Blue Sphinx Property

Past Producer in Mineral county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Copper, Lead, Zinc, Aluminum, Iron, Manganese, Molybdenum

Sections on this page

Identification information
Geographic coordinates
Site location context
Geographic areas
Public Land Survey System information
Commodities
Materials information
Alteration
Mineral occurrence model information
Host and associated rocks
Nearby scientific data
Geologic structures
Ore body information
Controls for ore emplacement
Economic information about the deposit and operations
Mining district
Land status
Ownership information
Bibliographic references
General comments
Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID	10310399
MRDS ID	M035744
Record type	Site
Current site name	Blue Sphinx Property
Alternate or previous names	Bovard - Rand Property, Blue Sphinx Mine, Bovard Mine, Golden Pen Mine
Related records	10037629

Comments on the site identification

The current record is for Gold Summit?s Blue Sphinx Property which encompasses several of the historic Bovard-Rand District workings in the central part of the district. Material has been incorporated into the current record from several of the historic mine property records, (M035744, M035743, M233183, and D002139) together with new information.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates:	-118.40096, 38.79992 (WGS84)
Elevation	1770
Relative position	The Blue Sphinx property is located on the eastern flank of the central part of the Gabbs Valley Range about 25 mi. NE of Hawthorne; 18 miles NNW of Luning, and 10 mi. south of Rawhide.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Mineral(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Copper Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Walker Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Walker Lake(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Gabbs Valley(hydrologic unit)

Central Nevada Desert Basins(hydrologic accounting unit)

Central Nevada Desert Basins(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bureau of Land Management(Bureau of Land Management NV)

Bureau of Land Management NV BLM(Type of land area)

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country	State	County
United States	Nevada	Mineral

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian	Township	Range	Section	Fraction	State
Mount Diablo	010N	032E			Nevada
Mount Diablo	011N	033E			Nevada

Comments on the location information

The Blue Sphinx property is located on the eastern flank of the central part of the Gabbs Valley Range about 25 mi. NE of Hawthorne; 18 miles NNW of Luning, and 10 mi. south of Rawhide.

Commodities

Commodity	Importance
Gold	Primary
Silver	Primary
Copper	Secondary
Lead	Secondary
Zinc Critical	Secondary
Aluminum Critical	Tertiary
Iron	Tertiary
Manganese Critical	Tertiary
Molybdenum	Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

Ore Materials: free gold, cerargyrite, chrysocolla, malachite, chalcopyrite, galena, jarosite, argentite, alunite, native gold, native silver, electrum, cerussite, wulfenite
Gangue Materials: quartz, sericite, kaolin(?); alunite, alunite. manganese oxides, adularia

Materials information

Materials	Type of material
Gold	Ore
Cerargyrite	Ore
Chrysocolla	Ore
Malachite	Ore
Chalcopyrite	Ore
Galena	Ore
Jarosite	Ore
Argentite	Ore
Alunite	Ore
Gold	Ore
Silver	Ore
Electrum	Ore
Cerussite	Ore
Wulfenite	Ore
Quartz	Gangue
Sericite	Gangue
Kaolin	Gangue
Alunite	Gangue
Alunite	Gangue
Adularia	Gangue

Alteration

(Local) Advanced argillic type of alteration is prevalent with veins of alunite and quartz. Limonite, and kaolinite replacing wall rock minerals predominates in the vicinity of the Golden Pen and Lone Star claims. At the Nevada Rand area, alteration is sericitic or phyllic in nature. Intermediate lavas from both areas show propylitic alteration. Bleached andesite and development of jarosite due to oxidation of numerous small crystals of disseminated pyrite. Alunitization of host rock is present.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code	150
USGS model code	25c
Deposit model name	Epithermal vein, Comstock
Mark3 model number	16

Host and associated rocks

Host or associated Host

Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary

Host or associated

Host

Rock type

Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite

Rock type qualifier

tuff

Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Pliocene

Host or associated

Host

Rock type

Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Pyroclastic Rock > Tuff

Rock type qualifier

sericitized rhyolitic

Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Pliocene

Host or associated

Host

Rock type

Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Pyroclastic Rock > Tuff > Ash-Flow Tuff

Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Oligocene
Stratigraphic age (oldest)	Miocene

Host or associated Host

Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene
Host or associated Host

Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic)

Rock type qualifier mafic lava

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene

Stratigraphic age (oldest) Pleistocene
Host or associated Host

Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone

Rock unit name Luning Formation

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
Host or associated Associated

Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cretaceous
Host or associated Associated

Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granodiorite

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cretaceous
Host or associated Associated

Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cretaceous

Nearby scientific data

(1)	-118.40096, 38.79992	ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure	Regional
Structure description	The area is structurally complex, with dominantly NW- to WNW- trending high angle faults, down to the north. In the western part of the district, faults appear antithetic, having their upthrown sides to the south
Type of structure	Local
Structure description	A NW-trending fault offsets ash-flow tuff sequence.

