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Railroad Copper-Gold Property

Past Producer in Elko county in Nevada, United States with commodities Copper, Gold, Silver, Zinc, Lead, Tungsten, Barium-Barite
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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. Bibliographic references
  20. General comments
  21. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310317
MRDS ID M233382
Record type Site
Current site name Railroad Copper-Gold Property
Alternate or previous names Bullion Copper-Gold Project, Polymetallic prospect, Nevada Bunker Hill Mines, Aladdin Claim, Blue Sky Claim, Tripoli Claim, Webfoot Claim, Mahogany Claim, Standing Elk Claim, Hoffman Claim, Mounted Ledge Claim, Bullion Claim, Cleveland Claim, Portal Claim
Related records 10045607

Comments on the site identification

  • This record incorporates material from several records (M233382, M233363, M233353, M233354, M233345) for historic mines in the Railroad District, now encompassed by the current prospected area of Royal Standard Minerals, as well as new material.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -116.01063, 40.51658 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 100(meters)
Relative position Royal Standard Mines? Railroad polymetallic project area lies in the heart of the historic Railroad District about 15 miles south of the town of Carlin.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Elko(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Ravens Nest(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Battle Mountain(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Winnemucca(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

South Fork Humboldt(hydrologic unit)

Humboldt(hydrologic accounting unit)

Black Rock Desert-Humboldt(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 030N 053E 04 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The prospect encompasses an area surrounding the historic mines of the Railroad District on the northern slope of Bunker Hill.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Lead Secondary
Tungsten Critical Tertiary
Barium-Barite Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: malachite, chalcanthite, cerussite, cerargyrite, duftite, copper pitch, azurite, galena, bornite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, chalcocite, tetrahedrite, scheelite, pyromorphite
  • Gangue Materials: calcite, garnet, tremolite, quartz, fluorite, wollastonite, halloysite, pyrite, barite

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Malachite Ore
Chalcanthite Ore
Cerussite Ore
Cerargyrite Ore
Duftite Ore
Azurite Ore
Galena Ore
Bornite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Chalcocite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore
Scheelite Ore
Pyromorphite Ore
Calcite Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Tremolite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Fluorite Gangue
Wollastonite Gangue
Halloysite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Barite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) sericitization, silicification

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 59
USGS model code 18b
Deposit model name Skarn Cu
Mark3 model number 8

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock type qualifier (copper host rock)
    Rock unit name Devils Gate Limestone (copper host rock)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Devonian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Middle Devonian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Skarn (Tactite)
    Rock type qualifier (copper host rock)
    Rock unit name Devils Gate Limestone (copper host rock)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Devonian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Middle Devonian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone
    Rock type qualifier (gold host rock)
    Rock unit name Webb Formation siltstone (gold host rock)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Mississippian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type
    Rock unit name Chainman Shale
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Mississippian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Early Mississippian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite
    Rock type qualifier porphyry
    Rock unit name Chainman Shale
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Porphyry
    Rock type qualifier Quartz monzonite
    Rock unit name Chainman Shale
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Porphyry
    Rock type qualifier rhyolite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary

Nearby scientific data

(1) -116.01063, 40.51658
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description North- to northeast-trending Bunker Hill fault; E-W-trending Bald Mountain fault

Ore body information

  • General form tabular to irregular

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Ore is localized by proximity of favorable reactive host rocks to intrusives, coupled with fault intersections.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Medium
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1870
Year of first production 1870
Year of last production 1959

Mining district

District name Railroad District

Land status

Ownership category Private
Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Elko BLM administrative district

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Royal Standard Minerals
    Year 2006

Comments on the workings information

  • Historic mines in the project rea were developed primarily by underground workings including shafts with several levels of workings, and tens of thousands of feet of adits, winzes, tunnels, crosscuts, drifts, as well as shallower workings.

Comments on other economic factors

  • Royal Standard in 2006 reported a resource estimate of 200-500 million tons of material with an average grade of 0.5 % Cu, for a total of as much as 2 billion pounds of copper with credits in gold, silver, zinc, and lead.
    Mines in the project area have produced in excess of 100,000 tons of copper with some lead and zinc and minor gold and silver.

Comments on development

  • The original Bunker Hill mines were discovered in the1870s, with early ore treated in a small smelter erected at Bullion City. The mine originally opened on 7 levels with the 'low level' adit (Davis tunnel) the main access. Production continued until 1887, then ceased until 1905 when the Nevada Bunker Hill Mining Co. consolidated the area mines and 2 low level adits were begun at the new camp of Bullion, to explore the downward extension of the orebodies. The property was operated during the 1930s by the Aladdin Mines Co. The Davis tunnel was extended to a target length of 6,040 feet in 1959, in an attempt to reach a projected extension of the Standing Elk orebody but no ore was found. Later the Webfoot Adit shared the same dump and portal area and was extended to 900 feet, with several hundred feet of crosscuts. The Standing Elk has over 10,000 feet of workings, and was one of the major producers of the district, with most of the intermittent production since 1908 to its credit.

    The Railroad/Bullion District has seen many periods of subsequent exploration for a variety of commodities. The most recent owner is Royal Standard Minerals who in 2006 is explorijng the property as a copper-gold polymetallic prospect. At the end of 2006, RSM reported that a geologic field mapping and geophysics program was completed during October and November 2006 on the Railroad copper-skarn system. The alteration mapping and a large ground magnetics program provided very useful data in targeting future drill hole sites on the property. The geophysical interpretation of this data is underway. No drilling was completed in October and November on this property due to delays with the availability of a drill, weather and the need to complete the evaluation of the new geophysical and geologic data. The drilling program is now rescheduled for the spring of 2007.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit The ore occurs as pipe-like replacements in marbelized limestone along porphyry dikes at intersections with faults. The largest mass was 50 feet in diameter and extended vertically for 400 feet and yielded 50,000 tons of oxidized ore grading 18.2% lead, 5.4% copper, and 19 oz of silver per ton. Scheelite-bearing tactite 2-3-feet wide occurs in the Davis tunnel about 3000 feet from the portal. In some areas, chimneys of high-grade silver-lead ore occur at fissure intersections and shear zones.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-2006 LaPointe, D.D. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Editor 01-SEP-2007 Schruben, Paul G. U.S. Geological Survey Converted from S&A FileMaker format to Oracle. Edit checks on rocks, units, and ages with Geolex search, and other fields.

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.