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Little Gem

Past Producer in Lander county in Nevada, United States with commodities Copper, Gold, Silver, Lead, Arsenic
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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. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Workings at the site
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10044891
MRDS ID M232516
Record type Site
Current site name Little Gem

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -116.69982, 40.31685 (WGS84)
Relative position 1 1/2 MILES WEST OF TENABO

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Lander(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Tenabo(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Crescent Valley(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Winnemucca(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle Humboldt(hydrologic unit)

Humboldt(hydrologic accounting unit)

Black Rock Desert-Humboldt(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 Lander

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 028N 047E 08 Nevada

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Gold Secondary
Silver Secondary
Lead Secondary
Arsenic Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Cerargyrite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Gold Ore
Malachite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Country Rock Argillized Outwards From Stock

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Ordovician
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Ordovician
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metavolcanic Rock > Mafic Metamorphic Rock > Greenstone
    Rock unit name Valmy Formation;Valmy Formation
    Rock description Valmy Formation;Valmy Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -116.69982, 40.31685
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Deposit In Upper Plate Of Roberts Mtn Thrust
Type of structure Local
Structure description High Angle Basin & Range Period Faults, Normal Faults

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR
    Thickness 1.83M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Hydrothermal Channelways, Faults, Fissures, Breccias

Comments on the geologic information

  • THE ORE OCCURS IN A FAULT FISSURE VEIN COMPOSED LARGELY OF QUARTZ & CRUSHED COUNTRY ROCK. THE VEIN AVERAGES 4 FEET IN WIDTH, STRIKES E-W WITH A FLAT DIP TO THE SOUTH. MOST OF PRODUCTION OF SEVERAL THOUSAND TONS HAS BEEN FROM THE OXIDIZED ZONE. THE SULPHIDE ZONE APPEARS 75 FEET BELOW THE SURFACE CONTAINS ARSENOPYRITE, SPHALERITE, CHALCOPYRITE, GALENA, AND PYRITE. THE HOST ROCK IS STRONGLY SHEETED PARALLEL TO THE LODE AND ARGILLIZED AND SERICITIZED NEAR THE LODE. THE OREBODY STRIKES AN AVERAGE OF WEST AND DIPS ABOUT 30S. THE VEIN IS FROM 1 TO 6 FEET WIDE AND IS A ZONE OF CLOSELY SPACED PARALLEL SHEETS OF QUARTZ AND SULPHIDES. SINCE IT WAS FORMED THE VEIN HAS BEEN CRUSHED & SHATTERED BY MOVEMENT PARALLEL TO THE WALLS. IT IS CROSSED BY SEVERAL NORMAL FAULTS WHICH DO NOT APPRECIABLY OFFSET THE OREBODY (EMMONS, 1910).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1907
Year of first production 1907

Mining district

District name Bullion

Comments on the production information

  • 18 CARLOADS ORE AVERAGING $30/TON WERE SHIPPED IN 1907. PRODUCTION INCLUDED SOME LEAD AND ARSENIC.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 457.2M
    Overall depth 132.59M

Comments on the workings information

  • INCLINED SHAFT AND SUBSIDIARY TUNNELS

Comments on development

  • ONE PATENTED AND THREE UNPATENTED CLAIMS: A 50-TON FLOTATION MILL WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1937 BUT SOON CLOSED DOWN DUE TO METALLURGICAL DIFFICULTIES

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    STAGER, H.K. (1977) GEOLOGY & MINERAL RESOURCES OF LANDER CO NEV, N.B.M. BULL 88

  • Deposit

    USBM (WINNEMUCCA) MILS NO. 87, REFERENCE NO. 3201500121

  • Deposit

    EMMONS, W.H. (1910) RECONNAISSANCE OF MINING DISTRICTS IN ELKO, LANDER, & EUREKA COS., USGS BULL 408

  • Deposit

    WRUCKE, C.T. (1974) GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE TENABO AREA, LANDER CO NEV, USGS MAP MF-647

  • Production

    STAGER, H.K. (1977)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ORE OCCURS IN A FAULT-FISSURE VEIN
Deposit THE MINE COMPRISES ONE PATENTED AND THREE UNPATENTED CLAIMS. A 50 TON FLOTATION MILL WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1937 BUT SOON CLOSED DOWN DUE TO METALLURGICAL DIFFICULTIES. WORKINGS CONSIST OF A 435 FOOT DEEP INCLINED SHAFT AND 1,500 FEET OF SUBSIDIARY TUNNELS. IN 1908 18 CARLOADS OF ORE YIELDED ABOUT $30 TON. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-1980 Kirkham, Richard A. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology

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.