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Hilltop Open Pit Gold Mine

Producer in Lander county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Copper, Silver, Lead, Zinc, Antimony
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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. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Reserves and resources
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10086148
MRDS ID W702077
Record type Site
Current site name Hilltop Open Pit Gold Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -116.80482, 40.4138 (WGS84)
Elevation 2042

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Lander(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Mount Lewis(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)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Lander

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 029N 046E 04 NW Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • ON EAST SIDE OF HILLTOP RIDGE . INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1972)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Copper Tertiary
Silver Tertiary
Lead Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Antimony Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Stibnite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore
Barite Gangue
Marcasite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Pyrite Unknown

Alteration

  • (Local) 2 Alteration Episodes: One Pre-Ore (Peruasive Quarts-Sericite-Pyrite) And One Coeval With Gold Depisition Peruasive Silicification, Bleaching, Barite And Alunite.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Dacite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Ordovician
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Ordovician
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Chert
    Rock unit name Valmy
    Rock description Valmy

Nearby scientific data

(1) -116.80482, 40.4138
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Battle Mountain-Eureka Mineral Belt
Type of structure Local
Structure description Hilltop Mine Fault

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR
    Strike N-S
    Dip W

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Breddiation Along Fault Zone

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No

Mining district

District name Hilltop District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner U.S. Precious Metals, Inc. Of Vancouver
    Interest 25
    First year 1988
  • Type Owner
    Owner Ruskin Developments
    Interest 75
    First year 1988
  • Type Operator
    Owner Noranda (Option To Earn 50% By Drilling And Feasibility Study)
    First year 1987

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1984
    Total resources 4671000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 2.061 g/mt Gold Major 1984

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • OF THIS RESERVE, 800,000 TONS OF 0.055 OZ AU/TON IS OXIDE AND 5.7 MILLION TONS OF 0.079 OZ AU/TON IS BY OPEN PIT MENTODS.

Comments on the workings information

  • OPEN PIT, HEAP LEACH PROJECT

Comments on development

  • RUSKIN DEVELOPMENTS ACQUIRED DEVELOPMENTS ACQUIRED THE HILLTOP PROPERTY FROM GULF MINERAL RESOURCES CO. IN MAY, 1984 WITH INTENTIONS OF PROVING UP DRILL-INDICATED RESERVES ND A FEASIBILTITY STUDY BASED ON FINDINGS. GULF DRILLED THE PROPERTYFROM 1981 TO 1983 ON 200-FT SPACINGS. IN SUMMER OF 1986, U.S. PREICIOUS METALS INC. DECIDED TO EXERCISE ITS OPTION TO EARN 50% OF THE HILLTOP PROPERTY WITH AN OPEN PIT HEAPLEACH PROJECT. NORANDA BECAME INVOLVED IN THE DEVELOPMENT IN 1987 WITH AN OPTION TO EARN A 50% INTEREST BY DRILLING AND PRODUCING A FEASIBILITY STUDY OVER THE NEXT 12 MONTHS.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    NBMG MINING DISTRICT FILE 153, NUMEROUS PRESS CLIPPINGS

  • Deposit

    LISLE, R.E. AND DESROCHERS, G.J., 1988, GEOLOGY OF THE HILLTOP GOLD DEPOSIT, LANDER COUNTY, NEVADA IN GSN PRECIOUS METALS SYMPOSIUM TECHNICAL VOLUME.

  • Deposit

    BONHAM, H.F., 1986, NBMG MAP 91

  • Deposit

    BONHAM, H.F., 1988, IN NBMG MI-1987

  • Deposit

    NBMG, 1994, MI-1993

  • Reserve-Resource

    BONHAM, 1988 NBMG MI-1993

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit GOLD MINERALIZATION IS ASSOCIATED WITH SULPHIDE MINERALS WHICH ARE HOSTED BY A BRECCIATED CHERT UNIT OCCUPYING THE HANGING WALL OF A FAULT. DEPOSIT OCCURS IN BOTH A CONCORDANT AND DISCORDANT BRECCIAS ANDIN NARROW QUARTZ VEINS. THE DEPOSITS IS DISTINGUISHED BY THE ICCURRENCE OF GOLD MINERALIZATION IN QUARTZ-CARBONACEOUS MATTER-SULFIDE BRECCIA MATRIX IN A NON-CALCAREOUS HOST ROCK. VEINS STRIKEN-S AND DIP STEEPLY WEST.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-1988 La Pointe, D.D. (Tingley, J.V.) Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-SEP-1994 Li, Zhiping (Moyer, Lorre A.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

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.