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Drinkwater Mine

Producer in Esmeralda county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Lead
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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. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Land status
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10106935
MRDS ID M242325
Record type Site
Current site name Drinkwater Mine
Alternate or previous names Blair Group Part

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -117.70871, 37.79744 (WGS84)
Relative position ABOUT 5 AIRMILES N 55 W FROM TOWN OF SILVER PEAK.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Esmeralda(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Silver Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Goldfield(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Goldfield(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Ralston-Stone Cabin Valleys(hydrologic unit)

Central Nevada Desert Basins(hydrologic accounting unit)

Central Nevada Desert Basins(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Esmeralda

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 002S 038E 01 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • INFO FROM LAND.ST :1972

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Tertiary
Lead Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Pyrite Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicification; Sericitization

Analytical data

Result SILVER CONTENT IS ONLY 1% OF THE GOLD CONTENT

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
    Rock unit name Wyman Formation
    Rock description Wyman F
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -117.70871, 37.79744
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Post-Ore Faults

Ore body information

  • General form LENSES
    Strike N W?
    Dip NE, GENTLY
    Length 1609.3M
    Width 30.48M

Comments on the geologic information

  • GOLD IS FINELY DISSEMINATED FREE GOLD IN THE QUARTZ AND IS ALSO CONTAINED IN PYRITE AND GALENA, WHICH TOGETHER CONSTITUTE ABOUT 10% OF THE ORE

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1864
Discoverer E.G. Carpenter, Seymour Hughes, J.M. Cammack,

Mining district

District name Silver Peak District (1865)

Land status

Ownership category Private

Comments on the production information

  • ABOUT $1,000,000 IN GOLD HAD BEEN PRODUCED FROM THE DRINKWATER MINE BY 1906

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • SPURR, J.E., (1906) P. 37.

Comments on the workings information

  • CHIATOVICH STOPE YIELDED RICHEST ORE - $40/TON. WORKINGS CONSIST OF OPEN CUTS, UPPER DRINKWATER TUNNEL, LOWER HICKEY TUNNEL.

Comments on development

  • A 30-STAMP MILL WAS BUILT AT SILVER PEAK FOR TREATMENT OF THESE ORES IN 1867 AND WORKED FOR 2 YEARS THE MINE WAS THEN IDLE UNTIL THE 1880'S WHEN IT WAS LEASED FOR 2-3 YEARS. IDLE UNTIL ANOTHER LEASE IN 1893. IN 1893, JOHN CHIATOVICH BUILT A CYANIDE PLANT AT SILVER PEAK TO MILL ORE FROM HIS LEASE ON THE DRINKWATER VEIN

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    SPURR, J.E., 1906, U.S.G.S. PROF. PAPER NO. 55

  • Deposit

    SHAMBERGER, HUGH A., 1970, SILVER PEAK: HISTORIC MINING CAMPS OF NEVADA SERIES, NO. 8: NEVADA HISTORICAL PRESS, CARSON CITY, NEVADA.

  • Production

    SPURR, J.E., (1906)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DRINKWATER ZONE OF LENSES IS UPPERMOST IN THIS AREA; MAGAZINE LENS IS INTERMEDIATE AND CROWNING GLORY LENS IS LOWERMOST. LENSES ARE OF WHITE, CRYSTALLINE QUARTZ AND OFTEN OVERLAP, OR WEDGE OUT

Reporter information

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

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.