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Cove Mine

Producer in Lander county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Manganese, Arsenic, Mercury, Antimony, Thallium, Lead, Zinc, Tin, Copper
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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. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Controls for ore emplacement
  15. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  16. Mining district
  17. Land status
  18. Ownership information
  19. Reserves and resources
  20. Links to other databases
  21. Bibliographic references
  22. General comments
  23. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10085018
MRDS ID W700450
Record type Site
Current site name Cove Mine
Related records 10310331

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -117.20233, 40.33629 (WGS84)
Elevation 1524
Relative position 30 MILES SW OF TOWN OF BATTLE MOUNTAIN, NV.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Lander(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

McCoy(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Fish Creek Mountains(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Winnemucca(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Reese(hydrologic unit)

Humboldt(hydrologic accounting unit)

Black Rock Desert-Humboldt(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Lander

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 029N 042E 36 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • APPROX. 1.5 MILES NE OF MCCOY MINE, ON NE SIDE OF FISH CREEK MOUNTAINS. . INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1972)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Manganese Critical Tertiary
Arsenic Critical Tertiary
Mercury Tertiary
Antimony Critical Tertiary
Thallium Tertiary
Lead Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Tin Critical Tertiary
Copper Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • IN THE UPPER ORE ZONE, AU AND AG MINERALIZATION ARE ASSOCIATED WITH ARGILLIZATION AND WITH PENETRATIVE MN REPLACEMENT. IN THE LOWER ORE ZONE, AU AND AG MINERALIZATION ARE ASSOCIATED WITH DISSEMINATED SULFIDES, SULFIDE VEINLETS, AND HIGH PB AND ZN CONTENTS.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Acanthite Ore
Electrum Ore
Silver Ore
Tennantite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Cassiterite Gangue
Chalcocite Gangue
Chalcopyrite Gangue
Clay Gangue
Covellite Gangue
Digenite Gangue
Galena Gangue
Marcasite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Pyrrhotite Gangue
Sericite Gangue
Sphalerite Gangue
Stannite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Argillization, Silification, Manganese Alteration. See Geology Comments.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 75
USGS model code 19c
Deposit model name Distal disseminated Ag-Au
Mark3 model number 18

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Favret Formation;Panther Canyon Formation;Augusta Mountain Formation
    Rock description Favret Formation;Panther Canyon Formation;Augusta Mountain Formation

Nearby scientific data

(1) -117.20233, 40.33629
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Faults

Ore body information

  • Thickness 121.92M
    Length 304.8M
    Width 243.84M
  • Thickness 304.8M
    Length 914.4M
    Width 365.76M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fractures, Faults

Comments on the geologic information

  • ALTERATION COMMENTS: UPPER ORE ZONE: ARGILLIZATION, SILICIFICATION, MANGANESE ALTERATION. ALTERATION HAS RESULTED IN THE FORMATION OF CLAY AND SERICITE ALONG FRACTURES AND WITHIN THE MORE PERMEABLE BEDS. LOCALLY, COMPLETE REPLACEMENT OF THE CARBONATE TO FORM JASPEROID HAS OCCURRED ALONG BEDDING AND ALONG SOME STRUCTURES. ABUNDANT MANGANESE (AS MN-CALCITE) HAS BEEN INTRODUCED INTO THE ROCK, GIVING THE CLAY AND JASPEROID A SOOTY BROWN APPEARANCE. LOWER ORE ZONE: BASE METAL SULFIDES AND PYRITE WERE INTRODUCED INTO THE HOST ROCK, FILLING FRACTURES AND PARTIALLY REPLACING THE HOST ROCK. GEOLOGY COMMENTS: THE POST-MINERAL CAETANO TUFF (32-34 MA) COVERS +/- 60% OF THE COVE DEPOSIT.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1987
Discoverer Echo Bay Mines (David Emmons)
Year of first production 1988
Production years 1988 - PRESENT (9/92)

