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Cave Peak Molybdenum Deposit

Prospect in Culberson county in Texas, United States with commodities Copper, Molybdenum, Tin, Tungsten
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Ore body information
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mining district
  11. Mineral rights holdings
  12. Land status
  13. Ownership information
  14. Reserves and resources
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10178355
MRDS ID W701389
MAS/MILS ID 0481090006
Record type Site
Current site name Cave Peak Molybdenum Deposit
Related records 10085753

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Main Entrance
Geographic coordinates: -104.87771, 31.45236 (WGS84)
Elevation 1280
Location accuracy 10(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Culberson(county)

Texas(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Apache Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Van Horn(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Van Horn(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Salt Basin(hydrologic unit)

Rio Grande Closed Basins(hydrologic accounting unit)

Rio Grande Closed Basins(hydrologic subregion)

Rio Grande(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Texas Culberson

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Secondary
Molybdenum Primary
Tin Critical Tertiary
Tungsten Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Biotite Unknown
Cassiterite Unknown
Chalcopyrite Unknown
Fluorite Unknown
Goethite Unknown
Huebnerite Unknown
Jarosite Unknown
Kaolinite Unknown
Magnetite Unknown
Molybdenite Unknown
Powellite Unknown
Quartz Unknown
Wulfenite Unknown

Nearby scientific data

Main Entrance (1) -104.87771, 31.45236
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Length 500M
    Width 365M
    Depth to top 10M
    Field Value
    MAS Matrix # 1
    MAS Column # 1
    Minimum Depth to Top 0
    Avg. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 0
    Min. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 500
    Date of Last Modification 800507
  • Thickness 100M
    Length 120M
    Width 120M
    Depth to top 400M
    Field Value
    MAS Matrix # 2
    MAS Column # 1
    Minimum Depth to Top 400
    Avg. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 0
    Min. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 0
    Date of Last Modification 800507
  • Thickness 300M
    Length 200M
    Width 200M
    Depth to top 580M
    Field Value
    MAS Matrix # 3
    MAS Column # 1
    Minimum Depth to Top 580
    Avg. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 0
    Min. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 0
    Date of Last Modification 800507
  • Area 250HA
    Field Value
    Type of Orebody #1 STOCKWORK
    Shape of Orebody #1 PIPELIKE
    Type of Orebody #2 BRECCIA FILL
    Type of Orebody #3 STOCKWORK
    Primary mode of Origin HYDROTHERMAL
    Primary Ore Control IGNEOUS
    Secondary Ore Control FRACTURING
    Degree of Wallrock Alter. MODERATE
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #1 ADV ARGILLIC
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #2 SILICIFICATION
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #3 POTASSIC
    Total Surface Area (HA) 250
    Date of Last Modification 800507

