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Dark Star Gold Deposit

Prospect in Elko county in Nevada, United States with commodity Gold
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Land status
  13. Ownership information
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310560
Record type Site
Current site name Dark Star Gold Deposit
Alternate or previous names Cord Ranch project area, Trout Creek-South Bullion deposit

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -115.96249, 40.45385 (WGS84)
Relative position The Dark Star orebody is located about 20 miles south of Carlin, Nevada.\n

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Elko(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Robinson Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Ruby Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Elko(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

South Fork 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 Elko

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 30N 53E 25 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • Dark Star is located about 1-2 miles east of the Trout Creek-South Bullion deposit and is generally included in description sof those deposits.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Gangue Materials: jasperoid

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
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -115.96249, 40.45385
ListMap

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant Yes

Mining district

District name Railroad District
District name Bullion District
District name Robinson Mountain

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Elko District U. S. Bureau of Land Management
Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Crown Resources Corp.
    Year 2000
  • Type Owner
    Owner Royal Standard Minerals, Inc.
    Year 2004
  • Type Operator
    Owner Royal Standard Minerals, Inc.
    Year 2004

Comments on the workings information

  • suface, drilling

Comments on other economic factors

  • 1991: 4.5 million tons, 0.022 oz Au/ton
    1992: 5.76 million tons, 0.02 oz Au/ton
    In 1997, Dark Star alone was estimated to contain 5,760,000 short tons of material grading 0.02 ounces of gold per ton,for a total 115,200 contained ounces

    2002: South Bullion and Dark Star combined measured, indicated, and inferred resource: 30.6 million tons of material grading 0.026 ounces of gold per ton.

Comments on development

  • In 1994, Cyprus Gold Exploration Corp. acquired Pinon Exploration Corp., an exploration subsidiary of Crown Resources Corp., Denver, with the right to earn a 70-percent stake in Crown's Cord Ranch property in Nevada and other adjacent properties.
    To exercise the option on Cord Ranch, the Cyprus Amax Minerals Corp.-owned subsidiary would have to commit $3.2 million by the end of 1996, including $400,000 by the end of this year, and complete a positive feasibility study on the property.
    Crown Resources began exploration on the Carlin Trend in Nevada in 1989 and delineated three mineral deposits totaling approximately 350,000 troy ounces of gold amenable to heap leach methods.
    By 1999, 418 drill holes had been completed on the Cord Ranch project. In early 1994, Crown estimated the size of two gold deposits, the Pinon Range and Dark Star deposits. Based on the results of 150 drill holes, the Pinon Range mineral deposit was estimated at 7.2 million tons containing 0.025 opt of gold at a cutoff grade of 0.013 opt of gold. At Dark Star, 61 drill holes completed by Crown during 1991-92 define a mineral deposit totaling 7.5 million tons grading 0.020 opt of gold at a cutoff grade of 0.013 opt of gold. Combined, Crown and Royal Standard hold 50% of the mineral rights and 100% of the surface
    rights at Dark Star.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Crown Resources Corp., 1991, 1995, 2000; Davis and Tingley, 1999; Giancola, 1999; Mirandor Exploration, Inc., 1999; Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004; Quest International Management Services, Inc., 1998; Royal Standard Minerals, Inc., 2002; Tingley, 1998; United States Bureau of Land Management, 1978s; United States Geological Survey, 1985m

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit The Cord Ranch properties Pinon and Dark Star lie on the east side of the Pinon Range and are situated on the Carlin gold trend Paleozoic strata underlying the western parts of the property are the same formations hosting major deposits in the southern section of the trend. The area has sustained multiple periods of deformation and structural preparation of the rocks is very good. Gold mineralization is generally associated with jasperoid rocks.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-2006 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.