Ore body information

General form shoots, stringers, irregular replacement bodies

General form	shoots, stringers, irregular replacement bodies

Controls for ore emplacement

Proximal to contact between volcanics or limestone and intrusive bodies; shear zone; NW-trending fault; ore mainly on hanging wall of fault zones up to 50 feet wide. NW-trending fault; ore mainly on hanging wall of fault zones up to 50 feet wide. Clay seams and altered areas of andesite tended to concentrate secondary ore.

Comments on the geologic information

Quartz veins containing gold, silver, and some copper cut rhyolite ash flow tuffs in the eastern part of district, and cut similar rocks and intermediate volcanic rocks in the west. Thin alunite veins replace gouge in sericitized rhyolitic tuff. Quartz veins 3-8 feet wide, milky and vuggy as well as brecciated. Separated from walls of post Esmeralda Formation volcanic rocks by alunite sheets 3-12 inches thick.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type	Surface-Underground
Development status	Past Producer
Commodity type	Metallic
Deposit size	Small
Significant	Yes
Discovery year	1907
Discoverer	Al Bovard
Year of first production	1910

Mining district

District name	Rand District
District name	Bovard-Rand District
District name	Copper Mountain District

Land status

Ownership category	Private
Ownership category	BLM Administrative Area

Ownership information

Type Owner

Owner Gold Summit (lessees)

Year 2006
Type Operator

Owner 3 separate landowners

Type	Owner
Owner	Gold Summit (lessees)
Year	2006

Type	Operator
Owner	3 separate landowners

Comments on the workings information

The property is developed by a 250 foot shaft, a tunnel, and several thousand feet of workings. The shaft has levels at 50 (tunnel), 130, 200, and 250 feet..

Comments on other economic factors

The Bovard District produced about $360,000 in gold and silver from 1908 to 1930, principally from the Gold Pen and Bovard (Blue Sphinx) mines. The silver to gold ratio of these ores was approximately 16:1. These early mining operations focused on following, from surface discoveries, steeply plunging shoots of extremely high grade or "bonanza" ore, reportedly with grades as high as $8,000 per ton at a gold price of $20. Additional shoots were discovered while drifting along the strike of the veins, but thousands of tons of "low grade" quartz vein material, ranging from one to fifteen (average of three) grams per ton gold, were put on the waste dumps. Five thousand tons of this material were transported off the claims in 1980, from which about 500 ounces of gold were leached.

Comments on development

The Rand or Bovard-Rand district was first discovered by prospectors from Rawhide back in 1907. The Nevada Rand and the Gold Pen Mines were located in 1908 and the silver-gold ore from the mines was treated over at the Rawhide Mill.
In 1919 the Gold Pen Mining Company built a 20-ton amalgamating mill which started production in 1920. The Nevada Rand Mining Company was incorporated in 1916 and owned several of the properties in the area. The property consisted of 7 claims, a 450ft shaft, and 2500ft of workings equipped with a hoist and assay office. The district mines also produced copper, as at the Copper Mountain Mine put out more than $125,000, the Gold Pen Mine is said to have produced $200,000, and the Nevada Rand $50,000.

In 1996, Romarco Minerals acquired an option for the Rand gold property from Lac Minerals whereby Romarco could earn a 60% interest in the 4,000- acre property from Barrick Gold by spending $500,000 over the next three years. Toward that end, Romarco drilled 14 RC holes, totaling more than 9,000 feet, on five targets on the property in 1996.

In 2003, Gold Summit acquired a land position at Blue Sphinx by optioning claim blocks from three existing land owners in the District. The Gold Pen mine area is subject to a lease-option agreement with Hot Springs Gold Corp. (Shane Ebert). The Blue Sphinx (Bovard) mine is held under a lease-option agreement from Nevada Eagle Resources, LLC (Gerald Baughman). Century Gold LLC owns a block of 75 unpatented mining claims that encompasses the other two claim blocks. In October 2003 Gold Summit entered into a purchase/option agreement with Century Gold that allows Gold Summit to acquire a 100% interest in these claims for a consideration of 200,000 Gold Summit common shares issued over a period of three years. A third block of 75 unpatented lode claims was acquired at Gold Summit's Blue Sphinx prospect adjoining the Blue Sphinx and Golden Pen claims already held by Gold Summit. The Golden Pen Mine area was explored in recent years with widely spaced reverse-circulation drill holes and surface bulldozer cuts in an attempt to develop a surface heap leach operation. Gold Summit compiled historical information and planned to carry out detailed mapping prior to drill testing the vein system to depth.

