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Adelaide Crown Mines

Past Producer in Humboldt county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, Zinc, Manganese, Iron, Molybdenum
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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 10310487
MRDS ID M231274
Record type Site
Current site name Adelaide Crown Mines
Alternate or previous names Crown Mine, North Pit, South Pit
Related records 10043964

Comments on the site identification

  • This record incorporates all material from MRDS records for Gold Run District historic mines described by MRDS # M231274, W016348, D011109, and M242591 and as well as additional material describing the more recently identified gold deposits .

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -117.52735, 40.811 (WGS84)
Elevation 1620
Relative position The Adelaide Crown Mine area is located 12 miles south of Golconda, Nevada

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Humboldt(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Adelaide(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Winnemucca(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 Humboldt

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 034N 040E 18 19 Nevada
Mount Diablo 034N 039E 13 24 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The mines are situated on both sides of Layson Creek south and southwest of Adelaide historic townsite on the east side of the Sonoma Range.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Copper Secondary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Manganese Critical Tertiary
Iron Tertiary
Molybdenum Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: gold, silver sulfides, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, molybdenite, oxide copper minerals, tetrahedrite, chalcocite, manganese oxides
  • Gangue Materials: garnet, diopside, vesuvianite, calcite, orthoclase, quartz, pyrite, limonite, chalcedony, iron-manganese oxides, sericite, hematite, limonite

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Galena Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Pyrrhotite Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Garnet Ore
Diopside Ore
Vesuvianite Ore
Calcite Ore
Orthoclase Ore
Quartz Ore
Pyrite Ore
Limonite Ore
Chalcedony Ore
Sericite Ore
Hematite Ore
Limonite Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) silicification

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Slate
    Rock type qualifier interbedded calcareous
    Rock unit name Preble Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Middle Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Preble Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Middle Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Valmy Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Ordovician
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist
    Rock unit name Valmy Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Ordovician
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
    Rock unit name Valmy Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Ordovician

Nearby scientific data

(1) -117.52735, 40.811
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description thrust faults, N-trending faults
Type of structure Local
Structure description Country rocks strike N-S and dip steeply east and are strongly crumpled.

Ore body information

  • General form tabular

Controls for ore emplacement

  • north-trending fault zone containing the Crown vein

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1860
Year of first production 1860
Year of last production 1980
Production years 1860s-1980s

Mining district

District name Gold Run (Adelaide) District

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Winnemucca BLM Administrative District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Franco-Nevada Mining Corp, Ltd.
    Year 2001

Comments on the workings information

  • The historic Adelaide mines were developed by numerous shafts, adits and underground workings totaling more than two miles as well as many prospect pits and a small open pit. More recent work consists of several kilometers of drill roads and several rotary and core drill holes.

Comments on other economic factors

  • Adelaide Crown reserves in 1989 were: south pit?585,000 tons of ore grading 1.313 ounces of silver per ton and 0.043 ounces of gold per ton; additional area: 165,000 tons of ore grading 0.015 ounces of gold per ton, and1.10 ounces of silver per ton.
    From 1907 to 1936, the Adelaide mines produced more than a half million dollars worth of copper, lead, silver, gold ore. From 1878-1914, the Adelaide Mine produced 21,009 tons of ore worth $119,491. In 1940 the Adelaide Crown Mine produced 27,886 tons of ore worth $73,116. Production in 1990-91 was 4917 ounces of gold and 53,474 ounces of silver.

