Caselton Shaft

Past Producer in Lincoln county in Nevada, United States with commodities Zinc, Lead, Silver, Manganese
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. Production statistics
  20. Workings at the site
  21. Links to other databases
  22. Bibliographic references
  23. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10037330
MRDS ID M032004
Record type Site
Current site name Caselton Shaft
Alternate or previous names No. 2 Mine of Combined Metals Reduct. Co. . Could Possibly Be Same As, St Patrick Zn-Pb-Ag Mine. Could Possibly Be Same As St Patrick, Zn-Pb-Ag Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -114.46501, 37.92107 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 500(meters)
Relative position WEST EDGE OF PIOCHE (TOWN)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Lincoln(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Pioche(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Caliente(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Caliente(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Meadow Valley Wash(hydrologic unit)

Lower Colorado-Lake Mead(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Colorado-Lake Mead(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Lincoln

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
01N 67E 27,28 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • UTM'S APPROXIMATED; IN GENERAL VICINITY

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Zinc Critical Primary
Lead Primary
Silver Primary
Manganese Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Galena Ore
Proustite Ore
Pyrargyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Pyrite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Sericitization

Analytical data

Result PYRITE 60% OF ORE, SPHALERITE 22, GALENA

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 72
USGS model code 19a
Deposit model name Polymetallic replacement
Mark3 model number 47

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Pioche Shale, Combined Metals Member;Pioche Shale, Combined Metals Member
    Rock description Pioche Shale, Combined Metals Member;Pioche Shale, Combined Metals Member

Nearby scientific data

(1) -114.46501, 37.92107

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Ore Body Deepens To The Sw Due To Step Faulting

Ore body information

  • Strike N 30 E
    Dip 20 NW

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fissure

Comments on the geologic information

  • ORE IS REPLACEMENT BODY OF UNOXIDIZED SPHALERITE-PYRITE-GALENA, 4-40 FEET THICK, AVERAGING 6 FT. THICK. THE REPLACEMENT OCCURS ONLY WHERE THE GREENWOOD FISSURE, STEEPLY DIPPING, INTERSECTS THE LIMESTONE MEMBER. SHALE IS VERY ARENACEOUS. ORE BED MINED FOR OVER 10,000 FEET ALONG AN EAST WEST CHANNEL 100 TO 1800 FT. WIDE. ORE BODY TERMINATES AGAINST THE FRONTAL FAULT. HANGING WALL UNSUCCESSFULLY EXPLORED TO DEPTH OF 2500 FEET.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No

Mining district

District name Pioche District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Amalgamated Pioche Mines And Smelter Corp. Kerr Mc Gee Corp, M. T. Worley, General Manager, P. 0. B

Production statistics

  • Year 1960
    Period 1917-1960
    Material ORE
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^5 Oz Ag/Ton 4.5% Pb 12% Zn
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Ore Lead Lead 5wt-pct
    Minor Ore Silver Silver 141g/mt
    Ore Zinc Zinc 12wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • CUMULATIVE PRODUCTION INCLUDES NO. 1 MINE AND THE CASELTON

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • SULFIDE ORE RESERVES NOW EXHAUSTED, BUT LARGE QUANTITIES OF OXIDIZED LOW-GRADE PROTORE REMAINS IN THE UPPER LEVELS IN THE W. END OF MINE

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 3048M
    Overall depth 426.72M

Comments on the workings information

  • SURFACE MINING CHANNELS PARALLELLED THE MAIN VEIN SYSTEM. ORE WAS MINED IN BLOCKS BETWEEN THE 300 AND 1400 FT LEVELS. AN EXPLORATION SHAFT WAS SUNK TO 2500 FT BUT DID NOT PENETRATE TERTIARY VOLCANIC ROCKS. DRIFTING ON THE 1200 FT LEVEL WAS TO CONNECT WITH DRIFTING FROM THE COMBINED METALS NO. 1 SHAFT.

Comments on development

  • OPERATED IN 1940'S WITH POWER SUPPLIED FROM BOULDER DAM. BY 1953, DEVELOPED SULFIDE ORE RESERVES IN CASELTON MINE HAD BEEN LARGELY DEPLETED. THE COMPANY TRIED UNSUCCESSFULLY TO MINE AND MILL MANGANESE ORE UNTIL 1954, AFTER WHICH REHABILITATION AND DEVELOPMENT WORK ON SULFIDE ORE RESERVES RESTORED CASELTON'S PRODUCTION OF PB-ZN SULFIDE ORES AT A PROFITABLE RATE OF 10000 TONS PER MONTH, ATTAINED BEFORE A PRECIPITOUS DROP IN METALS PRICES IN 1957, WHEREUPON THE CASELTON MINE WAS CLOSED. THE SHAFT WAS OPERATED IN 1975 BY ST PATRICK MINING CO TO PROCESS WATER FOR THE CASELTON MILL; LIKEWISE IN 1976 AND 1977 BY BUNKER HILL MINING CO, EMPLOYING 7 PERSONS. IN 1980, KERR-MC GEE CORP WAS EMPLOYING 25 PERSONS IN UNDERGROUND REHABILITATION OF THE MINE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    TSCHANZ, C.M., AND PAMPEYAN, E.H., 1970, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF LINCOLN CO. NEVADA. NEVADA BUR. OF MINES, BULL 73 P

  • Deposit

    WESTGATE, L.G. AND KNOPF, A., 1932, GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE PIOCHE DISTRICT, NEVADA. USGS PROF. PAPER 171 P

  • Deposit

    HILL, J.M., 1916, NOTES ON SOME MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA USGS BULL 648 P.

  • Deposit

    COUCH, B.F., CARPENTER, J.A., 1943, NEVADA'S METAL AND MINERAL PRODUCTION (1859-1940, INCLUSIVE) UNIV. OF NEVADA BULL 38, P. 85-89

  • Deposit

    SMITH, A. M. AND CARPENTER, J. A., 1931, NBMG DISTRICT FILE 175, ITEM 1.

  • Deposit

    USBM, 1983, MILS DATA.

  • Deposit

    JAMES, L. P. AND KNIGHT, L. H., 1979, RMAG-UGA BASIN AND RANGE SYMPOSIUM

  • Deposit

    DIRECTORY OF MINE OPERATIONS ACTIVE IN NEVADA DURING 1980, 1977, 1976, 1975 (NBMG OPEN FILES).

  • Deposit

    LINCOLN COUNTY RECORD, NOV 12, 1975

  • Deposit

    GEMMILL, P., NBMG DISTRICT FILE 175, REPORT.

  • Production

    WESTGATE AND KNOPF, 1932; TSCHANZ AND PAMPEYAN, 1970

  • Reserve-Resource

    TSCHANZ AND PAMPEYAN, 1970

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-OCT-79 Harner, Joy L. (Roberts, Ralph J.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-SEP-84 La Pointe, D.D. (Tingley, J.V.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

External references

Authoritative Nevada resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.