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Genesis-Blue Star Mines Area

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. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310439
MRDS ID M242941
Record type Site
Current site name Genesis-Blue Star Mines Area
Alternate or previous names North Star, Genesis, NW Genesis, West #9, Blue Star, Deep Star, Golden Zia, Pay Raise, Widge, Beast, Bobcat, Blue Star Ridge, Skarn Hill, Sold
Related records 10047571

Comments on the site identification

  • This record encompasses deposits described individually by earlier records M242941, RE00284, M231429, RE00285, RE00283, W700376 and other nearby oreodies not described in MRDS records.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -116.32399, 40.9299 (WGS84)
Elevation 1830
Relative position The mine area is located about 35 km (22 miles) northwest of the town of Carlin. UTM is to the central area of the Blue Star/Genesis open pit mine.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Eureka(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Rodeo Creek NE(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)

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 Eureka

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 035N 050E 03 04 Nevada
Mount Diablo 036N 050E 31 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The mine area is located about 4 miles northwest of the Carlin Mine, and a mle south of the southern margin fo the Betze-Post pit.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: gold
  • Gangue Materials: quartz, carbonaceous material, clay minerals

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Clay Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Zonation patterns for silica-sulfide breccia pipes such as Deep Star exhibit compact envelopes in which silicification and sulfidation are more intensely focused than at other Carlin deposits.

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 type qualifier thin-bedded silty
    Rock unit name Popovich Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Devonian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate
    Rock type qualifier thin-bedded silty micrite
    Rock unit name Popovich Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Devonian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Argillite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Chert
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type
    Rock unit name Vinini Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Ordovician
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type
    Rock unit name Roberts Mountains Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Devonian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Wenlock
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
    Rock type qualifier dike
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Middle Eocene
    Chronological age 37.3
    Dating method K-Ar
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type
    Rock unit name Goldstrike Stock
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Jurassic
    Chronological age 158

Nearby scientific data

(1) -116.32399, 40.9299
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Generally northwest-trending, broad to moderate amplitude, anticlinal folds play an important role as structural traps to fluid migration within individual deposits and on a regional scale. The autochthonous carbonate sequences that form the Carlin and Lynn tectonic windows are postulated to be remnant segments of a larger north-northwest-trending regional-scale anticline, with a doubly plunging fold axis that extends from the Gold Quarry deposit northward to the Genesis deposit. In this unified tectonic window model, gold deposits of the north-central and south-central Carlin trend are clustered along both the northeast and southwest flanks of the anticline, while its central portion has been segmented into a Tertiary, postmineral graben by late-phase Basin and Range extensional block faulting.
Type of structure Local
Structure description The K and Anne dikes are important dike-filled northeast fault structures in the Genesis Mine area.

Ore body information

  • General form tabular, disseminated, and irregular

Controls for ore emplacement

  • The N10W-trending Genesis fault and the N45 W Reindeer fault have been identified as the primary controls in the Genesis-Beast and the Northwest Genesis-North Star deposits, respectively. Schutz and Williams (1995) described higher grade gold mineralization in the Genesis deposit as being controlled in part along the hinge zone of the N10.W-trending, northerly plunging Tuscarora anticline along the southern and deep extensions of the deposit.

Comments on the geologic information

  • Age of the deposits: Drews (1993) reported three K/Ar dates ranging from 95 to 97 Ma from hydrothermal illite in high-grade (.0.20 opt gold) ore samples within the Genesis and Blue Star deposits. Post and Ressel and others, however, have constrained what appears to be the primary period of gold mineralization at the Beast deposit to late Eocene,~36-40 Ma.
    Multiple Tertiary-age intrusions along the Carlin trend and Tertiary-age dikes within specific deposits in the northern Carlin trend indicate the influence of a younger, gold-bearing hydrothermal event that occurred in the late Eocene, around 40 Ma. Henry and Ressel have reported 40Ar/39Ar dates from sericite ranging from 36 to 40 Ma on altered, gold-bearing dikes in the Post and Genesis fault zone. These dike swarms all occur within the Beast, Genesis, Griffin, and Meikle deposits in the northern Carlin trend. A single comparison of K/Ar and 40Ar/ 39Ar dates from the same altered dike in the Genesis deposit suggests that the potential effect of thermal resetting of K/Ar dates yields a younger age. Schutz and Williams (1995) reported a 27 Ma K/Ar date on the altered, gold-bearing K dike in the Genesis deposit; Henry and Ressel (2000) reported a 39 Ma 40Ar/39Ar date from the same altered dike.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1985
Year of first production 1961
Year of last production 2004

Mining district

District name Lynn District
District name Blue Star-Goldstrike subdistrict
District name Goldstrike subdistrict
District name Carlin Trend

Land status

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

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Newmont, the Gold Company
    Year 2004

Comments on the workings information

  • The mine area is developed by the Blue Star/Genesis Pit, the North Star Pit, the Sold Pit, the Beast Pit, and the Deep Star underground workings collared in the north part of the Blue Star/Genesis Pit.

Comments on other economic factors

  • Approximate gold endowment at Genesis including satellite deposits was reported as 5.0 million ounces (156 t) of gold in 2002. This figure did not include the 1.6 million ounces (50 t) total endowment of gold attributable to the Deep Star deposit.
    Production at Deep Star began in January 1996 on the 5,050-foot level. The mine in 2002 produced about 600 tons (540 t) of ore per day.
    The mines in the Blue Star-Genesis area continue to produce at the present time (2004).

Comments on development

  • The earliest gold discovery in the Genesis-Blue Star area was at Blue Star, immediately south of Goldstrike, where gold was identified in 1957 in areas that had been mined for turquoise. In 1961, 800 ounces (25 kg) of gold was produced until problems with slimes in the ore led to shutdown of the 220-short-ton/day (200-t/d) cyanide mill.
    Trenching and drilling by Newmont in 1966 discovered low-grade gold in fault zones cutting a diorite intrusion (Goldstrike intrusion). Although this early exploration identified significant gold grades, further work was not conducted due to the low gold price. In 1984, Newmont Mining discovered the large Genesis deposit adjacent to the Blue Star deposit. The Blue Star-Genesis discovery was announced in 1985 and mining at Genesis began in 1986. Newmont began mining the North Star open pits in 1995. In 1996, open pit operations commenced production from the Beast pit. A current major exploration focus in 2004 is underground drilling along the Deep Post/Deep Star corridor, a mile-long drift connecting the two high-grade underground mines.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit These deposits are located in the part of the Carlin Trend that lies south of the Goldstrike stock between the Castle Reef and Gen Faults.
The Popovich Formation hosts gold mineralization at Genesis-Blue Star where it consists of thin-bedded silty limestone and micrite.host rocks at Deep Star, Number 9, and part of the Genesis deposit have been metamorphosed to calc-silicate hornfels and minor skarn;
the N10W Genesis fault and the N45 W Reindeer fault have been identified as the primary controls in the Genesis-Beast and the Northwest Genesis-North Star deposits, respectively.
Deep Star is a compact, mineral replacement and breccia-hosted gold deposit

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-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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Authoritative Nevada resources

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