Champion Dumortierite Mine

Past Producer in Pershing county in Nevada, United States with commodities Kyanite, Aluminum
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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Controls for ore emplacement
  13. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  14. Mining district
  15. Land status
  16. Ownership information
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10046156
MRDS ID M234139
Record type Site
Current site name Champion Dumortierite Mine
Alternate or previous names Oreana Dumortierite Deposit

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -118.22153, 40.326 (WGS84)
Elevation 1692
Relative position APPROXIMATELY 5 MILES EAST OF OREANA OFF NEVADA HIGHWAY 50.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pershing(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Rochester(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Lovelock(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Lovelock(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lower 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 Pershing

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 029N 033E 36 SE OF SW Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • IN ROLANDS CANYON ABOUT A MILE ABOVE ITS ENTRANCE, ON SOUTH FLANK OF LONE MOUNTAIN. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1972)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Kyanite Primary
Aluminum Critical Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • ONLY KNOWN COMMERCIAL DEPOSIT IN WORLD (JOHNSON).

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Dumortierite Ore
Albite Gangue
Andalusite Gangue
Mica Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Sericite Gangue

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
    Rock unit name Rochester;Weaver
    Rock description Rochester;Weaver

Nearby scientific data

(1) -118.22153, 40.326

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Highly Altered Strata; Thrust Fault, Intrusions

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR LENSES
    Length 22.86M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Altered Zone

Comments on the geologic information

  • DUMORTIERITE MINERALIZATION MAY BE RELATED TO PERMO-TRIASSIC VOLCANICS OR TERTIARY QUARTZ MONZONITE STOCK INTRUSION. LENSES OF DUMORTIERITE AND ANDALUSITE OCCUR IN QUARTZ-SERICITE SCHIST.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1924
Discoverer R.H. Rowland Of Lovelock
Year of first production 1925
Year of last production 1949

Mining district

District name Sacramento District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Champion Sillimanite, Inc.
    First year 1949

Comments on the workings information

  • OPEN PIT, TUNNELS, OPEN STOPES.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    JOHNSON, M. G., 1977, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF PERSHING COUNTY, NEVADA: NBMG BULL. 89, P. 85-86.

  • Deposit

    TATLOCK, D.B., 1964, KYANITE GROUP ALUMINOUS MINERALS, IN MINERAL AND WATER RESOURCES OF NEVADA: NBMG BULL. 65, P. 213-217.

  • Deposit

    VANDERBURG, W.O., 1936A, RECONNAISSANCE OF MINING DISTRICTS IN PERSHING COUNTY, NEVADA: USBM INFORMATION CIRC. 6902, P. 35-36.

  • Deposit

    KERR, P.F., & JENNEY, P., 1935, THE DUMORTIERITE-ANDALUSITE MINERALIZATION AT OREANA, NEVADA: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, VOL. 30, P. 287-300.

  • Deposit

    SOUTHERN PACIFIC CO., 1964, MINERALS FOR INDUSTRY - NORTHERN NEVADA & NORTHWESTERN UTAH - SUMMARY OF GEOLOGIC SURVEY 1955-1961, V.1, SOUTHERN PACIFIC CO., SAN FRANCISCO, VOL. 1, P. 36.

  • Production

    JOHNSON (1977).

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DUMORTIERITE OCCURS ALONG 2 NORTH-TRENDING ZONES OF HYDROTHERMALLY ALTERED QUARTZ-SERICITE RHYOLITE, PARTS OF WHICH WERE INTENSELY ALTERED DURING TWO PHASES WHICH FIRST PRODUCED THE ANDALUSITE, THEN THE DUMORTIERITE BY REPLACEMENT OF ANDALUSITE (ACCORDING TO KERR AND JENNEY, 1935). DUMORTIERITE OCCURS AS (1) COARSE EUHEDRAL BLUE CRYSTALS, (2) MATTED LAVENDAR OR PINK MASSES, AND (3) FIBROUS PINK VEINS OR ISOLATED PINK CRYSTALS. HAND-SIZED CHUNKS OF DUMORTIERITE WERE SO VALUABLE THAT THEY WERE COBBED AND SAVED. VEINLETS WERE NOT MINED BECAUSE OF EXCESSIVE CONTAMINATION OF QUARTZ AND ALBITE.
Deposit DEVELOPMENT WORK TOTALS 1400 FEET. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT
Deposit THIS RECORD HAS BEEN MERGED WITH M242714, WHICH HAS BEEN DELETED.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-1980 Royse, Sue E. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-JUN-1986 La Pointe, D.D. (Tingley, J.V.) Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-NOV-1990 Skurski, M. (Marcus, Sue) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-APR-1991 Moyer, Lorre A. (Marcus, S.M.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-APR-1993 Phinisey, J. D. (Marcus, S.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-SEP-1993 Humphries, S. E. (Marcus, S.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Authoritative Nevada resources

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