Big Four

Past Producer in Inyo county in California, United States with commodities Lead, Zinc, Silver, Gold, Copper
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. Links to other databases
  15. Bibliographic references
  16. General comments
  17. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10076653
MRDS ID W023797
Record type Site
Current site name Big Four
Alternate or previous names War Eagle - Shoshone
Related records 10114888

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -117.3909, 36.43108 (WGS84)
Elevation 799
Relative position 7 MILES NE OF PANAMINT SPRINGS

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Inyo(county)

California(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

The Dunes(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Darwin Hills(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Death Valley(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Panamint Valley(hydrologic unit)

Northern Mojave(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northern Mojave-Mono Lake(hydrologic subregion)

California(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Death Valley National Park(National Park)

National Park NPS(Type of land area)

NPS(Federal land areas administered by NPS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States California Inyo

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 017S 042E 26 California

Comments on the location information

  • UTM ACC. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :UNDETERMINED

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary
Silver Secondary
Gold Secondary
Copper Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Smithsonite Ore

Analytical data

Result LAST ORE SHIPPED
Result 13.7 % PB, 11.75 % ZN, 2.9 OZ/TON AG, SOME COPPER AND GOLD.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -117.3909, 36.43108

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Fault; Low - Angle, Strikes East And Dips North.

Ore body information

  • Dip 30 NW
    Width 1.22M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fault

Comments on the geologic information

  • GEOL.DESC: OUTCROP EXPRESSION ABOVE ORE IS A IRON - STAINED, SILICIFIED HALO. MINERALIZATION DIES OUT TOWARD SE ALONG FAULT. BLEACHING AND DOLOMITIZATION OF LIMESTONE INCREASES IN SE DIRECTION.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Production years 1944 - 1949 , 1952

Comments on the production information

  • 1944 AND 1945 , 372 TONS OF ORE WAS MINED; 1946 , 11 CAR LOADS WERE SHIPPED. 1947 , 30 TONS OF SHIPPING - GRADE ORE WAS PRODUCED.

Comments on the workings information

  • WORKINGS ON TWO LEVELS; LOWER LEVEL; SHORT ADIT S 20 E ENDING IN SMALL IRREGULAR STOPE. UPPER LEVEL; 110 FT. ADIT S 55 E ALONG FAULT, IT ENDS IN AN IRREGULAR 80 FT. STOPE. 900 FT. CROSSCUT ADIT N 70 E, AND 2 , 30 FT. ADITS N 25 E AND N 30 E.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    GOODWIN, J. C., 1957 , LEAD AND ZINC IN CALIFORNIA; CALIF. JOUR. MINES AND GEOLOGY, VOL. 53 , NO. 3 & 4 ; DIV. OF MINES, P. 454 .

  • Deposit

    NORMAN, L. A. AND STEWART, R. M., 1951 , MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF INYO COUNTY; CALIF. JOUR. MINES AND GEOLOGY, VOL. 47 , NO. 1 ; DIV. OF MINES, P. 57 .

  • Production

    GOODWIN, J. C., 1957 , P. 454 (SEE REF.)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit ORE OCCURS IN ZONE OF BRECCIATION AND ALTERATION IN LIMESTONE.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1978 Fraticelli, L. A. (Albers, J.) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references

Authoritative California resources

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