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Lee Smith Mine

Producer 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. Materials information
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Ore body information
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Ownership information
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310567
Record type Site
Current site name Lee Smith Mine
Alternate or previous names Smith Mine, Smith West, Mahala

Comments on the site identification

  • The Smith Mine is an underground mine developed on a deep orebody below earlier open-pit mined Jerritt Canyon deposits in the California Mountain-Dash mine area.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -115.9393, 41.35751 (WGS84)
Relative position The mine is located approximately 80 km north of Elko, Nevada.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Elko(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Mahala Creek West(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Double Mountain(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Wells(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

North Fork Humboldt(hydrologic unit)

Humboldt(hydrologic accounting unit)

Black Rock Desert-Humboldt(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Elko

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 40N 54E 18 Nevada
Mount Diablo 40N 53E 13 Nevada

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: gold

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

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
    Rock type qualifier marine
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Paleozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -115.9393, 41.35751
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form irregular to lenticular

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes

Mining district

District name Independence Mountains
District name Jerritt Canyon District

Land status

Ownership category National Forest
Area name Elko District U S Forest Service
Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Queenstake Resources
    Year 2006

Comments on the workings information

  • open pit

Comments on other economic factors

  • 2004: Smith West and Mahala combined: Proven reserve: 237,281 t, 0.278 opt Au (66,048 oz Au), Probable resv. 211,220 t, 0.36 opt Au (76,075 oz Au); Smith East and East Dash combined probable reserve: 200,799 t 0.301 opt Au (60,426 oz Au)
    The Jerritt Canyon/Mahala Project resource in 2006 was 420,600 tons grading 0.296 ounces of gold per ton measured+indicated (124,498 contained ounces of gold).

Comments on development

  • 2004-active underground mining was under way.
    In 2006, Queenstake Resources Ltd. announced that recent drill results at the Jerritt Canyon/Mahala Project include 50-70 ft @ 0.652 opt Au (C40531); 50-80 ft @ 0.908 opt Au (C40538); 60-100 ft @ 0.528 opt Au (C40545); 60-100 ft @ 1.821 opt Au (C40551); 350-365 ft @ 0.328 opt Au (LX656)and 360-375 ft @ 0.615 opt Au (LX658).

Reference information

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Jerritt Canyon deposits are Carlin-type replacement gold occurrences hosted by calcareous Paleozoic marine sediments. Tectonic and volcanic activity has led to complex faulting and folding which have created favourable sites for gold mineralization.

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.