Chukar Footwall Mine

Producer in Eureka county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Arsenic, Antimony, Mercury, Thallium, Barium-Barite, Lead, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Nickel
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 10310452
Record type Site
Current site name Chukar Footwall Mine
Alternate or previous names Chukar, Gold Quarry Mine Area
Related records 10044714, 10310465

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -116.20925, 40.79158 (WGS84)
Elevation 1710
Relative position The Chukar Footwall Mine is located adjcent to the Gold Quarry Mine about 6 miles northwest of Carlin, Nevada.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Eureka(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Schroeder Mountain(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Battle Mountain(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Winnemucca(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Humboldt(hydrologic unit)

Humboldt(hydrologic accounting unit)

Black Rock Desert-Humboldt(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Eureka

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 033N 051E 03 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The tunnels start in the southwest corner of the Gold Quarry Pit; UTM is to approximate collar of underground workings at the edge of Gold Quarry open pit.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Arsenic Critical Tertiary
Antimony Critical Tertiary
Mercury Tertiary
Thallium Tertiary
Barium-Barite Critical Tertiary
Lead Tertiary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Copper Tertiary
Manganese Critical Tertiary
Nickel Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Commodity Info: Gold grains range from <0.1 to 10.0 microns in size and usually occur associated with microfractures or disseminated in microcrystalline cherty matrix. Au:Ag ratio ranges from about 2:1 in mill grade ores to 1:3 in leach grade ores.
  • Ore Materials: free gold
  • Gangue Materials: silica, iron oxides, kaolinite, barite, alunite, pyrite

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Kaolinite Ore
Barite Ore
Alunite Ore
Pyrite Ore
Silica Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Alteration types consist of silicification and clay alteration.
    At the Gold Quarry deposit, in the central Carlin trend, Heitt (1992) reported K/Ar dates ranging from 28 to 27 Ma from supergene alunite veins that crosscut and postdate gold mineralization.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 173
USGS model code 26a.1
Deposit model name Sediment-hosted Au
Mark3 model number 17

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock type qualifier decalcified silty
    Rock unit name Roberts Mountains Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Devonian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Wenlock

Nearby scientific data

(1) -116.20925, 40.79158

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Decalcified, silty limestone units of the Siluro- Devonian Roberts Mountains Formation are folded into a northeast- trending anticline in the Chukar footwall deposit.
Type of structure Local
Structure description The Roberts Mountains Thrust, Good Hope Fault System, Gold Quarry Fault, and other faults created a pervasive fracture system at Gold Quarry. Isoclinal folding of bedding is common.

Ore body information

  • General form tabular

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Northeast-striking faults allowed gold mineralization to deposit in silty limestone along the hinge and limbs of a northeast- trending anticline in the Chkar Footwall deposit.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes
Discovery year 2001
Discoverer Newmont
Year of first production 2003
Year of last production 2004
Production years 2003-2004

Mining district

District name Maggie Creek Subdistrict
District name Carlin Trend

Land status

Ownership category Private
Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Elko Administrative District

Ownership information

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

Comments on the workings information

  • The Chukar Footwall Underground mine workings are collared in the southwest corner of the Gold Quarry Pit; three portals are being driven into the walls of the open pit mine. Ore is mined using longhole-stope and cut-and-fill methods.

Comments on other economic factors

  • With a gold endowment of approximately 530,000 oz, Chukar Footwall is a relatively small satellite deposit to the much larger Gold Quarry deposit, which contains a total of 24 million oz in past production and current reserves and resources. In 2001, Chkar Footwall was reported to contain 278,000 tons of ore grading 0.49 opt Au proven and underground probable reserves as well as an addtional 115,000 tons, 0.46 opt Au of mineralized material.

Comments on development

  • The Chukar Footwall Mine was in development in 2002 in the southwest corner of the Gold Quarry Pit; three portals are being driven into the walls of the open pit mine. Plans call for development production in November, and for Chukar to be in full production by April 2003, producing roughly 190,000 oz of gold per year. Average ore grade is 0.048 opt Au. Exploration could eventually increase the mine life of Chukar, which is now expected to be operating for 3.5 to 4 years.

    Deep drilling by Newmont Mining Corp. in 2003 in the Gold Quarry pit beneath the Dos Equis and Chukar deposits intersected mineralization that will be further investigated for potential pit expansion or underground mining.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit A portal within the Gold Quarry pit provides access to workings. Gold mineralization is hosted in decalcified, silty limestone units of the Siluro- Devonian Roberts Mountains Formation, which are folded into a northeast- trending anticline. Northeast-striking faults allowed gold mineralization to deposit along the hinge and limbs of the anticline. Unique to Chukar is the occurrence of visible gold along fractures.

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.

Authoritative Nevada resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.