Mining district

District name Mccoy

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Echo Bay Mines

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1989
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold Au 1.778 g/mt Gold Major 1989
    Silver Ag 87.53 g/mt Silver Major 1989

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • 1989 FIGURES REPRESENT PROVEN AND PROBABLE RESERVES BASED ON AN ULTIMATE PIT DEPTH OF 1100 FT. AND A STRIPPING RATIO OF 8:1.
  • 1989 FIGURES REPRESENT THE ADDITIONAL RESOURCE WHICH WOULD RESULT FROM AN ULTIMATE PIT DEPTH OF 1500 FT. INSTEAD OF 1100 FT.

Comments on development

  • EXPL.COM: IN JANUARY, 1986, TENNECO MINERALS CORP. BEGAN A MCCOY DISTRICT EXPLORATION PROGRAM, THE PURPOSE OF WHICH WAS TO EVALUATE THE TRIASSIC ROCKS WHICH HOST THE MCCOY GOLD SKARN DEPOSIT. WORK CONSISED OF STREAM SEDIMENT SAMPLING, SOIL SAMPLING, ROCK SAMPLING, AND GEOLOGIC MAPPING. BY EARLY 1986, 500 STREAM SEDIMENT SAMPLES HAD BEEN COLLECTED FROM THE 8 SQUARE MILES WHICH SURROUND THE MCCOY MINE. AU VALUES FOR ALL SAMPLES RANGED FROM <1 PPB TO 34 PPM; FOR SAMPLES IN THE VICINITY OF THE COVE DEPOSIT, AU VALUES RANGED UP TO 72 PPB WITH ANOMALOUS AG, HG, AS, SB, TL. FOLLOW-UP OUTCROP SAMPLING IN THE COVE AREA IDENTIFIED A ZONE OF OVER 1000 FT. OF STRIKE LENGTH WITH AU VALUES RANGING FROM 0.1 - 1.9 PPM. IN SEPTEMBER AND OCTOBER, 1986, SOIL SAMPLING WAS CONDUCTED IN THE COVE AREA. 147 SOIL SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED OF THE B AND C SOIL HORIZONS ON A 100 FT. BY 200 FT. GRID SPACING. A GEOCHEMICAL ANOMALY APPROX. 2800 FT. LONG AND 100-1000 FT. WIDE WITH AU VALUES UP TO 2600 PPB AND
  • AS VALUES UP TO 1000 PPM WAS IDENTIFIED. THE EASTERN PORTION OF THIS AU-AS ANOMALY WAS ALSO ANOMALOUS IN AG (UP TO 210 PPM, OR 6 OPT!). IN LATE 1986, DOZER TRENCHING INDICATED ORE -GRADE MINERALIZATION OVER THE STRIKE LENGTH OF THE SOIL GEOCHEMICAL ANOMALY. IN JANUARY , 1987, A 25 HOLE REVERSE CIRCULATION DRILLING PROGRAM OF 5000 FT. WAS STARTED. THE FIRST HOLE INTERSECTED 110 FT./0.024 OPT AU, 0.92 OPT AG. DRILL HOLE COVE 19 INTERSECTED 170 FT./0.167 OPT AU STARTING AT SURFACE. DRILL HOLE COVE 35 INTERSECTED 85 FT./0.5 OPT AU, 1.4 OPT AG STARTING AT SURFACE. DRILL HOLE COVE 36 WAS THE FIRST TO ENCOUNTER PANTHER CANYON FORMATION, INTERSECTING 45 FT./0.163 OPT AU, 50 OPT AG. BY MARCH, 1987, 42 HOLES HAD BEEN DRILLED TO A MAXIMUM DEPTH OF 475 FT. DISCOVERY WAS ANNOUNCED MARCH 31, 1987. INITIAL DEVELOPMENT DRILLING BEGAN IN MARCH, 1987 WITH 2 DRILLS OPERATING 1 SHIFT/DAY. BY MAY, THESE 2 DRILLS WERE OPERATING 2 SHIFTS/DAY. BY DECEMBER, 5 DRILLS WERE OPERATING 24 HRS./DAY. BY
  • THE END OF 1988, MORE THAN 400,000 FT. OF REVERSE CIRCULATION DRILLING IN 475 HOLES AND 38,000 FT. OF DIAMOND DRILLING IN 25 HOLES HAD BEEN COMPLETED. HAUL ROAD CONSTRUCTION BEGAN DECEMBER, 1987, AND LIMITED MINING OPERATIONS BEGAN JANUARY, 1988, ONE YEAR AFTER DISCOVERY. FULL SCALL MINING BEGAN MARCH, 1988. INITIAL MINING RATE WAS 75,000 TPD OF ORE AND WASTE. MILL CONSTRUCTION BEGAN IN 1988, SCHEDULED FOR MID-1989 COMPLETION. IN EARLY 1989, ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT ANGLE DIAMOND DRILL HOLES WERE BEING DRILLED UNDERNEATH THE COVE OPEN PIT. THE FINAL MINE PLAN WILL PROBABLY INCLUDE UNDERGROUND MINING. CLAIM BLOCK CONSISTS OF 75 SQUARE MILES. ; TOTAL$: 220 ; MILL.CAP: 10,000 TPD (EST.) ; ECON.COM: IN 1989, A FACTOR OF 55:1 WAS USED TO CONVERT AG TO AU EQUIVALENTS. PROJECTED PRODUCTION RATE OF 225,000 OZ AU AND 2,500,000 OZ AG ANNUALLY.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    EMMONS, D.L, 1989, THE COVE GOLD-SILVER DISCOVERY, LANDER COUNTY, NEVADA, ORAL PRESENTATION AT 118TH ANNUAL MEETING OF AIME, LAS VEGAS, MARCH 2.