Comments on development

  • The Gold Run- Adelaide area was first prospected in the 1860s, and the district was organized in 1866. In 1868, an 8-stamp amalgamation mill was built to treat ore from nearby mines and in 1889, some copper was produced at Adelaide. In 1897, Glasgow and Western Exploration Co. acquired the main Adelaide mines and built a narrow gauge railroad from Adelaide to Golconda, and a concentrator and smelter were built at Golconda. The smelter operated continuously from 1898 to 1905 and the mill ran for 1 1/2 years, but both mill and smelter were scrapped in 1911. The original town of Adelaide was 1.5 miles east of its present location, moved in the 1930s.
    The Adelaide mines were bought by Yerington Mountain Copper Company, who operated ifor several years during W.W.I and intermittently until after 1937. Placer gold was discovered along Goldrun Creek in 1886, and the placers were sporadically worked for many years. The Adelaide mine operated from 1860s to 1940 and yielded the major portion of the gold, silver, copper and lead produced in the district. There was a flurry of exploration activity in the mid-1960s, by Bear Creek, and Union Carbide, among others. The district was prospected for molybdenum in early 1970s.
    Gold, silver, and copper production began again in 1980, with Bullion Monarch Company owning a 50% interest in M. and B. Mining Co. In October 1980, about 1000 tons of ore had been recently mined, stockpiled, and readied for delivery to Monarch's 200 tpd flotation mill at Austin. The district mines were inactive again when inspected in 1984, but a considerable amount of recent drilling had been done in the area south of the Adelaide mining by Exxon for precious metals. Shallow stopes indicate probable small gold production.
    Exploration interest in the district revived in the 1990s. Icarus Exploration Company mined and heap-leached ore - probably in 1990-1991 from Adelaide mines. Operators in 1990 as Gold King Nevada, Inc. employing a total of 42 employees and producing 3068 ounces of gold and 37,537 ounces of silver. In 1997, Altaur Gold took an option to purchase the Adelaide Crown gold property, at that time an advanced stage, fully permitted project with a proven reserve of 25,000 oz of gold and a drill-inferred resource of about 200,000 oz. Altaur planned to confirm the in-ground resource and increase its land holdings in the area before making a production decision. Also in 1997, White Knight Resources secured an agreement with North Mining to explore their Rock Creek Ranch property located between the Adelaide Crown Mine and Kramer Hill to the northeast. This area contains large areas of silicification and jasperoid development. In 1999, North Mining Inc. drilled two core holes in the property, designed to test geochemical targets identified by earlier trenching and rotary drilling. Both holes targeted more receptive host rocks of the Comus and Preble Formations beneath Valmy Formation rocks with the potential for a deeper sediment-hosted deposit. Also in 1999, Western Exploration planned 11 reverse circulation drill holes and 4,800 feet of road construction on its LNL claims near Adelaide.
    In 2000, Aur Resources optioned a part of Franco-Nevada's Adelaide claims on the southern part of the Getchell trend and, following mapping and sampling last year, planned a drilling program on the property. Newmont acquired Franco-Nevada Mining in 2002, and assumed ownership of that company's properties.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Willden, Ronald, 1964, Geology and Mineral Deposits of Humboldt County Nevada: Nbmg Bull. 59

  • Deposit

    Garside, L. J., 1984, Field Examination Notes: NBMG Unpublished mining district files.

  • Deposit

    Couch, B.F., and Carpenter, J.A., 1943, Nevada's Metal and Mineral Production (1859-1940): NBMG Bull. 38.

  • Deposit

    Altaur Gold press release, 3/6/97.

  • Deposit

    BLM Files, Winnemucca District, 4/12/1999.

  • Deposit

    Denver Mining Record, 3/4/98, 11/10/99

  • Deposit

    White Knight Resources news release, 2/19/99, 11/2/99.

  • Deposit

    www.franco-nevada.com, 9/11/2000.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Silicified fault zone mineralized with gold and silver values in a brecciated, iron-stained, manganese-stained quartz gangue. In 1908, Ransome described the Adelaide Mine ore as a replacement of limestone by pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite , and minor galena in a skarn gangue of garnet, diopside, vesuvianite, calcite, orthoclase and minor quartz. There was a large body of ore averaging about 3 % copper. About 45,000 tons of this material was subsequently mined. The Crown Vein in the Adelaide Crown Mine trends N-S, dipping 70 west and was up to 80 feet thick. Gold and silver occur within the iron-manganese-stained brecciated quartz vein.

This deposit may actually be more like a sediment-hosted, quartz-adularia precious metal deposit.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-FEB-2005 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.

External references

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.