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Virgin Valley Opalite Deposits

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

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10036999
MRDS ID M029063
Record type Deposit
Current site name Virgin Valley Opalite Deposits
Alternate or previous names Virgin Valley Uranium Claims, Tony Jack Group (many claim names, see 10045033)

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Ore Body
Geographic coordinates: -119.10102, 41.8082 (WGS84)
Elevation 1890
Location accuracy 5000(meters)
Relative position 6 1/2 MI. SW OF DUFFURENA ON VIRGIN VALLEY ROAD. Locations cover large area surrounding Virgin Valley.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Humboldt(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Virgin Valley(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Vya(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Vya(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Thousand-Virgin(hydrologic unit)

Black Rock Desert(hydrologic accounting unit)

Black Rock Desert-Humboldt(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

FWS(Federal land areas administered by FWS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Humboldt

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 044N;045N;045N 025E;026E;025E 02,03,30,31,12,13,24,25,36 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • UTM COORDINATES MARK THE LOCATION OF THE VIRGIN VALLEY RANCH, WHICH LIES ROUGHLY IN THE CENTER OF A LARGE AREA OF CLAIMS EXTENDING OVER 3 MILES NORTH OF THE RANCH, 2 MILES SOUTH, AND ONE MILE EAST AND WEST.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gemstone Primary
Uranium Tertiary
Gold Tertiary
Silver Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • 14 TO 18 TONNES OF OPALITE SINCE 1942 GREENISH-YELLOW, TRANSLUCENT, FLUORESCENT OPALITE, WHICH OCCURS AT THE TOP OF A DIATOMACEOUS EARTH BED ON THE APRIL FOOL GROUP, WAS SOLD FOR 35? PER LB. TO ROCK COLLECTORS AND THE ULTRAVIOLET CORP, IN SAN GABRIEL, CA, FROM 1937 TO 1942. AFTER H.W. WILSON PURCHASED THE GROUP, HE ALSO SOLD OPALITE TO RAYTECH, INC. IN MASSACHUSETTS. 14 TO 18 TONNES HAVE BEEN SOLD SINCE 1942.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Opal Ore
Carnotite Gangue
Weeksite Gangue

Analytical data

Result 17 SAMPLES CONTAINED 0.02 TO .080 % U3O8 AS WELL AS OCCASSIONAL TRACES OF GOLD AND SILVER. SILVER VALUES WERE ENCOUNTERED UP TO 7 GRAMS PER METRIC TON.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 155
USGS model code 25f
Deposit model name Volcanogenic U

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Mafic Volcanic Rock > Basalt
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Pyroclastic Rock > Tuff
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Volcanic Ash

Nearby scientific data

Ore Body (1) -119.10102, 41.8082
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Reg.Struct: Caldera Structure
Type of structure Local
Structure description Caldera Structure

Ore body information

  • General form BLANKET (45 DISCONTINUOUS LAYERS OPALITE)
    Strike NW
    Dip 5-10NE
    Thickness 15.24M
    Length 1609.3M
    Width 402.33M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Opalite Layers In Sedimentary Strata

Comments on the geologic information

  • SOME OPALITE LAYERS CONTAIN URANIUM. OPALITE LAYERS OCCUR PARALLEL TO BEDDING IN ASH AND TUFF AND RANGE IN THICKNESS FROM .03 TO 1 METER. LAYERS RANGE IN LENGTH FROM 2 METERS TO OVER 366 MET. MANY STAGES OF SILICIFICATION OBSERVED. OPALITE HAS A DISTINCTIVE CONCHOIDAL FRACTURE AND MAY BE GREY, BROWN, TAN, BLACK, WHITE, OR PALE GREEN. IRREGULAR LENSES OF DIATOMACEOUS EARTH TO 2 METERS THICK ARE EXPOSED FOR OVER 610 METERS ON THE APRIL FOOL CLAIMS. TUFF AND ASH BEDS CAPPED BY BASALT AND TERRACE GRAVEL. TUFF IS GREENISH-GRAY, FRIABLE, POROUS. ASH BEDS ARE THINNER, LIGHTER-COLORED AND FINER GRAINED. 45 DISCONTINUOUS LAYERS OF OPALITE WERE OBSERVED, SOME WITH ANOMALOUS AMOUNTS OF URANIUM.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Large
Significant No
Discovery year 1950
Discoverer Jack Crane

Mining district

District name Virgin Valley District

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Krieger, Mitchel, Ruedy, Crane, Wilson
    First year 1978

Comments on the production information

  • FLUORESCENT OPALITE, SOLD TO ROCK COLLECTORS, TO THE ULTRAVIOLET CORP, AND TO RAYTECH, INC. FROM 1937 TO 1942, AND SOME SINCE THEN, TOO.

Comments on the workings information

  • AT LEAST 3 DRILL HOLES (1980).

Comments on development

  • PRESENTED AS A UNIT TO INTERESTED MINING COMPANIES WITH SOME SUCCESS IN 1976

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit URANIUM MINERALS WERE DISCOVERED BY JACK CRANE IN 1950, WHO LOCATED 52 CLAIMS BETWEEN 1950 AND 1954, ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE VIRGIN VALLEY. WEST AND NORTH OF CRANE'S GROUP, THE LONE STAR URANIUM CO. LOCATED 36 CLAIMS IN 1954 AND 1955. ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE VIRGIN VALLEY, 1/2 MILE E. OF THE VIRGIN VALLEY RANCH, M. FOSTER RELOCATED 3 OLDER CLAIMS (APRIL FOOL GROUP) IN 1932 AND THEY WERE BOUGHT FROM HIM BY H.W. WILSON IN 1942. WILSON ALSO RELOCATED SOME CLAIMS N. OF VIRGIN VALLEY RANCH IN 1976 (ANGIE GROUP), AND WILSON AND G. KRIEGER LOCATED 11 CLAIMS AROUND THE ANGIE GROUP IN 1976 (THE BARBARA AND HAL GROUP). KRIEGER ALSO LOCATED A BLOCK OF 132 CLAIMS SE OF VIRGIN VALLEY RANCH IN 1976. IN 1976, KRIEGER ET-AL. AGREED TO PROMOTE THEIR CLAIMS AS A UNIT TO INTERESTED MINING COMPANIES WITH SOME SUCCESS. DEVELOPMENT IN 1976 CONSISTED OF 188 SHALLOW BULLDOZER CUTS AND TRENCHES. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT
Deposit AN AREA NORTH OF VIRGIN VALLEY RANCH WHICH MEASURES 1/4 MILE BY 1 MILE AND 50 FT. DEEP MAY CONTAIN 14 TO 18 MILLION TONNES OF LOW-GRADE URANIUM BEARING MATERIAL AND URANIUM MINERALIZATION IN THE AREA INDICATES GOOD POTENTIAL FOR DISCOVERY OF ORE-GRADE URANIUM DEPOSIT.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JAN-78 Walker, George W. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-MAY-87 Li, Zhiping (Peters, S.) Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology CHECKED AND MODIFIED ROCK TYPE, ROCK UNIT AND AGES FIELDS.
Editor 01-JAN-94 Mosier, Dan U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 07-NOV-11 Wilson, Anna B U.S. Geological Survey separated U deposits from Opalite deposits in Virgin Valley. See related record 10045033 (Virgin Valley Uranium Claims)

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.