Argentum Mining Co.

Past Producer in Mineral county in Nevada, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Zinc, Antimony, Copper, Gold, Iron, Manganese, Arsenic, Nickel, Chromium, Uranium
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. 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. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10104012
MRDS ID M233028
Record type Site
Current site name Argentum Mining Co.
Alternate or previous names Northern Belle, Holmes, Argentum Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -118.08372, 38.15687 (WGS84)
Elevation 1890
Relative position NE FLANK OF CANDELARIA MTN.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Mineral(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Candelaria(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)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Mineral

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 004N 035E Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • JUST SOUTH OF TOWN OF CANDELARIA. APPEARS TO BE MISLOCATED ON TOPOGRAPHIC MAP. NORTHERN BELLE, AS SHOWN ON TOPO, WAS MINED BY ARGENTUM MINING COMPANY. REFERENCES DESCRIBE GEOLOGY OF THIS SITE. ; INFO FROM LAND.ST :(1972)

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Secondary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Antimony Critical Secondary
Copper Secondary
Gold Secondary
Iron Tertiary
Manganese Critical Tertiary
Arsenic Critical Tertiary
Nickel Critical Tertiary
Chromium Critical Tertiary
Uranium Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • DISSEMINATED PYRITE. HIGH GRADE VEINS-MASSIVE PYRITE-SPHALERITE-GALENA-CHALCOPYRITE-JAMESONITE IN CARBONATE-QUARTZ GANGUE.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bindheimite Ore
Cerargyrite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Jamesonite Ore
Silver Ore
Smithsonite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Quartz Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Oxidation; Serpentinization Of Pickhandle Gulch Rocks; Sericitization.

Analytical data

Result DUMP MATERIAL AVERAGES 6 OZ SILVER/TON. ORE AVERAGED 60 OZ/TON AG IN THE EARLY DAYS.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Mafic Volcanic Rock
    Rock unit name Pickhandle Gulch Formation;Pickhandle Gulch Formation
    Rock description Pickhandle Gulch Formation;Pickhandle Gulch Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Triassic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Mudstone
    Rock unit name Candelaria;Candelaria;Candelaria
    Rock description Candelaria;Candelaria;Candelaria

Nearby scientific data

(1) Alluvium, undifferentiated

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description The North Side Of The District Is Bounded By A Major Post-Mineral Fault. Recurrent Faulting.
Type of structure Local
Structure description Complex Fissures, The Candelaria, Alpha, And Belle Faults; Pickhandle Gulch Complex Thrust Over Candelaria Fm. Of Lower Triassic.

Ore body information

  • General form LINEAR
    Strike E
    Dip 45-70 N
  • General form LINEAR
    Dip 45-70 N
  • General form LINEAR
    Dip 45-70 N

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Veins; Deposit Located In North Dipping Veins Variably Concordant/Discordant With Country Rock.

Comments on the geologic information

  • AT DEPTH THE UNOXIDIZED VEIN FILLING WAS MANGANIFEROUS FERRO-DOLOMITE CONTAINING PYRITE, SPHALERITE, GALENA, AND JAMESONITE. NORMAL AND RESVERSE FAULTS, PART OF PICKHANDLE GULCH THRUST EVENT, ARE STRONGLY MINERALIZED AT NORTHERN BELLE. ANOMALOUS RADIOACTIVITY NOTED IN FE-STAINED SEAM ON 1,700(?) FT. LEVELS; BACKGROUND = 0.025MR/HR, HIGH = 0.15MR/HR. HOST ROCKS ARE LOWER TRIASSIC BASED ON FOSSIL EVIDENCE. ASSOCIATED ROCKS ARE MAFIC VOLCANICS WITH TECTONICALLY INTERRELATED SEDIMENTARY ROCKS; LOCAL DIORITIC(?) INTRUSIONS.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1864
Year of first production 1870

