Fondaway Canyon Mine

Producer in Churchill county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Arsenic, Antimony, Mercury, Barium-Barite, Tungsten

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	10310504
MRDS ID	M242934
Record type	Site
Current site name	Fondaway Canyon Mine
Alternate or previous names	Colorado Deposit, Reed Deposit, South Mouth Deposit, Paperweight-Half Moon, Hamburger Hill
Related records	10111472

Comments on the site identification

The mine encompasses three main deposits; see records M242934 (Colorado deposit), RE00273 (Reed deposit) and RE00274 (South Mouth deposit) for individual deposit descriptions, as well as other contiguous and distinct mineralized areas.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates:	-118.20403, 39.80407 (WGS84)
Elevation	1590
Relative position	The mine is located in Fondaway Canyon, on the west side of the Stillwater Range, about 36 miles northeast of the town of Fallon.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Churchill(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Fondaway Canyon(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Carson Sink(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Reno(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Carson Desert(hydrologic unit)

Carson(hydrologic accounting unit)

Central Lahontan(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	Churchill

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian	Township	Range	Section	Fraction	State
Mount Diablo	022N	034E	05, 06		Nevada
Mount Diablo	022N	033E	01, 02		Nevada

Comments on the location information

The mine includes the area previously covered by the old Quick Tung TUNGSTEN MINE. The UTM given is for the Colorado Pit, the main working of the mine. The Fondaway Canyon property consists of 148 contiguous unpatented lode-mining claims.

Commodities

Commodity	Importance
Gold	Primary
Silver	Secondary
Arsenic Critical	Tertiary
Antimony Critical	Tertiary
Mercury	Tertiary
Barium-Barite Critical	Tertiary
Tungsten Critical	Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

Ore Materials: GOLD
Gangue Materials: QUARTZ, PYRITE, ARSENOPYRITE, SCHEELITE, CINNABAR, STIBNITE; sphalerite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite-tennantite, and pyrrhotite.

Materials information

Materials	Type of material
Gold	Ore
Quartz	Gangue
Pyrite	Gangue
Arsenopyrite	Gangue
Scheelite	Gangue
Cinnabar	Gangue
Stibnite	Gangue
Sphalerite	Gangue
Chalcopyrite	Gangue
Tennantite	Gangue
Tetrahedrite	Gangue
Pyrrhotite	Gangue

Alteration

(Local) SILICIFICATION

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 > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone

Rock type qualifier

meta-

Rock unit name

Grass Valley Formation

Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Late Triassic

Host or associated Host

Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Phyllite

Rock unit name Grass Valley Formation

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic

Host or associated

Host

Rock type

Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Slate

Rock unit name

Grass Valley Formation

Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Late Triassic

Host or associated

Host

Rock type

Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite

Rock unit name

Grass Valley Formation

Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Late Triassic

Host or associated

Host

Rock type

Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Marble

Rock unit name

Grass Valley Formation

Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Late Triassic

Host or associated Host

Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone

Rock unit name Boyer Ranch Formation

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Jurassic
Host or associated Associated

Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cretaceous
Host or associated Associated

Rock type Plutonic Rock > Aplite

Rock type qualifier biotite-feldspar dikes

Host or associated	Associated
Rock type	Plutonic Rock > Aplite
Rock type qualifier	biotite-feldspar dikes

Nearby scientific data

(1)	-118.20403, 39.80407	ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure	Local
Structure description	NE-trending faults
Type of structure	Regional
Structure description	Low-angle thrust faults have emplaced Jurassic limestone and quartzites over the earlier host rocks. Basin and Range normal faulting has produced the north- to northeast-trending horst block that is the Stillwater Range

Ore body information

General form TABULAR

General form	TABULAR

Controls for ore emplacement

Ore formation is controlled by NE-trending fault zones and permeability of the host rocks. Near-vertical, east-west, mineralized shear zones.

