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Ford Mine

Producer in Pershing county in Nevada, United States with commodities Iron, Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Production statistics
  18. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10042605
MRDS ID M060449
Record type Site
Current site name Ford Mine
Alternate or previous names Iron Horse Mine
Related records 10296419

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -118.19875, 40.06796 (WGS84)
Elevation 1262
Relative position ABOUT 4.75 MI NORTHWEST OF CHOCOLATE BUTTE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pershing(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Buena Vista Hills North(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Lovelock(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Lovelock(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Carson Desert(hydrologic unit)

Carson(hydrologic accounting unit)

Central Lahontan(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bureau of Land Management(Bureau of Land Management NV)

Bureau of Land Management NV BLM(Type of land area)

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Pershing

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 025N 034E 06 N OF CENTER Nevada

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Iron Primary
Platinum Critical Secondary
Palladium Critical Secondary
Rhodium Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Magnetite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Scapolitized

Analytical data

Result AVERAGES 66% FE. ORE SHIPPED AVERAGED 58% FE, 10% SIO2+AL2O3, 0.4% P, 0.4% S. 69 PPB PT, 640 PPB PD, 22 PPB RH IN IRON ORE SAMPLE

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 62
USGS model code 18d
Deposit model name Skarn Fe

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Jurassic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Jurassic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Jurassic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Humboldt Lopolith
    Rock description Humboldt Lopolith

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Block Faulting

Ore body information

  • General form VEINS, TABULAR BODIES
    Strike W-NW
    Dip 70-80N
    Length 182.88M
    Width 18.29M

Comments on the geologic information

  • PROPERTY IS OVERLAIN BY A THIN BLANKET OF LAKE LAHONTAN SEDIMENTS. MAGNETIC ANOMALY OF 5000 GAMMAS OVER 33 ACRES

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1952
Discoverer C.W. Hunley And Others

Mining district

District name Mineral Basin District

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area

Production statistics

  • Year 1961
    Period 1955-1961
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^58% Fe
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Iron Iron 58wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • FORD MOTOR CO. AND NEVADA IRON ORE CO. PRODUCED SMALL TONNAGES OR ORE. PARKER BROTHERS OPERATED MINE IN 1954-1955; DODGE CONSTRUCTION CO. OPERATED MINE IN 1955-1961 UNDER A SUBLEASE AGREEMENT. SEVERAL THOUSAND TONS OF LUMP IRON ORE WAS PRODUCED IN 1952.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • ORE COULD CONTINUE TO CONSIDERABLE DEPTH

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Overall length 365.76M
    Overall width 152.4M

Comments on the workings information

  • FOUR OPEN PITS. THE MAIN PIT IS 1200 FT BY 500 FT BY 200 FT DEEP.

Comments on development

  • LEASED TO FORD MOTOR CO. IN 1952. A MAGNETIC SURVEY DISCLOSED ANOMALY. FORD MINED AND SHIPPED SEVERAL THOUSAND TONS OF LUMP ORE. PROPERTY WAS THEN LEASED TO NEVADA IRON CO., WHICH SUBLET TO PARKER BROTHERS CONSTRUCTION CO. AND DODGE CONSTRUCTION CO. DIAMOND DRILLING IN 1952-1962 OF HIGH-GRADE ORE TO 75 FT BELOW 200 FT LEVEL OF MINE INDICATED THAT ORE COULD CONTINUE TO CONSIDERABLE DEPTH WITHOUT CHANGE IN SIZE OR GRADE. THERE WAS NO ACTIVITY IN 1985

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    JOHNSON, M.G., 1977, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF PERSHING COUNTY, NEVADA: NEVADA BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 89, P. 68-73.

  • Deposit

    MOORE, LYMAN, 1971, ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF CALIFORNIA-NEVADA IRON RESOURCES AND IRON ORE MARKETS: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES INFORMATION CIRCULAR 8511, P. 153-156.

  • Deposit

    REEVES, R.G., AND KRAL, V.E., 1955, IRON ORE DEPOSITS OF NEVADA, PART A, GEOLOGY AND IRON ORE DEPOSITS OF THE BUENA VISTA HILLS, CHURCHILL AND PERSHING COUNTIES, NEVADA: NEVADA BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 53, P. 30-31.

  • Deposit

    ZIENTEK, M.L., 1993, WRITTEN COMMUN. TO J.A. PETERSON

  • Deposit

    BONHAM, H.F., JR., 18 JULY 1985, NEVADA BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY FIELD EXAMINATION OF DISTRICT.

  • Deposit

    NEVADA BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY STAFF, 1985, NEVADA BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY OPEN-FILE REPORT 85-3.

  • Production

    JOHNSON, 1977

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit MAIN VEIN IS MORE THAN 600 FT LONG AND VARIES FROM 10-60 FT WIDE. SEVERAL PARALLEL VEINS UP TO 10 FT WIDE ARE PRESENT IN AN AREA OF ABOUT 0.25 MI. VEINS ARE EN ECHELON. MAGNETITE ALSO IS FOUND IN SMALL SEAMS AND NARROW VEINS
Deposit MINE CONSISTS OF IRON HORSE GROUP OF 10 CLAIMS

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1979 Donahoe, James L. (Johnson, M.G.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-NOV-1980 Royse, Sue E. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-SEP-1986 Peterson, Jocelyn A. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-JAN-1993 La Pointe, D.D. (Tingley, J.V.) Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-SEP-1994 Li, Zhiping (Peters, S.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

External references

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative Nevada resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.