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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Manhattan Gulch Placers

Producer in Nye 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. Links to other databases
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310369
MRDS ID M233583
Record type Site
Current site name Manhattan Gulch Placers
Alternate or previous names Manhattan Gold Dredging Co. Operations, Manhattan Placer Deposits, Dexter No. 14 Pat, Nellie Gray Pat, Copenhagen Sur, Rainbow, Searchlight, Auction, Boston, Tuesday, Wednesday Fraction, September Fraction, Bed Rock Sur, Erwin, Robust, Morning Star, January Sur, Black Cat, Last Chance, Follem, Georggy Nos. 1 and 2, Nemo, Fairview, Arlington No. 3, Amboy, Arlington, Independence Nos. 2 and 4, Bright August, Gold Bench, Arlington No. 4, Midnight, Take-A-Chance, Happy Day, Jumbo Nos. 1 and 2, Bull Dog, China, Japan, Gold Pan, Cooper, Edna, Bookkeeper, Archibald, Cyclone, West End Nos. 2 and 3, India, African-Sunrise-Cornucopia Fraction, September, Central, Pedro

Comments on the site identification

  • This record is an updated version of MRDS record # M233583 including all information from the former record plus additional information.

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Ore Body
Geographic coordinates: -117.15286, 38.53882 (WGS84)
Elevation 1890
Relative position The Manhattan Gulch Placers were located in Manhattan Gulch about 50 miles NNE of Tonopah. The placers extend about 5 miles upstream (east) from this point.\n

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nye(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Seyler Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Ione Valley(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Tonopah(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Southern Big Smoky Valley(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 Nye

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 008N 043E 16 21 22 23 24 Nevada
Mount Diablo 008N 044E 18 19 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The Manhattan Gulch Placers were located in Manhattan Gulch extending from the Manhattan townsite for about 5 miles downstream. The UTM location given is to one large area of the dredging, which extended upstream for several miles.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: native 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 alluvial-channel and bench
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Pleistocene

Nearby scientific data

Ore Body (1) -117.15286, 38.53882
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form blanket, stratiform

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Erosion and deposition. Pay gravel is richest just over bedrock.

Comments on the geologic information

  • Pay gravel is richest just over bedrock.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1906
Year of first production 1906
Year of last production 1975
Production years 1906-1975?

Mining district

District name Manhattan District

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Tonopah BLM-and USFS-Administrative Districts

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Manhattan Gold Dredging Co., a subsidiary of Natomas Co.
    Year 1975
    First year 1946

Comments on the workings information

  • The placer deposits in Manhattan Gulch were developed by numerous shallow shafts and drifts for many years as well as by later large-scale dredging.

Comments on other economic factors

  • 1907-1967 production yielded a recorded $6,342,796 in placer gold and was actually probably at least $7 million. The total amount produced from 1907 to 1967 from both small-scale operators and dredging operations was estimated at least 206,898 ounces of gold.

Comments on development

  • Since their discovery in 1906, the Manhattan Gulch placers have been worked continuously by one method or another until the 1970s if not later. Most of the early production was developed by hand in drifts and shallow shafts and hand-processed using sluices and drywashers yielding a significant production over several decades. The most productive period for the placer operations was when Manhattan Gold Dredging Co., a subsidiary of Natomas Co., operated a floating bucket line dredge with 108 buckets in Manhattan Gulch from 1938 to 1946. The dredge started at the northwest corner of seciton 21 and worked about 5 miles upstream to about the mouth of Black Mammoth Gulch. Dredging traversed many previous older placer claims that are described by other MRDS records. Water to run this operation was piped in from Peavine Canyon 12 miles away. The dredge ceased operationin 1946 and was shipped over to Copper Canyn in the Battle Mountain District to begin another period of production there.
    In 1974, a Canadian consortium consisting of August Petroleum Ltd., Spirit Exploration, Ltd., and Thaiaaron Dev. Ltd. sampled the placer area and planned a 50,000 yard- 3-day operation. In 1975, Manhattan Gold Corp. was formed to mine the gold placer property, with August Petroleum as the main stockholder. Some of the placer claims were being explored in 1977.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit The gold-bearing gravels include stream channel, benches and some older bench gravels on the hillsides.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-FEB-1982 La Pointe, D. D. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Reporter 22-FEB-1995 Schmauch, Steven W. U.S. Bureau of Mines
Reporter 01-FEB-2005 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.

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.