite porphyry below the main silicified zone. Both alunite-jarosite alteration and argillization possibly occurred during the early stages of dense silicification. Two types of silicification, dense and powdery, are distinguished on cross sections and bench maps and are the two dominant textural types of silicification present in the deposit, although all gradations exist. Dense silicification consists of very fine-grained quartz (0.01-0.05 mm) and/or opal, 5-20% fine grained diseminated marcasite and/or pyrite (typically <0.025 mm), and a TiO2 phase (anatase or leucoxene) that totally replace the rock except for quartz and zircon phenocrysts. Dense silicification is associated with au-ag deposition. Relict textures in powdery silicified rocks suggest that many of these rocks were first densely silicified (+ fine-grained sulfide minerals) and were later oxidized, partially leached, and recrystallized to powdery silica (acid leaching by ascending fluids?). Powdery silica alteration is associated with mercury deposition.

Economic & production

Development statusPast Producer

Production yearsAU: 1986 - 1994

First production1986

Last production1994

Discovery year1934

Identification

Deposit ID10310352

MRDS IDW700600

Alternate namesFinger Rock Prospect, County Line, Ketchup Flat, Paradise Peak/Sullivan Mine, Granny GooseParadise, FMC Deposit, NBMG Sample Sites 1472, 1473, Goose Claims, Gabbs Mine, Nody Prospect

RegionNA

Data scoreA

Coordinates38.74936, -117.97066

References

Bonham, H.F., Jr., 11 Sep 84, NBMG Field Examination Report and Sample AnalysisThomason, Robert, E., F.M.C., 1986, G.S.N. Lecture On Paradise Peak Gold Deposit.Reno Gazette-Journal, Oct 1985, "Big Gold, Silver Deposit Discovered Near Gabbs.NBMG Mining District File 227, many press clippings, 1984-1986, Items 19, 20NBMG MI-1985, 1986, 1989.Rocky Mountain Pay Dirt, April 1988, p. 124Thomason, R. E., 1986, Geology of the Paradise Peak Gold/Silver Deposit in Tingley , J.V. and Bonham, H. F., Precious Metal Mineralization in Hot-Springs Systems, Nevada-California, NBMG Report 41, P. 90-92Thomason, R.E., 1987, Geology of the Paradise Peak Gold/Silver Deposit in Johnson, J.L. Ed, Guidebook for Field Trips: Geological Society of Nevada Symposium, Bulk Mineable Precious Deposits of the Western U.S., Reno, p. 250-253John, D. A., Nash, J.T., Clark, C.W.,Wulftange,W.H., 1990, Geology of the Paradise Peak Deposit, in Buffa, R. Ed, Guidebook For Field Trips: Geological Society Of Nevada Symposium, Bulk Mineable Precious Deposits of the Western U.S., Fieldtrip 11, RenoBonham, H.F. and Hess, R.H., 1990, Bulk-Mineable Precious Metal Deposits in Nevada, NBMG MI-89FMC Gold, Annual Reports, 1987,88,89Nevada Mineral Reserves and Resources Data Base, Nevada Bureau Of Mines And Geology Db7John, D., Thomason, R., and Mckee, E., 1989, Geology and K-Ar Geochronology of the Paradise Peak Mine and the Relationship of Pre-Basin And Range Extension to Early Miocene Precious Metal Mineralization in West-Central Nevada: Economic Geology, vol. 84, p. 631-649.John, D., Nash, J., Clark, C., and Wulftange, W., 1991, Geology, Hydrothermal Alteration, and Mineralization at the Paradise Peak Gold-Silver-Mercury Deposit, Nye County, Nevada, in Raines, G.L., et al, eds., Geology and Ore Deposits of the Great Basin, The Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, p. 1020-1050.Dobak, P., 1988, Alteration and Paragenesis of the Paradise Peak Gold/Silver Deposit, unpublished M.S. Thesis, Colorado State University, 141 p.Skillings, D., 1986, FM's Paradise Peak Gold/Silver Mine Officially Dedicated June 28, Skillings' Mining Review, August 9, p. 4-7.NBMG, 1991, The Nevada Mineral Industry - 1990, NBMG Special Publication MI-1990.Read, Mike, 1993, Oral Communication on Status of Paradise Peak Operations From FMC Gold's Paradise Peak Mine, 4 August, 1993Mining Magazine, January 1989, p44NBMG, 1994, MI-1993Nevada Division of Minerals, 1994Long, K.R., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., and Ludington, S.D., 1998, Database of significant deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the United States; Part A, Database description and analysis; part B, Digital database: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-206, 33 p., one 3.5 inch diskette.Meridian Gold's website, 2004: http://www.meridiangold.com/operations_past.cfm#paradise