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Trinity Silver Project

Past Producer in Pershing county in Nevada, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Zinc, Copper, Arsenic, Iron
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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 10310378
MRDS ID M242910
Record type Site
Current site name Trinity Silver Project
Alternate or previous names Trinity Silver Mine, Trinity Silver Prospect, Seka Claims, U.S. Borax Prospect, Trinity Joint Venture
Related records 10047547

Comments on the site identification

  • The current prospect area covers several prospects and historic mine areas covered by earlier MRDS records #M242910, M242745 , W700435, and M060286 from which material has been incorporated into the current new record.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -118.61127, 40.39656 (WGS84)
Elevation 1740
Relative position The Trinity Silver Project is located on the flank of the Trinity Range in Pershing County, Nevada, approximately twenty five miles northwest of Lovelock.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Pershing(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Natchez Spring(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Lovelock(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Lovelock(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Granite Springs Valley(hydrologic unit)

Truckee(hydrologic accounting unit)

Central Lahontan(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Pershing

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 029N 030E 02-05, 08-11, 14-17 Nevada
Mount Diablo 030N 030E 32-35 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The property consists of two sections of owned surface and mineral rights, nearly six sections of leased mineral interests and 59 unpatented mining claims on BLM administered public land, about 5,800 acres in total.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Secondary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Copper Secondary
Arsenic Critical Tertiary
Iron Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: freibergite, pyragryite, minor argentite, rare native silver, pyrite, galena, sphalerite, and arsenopyrite
  • Gangue Materials: quartz, iron oxide, botryoidal manganese oxide

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Freibergite Ore
Pyrargyrite Ore
Argentite Ore
Silver Ore
Pyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Arsenopyrite Ore
Quartz Gangue
Pyrolusite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Alteration is widespread and consists of silicification and argillization.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 150
USGS model code 25c
Deposit model name Epithermal vein, Comstock
Mark3 model number 16

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
    Rock type qualifier flows and intrusive
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Pyroclastic Rock > Tuff
    Rock type qualifier rhyolite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock
    Rock type qualifier metasedimentary rocks
    Rock unit name Auld Lang Syne group
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Jurassic
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Late Triassic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -118.61127, 40.39656
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Northerly and northeasterly structural trends dominate the area. Breccia zones are associated with rhyolite intrusives that cut rhyolite flows and metasedimentary rocks. Oxide ore zone in section 9 appears to follow a NE trend. The reported sulfide zone in sec. 10 is exposed along a narrow drainage that extends south from Willow Canyon. Metasedimentary rock outcrops limit the extent of the disseminated, rhyolite-hosted ore zone to the NE and east.
The earlier-prospected deposit is a polymetallic sulfide vein containing silver-lead-copper mineralization. Drilling in 1984 confirmed the existence of a large deposit high in silver in a 100-ft vein along a N-S-trending fault structure.

Ore body information

  • General form tabular

Controls for ore emplacement

  • shear zones, brecia zones. Drilling in 1984 confirmed the existence of a large deposit high in silver in a 100-ft vein along a N-S-trending fault structure.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1980
Year of first production 1987
Year of last production 1989
Production years 1988-1989

Mining district

District name Trinity District

Land status

Ownership category Private
Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Carson City ?? BLM administrative district

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Newmont, the Gold Company
    Year 2004

Comments on the workings information

  • Older workings include several adit and shafts and numerous prospect pits. More recent work include drill roads, drill sites, and one open pit which has a surface area of approximately 19 acres. Maximum depth of the pit is 236 feet. The lateral dimensions are roughly 1400 feet by 500 feet.

Comments on other economic factors

  • Production of of approximately 1 million tons of oxide ore grading 6 ounces of silver per ton was made in 1987-1989 by a joint venture between U.S. Borax and Santa Fe. In 2004, Newmont reported that a sulfide resource of approximately 4 million tons of ore grading 2.5 ounces of silver per ton (1.4 oz/t cutoff) lies directly to the northeast of the oxide pit.

