California · Kern County
Past Producer

Middle Buttes (Cactus) Deposit

Kern County, California, United States
SilverGoldCopperLead
⌖ Show on mapUSGS source ↗
Commodities
PrimarySilver, Gold
SecondaryCopper, Lead
Commodity typeM
Deposit
Deposit typeHydrothermal vein; hydrothermal stockwork; hot spring
Model104: Hot-spring Au-Ag151: Epithermal vein, Sado
Orebody formTabular; irregular
Ore controlThe Blue Eagle-Cactus Queen vein and Shumake vein were the dominant pathways for metalliferous hydrothermal fluids. The Blue Eagle-Cactus Queen vein formed along a fault between the granitic basement rock and the volcanic dome complex. The Au-Ag-bearing fluids migrated through dilatant fault zones during episodic movements associated with regional tectonism. Repeated rupture-rehealing events, without boiling, are interpreted as having created secondary zones of permeability. These zones were the sites of stockworks composed of quartz-adularia-sericite. Alunite is an important guide to ore, although it is rare in the Shumake ore body.
Materials
Ore mineralsGold, Electrum, Cerargyrite, Argentite, Proustite, Chalcopyrite, Galena, Alunite, Kaolinite, Adularia, Pyrite, Marcasite, Arsenopyrite
GangueQuartz
Geology
Host rockRhyolite,Volcanic Breccia (Agglomerate) · "Bobtail Quartz Latite Member", "Gem Hill Formation "
StructureBoth NE- and NW-trending normal faults that cut the volcanic-dome complex are significant in their control of the district?s ore bodies. Most important are the NE-trending Blue Eagle-Cactus Queen fault in the western area and an unnamed NW-trending fault in the eastern area. The Blue Eagle-Cactus Queen fault was traceable for several thousand feet., San Andreas Fault; Garlock Fault
Tectonic settingMagmatic arc
AlterationSilicic (early phase, pervasive)\nPhyllic; sericite (envelopes up to 5m thick surrounding massive quartz veins)\nAdvanced argillic; alunite, kaolinite (peripheral to main ore zones)\nPotassic; adularia\nPropylitic; chlorite, pyrite, sericite, calcite (affects basement granitic rocks)\nOxidation; hematite
Economic & production
Development statusPast Producer
Discovery year1934
Identification
Deposit ID10310650
Alternate namesCactus, Cactus Queen, Blue Eagle, Shumake, Winkler, Silver Prince, Crescent, Ella, Trent, Burton-Brite-Blank, Middle Butte
RegionNA
Data scoreA
Coordinates34.95778, -118.28937
References
Albers, J.P., 1981, A lithologic-tectonic framework for the metallogenic provinces of California: Economic Geology, v. 76, no. 4, p. 765-790.Albers, J.P. and Fraticelli, L.A., 1984, Preliminary mineral resource assessment map of California: U.S. Geological Survey Map MR-88, scale 1:1,000,000.Atwater, T., 1989, Plate tectonic history of the northeast Pacific and western North America, in Winterer, E.L. and others, editors, The eastern Pacfic Ocean and Hawaii: Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. N, p. 21-72.Atwater, T. and Stock, J, 1998, Pacific-North America plate tectonics of the Neogene southwestern United States: An update, in Ernst, W.G. and Nelson, C.A., editors, Integrated earth and environmental evolution of the southwestern United States: Geological Society of America, Clarence A. Hall, Jr. volume, p. 393-420.Bateson, G.E.W., 1907, The Mojave Mining District of California: Transactions of American Institute of Mining Engineers, v. 37, p. 160-177.Blaske, A.R., 1990, Alteration, mineralization, and geochemistry of the Shumake deposit: A volcanic dome-hosted epithermal precious metal deposit, Kern County, California: Michigan Technological University, M.S. thesis, 247 p.Blaske, A.R. and others, 1991, The Shumake volcanic dome-hosted epithermal precious metal deposit, western Mojave Desert, California: Economic Geology, v. 