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Searchlight Deposit

Past Producer in Clark county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Copper, Tungsten, Vanadium, Iron
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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 10310513
MRDS ID W002897
Record type District
Current site name Searchlight Deposit
Alternate or previous names Duplex Mine Area, Quartette Mine Area
Related records 60001653

Comments on the site identification

  • This deposit encompasses the area in the Searchlight Mining district called the Duplex and Quartette mines and includes all informationin MRDS record W002897 as well as addiitonal updated material.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -114.91804, 35.46584 (WGS84)
Elevation 1100
Relative position The property is located about 40 miles south of Boulder City and about 22 miles east of Nipton, CA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Clark(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Searchlight(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Davis Dam(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Kingman(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Piute Wash(hydrologic unit)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Clark

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 028S 063E 22 23 27 34 02 03 Nevada
Mount Diablo 029S Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The mainmined area is located just south of the town of Searchlight less than a mile.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Copper Secondary
Tungsten Critical Tertiary
Vanadium Critical Tertiary
Iron Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, gold, chalcocite, cerussite, cuprite, malachite
  • Gangue Materials: quartz, chalcedony, hematite, calcite, brochantite, limonite, wulfenite, vanadinite, adularia

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Sphalerite Ore
Galena Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Cerussite Ore
Cuprite Ore
Malachite Ore
Chalcedony Ore
Hematite Ore
Calcite Ore
Brochantite Ore
Limonite Ore
Wulfenite Ore
Vanadinite Ore
Adularia Ore
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) The deposit has been silicified by hydrothermal activity, and oxidized.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 150
USGS model code 25c
Deposit model name Epithermal vein, Comstock
Mark3 model number 16

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Precambrian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite
    Rock type qualifier porphyry intrusives
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Porphyry
    Rock type qualifier andesite intrusives
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic)
    Rock type qualifier lava
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Pliocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -114.91804, 35.46584
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description The area has been uplifted intruded by igneous rock and denuded by erosion.

Ore body information

  • General form irregular to flat or saucer-shaped.

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Ore is localized by intrusive activity.

Comments on the geologic information

  • apophyses of quartz monzonite

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1897
Discoverer G. F. Colton (Duplex CLaims)
Year of first production 1898
Year of last production 1959
Production years 1898-1950s

Mining district

District name Searchlight District

Land status

Ownership category Private
Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Las Vegas BLM Administrative District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner G. F. Colton
    Year 1897
  • Type Operator
    Owner Borneo Gold (most recent)

Comments on the workings information

  • Underground workings are accessible from 3 shafts, the New Years Gift, the Fraction and the Searchlight shafts. The most recent work was carried on through the Fraction Shaft in about 1959. There are 8 levels developed in the shafts.

Comments on other economic factors

  • From 1902 to 1962, the combined Searchlight district deposits produced 7.68 tonnes of gold and 10.96 tonnes of silver from 527 kilotonnes of ore (Long and others, 1998). Most of the district's production came from the Duplex and Quartette mines.

Comments on development

  • The first claims were staked on the Duplex property in 1897 by G. F. Colton , and the Searchlight Mining District was founded July 20, 1898. The Searchlight Post Office was established in October 1898. The Quartette Mining Company, formed in 1900, became the mainstay of the Searchlight District, producing almost half of the area's total output.Searchlight began to boom in 1902 and reached its peak year in 1907. In May, 1902, a 16-mile narrow-gauge railroad was built down the hill to the company's mill on the Colorado River. After 1907, the boom crashed and production fell sharply. Mines were operated mainly by lessees after 1911. Total production up to 1940 amounted to $4.5 million. On March 31, 1907, the 23.22-mile Barnwell and Searchlight Railroad connected the town with the then main Santa Fe line from Needles to Mojave. By 1919 trains were operating over the B and S Railroad only twice a week. A severe washout on September 23, 1923, halted traffic completely and train service was never restored.
    In the 1900s, Searchlight reportedly reached a maximum population of 5000 people and was far larger than Las Vegas at the time. A "Mines of Searchlight" map dated October 1906, shows that there were well over 300 mining claims in the area at that time. Eventually, the gold and silver production dwindled with the decreasing grade of the ore and by 1927, there were only about 50 people left in Searchlight.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Deposits in the district are mainly WNW -trending fissure veins (34), irregular in shape, some flat-lying and saucer-shaped. Vein material consists of a breccia of country rock fragments with vuggy quartz cement. Veins occur en echelon along the western contact of a quartz monzonite intrusive. Most production was from oxidized and weathered veins. In some cases, gash-type fractures are filled with vein material that was later brecciated.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-2003 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.

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.