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Salt Wells

Past Producer in Churchill county in Nevada, United States with commodities Boron-Borates, Potassium
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Ownership information
  14. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. General comments
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10102210
MRDS ID I000500
Record type Site
Current site name Salt Wells
Alternate or previous names North Sand Springs Marsh

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -118.50097, 39.33324 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Churchill(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bunejug Mountains(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fallon(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Reno(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 Churchill

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 17N 30E Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • IN SOUTH-CENTRAL CHURCHILL COUNTY AT THE NORTHWESTERN END OF EIGHTMILE FLAT.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Boron-Borates Primary
Potassium Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • BORATE OCCURS AS COTTONBALL ULEXITE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Borax Ore
Brine Ore
Potash Ore
Ulexite Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 260
USGS model code 35b.3
Deposit model name Lacustrine borates

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Lake Sediments
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -118.50097, 39.33324
ListMap

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1870
Discoverer William Troup
Year of first production 1870
Production years 1870-1875

Mining district

District name Sand Springs Marsh

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner American Borax Co.

Comments on the production information

  • PRODUCTION IS ONLY FOR AMERICAN BORAX CO.

Comments on development

  • ECON.COM: TWO SMALL PLANTS PRODUCED BORAX FROM THIS PLAYA FOR A FEW YEARS IN THE 1970'S.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    PAPKE, K.G., 1976, EVAPORITES AND BRINES IN NEVADA PLAYAS: NEVADA BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 87, P. 20.

  • Deposit

    SMITH, G.I., 1985, BORATE DEPOSITS IN THE UNITED STATES - DISSIMILAR IN FORM, SIMILAR IN GEOLOGIC SETTING, IN BARKER, J.M., AND LEFOND, S.J., EDS., BORATES: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND PRODUCTION: NEW YORK, AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING, METALLURGICAL AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERS, INC., P. 37-51.

  • Production

    PAPKE, 1976

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ULEXITE OCCURS NEAR THE EDGE OF THE PLAYA. ABOUT 400 ACRES CONTAINED ENOUGH BORATE TO BE WORKED AND THIS AREA COULD BE REWORKED EVERY 2 YEARS. THE MATERIAL REPORTEDLY CONTAINED ABOUT 10% BORAX, BUT LOCALLY YIELDED 30%. PLAYA IS 11 MILES LONG.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-1990 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 04-NOV-1994 Orris, Greta J. 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.