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Buckskin Peak Mine

Past Producer in Humboldt county in Nevada, United States with commodities Mercury, Iron
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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. 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. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10104003
MRDS ID M232773
Record type Site
Current site name Buckskin Peak Mine
Alternate or previous names Paradise Mine, Mccormick Group, Mccormick-Dermody
Related records 10125517

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -117.55209, 41.78905 (WGS84)
Elevation 2621
Relative position 17 MILES SE OF MCDERMITT, NEV.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Humboldt(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Buckskin Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Quinn River Valley(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

McDermitt(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Quinn(hydrologic unit)

Black Rock Desert(hydrologic accounting unit)

Black Rock Desert-Humboldt(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Humboldt

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 045N 039E 11,14 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • SW 1/4 , SEC. 11; SUMMIT OF BUCKSKIN PEAK

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Mercury Primary
Iron Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cinnabar Ore
Pyrite Ore
Alunite Gangue
Chalcedony Gangue
Kaolinite Gangue
Opal Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicification, Clay. Alteration Minerals Associated With Mercury Ores Include Quartz, Alunite And Kaolinite And The Rock Is Largely C-Onverted To Opalite Consisting Of Quartz And Chalcedony. At De-Eper Levels, The Alteration Assemblages Consist Of Illite-Mont-Morillonite And Calcite-Chlorite.

Analytical data

Result HAND SORTED ORE RAN UP TO 120 LB/TON HG
Result AVG. GRADE OF ORE NOW-ABOUT 5 LB/TON HG. SAMPLE 478 OF SELECT CINNABAR-BEARING POOL SINTER CONTAINS 0.1 % FE, 0.02 % MG, 1 % TI, 50 PPM MN, 0.5 PPM AG, 10- PPM B, 1000 PPM BA, 1 PPM BE, 5 PPM CU, 50 PPM LA, 100 PPM NB-, 50 PPM PB, 5 PPM SC, 50 PPM SN, 20 PPM V, 500 PPM ZR.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 177
USGS model code 27a
Deposit model name Hot-spring Hg

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -117.55209, 41.78905
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form BLANKET
    Strike NW
    Dip 5-20NE

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Bedding In Sinter; Dehydration Cracks In Sinter

Comments on the geologic information

  • CINNABAR IS CONFINED TO THE SINTER BLANKET, WHERE IT OCCURS IN 4 ZONES, BOTH AS LAYERS OF MASSIVE CINNABAR, AND FINELY DISSEMINATED THROUGH A CHALCEDONIC AND OPALINE SILICA GANGUE. IN BANDED SINTER, CINNABAR-BEARING BANDS ARE INTERLAYERED WITH BARREN SILICA. IN CLASSIC SINTER, CINNABAR IS CONFINED TO SILICA CEMENT BETWEEN FRAGMENTS. SOME CAVITIES IN SINTER ARE LINED WITH CINNABAR, OPAL AND CHALCEDONY. CINNABAR BEARING ZONES ARE PARALLEL TO BEDDING OF THE SINTER; CINNABAR AND SINTER WERE PRECIPITATED SIMULTANEOUSLY DURING HOT-SPRING ACTIVITY. CINNABAR BEARING ZONES OCCUR ALONG THE NW AND SE SIDES OF THE SINTER BLANKET

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1907
Year of first production 1938

Mining district

District name National District

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner C. H. Hall, 1941
  • Type Owner
    Owner D. C. Mc Cormick, J. Dermody, And J. C. Ward . Asarco Held Claims In 1983.
    First year 1928

Comments on the production information

  • RESERVES OF AT LEAST 1000 FLASKS, UP TO 3000 FLASKS INDICATED IN 1940.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Length 298.7M

Comments on the workings information

  • PITS, TRENCHES, TUNNELS

Comments on development

  • HALL INSTALLED A 64-TON FURNACE IN 1940, REMOVED IN 1941 AFTER 70 FLASKS HG WERE PRODUCED

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    BAILEY, E. H., AND PHOENIX, D. A., 1944, QUICKSILVER DEPOSITS IN NEVADA: NEV. UMV. BULL. VOL 38 NO 5; SER. NO 41

  • Deposit

    ROBERTS, R. J., 1940, QUICKSILVER DEPOSIT AT BUCKSKIN PEAK, NATIONAL MINING DISTRICT, HUMBOLDT CO., NEV: USGS BULL 922E.

