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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Rochester Canyon Placers

Past Producer in Pershing county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver
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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. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  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. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310355
MRDS ID M060372
Record type Site
Current site name Rochester Canyon Placers
Related records 10042548, 10159925

Comments on the site identification

  • This is an updated version of record M060372 incorporating all information in the earlier MRDS record plus additional updated material. The Rochester Canyon placers are NOT the same as the Spring Valley placers and lode project, which are located about six miles to the the northeast on the opposite side of the Humboldt Range and which are described in separate records, M060380, and a new record.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -118.21791, 40.28407 (WGS84)
Elevation 1590
Location accuracy 100(meters)
Relative position The Rochester Canyon placer mine area is located about a hundred miles east of Reno, Nevada.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pershing(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Rochester(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Lovelock(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Lovelock(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Lower 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 Pershing

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 28N 33E 13 14 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The placer mine area is located primarily in Rochester Canyon below the historic Rochester mine workings. Placers were worked in several canyons on the west side of the Humboldt Range: Sacramento, Weaver, and Limerick Canyons as well as Rochester Canyon.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: free gold
  • Gangue Materials: gravel

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Gravel Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel
    Rock type qualifier stream
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Quaternary

Nearby scientific data

(1) -118.21791, 40.28407
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form blanket, channels

Controls for ore emplacement

  • channels

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1870
Year of first production 1860
Year of last production 1930
Production years 1860s-1900, 1930s?

Mining district

District name Rochester District

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name WInnnemucca BLM Administrative District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Rhyolite Placers Co.
    Year 1937

Comments on other economic factors

  • Total production is unknown but estimated to have exceeded 50,000 ounces of gold.
    1936: "considerable placer gold" was recovered; In 1937: 523 ounces of gold was produced by dredging in Limerick Canyon..

Comments on development

  • Placer gold was discovered in the 1800s prior to the discovery of the rich silver deposits on Nenzel Hill and in Rochester Canyon in 1905-1912; the placer deposits were never as productive as the later silver mines. Most of the work was done by hand on a small scale with one small mechanized operation in the 1930s utilizing 5/8-cubic yard shovels and 2.5 cubic yard trucks to transport material to a stationary washing plant. A dredge operation worked the Limerick Canyon placers in the 1930s under the name Rhyolite Placers Co.

Reference information

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Placer deposits were developed prior to the discovery of the lode deposits in Rochester Canyon from gravels 50 to several hundred feet thick. The gravels in adjacent Limerick Canyon were even more productive.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-AUG-1973 JOHNSON, MAUREEN G. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-MAY-1990 MARCUS, SUE U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-SEP-1994 LI, ZHIPING ( PETERS, S.) U.S. Geological Survey
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.

External references

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.