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Illipah Mine

Past Producer in White Pine county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver
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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. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Reserves and resources
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310433
MRDS ID M242967
Record type Site
Current site name Illipah Mine
Alternate or previous names Northeast Pit, Main Pit, South Pit

Comments on the site identification

  • This record includes data from from MRDS record M242967, which has been deleted. This record is an updated version that incorporates all information in earlier MRDS record W700448 for the Illipah Mine plus additional updated material.

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Pit
Geographic coordinates: -115.4512, 39.4607 (WGS84)
Elevation 2090
Relative position AThe Illipah Mine is located at the extreme northern end of the White Pine Range, about 40 miles west of Ely, Nevada.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

White Pine(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Antelope Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Mount Hamilton(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Ely(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Long-Ruby 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 White Pine

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 018N 058E 4 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The Illipah Mine was an open pit heap leaching operation consisting of approx. 514 unpatented mining claims covering approx. 9770 acres of federally-administered land.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: gold
  • Gangue Materials: quartz

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) A bold north-south-trending jasperoidal zone outcrops along the west flank of Illipah Ridge. the jasperoid has developed along the contact between the Joana Limestone and Chainman Shale. Alteration associated with the deposit consists of decalcification, oxidation,

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 173
USGS model code 26a.1
Deposit model name Sediment-hosted Au
Mark3 model number 17

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Devils Gate Limestone
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Devonian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Middle Devonian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
    Rock unit name Pilot Shale
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Mississippian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Late Devonian

Nearby scientific data

Pit (1) -115.4512, 39.4607
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description The north-south-trending Illipah Anticline projects through the mine area, bounded on the east by a steep west-dipping reverse fault. A major N-S trending shear zone dips W 30-60 degrees.
Type of structure Local
Structure description E-W and NW-trending faults offset the jasperoid.

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Subeconomic mineralizatio occurs at intersections of E-W and NW-trending faults with the jasperoid.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1981
Discoverer Tenneco Minerals
Year of first production 1987
Year of last production 1989
Milling method Heap Leach-Carbon Column-Merrill-Crowe
Production years 1987-1989

Mining district

District name Illipah District

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Ely BLM Administrative District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Alta Gold Co.
    Year 1997
  • Type Joint Venture
    Owner Alta Bay Joint Venture
    Interest 100
  • Type Joint Venture Owner-Op
    Owner Alta Gold Co.
    Interest 60
  • Type Joint Venture Owner-Op
    Owner Echo Bay, Ltd.
    Interest 40

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1987
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 0.931 g/mt Gold Major 1987
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1988
    Total resources 10000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 0.931 g/mt Gold Major 1988
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1989
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 0.847 g/mt Gold Major 1989

Comments on the workings information

  • Illipah was developed by three small open pits.

Comments on other economic factors

  • The orebody was defined by drilling in 1985 and geologic reserves stood at 1.9 million tons of ore grading 0.048 opt gold. Reserves of 57,000 ounces of gold were reported in 1987. Production from the Illipah Mine from 1987 through 1989 was 54,198 ounces of gold, including gold recovered from the heap leach after miing ceased.

Comments on development

  • Tenneco acquired the Illipah property from Earth Resources in 1980 and in 1981 intersected the southern end of the Illipah orebody. Tenneco drilled nearly 400 holes during the period 1980-1986. The property was included in the purchase of Tenneco's mineral holdings by Echo Bay Mines Ltd. On June 1, 1988, Echo Bay entered into the Alta Bay Venture with Alta Gold Co. Alta Gold gained a 60% interest in the venture and became operator of the Illipah Mine. Production commenced in October, 1987. The Illipah mine employed a total of about 60 workers in 1987. Gold recovery was estimated at 90% using heap leach technology. Gold-bearing solutions from the heap leach were treated in carbon adsorption tanks. The loaded carbon was sent to the McCoy mine plant for recovery of contained gold. Reserves at the Illipah mine had been mined out by the end of 1988, but heap- leaching continued through the summer of 1989 and the mine closed late in the year.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Echo Bay Mines Ltd., 1987, Form 10-K.

  • Deposit

    Silver King Mines Inc./ Pacific Silver Corp., 1988, Combined Annual Report.

  • Deposit

    Alta Gold Co., 1989 Annual Report.

  • Deposit

    Echo Bay Mines Ltd., 1989 Annual Report.

  • Deposit

    Dean, D. A., Benedetto, K. M. F., Durgin, D. C., 1991, Part One: Illipah Area Road Log, in Buffa, R. and Coyner, A., Eds., Geology and Ore Deposits of The Great Basin - Field Trip Guidebook Compendium, The Geological Society of Nevada, Reno, p.131-135.

  • Deposit

    Silver King Mines Inc., 1989, Form 10-K.

  • Deposit

    Roripaugh, Ray L; Asher, Rod; Durgin, Dana, 1989, Illipah, disseminated gold deposit; in Geology and mineral deposits of White Pine County, Nevada, eds, Schafer, Robert W; Buffa, Ruth, Geol. Soc. Nev. Special Publication, vol. 9.

  • Deposit

    NEV. BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOL. SPECIAL PUBLICATION 10, 1990, P. 16.

  • Deposit

    SKILLINGS MINING REVIEW, OCT 5, 1996, P13.

  • Deposit

    ALTA NEW RELEASE, OCT., 3 1996.

  • Deposit

    AMERICAN METAL MARKETS, VOL 104, #201, 10/16/96, P7.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Most ore mined at Illipah was from teh upper 50 feet of the Devils Gate Limestone.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1988 Paidakovich, Matthew E. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-DEC-1988 La Pointe, D.D. (Tingley, J.V.) Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-DEC-1992 Phinisey, J. D. (Marcus, S.) U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 14-MAY-1997 Lowe, Nathan T. U.S. Bureau of Mines
Updater 01-JUN-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.

Current status (per MSHA)

StatusAbandoned since 03/19/1993
MSHA mine ID2602006
Mine name (MSHA)Illipah Mine
Current operatorAlta Gold Company
Mine typeSurface (Metal / non-metal)

MSHA cross-reference per the original MRDS record. Mine status and operator reflect MSHA's last published Mines export (February 2025); MSHA's public bulk feed has been unavailable since, so this may be out of date. See the Mine Data Retrieval System for current status.

Open MSHA's Mine Data Retrieval System for inspections, accidents, and violations for this mine.

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.