  • Deposit

    EMMONS, D.L., AND COYLE, R.D., 1988, ECHO BAY DETAILS EXPLORATION ACTIVITIES AT ITS COVE DEPOSIT IN NEVADA; MINING ENGINEERING,, AUGUST, 1988, P. 791-794.

  • Deposit

    NBMG MINING DISTRICT FILE 157, ITEM 12, UNPUBLISHED REPORT BY ECHO BAY MINES, AND NUMEROUS PRESS CLIPPINGS.

  • Deposit

    BONHAM, H.F., 1988, NBMG MAP 91 AND IN NBMG MI-1987.

  • Deposit

    ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, JUNE, 1988, P. 43.

  • Deposit

    NBMG, 1994, MI-1993

  • Production

    1988 FIGURES: EMMONS, D.L., 1989, THE COVE GOLD-SILVER DISCOVERY, LANDER COUNTY, NEVADA, ORAL PRESENTATION AT 118TH ANNUAL MEETING OF AIME, LAS VEGAS, MARCH 2. NBMG MI-1993

  • Reserve-Resource

    BONHAM, H.F., 1988 NBMG MI-1993

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE COVE DEPOSIT CONSISTS OF TWO MAIN ORE ZONES THAT ARE STACKED. THE UPPER ZONE IS HOSTED BY LOWER AUGUSTA MOUNTAIN FORMATION, THE LOWER ZONE BY THE PANTHER CANYON FORMATION. DIMENSIONS ARE FOR THE UPPER ZONE, FOLLOWED BY THE LOWER ZONE.
Deposit THIS RECORD HAS BEEN MERGED WITH M242946, WHICH HAS BEEN DELETED.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1988 Paidakovich, Matthew E. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-OCT-1988 La Pointe, D.D. (Tingley, J.V.) Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-SEP-1992 Phinisey, J. D. (Marcus, S.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-SEP-1994 Li, Zhiping (Moyer, Lorre A.) U.S. Geological Survey

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.