Comments on the geologic information

The oldest rocks exposed in the mine area are fine-grained light gray to black quartzite, shale and siltstone of presumed lae Triassic age, overlain by locally slaty shale with interbeds of quartzite. The overlying Jurassic rocks are marked by the presence of several thin light gray limestone beds within the shale. The entire late Triassic to early Jurassic pelitic section hosts gold ore, although the more permeable meta-siltstones and quartzites are considered to be the primary mineralization hosts.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type	Surface-Underground
Development status	Producer
Commodity type	Both
Deposit size	Small
Significant	Yes
Discovery year	1870

Mining district

District name	Shady Run District

Land status

Ownership category	BLM Administrative Area
Area name	Carson City BLM District

Ownership information

Type Owner-Operator

Owner Royal Standard Minerals

Year 2006

Type	Owner-Operator
Owner	Royal Standard Minerals
Year	2006

Comments on the workings information

Recent mining was done from three open pits on the property: the Reed, the Colorado, and the South Mouth pits. In addition to these workings, earlier mining in the area resulted in several open cuts, adits, open stopes, drill roads. The older Oxy pit, Stibnite pit, Fisk pit, and Main pit extend for about 3000 feet east and uphill from the Quik Tung (Fisk) tungsten mine.

Comments on other economic factors

Historical tungsten production from Fondaway Canyon is 10,000 tons of ore grading 2% WO3.
The Fondaway Canyon gold deposit produced 5533 troy ounces of gold and 476 troy ounces of silver during the period from 1989 through 1990 when it was mined by Tenneco Minerals Co. This production was estimated by Long and others assuming 70% gold recovery and 0.06 opt Au grade. The remaining resource reported by Long and others is 1,064,000 short tons grading 0.2 opt gold. This resource includes remaining oxide ore obtained by deducting estimated production from initial reserve plus sulfide resource. The total production reported in NBMG MI-1990 is 13,065 ounces of gold and at least 87 ounces of silver; and remaining reserves are listed as 400,000 short tons grading 0.06 opt gold.
The resource was later recalculated as described below.
In 2006, Royal Standard reported indicated reserves of 390,636 tons of material grading 0.428 ounces of gold per ton (167,192 contained ounces of gold), as well as an inferred resource of 372,849 tons of material grading 0.409 ounces of gold per ton (152,621 contained ounces of gold).

Comments on development

The Fondaway Canyon area was first prospected in the 1870s by a group of Virginia City miners including George Fondaway. The Shady Run mining district was organized at about this time. In 1956, George Fisk discovered tungsten mineralization in Fondaway Canyon and began began producing tungsten in 1958 (see Quick-Tung deposit records). Fisk discovered gold on the property in the 1970s and began production of gold in early 1978 in a joint venture with Wilbur Robertson. Ore was removed from several open cuts on the canyon slopes and hauled to a small millsite in the canyon bottom where the ore was crushed, cyanide-vat leached and refined using a Merrill Crowe process. More than 2500 ounces of gold were reportedly produced by this operation. In 1980, Occidental Minerals Corporation leased the Fisk and Robertson holdings and did geologic mapping and geochemical sampling. A number of drill holes were completed in 1981 and 1982 and geophysical surveys were completed. Tundra gold mines was drilling the property from 1983 through 1985, working with several joint venture partners (New Beginnings, Homestake, Mill Creek) to develop the property into a producer. Several different mining concerns reviewed the economic potential of the property, leading up to Tenneco Minerals signing a lease agreement with the owners in February 1987. The mine operated from September 1989 to mid-1990 producing 13,065 ounces of gold and at least 87 ounces of silver, after which it was idle for several years. Tenneco proposed an expansion of operations to the BLM in 1990, calling for the development of the proposed Ollie, Pack Rat, and Silicon Ridge open pits, near and adjacent to the previously worked pits. Exploration activity continued, focusing on a larger, deeper, higher-grade refractory ore zone that would require underground extraction methods. In 1996, Summex Mining Company reported taking an option to acquire full ownership of the Fondaway Canyon mine. Royal Standard Minerals owned the property in 2006.

Past operators drilled 568 holes, outlining the currently described resource.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Deposit

Tenneco Minerals Company, 1989, Draft Environmental Assessment for the Tenneco Minerals Company Fondaway Canyon Project
Deposit

NBMG MI-1984-MI-1997
Deposit

Press Clippings, 1983-1990
Deposit

Summex Mining Company Press Release, 4/96
Deposit

Long, K.R., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., and Ludington, S.D., 1998, Significant deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 90-206A, 33 p.; 98-206B. one 3.5 inch diskette.
Deposit

