Gold Quarry Mine Area

Eureka County, Nevada, United States

GoldSilverArsenicAntimonyMercuryThalliumBarium-BariteLeadZincCopperManganeseNickel

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Description

A. Berning

Commodities

PrimaryGold

SecondarySilver

TertiaryArsenic, Antimony, Mercury, Thallium, Barium-Barite, Lead, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Nickel

Commodity typeB

Deposit

Deposit typedisseminated/shear zones\n

Model173: Sediment-hosted Au

Deposit sizeL

Orebody formtabular

Ore controlSteeply dipping faults and fractures at the margins of the Carlin window are the primary control of gold deposition in the Maggie Creek subdistrict. The Gold Quarry Main ore zone occurs at the intersection of two such faults: the Gold Quarry fault which strikes N40E, dips 75 SE and the Good Hope fault system which strikes N40W, dips steeply SW. The 90 degree intersection of these two faults was marked by a prominent outcrop of jasperoid breccia. The outcrop was sheared, brecciated, and contained open-space, silica-coated fractures. Many smaller faults which parallel the Good Hope and Gold Quarry trends occur within the deposit, creating a pervasive fracture system. This fracture system controls gold deposition at all scales from preferential localization along faults up to 15 ft. Wide to microfractures 50 microns apart. The Deep West orebody is controlled by the sedimentary/structural contact between footwall carbonate rocks and hanging wall siliciclastic rocks. The primary feeder conduit for mineralizing fluids is a steeply-dipping breccia pipe formed at the intersection of the Grey/Challenger structural system and the NW-striking Hangfire fault. Fissures, fractures zones, faulting, folding all controlled ore deposition. The Less fault, a high-angle NE-striking structure was an ore-controlling structure in the original Maggie Creek pit.

Materials

Ore mineralsGold, Kaolinite, Barite, Alunite, Pyrite, Illite, Montmorillonite

GangueSilica

Geology

Host rockQuartzite,Chert,Shale,Siltstone,Carbonate,Metamorphic Rock · Vinini Formation

Associated rockIntermediate Volcanic Rock

StructureThe deposit is located at the SE corner of the Carlin Window in the Roberts Mountains thrust. The NW-striking Snowbird anticline and Alta anticline have folded host rocks in the pit area., The Roberts Mountains Thrust, Good Hope Fault System, Gold Quarry Fault, and other fauls created a pervasive fracture system at Gold Quarry. Isoclinal folding of bedding is common. Fissures, fractures zones, faulting, folding all controlled ore deposition. The Less fault, a high-angle NE-striking structure was an ore-controlling structure in the original Maggie Creek pit.

AlterationAlteration types consist of silicification and clay alteration.\nAt the Gold Quarry deposit, in the central Carlin trend, Heitt (1992) reported K/Ar dates ranging from 28 to 27 Ma from supergene alunite veins that crosscut and postdate gold mineralization.

Economic & production

Development statusProducer

Production years1936; 1985-PRESENT (2004)

First production1936

Last production2004

Discovery year1925

Identification

Deposit ID10310465

MRDS IDM232287

Alternate namesMaggie Creek, Maggie Creek Extension, North Main Zone, South Main Zone, West of West (WOW), Deep Sulfide Feeder Zone Deep West Zone, South Layback, McPod, Voodoo, Dos Equis, Maggie Claims, Mac, Tusc, Chukar

RegionNA

Data scoreA

Coordinates40.79158, -116.20925

References

Roberts, R.J. et al., 1967, Geology and Mineral Deposits of Eureka Co., Nevada, NBMG Bulletin 64USBM (Winnemucca) MILS No. 266, Reference No. 3201100159.Southern Pacific Co., 1964, Minerals for Industry.Vanderburg, W.O., 1938, Reconnaissance of Mining Districts in Eureka County, N, USBM Information Circular 7022.Bentz, J., Brooks, S., McFarlane, 1982, Field Examination Report, 5/27/82.State Division of Mine Inspection, 1983, Directory of Nevada Mine Operations Active During Calendar Year 1983.Dames and Moore, 1983(?), Environmental Assessment of the Carlin Gold Quarry Project...Fortune, December 27, 1982, "The Huge Find in Roy Ash's Backyard".NBMG, 1988, The Nevada Minerals Industry - 1987, NBMG Special Publication MI-1987.Bonham, H.F., 1986, NBMG Map 91.NBMG Mining District File 116, numerous articles and news clippings.Santti, S. and Soltani, A., 1989, Large Scale Open Pit Gold Mining at Gold Quarry, in Bhappu, R. and Harden, R., eds., Gold Forum on Technology and Practices, "World Gold '89", Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration, Inc., Littleton, Co, p. 147-154.Ekburg, C., Rota, J., and Arkell, B., 1991, Geology and Mineral Deposits of the Maggie Creek Subdistrict, Carlin Trend, Eureka County, Nevada, in Raines, G.L., et al., eds., Geology and Ore Deposits of the Great Basin, The Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, p. 625-633.Mining Magazine, October, 1989, vol. 161, no. 4, P. 256-261.Rota, J.C., 1988, The Gold Quarry Mine: History and General Geology, in Schafer, R., et al., Bulk Mineable Precious Metal Deposits of the Western United States, The Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, p. 49-56.NBMG, 1989, The Nevada Minerals Industry - 1988, NBMG Special Publication MI-1988-MI-2002.NBMG, 1991, The Nevada Minerals Industry - 1990, NBMG Special Publication MI-1990.Ryneer, R., 1992, Economic History of The Carlin Trend, in Buffa, R. and Coyner, A., Geology and Ore Deposits of the Great Basin - Field Trip Guidebook Compendium, The Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, p. 838-843.Rota, J., 1987, Geology of Newmont Gold Company's Gold Quarry Deposit, Eureka County, Nevada, in Elliott, I. and Smee, B. eds. GeoExpo/86 - Exploration in the North American Cordillera, The Association of Exploration Geochemists, Rexdale, Ontario, p. 42-50.NBMG, 1994, MI-1993Long, 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.Newmont Gold website, 2004.Adella Harding 2002, Elko Daily Free Press Mining Quarterly, 7/29/0210/21/02.Lewis Teal and Mac Jackson, 2002, Geologic Overview of the Carlin Trend Gold Deposits, in NBMG Bull 111, Gold Deposits of the Carlin Trend.Rota, J.C., 1995, Gold Quarry: a geologic update, in Green, S.M., and Struhsacker, E., eds., Geology and Ore Deposits of the American Cordillera: Geological Society of Nevada Field Trip Guidebook Compendium, Reno-Sparks, Nevada, April 1995, p. 157-166.