86, p. 1646-1656.Bottaro, J.L., 1987, Geology of the Middle Buttes volcanic complex, Mojave District, Kern County, California: San Jose State University, M.S. thesis, 94 p.Burchfiel, B.C. and others, 1992, The Cordilleran Orogen: Conterminous U.S.: Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. G-3, 724 p.Burnett, J.L. and Brady, J., 1990, Cactus gold mine, Kern County, California: California Geology, v. 43, no. 4, p. 85-88.Christiansen, R.L. and Yeats, R.S., 1992, Post-Laramide geology of the U.S. Cordilleran region, in Burchfiel, B.C. and others, editors, The Cordilleran Orogen: Conterminous U.S.: Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. G-3, p. 261-406.Dibblee, T.W., Jr., 1963, Geology of the Willow Springs and Rosamond quadrangles, California: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1089-C, p. 141-253.Dibblee, T.W., Jr., 1967, Areal geology of the western Mojave Desert: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 522, 153 p.Dickinson, W.R., 1981, Plate tectonic evolution of the southern Cordillera, in Dickinson, W.R. and Payne, W.D., editors, Relations of tectonics to ore deposits in the southern Cordillera: Arizona Geological Society Digest, v. 14, 288 p.Dickinson, W.R., 1997, Tectonic implications of Cenozoic volcanism in coastal California: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 109, no. 8, p. 936-954.Dokka, R.K., 1989, The Mojave Extensional Belt of southern California: Tectonics, v. 8, no. 2, p. 363-390.Dokka, R.K. and Ross, T.M., 1995, Collapse of southwestern North America and the evolution of early Miocene detachment faults, metamorphic core complexes, the Sierra Nevada orocline, and the San Andreas fault system: Geology, v. 23, no. 12, p. 1075-1078.Dokka, R.K. and others, 1998, The Trans Mojave-Sierran shear zone and its role in early Miocene collapse of southwestern North America, in Holdsworth, R.E. and others, editors, Continental transpressional and transtensional tectonics: Geological Society of London Special Publication 135, p. 183-202.Glazner, A.F. and others, 1996, Collapse of southwestern North America and the evolution of early Miocene detachment faults, metamorphic core complexes, the Sierra Nevada orocline, and the San Andreas fault system: Comment, Geology, v. 24, no. 9, p. 858-859.Julihn, C.E. and Horton, F.W., 1937, The Golden Queen and other mines of the Mojave District, California: U.S. Bureau of Mines Information Circular 6931, 42 p.McCusker, R.T., 1982, Geology of the Soledad Mountain volcanic complex, Mojave Desert, California: San Jose State University, M.S. thesis, 113 p.Simpson, E.C., 1934, Geology and mineral deposits of the Elizabeth Lake quadrangle, California: California Journal of Mines and Geology, v. 30, no. 4, p. 371-415.Skillings, D.N., 1989, CoCa opens Shumake mine and plant for production at Cactus Gold Mines: Skillings? Mining Review, v. 78, no. 4, p. 4-8.Troxel, B.W. and Morton, P.K., 1962, Mines and mineral resources of Kern County, California: California Division of Mines and Geology County Report 1, 370 p.Tucker, W.B., 1923, Kern County, Mojave Mining District: California State Mining Bureau 19th Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 156-164.Tucker, W.B., 1935, Mining activity at Soledad Mountain and Middle Buttes - Mojave Mining District: California Journal of Mines and Geology, v. 31, no. 4, p. 465-485.Tucker, W.B. and others, 1949, Mineral resources of Kern County: California Journal of Mines and Geology, v. 45, no. 2, p. 220-223.Miscellaneous information on the deposit is contained in File Number 330-5154 (CGS Mineral Resources Files, Sacramento) and in files of the Anaconda Geological Documents Collection at the University of Wyoming.