Strachan, Donald, 2003, Proposals to upgrade South Pit, Deep Dive, Half Moon, Paperweight, and Hamburger Hill to a measured gold resource Fondaway Canyon, Churchill County, Nevada; technical report available online at:http://www.royalstandardminerals.com/sites/default/files/shared/Fondaway-NI43-101.pdf

General comments

Subject category	Comment text
Deposit	The property hosts an intrusive-related gold-tungsten system more than 3,000 feet wide. This system contains at least 15 separate gold bearing veins, some up to 20 feet in width. Gold ore occurs in brecciated and silicified fault zones, which are nearly vertical, up to 3 meters wide, cutting marble and phyllite. Sulfide ore contains pyrite, stibnite, and arsenopyrite and is typically carbonaceous. Sulfides occur in WNW-trending marble beds in Fondaway Canyon. No skarn is present, but some scheelite is associated with quartz veinlets in the marble. The scheelite occurs as large crystals, up to 10 cm in marble. Cinnabar occurs in late fractures cutting the marble. Stibnite occurs as massive lenses in marble and with gold ore in the phyllite. The vertical extent of high-grade gold within the mineralized shear zones has been drill tested to greater than 1,000 feet (the longest drill hole extended the gold mineralization down to 1,700 feet drill indicated depth within the Paperweight-Half Moon vein system. Mineralization remains open at depth. Horizontal continuation of these zones is remarkable. The Paperweight-Hamburger Hill shear zone is the most persistent known, with a strike length of 3,700 feet and widths between 5 and 20 feet. Near-vertical, east-west, mineralized shear zones host aplite and andesite dikes, and the South Mouth, South Pit, Half Moon, Paperweight, and Hamburger Hill gold resources. The Deep-Dive gold resource is at least partially stratabound, replacing a limestone unit adjacent to the Half Moon mineralized shear zone. North-striking mineralized and post- mineral faults displace the east-west mineralized shear zones and are intruded by andesite dikes. Sparse clay and sericite occur as narrow envelopes along shear margins. Gold mineralization in the shear zones is siliceous, sulfidic, and carbonaceous. Quartz is white, milky, and multiply-brecciated. Sulfides are primarily pyrite, arsenopyrite, and stibnite with accessory sphalerite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite-tennantite, and pyrrhotite. Gold occurs as 5 to 20 micron grains in pyrite.

Subject category

Comment text

Deposit

The property hosts an intrusive-related gold-tungsten system more than 3,000 feet wide. This system contains at least 15 separate gold bearing veins, some up to 20 feet in width.
Gold ore occurs in brecciated and silicified fault zones, which are nearly vertical, up to 3 meters wide, cutting marble and phyllite. Sulfide ore contains pyrite, stibnite, and arsenopyrite and is typically carbonaceous. Sulfides occur in WNW-trending marble beds in Fondaway Canyon. No skarn is present, but some scheelite is associated with quartz veinlets in the marble. The scheelite occurs as large crystals, up to 10 cm in marble. Cinnabar occurs in late fractures cutting the marble. Stibnite occurs as massive lenses in marble and with gold ore in the phyllite.
The vertical extent of high-grade gold within the mineralized shear zones has been drill tested to greater than 1,000 feet (the longest drill hole extended the gold mineralization down to 1,700 feet drill indicated depth within the Paperweight-Half Moon vein system. Mineralization remains open at depth. Horizontal continuation of these zones is remarkable. The Paperweight-Hamburger Hill shear zone is the most persistent known, with a strike length of 3,700 feet and widths between 5 and 20 feet.
Near-vertical, east-west, mineralized shear zones host aplite and andesite dikes, and the South Mouth, South Pit, Half Moon, Paperweight, and Hamburger Hill gold resources. The Deep-Dive gold resource is at
least partially stratabound, replacing a limestone unit adjacent to the Half Moon mineralized shear zone. North-striking mineralized and post- mineral faults displace the east-west mineralized shear zones and are intruded by andesite dikes. Sparse clay and sericite occur as narrow envelopes along shear margins.
Gold mineralization in the shear zones is siliceous, sulfidic, and carbonaceous. Quartz is white, milky, and multiply-brecciated. Sulfides are primarily pyrite, arsenopyrite, and stibnite with accessory sphalerite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite-tennantite, and pyrrhotite. Gold occurs as 5 to 20 micron grains in pyrite.

Reporter information

Type	Date	Name	Affiliation	Comment
Reporter	01-MAY-2003	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

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