Comments on the geologic information

  • GENERAL GEOLOGY THE 3 MOLY ZONES (UPPER, LOWER AND MIDDLE) OCCUR IN A COMPLEX MULTIPLE-INTRUSIVE BRECCIA PIPE SHAPED AS AN HOUR- GLASS IN THREE-DIMENSIONAL FORM. THE PIPE EXPOSED AT SURFACE IS ROUGHLY CIRCULAR WITH A DIAMETER OF 2500 FT (760 M). AT A DEPTH OF 1500 FT (457M) PIPE NARROWS TO 700 (210 M) DIAM. THE INTERMEDIATE MOLY ZONE IS SMALLER THAN BOTH THE UPPER AND LOWER ZONES AND IS POSITIONED IN THE AREA OF CONSTRICTION. THE LOWER ZONE IS APPARENTLY THE LARGEST OF THE 3 ZONES BUT IS YET ONLY PARTIALLY DEFINED. ALTERATION FOUR DISTINCT, VISUALLY RECOGNIZABLE, ALTERATION ZONES OCCUR WITHIN THE MAIN CAVE PEAK BRECCIA PIPE. SOME ARE PERIPHERAL WHILE OTHERS ARE COEXTENSIVE WITH MOLYBDENUM ZONES. THE ZONES OF ALTERATION ARE, OUTERMOST TO INNERMOST, ZONES OF ARGILLIZATION, SILICIFICATION, BIOTIZATION, AND REPLACEMENT SILICIFICATION. THESE ALTERATION FACIES ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE THREE MOLY ZONES.
  • MINERALOGY THE MINERALALOGY IN EACH OF THE 3 MINERALIZED ZONES IS ESSENTIALLY THE SAME, DIFFERING ONLY IN THE UPPER PART OF THE UPPER ZONE, WHERE NEAR-SURFACE MINERALIZATION HAS BEEN OXIDIZED. MIN RECS 101-104 REFER TO THE MINERALS FOUND IN OXIDATION ZONE OF UPPER MOLY ZONE (MATRIX 1) THE OXIDIZED ZONE PERSISTS FROM SURFACE TO ABOUT 200FT (61M) WITHIN THIS ZONE MOLYBDENUM IS ASSOCIATED WITH GOETHITE. ACTUAL MINERALIZATION WITHIN THE 3 MOLY ZONES CONSISTS OF BOTH DISCRETE CONCENTRATIONS OF STOCKWORK VEINLETS AND VERY FINE DISSEMINATIONS OF MOLYBDENITE. EACH MOLY ZONE HAS A WELL-DEFINED MINERALIZED PATTERN FROM OUTERMOST MARGINS TO INTERIOR OF ZONE TUNGSTON MINERALIZATION OCCURS IN ENVELOPING SHELLS PER PHERAL TO THE MOLY ZONES. THE SHELLS VARY IN THICKNESS FROM 50 - 100 FT (15-30 M). TIN IS DISTRIBUTED AS A FAIRLY CENTRAL CORE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant No
Discovery year 1940

Comments on exploration

  • EXPLORATION NORTHERNMOST MAIN PIPE OF CAVE PEAK HAS BEEN INVESTIGATED BY OVER 42000 FT (13000 M) OF DIAMOND DRILL HOLES. THIS DRILLING HAS REVEALED 3 DISTINCTLY SEPARATE ZONES OF MOLYBDENUM-FLUORITE-TUNGSTEN-TIN MINERALIZATION.

Mining district

District name Cave Peak

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Unknown

Land status

Ownership category Unknown

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner Draco Mines, L Maritime Plaza, San Fran, Cal. 94111
  • Type Owner
    Owner Union Carbide

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1980
    Indicated 74374000mt ore
    Demonstrated 74374000mt ore
    Total resources 74374000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Tin Sn 0.002 wt-pct Tin Trace 1980
    Molybdenum MoS2 0.225 wt-pct Molybdenum Major 1980
    Tungsten Wo3 0.05 wt-pct Tungsten Minor 1980
    Copper Cu 0.04 wt-pct Copper Minor 1980

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • R1 = M1C1 + M2C1 + M3C1. MATRIX 1 REFERS TO UPPER MOLY ZONE EXTENDING FROM SURFACE DOWNWARD 1200 FT (366 M). MATRIX 2 REFERS TO MIDDLE MOLY ZONE FOUND BETWEEN DEPTHS OF 1300-1600 FT (396-488 M). MATRIX 3 REFERS TO LOWER MOLY ZONE FOUND BETWEEN DEPTHS OF 1900-3000 FT (579-914 M).

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Geology

    KING, PHILIP. GEOLOGY OF THE SIERRA DIABLO REGION, TEXAS.

  • Geology

    USGS PP 480, 1965, 185 PP.

  • Geology

    SHARP, JAMES E., CAVE PEAK, A MOLYBDENUM-MINERALIZED

  • Geology

    BRECCIA PIPE COMPLEX IN CULBERTSON COUNTY, TEXAS. ECON.

  • Geology

    GEOL. V. 74, N. 3, MAY 1979, PP. 517-534.

  • Reserve-Resource

    RESERVES GIVEN BY JAMES SHARP, PROJECT GEOLOGIST, DRACO

  • Reserve-Resource

    MINES, IN JUL 27 AT AIME INTERMOUNTAIN SESSION, VAIL,

  • Reserve-Resource

    COLORADO, JULY 25-28, 1979.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 27-FEB-84 Hite, Alan G. U.S. Bureau of Mines

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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