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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Railroad Valley Playa Deposits

Past Producer in Nye county in Nevada, United States with commodity Halite
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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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Ore body information
  11. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10104032
MRDS ID M233493
Record type Site
Current site name Railroad Valley Playa Deposits
Alternate or previous names Butterfield Marsh

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -115.67088, 38.48272 (WGS84)
Elevation 1436
Location accuracy 10000(meters)
Relative position Utm To Approximate Center Of Large Playa Covering About 60 Square Miles

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nye(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Christian Spring(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Quinn Canyon Range(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Lund(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Hot Creek-Railroad Valleys(hydrologic unit)

Central Nevada Desert Basins(hydrologic accounting unit)

Central Nevada Desert Basins(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 Nye

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 006N;007N;008N 055E;056E;057E Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • IN LOWEST PART OF RAILROAD VALLEY. PART IS IN U.S.-ADMINISTERED WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1972); PREVIOUS QUAD DESIGNATION = TROY CANYON (1964) 1:625000

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Halite Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • SALT CRUST CONTAINED UP TO 12 % K2O. 5-20 % GAYLUSSITE FROM 660-2880 FT, AND A 33-FT INTERVAL STARTING AT 861 FT. CONTAINED 60 % GAYLUSSITE,-FROM ONE DEEP DRILL HOLE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gaylussite Ore
Halite Ore
Clay Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Evaporite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pleistocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -115.67088, 38.48272
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form BLANKET
    Strike FLAT-LYING
    Dip FLAT-LYING
    Length 16093M
    Width 12874.4M
    Depth to top 0M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Playa, Evaporative Basin

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant No
Discovery year 1880

Mining district

District name Currant District

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Shell Oil Co. Drilled Deep Hole In 1954; Standard Slag

Comments on the workings information

  • DRILL HOLES

Comments on development

  • SOME SALT WAS SHIPPED TO TYBO IN 1880'S FOR USE IN TREATING SILVER ORE, BUT HIGH POTASH CONTENT WAS DETRIMENTAL. AREA EXTENSIVELY EXPLORED BY RAILRAOD VALLEY CO 1912-1914 FOR POTASH; 7 HOLES TOTALLING 6108 FT. WERE DRILLED. A DEEP HOLE WAS DRILLED IN 1954 BY SHELL OIL. CO. IN SEARCH OF OIL. IN 1960, STANDARD SLAG CO. DRILLED 5 HOLES THAT SUBSTANTIATED THE PRESENCE OF A LARGE BODY OF GAYLUSSITE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    NBMG BULL 87, P. 26-27

  • Deposit

    NBMG BULL 50, P. 49-50

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit 60 SQUARE MILE PLAYA

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-82 La Pointe, D. D. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology

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.