Mining district

District name Candelaria District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Nerco Minerals Co.
    Home office Reno, Nv.
  • Type Owner
    Owner Earl, C. E., Agent Of Co.
    Home office Mina, Nv

Comments on the production information

  • $6,700,000-$10,000,000 TOTAL PRODUCTION.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • PAGE [59] REPORTS PARTLY DEVELOPED SULPHIDE VEIN MATERIAL IN LOWER LEVELS OF NORTHERN BELLE RAN 1-106 OZS. AG/TON.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Overall depth 416.05M

Comments on the workings information

  • 1365-FT SHAFT AND SEVERAL MILES OF WORKINGS; OPEN PIT

Comments on development

  • ACTIVITY MARKEDLY DECREASED AFTER 1883. IN THE MID-1950'S 20,000 TO 30,000 TONS OF DUMP MATERIAL WAS RERUN; SITE NOW PROBABLY PART OF NORTHERN BELLE OPEN PIT.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ROSS, D.C., 1961, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF MINERAL COUNTY, NEVADA: NBMG BULL. 58.

  • Deposit

    KNOPF, ADOLPH, 1922, THE CANDELARIA SILVER DISTRICT, NEVADA: USGS BULL. 735A, P.1-22.

  • Deposit

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

  • Deposit

    BURGESS, J.A., 1930, REPORT ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE NORTHERN BELLE MINE OF THE ARGENTUM MINING CO. OF NEVADA (UNPUB.): NBMG FILES

  • Deposit

    PAGE, B.M., 1959, GEOLOGY OF THE CANDELARIA MINING DISTRICT, MINERAL COUNTY, NEVADA: NBMG BULLETIN 56.

  • Deposit

    GARSIDE, L.J., 1973, RADIOACTIVE MINERAL OCCURRENCES IN NEVADA: NBMG BULLETIN 81, 84 P.

  • Deposit

    MOELLER, S.A., 1988, GEOLOGY AND MINERALIZATION IN THE CANDELARIA DISTRICT: IN, BULK MINEABLE PRECIOUS METAL DEPOSITS OF THE WESTERN U.S., GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEVADA, P.135-158.

  • Production

    ROSS, D.C., 1961, TABLE 6.2

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit HIGHLY OXIDIZED MANGANIFEROUS SILVER VEINS, SEVERAL HUNDRED FEET IN STRIKE LENGTH AND A FEW FEET WIDE, BROKEN BY COMPLEX FISSURES. THE VEIN SYSTEM IS E-TRENDING AND PARALLELS BEDDING IN THE CANDELARIA FORMATION. THE PRODUCTIVE ORE BODIES OCCUR MOSTLY IN THE LOWEST MEMBER OF THE CANDELARIA FM. WHICH IS CARBONACEOUS WHERE UNOXIDIZED. UNOXIDIZED ORE CAN BE SEEN ON THE 15TH TO 19TH LEVELS. THE VEIN CONSISTS OF FERRO-DOLOMITE IN THIN CURVING AND OVERLAPPING SHEETS AND LENSES SEPARATED BY BLACK POLISHED GRAPHITIC SURFACES. OCCASIONAL DISCONTINUOUS LENSES OR BROKEN SHEETS OF SOLID SULFIDE ORE ARE FOUND UP TO 18 INCHES IN THICKNESS. THE ORE BODIES PROBABLY EXTEND 2000 FT TO THE E OF THE MINE. ABOUT 25% OF ORE FROM CANDELARIA DISTRICT IS HOSTED BY SERPENTINE. OXIDATION EXTENDS TO 300M (?) IN PARTS OF DEPOSIT.
Deposit THE NORTHERN BELLE MINE, PART OF THIS MINE, WAS THE MOST PRODUCTIVE IN THE DISTRICT IN THE 1860'S-1890'S. THE DEEP SULFIDE ORE COULD NOT BE HANDLED IN THE 1800'S. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1981 Flynn, Patricia D. (Tingley, J. V.) Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-AUG-1990 Marcus, S. (Usgs-Mio) 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.