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Argenta Mine

Producer in Lander county in Nevada, United States with commodity Barium-Barite
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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. Ownership information
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10103991
MRDS ID M232429
Record type Site
Current site name Argenta Mine
Alternate or previous names Barium King, Milchem, Nevada Barite
Related records 10295343

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -116.72778, 40.63694 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Lander(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Argenta(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Battle Mountain(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 032N 047E 19 Nevada

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Barium-Barite Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Barite Ore
Witherite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Host Rocks Generally Unalterred, Dikes Argillized At Contacts, And Have Baked & Bleached The Enclosing Ore & Host Rocks.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite > Diabase
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Devonian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Chert
    Rock unit name Slaven Formation;Slaven Formation
    Rock description Slaven Formation;Slaven Formation

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Deposit In Upper Plate Of Robert Mtn Thrust. Barite Deposits Have A Spatial Relationship To The Antler Orogenic Belt, With Bedded Barite In The Center Of The Trend, And Vein Type Occurrences On Either Side.

Ore body information

  • General form STRATABOUND, BEDDED
    Thickness 12.19M
    Length 304.8M
    Width 304.8M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Stratigraphic Chert Beds

Comments on the geologic information

  • BEDS OF BARITE UP TO 40 FEET THICK STRIKE NORTH OT NORTHWEST AND DIP 25E OCCUR INTERBEDDED WITH DARK GREY LIMESTONE AND CHERT IN THE SLAVEN FORMATION. THE BARITE RICH ZONE IS SEVERAL THOUSANDS OF FEET LONG AND ABOUT A THOUSAND FEET WIDE. THE ORE IS 90% SARITE WITH SMALL AMOUNTS OF WITHERITE. THE OREBODY GENERALLY HAS A LOW GRADE "RIND" WHERE THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF THE BARITE IS ABOUT 4.10 WHILE IN THE CENTER OF THE OREBODY THE SPECIFIC GRAVITY IS 4.35. OLIVINE DIABASE DIKE SWARM TRENDING N5-15W. THE DIKES ARE POST-ORE, AND OCCUPY OLDER FAULT ZONES WHICH MAY ORIGINALLY HAVE BEEN THE PLUMBING SYSTEM FOR THE BARIUM RICH HYDROTHERMAL FLUIDS (MITCHELL, 1977).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes

Mining district

District name Argenta

Ownership information

  • Type Unknown
    Owner Baker-Hughes Drilling Fluids
    Year 2013

Comments on the production information

  • LARGEST MINE IN THE DISTRICT, IT HAS PRODUCED OVER 100,000 TONS BARITE

Comments on the workings information

  • SEVERAL LARGE OPEN PITS

Comments on development

  • LARGEST MINE IN THE DISTRICT, IT HAS PRODUCED MORE THAN 100,000 TONS OF BARITE FROM SEVERAL LARGE OPEN PITS.

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. 209, REFERENCE NO 3201500057

  • Deposit

    MITCHELL A.W. (1977) GEOLOGY OF BARITE DEPOSITS IN NORTH-CENTRAL NEV, MS THESIS, UNR

  • Production

    STAGER, H.K., 1977

  • Deposit

    Miller, M., 2013, Barite, in Industrial Minerals Review 2012: Mining Engineering, v. 65, no. 7, p. 41-42.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit LARGEST MINE IN THE DISTRICT, IT HAS PRODUCED MORE THAN 100,000 TONS OF SARITE FROM SEVERAL LARGE OPEN PITS ON THE WEST SIDE OF MOSQUITO CANYON.
Deposit BARITE BEDS INTERBEDDED WITH DARK GREY LIMESTONE AND CHERT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 1980-12-01 Kirkham, Richard A. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Editor 2013-07-17 Wilson, Anna B 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.