Bernice Mine

Past Producer in Churchill county in Nevada, United States with commodities Antimony, Silver, Gold, Iron, Arsenic
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. Alteration
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  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. Workings at the site
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10045384
MRDS ID M233096
Record type Site
Current site name Bernice Mine
Alternate or previous names Old Williams Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -117.75345, 39.76491 (WGS84)
Elevation 1920
Relative position A MILE NORTH WEST OF BERNICE; 32 MILES N NE OF EASTGATE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Churchill(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Bernice Canyon(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Edwards Creek Valley(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Millett(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Dixie 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 Churchill

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 022N 038E 19 NW Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • HIGH ON THE SOUTH SLOPE OF THE RIDGE THAT SEPARATES HOYT AND BERNICE CANYONS. ACCURACY +-50M ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1972)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Antimony Critical Primary
Silver Primary
Gold Secondary
Iron Tertiary
Arsenic Critical Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Arsenopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Jamesonite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Stibnite Ore
Feldspar Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicification

Analytical data

Result 3 SAMPLES CONTAINED 30, 150, AND 500 PPM AG
Result SAMPLES CONTAINED UP TO 5% AS AND 0.5% SB.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Triassic
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Slate
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Phyllite
    Rock unit name Star Peak Formation
    Rock description Star Peak Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -117.75345, 39.76491

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR
    Strike NNE
    Dip STEEPLY WEST, ABOUT 70DEG (VARIABLE, 40DEG TO 90 DEG)
    Thickness 152.4M
    Length 365.76M
    Width 1.83M
    Depth to top 0M
    Depth to bottom 152.4M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fault

Comments on the geologic information

  • ORE WAS MOSTLY FREE-MILLING ESPECIALLY

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1886
Discoverer Wallace Goodell Cor James Wardell In Late 1870'S, According To Vanderburg
Year of first production 1886
Year of last production 1890

Mining district

District name Bernice District

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Williams, J. B.

Comments on the production information

  • VALUES WERE MOSTLY IN SILVER BUT WITH GOLD ALSO RUNNING $5-$6 PERTON. VANDERBURG REPORTS $300,000 WORHT OF SILVER PRODUCTION.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Length 762M
    Overall depth 121.92M

Comments on the workings information

  • ADITS ON 3 LEVELS, WITH EXTENSIVE STOPES & RAISES. UPPER TUNNEL IS STOPED TO THE SURFACE FOR 500 FEET.

Comments on development

  • GOODELL DEVELOPED THE PROPERTY SOON AFTER DISCOVERY AND BERNICE BECAME AFLOURISHING CAMP. THE PROPERTY WAS NEXT ACQUIRED BY BOTHWELL WHO BUILT A 10-STAMP MILL FOR IT. IT LATER PASSED TO EX-SENATOR J.P. WILLIAMS WHO OPERATED THE MINE AND MILL AND SHIPPED THE SILVER-GOLD BULLION TO THE CALIFORNIA BANK AT SAN FRNCISCO. THE MORE THAN 1/2 MILLION DOLLAR PRODUCTION WAS MADE MOSTLY FROM 1886 TO 1890. SINCE THEN THE CAMP HAS BEEN LARGELY DESERTED, THOUGH SOME DEVELOPMENT AND ALITTLE MINING HAVE BEEN DONE INTERMITTENTLY, ALMOST ANNUALLY. IN 1892, SOME OF THE DEPOSITS BEGAN TO BE WORKED FOR ANTMONY AND THEY HAVE BEEN OPERATED PERIODICALLY SINCE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    WILLDEN, R. AND R.C. SPEED, 1974, GEOLOGY MINERAL DEPOSITS OF CHURCHILL COUNTY, NEB.; NBMG BULL. 83.

  • Deposit

    SCHRADER, F.C., 1947, CARSON SINK AREA; U.S.G.S. OPEN FILE REPORT

  • Deposit

    VANDERBURG, W.O., 1940, RECONNAISSANCE OF MINING DISTRICTS IN CHURCHILL CO, NEV.; U.S.B.M.I.C. 7093

  • Production

    SCHRADER, F.C. (1947); WILLDEN & SPEED, (1974)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit VEIN CONSISTS OF QUARTZ AND CRUSHED, ALTERED, MINERALIZED FAULT BRECCIA, IN PART BANDED AND IN PART DRUSY.
Deposit THE TAILINGS PILE BELOW THE OLD MILLSITE CONTAINING ABOUT 6000 TONS WAS OWNED BY C.M. BEEGHLY AND L.T. ELLIS IN 1939. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT
Deposit Discovery Year: 1886 OR 1870'S

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-1981 La Pointe, D.D. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology

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.