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Goldfield Main Deposit

Producer in Esmeralda county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Bismuth, Potassium, Antimony, Tin
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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. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Controls for ore emplacement
  15. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  16. Mining district
  17. Land status
  18. Ownership information
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310417
MRDS ID W002900
Record type Site
Current site name Goldfield Main Deposit
Alternate or previous names One of Metallic Ventures? three area properties
Related records 10310328, 10310418, 10310419, 60001656

Comments on the site identification

  • This new record is for the current Goldfield Main deposit of Metallic Ventures, which is one of three Metallic Ventures properties in the historic Goldfield District: Goldfield Main, McMahon Ridge, and Gemfield, each of which has its own record since they are separate and discrete deposits a few miles apart. The older MRDS record W002900 describes the historic Goldfield District.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -117.23341, 37.71023 (WGS84)
Elevation 1830
Relative position The Goldfield Project is located approximately 258 miles north of Las Vegas, Nevada and 262 miles south of Reno, Nevada along U.S. Highway 95, near the east border of Esmeralda County.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Esmeralda(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Goldfield(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 003S 042E 35 36 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The Goldfield Main area is approximately one-half mile east of U.S. Highway 95 and the town of Goldfield, Nevada on a well-maintained gravel road about 28 miles south of Tonopah.
    The Goldfield Project consists of 385 patented and 849 unpatented claims totalling approximately 18,540 acres located in Esmeralda and Nye Counties, Nevada.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Copper Secondary
Lead Secondary
Bismuth Critical Tertiary
Potassium Tertiary
Antimony Critical Tertiary
Tin Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: native gold, auriferous pyrite, bismuthinite, goldfieldite, rare native silver
  • Gangue Materials: quartz, alunite, barite, gypsum, limonite, kaolin

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Bismuthinite Ore
Goldfieldite Ore
Silver Ore
Quartz Gangue
Alunite Gangue
Barite Gangue
Gypsum Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Kaolin Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Large envelopes of intense argillic alteration surround most of the ore zones with silicification of core ore zones.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 154
USGS model code 25e
Deposit model name Epithermal quartz-alunite Au
Mark3 model number 38

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyodacite
    Rock type qualifier porphyritic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
    Rock type qualifier siliceous
    Rock unit name El Dorado
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cambrian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name El Dorado
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cambrian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name El Dorado
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cambrian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock
    Rock type qualifier lacustrine
    Rock unit name Siebert Fm
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Alkali-Granite (Alaskite)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cretaceous
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Jurassic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cretaceous
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Jurassic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Mafic Volcanic Rock > Basalt
    Rock unit name Malpais Basalt
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Miocene
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite
    Rock unit name Siebert Fm
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Dacite
    Rock unit name Siebert Fm
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
    Rock type qualifier rhyolite
    Rock unit name Siebert Fm

Nearby scientific data

(1) -117.23341, 37.71023
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Historically, ore is localized along the N-S-trending Columbia Mt. Fault, at intersections with left lateral E-W-trending offset faults (800-900 ft offset).
Type of structure Regional
Structure description Tertiary deposits are domed and faulted by steeply dipping post Miocene: N-S and E-W faults.

Ore body information

  • General form Irregular to tabular or knobby

Controls for ore emplacement

  • The ore-bearing structures are generally north-south trending and sub-parallel to the strike of the ring-fracture zone.

Comments on the geologic information

  • The Goldfield mining district is located at the site of a complex and long-lived igneous intrusive and volcanic center that is defined by eruptive vents and curviplanar faults. The local volcanic stratigraphy, a moderately well-defined ring-fracture zone, concentric structural doming, high sulfidation-style quartz-alunite hydrothermal alteration, and widespread copper-gold mineralization are all genetically related to the emplacement of a large dominantly andesitic igneous complex and the most significant components of which are late Oligocene to early Miocene in age.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1902
Discoverer Harry Stimler & Wm Marsh
Year of first production 1904
Year of last production 1970
Production years 1904-1970s

Mining district

District name Goldfield District:

Land status

Ownership category Private
Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Tonopah District BLM

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Metallic Ventures Inc.
    Year 2004

Comments on the workings information

  • Older workings were predominantly underground with later surface workings. The Goldfield Main Area has supported three recent open pit/heap leach operations and if the project goes into production again, there is adequate area for potential tailings storage, waste disposal, and area for processing plants.

Comments on other economic factors

  • Historic recorded production from the main Goldfield district is 4,190,133 ounces of gold at an average 0.541 oz/ton gold, including about 160,800 ounces of gold from reworked tailings.

    1994 reserves of this area were reported at 3.48 million tons of ore grading 0.071 opt Au, soon to be updated after recent high-grade drilling intercepts.

Comments on development

  • Gold was discovered in the Goldfield district in December, 1902. High-grade ore was discovered in 1903 immediately northeast of the town of Goldfield. Mining from the claims began in early 1904 and more than 110,000 ounces were produced from 8,000 tons of ore in 1904 Minor production continued from leasing operations through 1926. Between 1927 and 1937, about 3.1 million tons of tailings were reprocessed, yielding about 160,800 ounces of gold. Several mining companies worked and explored the properties during the period 1935-1951, with minor production.
    Recent activity in the Goldfield district has focused more on exploration and development of heap-leach oxide deposits. Some of the companies that have explored and/or produced gold in the district since the 1970s include Cordex Exploration Company, Noranda Exploration Company, Cyprus Mines Corporation, Newmont, Meridian Precious Metals, Echo Bay Exploration Inc, AMAX Exploration, Inc., Santa Fe Pacific Gold Corporation, Kennecott Exploration Company, Cameco, North Mining Inc., Romarco Minerals Inc., and currently, Metallic Ventures.

Comments on the environmental information

  • Oxidized subduction-related continental-margin arc along western North America

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Almost all of the precious and base metal production recorded from the Goldfield mining district has come from rich epithermal bonanza ore bodies found in the one-half square mile area directly northeast of the Goldfield town site. These ore bodies occur within silicified hydrothermal alteration zones. Mineralization in the argillized wall rock envelopes appears to be leakage zones emanating from core silicified zones. The drill-defined part of the Goldfield Main mineralized area has the following dimensions: 3,600 ft long, 1,000 ft down dip and open, and averages 100 ft thick.
Mineralization at the Main District is structurally controlled in zones about 50-100 feet thick. The major ore host in the Goldfield District is porphyritic rhyodacite. Ore zones are commonly associated with silicification and/or free quartz surrounded by large envelopes of intense argillic alteration.
In the main district, gold-copper ores were found in a series of pipe-like shoots referred to locally as ledges, the most productive of which occurred where the east-west striking Goldfield structural trend intersects a mile-long arcuate section of inferred intrusive-related ring-fracture zone. Although the major ore bodies are hosted in a complex intersecting set of faults and fracture zones, the ore-bearing structures are generally north-south trending and sub-parallel to the strike of the ring-fracture zone in that location.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAY-2004 LaPointe, D. D. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Editor 01-SEP-2007 Schruben, Paul G. U.S. Geological Survey Converted from S&A FileMaker format to Oracle. Edit checks on rocks, units, and ages with Geolex search, and other fields.

Beyond USGS

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

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