  • Deposit

    BENSON, W. T., 1956, INVESTIGATION OF MERCURY DEPOSITS IN NEVADA AND IN MALHEUR CO., OREG: U.S.B.M. REPT. INV. 5285

  • Deposit

    TINGLEY, J. V., 1968; UNPUBLISHED REPORT ON THE BUCKSKIN PEAK MERCURY DEPOSIT; ON FILE AT NEV. BUREAU OF MINES

  • Deposit

    VANDERBURG, W. O., 1938, RECONNAISSANCE OF MINING DISTRICTS IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY, NEV: U.S.B.M.I.C 6995

  • Deposit

    BAILEY, E. H., RYTUBA, J. J., AND JONES, R. B., 1984, UNPUBLISHED DATA ON MERCURY DEPOSITS OF NEVADA.

  • Deposit

    GARSIDE, L. J. AND BONHAM, H. F., 18 AUG 83, NBMG FIELD EXAMINATION ON TOUR LED BY PETER VEKRE OF ASARCO, AND SAMP-LE ANALYSIS.

  • Production

    BAILEY, E. H. AND PHOENIX, D. A., 1944.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit 4 CINNABAR OREBODIES OCCUR AS THIN (1-6 INCH) MANTOS SUBPARALLEL TO BEDDING WHICH STRIKES NW AND DIPS GENTLY NE. C-INNABAR IS THE ONLY ORE MINERAL AND IT OCCURS AS DISSEMINATION-S IN THE OPALITE, FRACTURE COATINGS, AND AS MASSIVE REPLACEMEN-T OF THE OPALITE. CINNABAR OCCURS AS BANDS AND STREAKS IN A 1 -M WIDE HORIZONTAL ZONE IN SILICEOUS POOL SINTER WHICH IS INTER-BEDDED WITH VOLCANICLASTIC ROCKS. THE CINNABAR IS FINE-GRAINED- AND LIGHT-SENSITIVE. THE VOLCANICLASTIC ROCKS CONSIST OF QUAR-TZ SANDSTONE AND RHYOLITIC PEBBLE CONGLOMERATE. SOME CINNABAR -ALSO OCCURS AS VEINLETS AND STOCKWORKS. CALOMEL (HG2CL2) IS PR-ESENT ON A FEW OXIDIZED SURFACE SAMPLES. THE POOL SINTER HAS D-ESSICATION CRACKS ON UPPER BEDDING SURFACES. REPORTEDLY IT IS -VERY LOW IN TI AND ZR, INDICATING ITS ORIGIN AS A SILICA PRECI-PITATE. THE MINERALIZED SEDIMENTS ARE INTRUDED? NEARBY BY A FL-OW-BANDED, LITHOPHYSAL, SPHERULITIC RHYOLITE. THE CINNABAR SIN-TER DEPOSITS ARE THE SURFACE EXPRESSION OF AN UNDERLYING
Deposit PRECI-OUS METAL VEIN SYSTEM WITH HIGHER CONCENTRATIONS OF STIBNITE I-N THE UPPER LEVELS OF THE VEINS.
Deposit CLAIMS WERE ORIGINALLY STAKED ON BUCKSKIN PEAK FOR GOLD AND SILVER PRIOR TO 1907. BETWEEN 1922 AND 1928, CHALMERS MCCORMICK LOCATED OVER 16 CLAIMS ON BUCKSKIN PEAK ADJACENT TO THE BUCKSKIN NATIONAL MINE. THE CLAIMS WERE OWNED BY D. C. MCCORMICK J. DERMODY, AND J. C. WARD, COVERING THE PEAK AND INCLUDING THE MERCURY DEPOSIT. PRESENCE OF CINNABAR WAS KNOWN SINCE 1911, BUT ORE WAS NOT RECOGNIZED UNTIL 1928 WHEN J. DERMODY TRACED CINNABAR FLOAT TO THE SILICEOUS SINTER BLANKET. THE PROPERTY WAS OPTIONED TO C. H. HALL IN 1939 WHO INSTALLED A 64 TON FURNACE IN 1940. DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN BY SURFACE CUTS AND TRENCHES AND UNDERGROUND WORKINGS. HALL'S FURNACE WAS REMOVED IN 1941 AFTER PRODUCING ONLY 70 FLASKS HG. THE PROPERTY LAY IDLE FROM 1941 TO AT LEAST 1956. MINE WORKINGS CONSIST OF A 560-FT TUNNEL, 2 ADITS TOTALLING 420 FT, AND A SMALL AMOUNT OF OTHER UNDERGROUND WORKINGS. THE PROPERTY MAY HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO SUPPORT A SMALL (50 TPD) OPERATION. FROM 1960 TO 1970, MERTEC INC.,
Deposit PROCESSED A SMALL AMOUNT OF ORE AND RECOVERED ABOUT 100 FLASKS OF MERCURY. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT; 3 FIELD OBSERV

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-1981 La Pointe, D. D. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-FEB-1986 La Pointe, D.D. (Tingley, J.V.) 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

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