    The mine was operated from August 1987, to November 1989, and processed 1,035,000 tons of ore by heap leaching. The oxide ore was mined from an open pit and heap leached with production of approximately 1 million tons of 6 oz/t Ag. Negligible gold was recovered.
    1989 production was reported as 718,714 ounces of Ag, and 70 ounces of gold.

Comments on development

  • The Trinity Mine area was prospected historically with unrecorded minor silver production. Silver mineralization was discovered at Trinity by U.S. Borax in 1981 and was drilled by U.S. Borax in 1987, defining a small silver resource that was mined as a joint venture between U.S. Borax and Santa Fe. The mine was operated from August 1987, to November 1989, and processed 1,035,000 tons of ore by heap leaching. The oxide ore was mined from an open pit and heap leached with production of approximately 1 million tons of 6 oz/t Ag. Negligible gold was recovered. The Trinity Silver Mine was owned through a joint venture between Santa Fe Pacific Mining, Inc. and Pacific Coast Mines, Inc. Santa Fe assumed complete responsibility for the site in 1990. The property was subsequently explored further by Santa Fe in the period 1990 to 1992. The mine was subsequently reclaimed.
    Newmont Mining Corporation and Santa Fe merged in May of 1997, after which Newmont became the sole responsible permittee.
    AuEx Ventures, Inc leased the Trinity property package from Newmont Mining Corporation in August 2005, and in September, 2005, AuEx signed an Exploration and Development Agreement with Piedmont Mining Company, Inc. on the Trinity property. In 2006, AuEx Ventures Inc. announced that recent drill results at the Trinity Project include 5-40 ft @ 0.92 opt Ag (TSD- 01); 35-65 ft @ 1.04 opt Ag (TSD-02); 70-117 ft @ 1.21 opt Ag (TSD-02); 130-210 ft @ 0.80 opt Ag (TSD-03); 135-150 ft @ 9.31 opt Ag (TSD-07); 50-90 ft @ 1.19 opt Ag (TSD- 08) and 10-150 ft @ 0.80 opt Ag (TSD-09). (resource = 1,000,000 tons @ 5.25 opt Ag)

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit The bulk of the mineralization at the Trinity Project is hosted by highly altered Tertiary-aged rhyolitic tuffs, flows and intrusives. The Tertiary section is thin and unconformably overlies Mesozoic sediments of the Auld Lang Syne group which are also altered. Northerly and northeasterly structural trends dominate the area. Alteration is widespread and consists of silicification and argillization. Mineralization occurs as oxidized and unoxidized sulfides in veinlets and disseminated within the host rock. The principal sulfides are pyrite, galena, sphalerite, and arsenopyrite. Silver occurs as freibergite, pyragryite, minor argentite and rare native silver. The older workings to the north were along quartz veins cutting older sediments of the Auld Lang Syne group.One vein was a highly oxidized, silicified breccia zone. Breccia zones are associated with rhyolite intrusives that cut rhyolite flows and metasedimentary rocks. Pyrite and silver sulfides are disseminated in rhyolite and occur as fracture coatings with quartz in the breccia zones; outcrop of zone is oxidized; fractures are coated with orange brown limonite, botryoidal managnese oxides; vugs in the breccia are filled with limonite and clear, acicular quartz crystals. Oxide ore zone in section 9 appears to follow a NE trend. The reported sulfide zone in sec. 10 is exposed along a narrow drainage that extends south from Willow Canyon. Metasedimentary rock outcrops limit the extent of the disseminated, rhyolite-hosted ore zone to the NE and east. The earlier-prospected deposit is a polymetallic sulfide vein containing silver-lead-copper mineralization. Drilling in 1984 confirmed the existence of a large deposit high in silver in a 100-ft vein along a N-S-trendings fault structure.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-2004 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.

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Authoritative Nevada resources

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