Teels Marsh

Past Producer in Mineral county in Nevada, United States with commodities Boron-Borates, Halite, Bromine, Sodium, Zeolites
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. Ore body information
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Land status
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10103597
MRDS ID M035447
Record type Site
Current site name Teels Marsh

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -118.35428, 38.20743 (WGS84)
Elevation 1494
Relative position SOUTH OF EXCELSIOR MTNS.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Mineral(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Teels Marsh(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Excelsior Mountains(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Walker Lake(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Fish Lake-Soda Spring 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 Mineral

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 004N 032E;033E Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • 2 MI. SO. OF MARIETTA. THE MARSH HAS A DRAINAGE AREA OF APPROXIMATELY 840 SQ KM (PAPKE, 1985). INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1972)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Boron-Borates Primary
Halite Secondary
Bromine Tertiary
Sodium Tertiary
Zeolites Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Borax Ore
Brine Ore
Halite Ore
Phillipsite Ore
Searlesite Ore
Tincalconite Ore
Trona Ore
Ulexite Ore
Gaylussite Gangue
Limestone Gangue

Analytical data

Result BRINE: RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF NA AS A PERCENTAGE OF POSITIVE IONS IS 98%
Result THE REALTIVE ABUNDANCES OF CARBONATE-BICARBONATE, SULFATE, AND CHLORIDE AS PERCENTAGES OF NEGATIVE IONS ARE 24%, 7%, AND 69% RESPECTIVELY.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 260
USGS model code 35b.3
Deposit model name Lacustrine borates

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Lake Sediments
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Pyroclastic Rock > Tuff

Nearby scientific data

(1) Alluvium, undifferentiated

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form PLAYA
    Length 6437.2M
    Width 3218.6M
  • General form PLAYA

Comments on the geologic information

  • NEAR SURFACE RHYOLITE ASH LAYERS ARE PRESENTLY BEING ALTERED TO ZEOLITES. ; GEOL.DESC: RICHEST CONCENTRATION OF BORAX IS ON THE SURFACE OF THE SALT INCRUSTATION THAT DEVELOPS AS A RESULT OF CAPILLARY RISE OF SOLUTIONS AND SOLAR EVAPORATION ON THE SURFACE OF THE PLAYA

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1865
Discoverer F.M. Smith (Borax, 1872)
Year of first production 1867
Production years 1867-1882.

Mining district

District name Teels Marsh

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area

Comments on the production information

  • SALT PRODUCTION UNKNOWN. BORAX: 1875 - 1891 , $855,000 .

Comments on the workings information

  • THE BORATE AREAS IN THE NORTHEASTERN PART OF THE MARSH ARE COVERED BY PATENTED CLAIMS. BORATE-RICH SURFACE MATERIAL WAS RAKED INTO WINDROWS, SHOVELED INTO WAGONS, AND HAULED TO THE NEARBY PLANT WHERE BORAX WAS DISSOLVED AND RECOVERED.

Comments on development

  • FIRST WORKED IN 1860'S FOR SALT FOR CHLORINATION PLANTS AT AURORA, COMSTOCK, AND CANDELARIA. ABOUT 1872, BORAX WAS FOUND BY F.M. AND J.P. SMITH (FIRST DISCOVERY OF BORAX IN NEVADA): BORAX WAS PRODUCED STEADILY UNTIL 1892 WHEN THE DEATH VALLEY DEPOSITS WERE DISCOVERED. THIS WAS THE FIRST DISCOVERY OF NATURAL BORAX IN NEVADA.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    VANDERBURG, 1937, RECONNAISSANCE OF MINING DISTRICTS IN MINERAL CO., NEV.: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES INFORMATION CIRCULAR.

  • Deposit

    ROSS, D.L., 1961, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF MINERAL CO., NEV.: NEVADA BUREAU OF MINES BULLETIN 58.

  • Deposit

    ARCHBOLD, N.L., 1966, INDUSTRIAL MINERAL DEPOSITS OF MINERAL CO., NEV.: NEVADA BUREAU OF MINES REPORT 14.

  • Deposit

    COUCH, B.F., AND CARPENTER, J.A., 1943, NEVADA'S METAL AND MINERAL PRODUCTION (1859-1940, INCLUSIVE): UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA BULLETIN, V. 37, NO. 4, GEOLOGY AND MINING SER. 38.

  • Deposit

    PAPKE, K.G., 1976, EVAPORITES AND BRINES IN NEVADA PLAYAS: NEVADA BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 87, 35 P.

  • Deposit

    PAPKE, K.G., 1985, BORATES IN NEVADA, IN BARKER, J.M., AND LEFOND, S.J., EDS., BORATES: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND PRODUCTION: NEW YORK, SOCIETY OF MINING ENGINEERS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING, METALLURGICAL, AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERS, INC., P. 89-99.

  • Production

    PAPKE, 1976.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE PLAYA IS ABOUT 4 MILES LONG, 1-2 MILES WIDE, AND COVERS ABOUT 65 SQ MILES. THE BORATES ARE FOUND IN THE NORTHEASTERN PART OF THE MARSH AND ARE COVERED BY PATENTED CLAIMS. BORAX AND TINCALCONITE OCCUR IN A SOFT, POWDERY SURFACE CRUST OR IN THIN LAYERS AT SHALLOW DEPTH ALONG WITH HALITE AND CARBONATE MINERALS.
Deposit Discovery Year: 1860'S SALT; 1872 BORAX

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1978 Fiebelkorn, J. B. (Stewart, J. H.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-AUG-1981 Flynn, Patricia D. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-OCT-1992 Orris, Greta J. 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.