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Deep Star Deposit

Producer in Eureka 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. 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. Production statistics
  20. Reserves and resources
  21. Links to other databases
  22. Bibliographic references
  23. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310436
MRDS ID RE00283
Record type Site
Current site name Deep Star Deposit

Comments on the site identification

  • This record supersedes record # RE00283 from which all pertinent information has been extracted.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -116.37593, 40.95907 (WGS84)
Elevation 1800
Relative position The mine is located 1600 ft. north of the Genesis Mine and 5000 ft. south of the Post-Betze system.\n

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Eureka(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Rodeo Creek NW(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Battle Mountain(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Winnemucca(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle Humboldt(hydrologic unit)

Humboldt(hydrologic accounting unit)

Black Rock Desert-Humboldt(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Eureka

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 036N 050E 31 Nevada

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: gold

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) Alteration comments: propylitization, argillization, silicification. Argillization is the dominant alteration type and occurs as a halo to the mineralized zone, and with quartz through the gold-rich zones. Silica is present in a variety of forms, including replacements, veins, stockworks and breccias, reflecting multiple periods of silicification. Silicification is not a simple quartz flooding, but is found as a quartz-kaolinite-sericite alteration.

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
    Rock unit name Popovich Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Devonian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Rock unit name Goldstrike Stock
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Jurassic
    Chronological age 158

Nearby scientific data

(1) -116.37593, 40.95907
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Deep Star lies along the Tuscarora Spur, a north-trending antiform.
Type of structure Local
Structure description Deep Star lies 1000 ft. south of the Goldstrike intrusive and along the southern extension of the NW-trending Post fault system. The primary structural orientation associated with ore formation at Deep Star is N20W.

Ore body information

  • General form tabular
    Strike NW
    Dip MODERATE-STEEP NE
    Length 106.68M
    Width 76.2M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • The Deep Star deposit occurs within metamorphosed carbonate rocks, sandwiched between two large intrusive bodies.

Comments on the geologic information

  • Geology comments: sedimentary rocks are cut by a myriad of dikes and sills of the Goldstrike intrusive. Emplacement of the intrusive has resulted in contact metamorphism and metasomatism generating a complex package of hornfels, marble, exoskarn, and endoskarn. The gold-bearing hydrothermal system was superimposed on this environment at the intrusive-sedimentary rock contact. The Deep Star deposit has a geochemical signature similar to many Carlin-type systems but with an exceptionally high Au:Ag ratio.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Producer
Deposit size Small
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1989
Discoverer Newmont Exploration Limited

Mining district

District name Lynn District
District name Goldstrike subdistrict
District name Carlin Trend

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Elko Administrative District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Newmont Gold Co. (Newmont Mining Corp.)
    Interest 100
    Home office Colorado
    Year 1996

Production statistics

  • Year 1995
    Description Gold Production 2800 T Oz/Yr Gold
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Gold Gold 87089.74g

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1995
    Demonstrated 770200mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 31.85 g/mt Gold Major 1995
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1996
    Demonstrated 768000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 31.89 g/mt Gold Major 1996
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1997
    Demonstrated 1265000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 30.03 g/mt Gold Major 1997

Comments on the workings information

  • underground workings below older surface workings

Comments on other economic factors

  • The pre-mine resource for the Deep Star deposit was listed in 2002 as 1.7 million ounces of gold, in ore with an average grade of nearly one ounce per ton.
    In its 2005 Annual Report , Newmont Mining Corp. announced that reserves at the Carlin Underground Operations aggregate 7,700,000 tons @ 0.490 opt Au proven+probable.

Comments on development

  • Newmont's discovery hole at Deep Star was drilled in mid-1989, and intersected 205 ft at an average grade of 0.941 opt Au between 1300 and 1505 ft. Subsequent drilling has outlined a mineralized body containing more than one million ounces of gold in ore with an average grade of nearly one ounce per ton.
    In 2004 a major exploration focus is underground drilling along the Deep Post/Deep Star corridor, a mile-long drift connecting these two high-grade underground mines.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-FEB-93 Phinisey, J. D. (Marcus, S.) U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 08-OCT-97 Buckingham, David A. U.S. Bureau of Mines
Reporter 01-NOV-04 LaPointe, D.D. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Editor 01-SEP-07 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.

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.