Silver Butte

Past Producer in Elko county in Nevada, United States with commodities Lead, Silver, Zinc
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. Mining district
  15. Land status
  16. Ownership information
  17. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10046152
MRDS ID M234133
Record type Site
Current site name Silver Butte
Alternate or previous names Dead Horse, Golden Pipe

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -115.18228, 40.28325 (WGS84)
Relative position IN SADDLE SW OF SMALL BUTTE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Elko(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Medicine Spring(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Ruby Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Elko(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Long-Ruby Valleys(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 Elko

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 028N 060E 24;23 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • 1:24000 QUADRANGLE ENTRY IS AN ORTHOPHOTO

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Lead Primary
Silver Primary
Zinc Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Anglesite Ore
Barite Ore
Calcite Ore
Galena Ore
Lead Ore
Limonite Ore
Quartz Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pliocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone

Nearby scientific data

(1) -115.18228, 40.28325

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Shear Zones

Ore body information

  • General form TABULAR
    Strike N35E
    Dip 80E

Controls for ore emplacement

  • 5 Fractures Striking N 30 E

Comments on the geologic information

  • BARITE IS ABUNDANT NEAR THE SMALL LEAD POCKETS - AS LENSES

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No

Mining district

District name Mud Springs (Dead Horse Medicine Springs Butte Valley)

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Golden Pipe Exploration Co.
    First year 1978

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    GRANGER, ET ALL, (1957), GEOLOGY AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF ELKO COUNTY, NEVADA, NBMG BULL. 59.

  • Deposit

    HILL, J.M., (1916), NOTES ON SOME MINING DISTRICTS IN EASTERN NEVADA, USGS BULL 648.

  • Deposit

    SMITH, R. M., MINERAL RESOURCES OF ELKO COUNTY NEVADA, USGS OPEN-FILE REPORT 1976-56.

  • Deposit

    MINES REGISTER. 1937.

  • Deposit

    HUNT, S.F., (1936), MINING GEOLOGY OUTLINED: 8 MSM REPRINT.

  • Deposit

    LINCOLN, F.C., (1923), MINING DISTRICTS OF MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEVADA, NEVADA NEWSLETTER PUBLISHING CO., RENO, NEVADA.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit BARITE VEINS REPORTED
Deposit THE DEAD HORSE OR SILVER BUTTE MINE OF 5 CLAIMS IS LOCATED IN A SADDLE SE OF A SMALL BUTTE AT THE NORTH END OF THE RUBY HILLS. FIRST DISCOVERIES IN THE DISTRICT WERE IN 1910, AND THE DEAD HORSE MINE WAS LOCATED IN 1911. ONE FOLLOWS A 2 FT. -3 FT. WIDE FRACTURE, THAT HAS A STRIKE LENGTH OF 1,500 FT. (N35E). THE GANGUE IS COMPOSED OF CALCITE, QUARTZ, AND BARITE WITH VALVES IN POCKETS OF LEAD CARBONATE AND SULPHATES. ON THE HANGING THERE IS A FOOT OF LEDGE MATERIAL CARRYING POCKETS AND STRINGERS OF GALENA SURROUNDED BY ANGLESITE AND CERUSITE. THE FIRST SHIPMENT OF ORE WAS MADE IN 1915 TO THE USSR. SMELTER IS LOCATED IN SALT LAKE CITY. IT WAS ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED BY THE NEVADA DIVIDEND MINING COMPANY WITH SOME OF THE ORE RUNNING AS HIGH AS 100 OZ AG AND 3 OZ AU. A 100-TON FLOTATION MILL WAS BUILT IN 1929 AND WAS IN OPERATION IN SEPTEMBER 1929. BETWEEN 1929 AND 1935 THE ORE AVERAGED 7-20% PB. THE MINE AND MILL WERE ACTIVE IN 1935. IN 1937 IT WAS BEING RENNOVATED TO START WORK
Deposit AGAIN. THE SILVER BUTTE CONSOLIDATED MINING CO. WAS INCORPORATED ABOUT 1923 TO CONSOLIDATE THE NEVADA DIVIDEND MINING CO. PROPERTY AND THE BUTTE VALLEY MINING CO. THIS GROUP WAS OWNED BY SALT LAKE CITY INVESTORS. THE MINE WAS DEVELOPED BY A 2-COMPARTMENT, 600 FT. VERTICAL SHAFT WITH 6 LEVELS, AND IN ALL ABOUT 4000 FT. OF WORKINGS. THE MINE AND MILL WERE OPERATING AGAIN IN 1951 ON THEIR 19 LODE CLAIMS, UNDER LEASE TO THE SILVER BUTTE CONSOLIDATED MINING CO. THE MILL WAS LOCATED AT MEDICINE SPRINGS, 6 MILES WEST OF THE SILVER BUTTE (DEAD HORSE) MINE. THIS MINE WAS THE PRINCIPAL PRODUCER IN THE DISTRICT AND IS CREDITED WITH A SMALL PRODUCTION. THE MILL INSTALLED IN 1950 AT MEDICINE SPRINGS WAS A 60-TON WET CONCENTRATING PLANT. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUL-1979 Tingley I. C. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-NOV-1990 Skurski, M. (Marcus, Sue) U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

External references

Authoritative Nevada resources

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