In 2006, Gold Summit reported that their work to date on the Bovard District Blue Sphinx property combines new geologic mapping with a compilation of previous work, including past drilling programs. This new work has outlined a mile-long target zone along the Nevada Rand-Blue Sphinx fault, stretching from just south of the Blue Sphinx shaft to just north of the Golden Pen mine. There are other structures within the claim block that have associated hydrothermal alteration with weaker surface geochemistry that may develop into drill targets with additional work. Alteration assemblages mapped to date suggest that gold mineralization in the known workings is high in the hydrothermal system. Drilling to date has been almost entirely restricted to the upper 100 meters of the vein system, and directly around the Golden Pen and Bovard mine workings. In the past, mining focused on extremely high grade plunging shoots encountered while drifting along the strike of the veins and in fact put thousands of tons of lower grade (three to fifteen grams per ton gold) quartz vein material on the waste dumps. This material was transported off the claims and leached in the 1980s.
Earlier reverse circulation drilling intersected spotty gold mineralization around the edges of the historic workings, but several core holes drilled beneath the Bovard shaft in the late 1970s intersected 10-40 meters of 1.0-2.0 g/t gold, including several 1-2 meter intercepts exceeding 3.0 g/t gold. RC holes in the immediate vicinity produced very spotty one meter intervals of 1.0 g/t or less. Underground mapping and sampling of the Gold Pen workings in 2005 by Gold Summit identified a reversal of dip from east to west in the lowest levels of the mine. This change in dip, combined with elevated gold values and increasing thickness of quartz veining represents a structurally permissive target that was not tested by previous explorers, who generally tested around the edges of the high grade shoots in the existing underground workings. Gold Summit's drill program at Gold Pen will focus on testing below the workings where the vein thickens and the structure changes and even reverses dip, followed by step out drilling at depth along strike.
Gold Summit's has ten permitted drill sites in the Gold Pen and Bovard areas; timing of drilling will depend on overall priorities for funds and staff in 2006.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Deposit

Ross, D. C., 1961 , Geology and Mineral Deposits of Mineral County, Nevada: NBMG Bull. 58 , P. 80 .
Deposit

Schrader, F. C., 1914 , Alunite at Bovard, Nev.: USGS Bull. 540 , p. 351 - 356 .
Deposit

Thoenen, J. R., 1941 , Alunite Resources of the United States: USBM R. I. 3561 , p. 19 - 20 .
Deposit

Vanderberg, W. O., 1937 , Reconnaissance of Mining Districts in Mineral County Nev.: USBM I. C. 6941 , p. 57 - 58 .
Deposit

Black, J.W., 1920, unpublished report
Deposit

Long, K.R., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., and Ludington, S.D., 1998, Database of significant deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the United States; Part A, Database description and analysis; part B, Digital database: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-206, 33 p., one 3.5 inch diskette.
Deposit

http://www.goldsummitcorp.com/bluesphinx1.htm
Deposit

press releases

General comments

Subject category	Comment text
Deposit	The Bovard District produced about $360,000 in gold and silver from 1908 to 1930, principally from the Gold Pen and Bovard (Blue Sphinx) mines. The silver to gold ratio of these ores was approximately 16:1. These early mining operations focused on following, from surface discoveries, steeply plunging shoots of extremely high grade or "bonanza" ore, reportedly with grades as high as $8,000 per ton at a gold price of $20. Additional shoots were discovered while drifting along the strike of the veins, but thousands of tons of "low grade" quartz vein material, ranging from one to fifteen (average of three) grams per ton gold, were put on the waste dumps. Five thousand tons of this material were transported off the claims in 1980, from which about 500 ounces of gold were leached. The Rand-Bovard, orBlue Sphinx, is a volcanic-hosted, epithermal target in the Walker Lane trend From descriptions of the historic mine deposits, the deposit is strongly oxidized and highly siliceous. Rich ore occurs in lenses in veins of a quartz gangue stained with iron and manganese oxides, in ashear zone 20 to 40 feet wide. The main quartz vein varies from 3 to 10 feet thick, but alunite is found in sheets 3 inches to 1 foot wide separating the vein from the wall rock. The vein was emplaced along a NW-trending fault.

Subject category

Comment text

Deposit

The Bovard District produced about $360,000 in gold and silver from 1908 to 1930, principally from the Gold Pen and Bovard (Blue Sphinx) mines. The silver to gold ratio of these ores was approximately 16:1. These early mining operations focused on following, from surface discoveries, steeply plunging shoots of extremely high grade or "bonanza" ore, reportedly with grades as high as $8,000 per ton at a gold price of $20. Additional shoots were discovered while drifting along the strike of the veins, but thousands of tons of "low grade" quartz vein material, ranging from one to fifteen (average of three) grams per ton gold, were put on the waste dumps. Five thousand tons of this material were transported off the claims in 1980, from which about 500 ounces of gold were leached.
The Rand-Bovard, orBlue Sphinx, is a volcanic-hosted, epithermal target in the Walker Lane trend
From descriptions of the historic mine deposits, the deposit is strongly oxidized and highly siliceous. Rich ore occurs in lenses in veins of a quartz gangue stained with iron and manganese oxides, in ashear zone 20 to 40 feet wide. The main quartz vein varies from 3 to 10 feet thick, but alunite is found in sheets 3 inches to 1 foot wide separating the vein from the wall rock. The vein was emplaced along a NW-trending fault.

Reporter information

Type	Date	Name	Affiliation	Comment
Reporter	01-DEC-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.