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Maverick Springs Project

Producer in Elko county in Nevada, United States with commodities Silver, Gold
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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. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  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 10310453
MRDS ID M233985
Record type Site
Current site name Maverick Springs Project
Related records 10046069, 10310389

Comments on the site identification

  • This is in the general area as the earlier described Maverick Springs prospect, M233985, but is a different prospect with different geology. It is sometimes described with the Bald Mountain District deposits in White Pine County although it is in adjacent Elko County.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -115.45228, 39.94825 (WGS84)
Elevation 2125
Relative position The Maverick Springs project is located in northeast Nevada, about half-way between Elko and Ely, the northwest flank of the Maverick Springs Range, just off the southeast end of the Carlin Trend belt of gold-silver deposits.\n

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

White Pine(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Tognini Spring(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Newark Lake(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Ely(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Long-Ruby Valleys(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 Elko

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 026N 059E 10 11 14 15 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The Maverick Springs deposit is located on the northwest flank of the Maverick Springs Range about 50 miles southeast of Elko, Nevada and 70 miles NNW of Ely. Access is by a 25-mile gravel road from the town of Ruby Valley.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Gold Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: silver, gold

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Silver Ore
Gold Ore

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 Silty
    Rock unit name Rib Hill Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Permian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock
    Rock type qualifier fine-grained calcareous
    Rock unit name Rib Hill Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Permian

Nearby scientific data

(1) -115.45228, 39.94825
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description The Maverick Springs Range is an east-tilted fault block.

Ore body information

  • General form arch-shaped

Comments on the geologic information

  • The geology in the region is dominated by limestones and dolostones of the Permian Pennsylvanian Rib Hill Formation, limestones of the Permian Pequop Formation, and carbonate strata of the Permian Park City Group that were deposited along a continental margin. The sediments have been intruded locally by Cretaceous acidic to intermediate, biotitic igneous
    rocks and have been overlain by Tertiary rhyolites, Late Tertiary tuffs and sediments. The Carlin Trend marks a deep penetrating fault that separates relatively thick and stable continental crust to the east from a zone of thinned transitional crust to the west. Late Basin and Range faulting has left a northeast lineation to the topography and structural setting. This trend is offset by northwest trending structures that locally produce horsts of pre-Cenozoic units that are bounded to the northeast and southwest by Tertiary units.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1986

Mining district

District name Maverick Springs area
District name Mud Springs District (closest)

Land status

Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Ely BLM district

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Vista Gold Corp. (Au resources)
    Year 2004
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Silver Standard Resources, Inc. (Ag resources)
    Year 2004

Comments on the workings information

  • surafce exploration and drilling

Comments on other economic factors

  • In 2002: the deposit was reported to contain 350,000 ounces of gold and 32.3 million ounces of silver indicated, and 747,000 ounces of gold, 68.8 million ounces of silver inferred.
    In July 2004, Silver Standard Resources Inc. announced that based on recent drill results at the Maverick Springs Project, indicated resources are 69,630,000 tons of ore grading 1.0 opt Ag fand 0.01 ounces per tone gold, or 696,000 contained ounces of gold, plus 85,500,000 tons grading 1.0 opt Ag and 0.08 opt gold inferred, or 684,000 contained ounces of gold, an increase over the earlier reported 27,280,000 tons a 1.19 opt Ag indicated and 56,650,000 tons at 1.21 opt Ag inferred.
    Resource calculations were completed by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants of Vancouver, British Columbia, an independent consultant, in April 2004. A cutoff grade of 1.0 silver-equivalent ounces per ton was calculated using metal price averages over the past three years of US$327 per ounce for gold and US$4.77 per ounce for silver.
    Preliminary test work of the mineralization indicates a process of milling with cyanide leaching will yield recoveries of 63% to 97% for silver.

Comments on development

  • The property was first staked in 1986 by Artemis Exploration Company. Vista Gold Corp. acquired a lease on the property in December 2001 and subsequently formed a joint venture with the company in 2002. Silver Standard Resources, Inc. will own the silver resource while Vista Gold will own the gold resource.
    A seven-hole drill program, completed in November 2002, extended mineralization at least 2,000 feet north and 1,200 feet west of the area used for present resource calculations. Results of the 2002 program indicated that the mineralized system is not closed and the resources could be increased by a minimum of 50% with infill drilling. Higher-grade gold and silver mineralization were also encountered in this program.
    A 14-hole drill program, completed in October 2003, confirmed gold-silver mineralization within a zone measuring 2,500 feet by 2,000 feet. One step-out hole drilled 1,400 feet from the infill area intercepted anomalous gold mineralization, significantly expanding the potential for the project. Higher grade gold intercepts included 10 feet of gold mineralization in drill hole MR-147 assaying 0.134 opt gold.
    The project is subject to an option/joint venture earn-in agreement between Vista and Silver Standard Resources Inc. in which Silver Standard will acquire all silver mineralization hosted at Maverick Springs while Vista will retain all gold mineralization. In order to earn its interest, Silver Standard has paid US$300,000 in cash and will contribute an additional total of US$1.2 million toward exploration programs, land holding costs and option payments.
    A total of 159 holes have been drilled on the property, including 16 by the joint venture in 2003.
    Plans are to continue drilling to increase the resource, carry out further metallurgical studies to refine a recovery process and improve silver recoveries, and complete a scoping study to define the project economics.
    Drilling in 2003 improved the resource, and mineralization in holes 1,450 feet northwest and 2,000 feet south of the current resource body indicates good potential for further improvements to the resource.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Smith, Roscoe M. (1976) Mineral Resources of Elko Co, NV, USGS Open File Report 1976-56

  • Deposit

    LaPointe and others, 1991, NBMG Bull. 106

  • Deposit

    NBMG MI-02

  • Deposit

    Amer. Mines (2003), 2002

  • Deposit

    Ruby Lake Land Status, 1978

  • Deposit

    Snowden, 2002

  • Deposit

    www.vistagold.com

  • Deposit

    Vista Gold Corp. press release, 4/21/2004.

  • Deposit

    Long, K.R., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., and Ludington, S.D., 1998, Significant deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the United States: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 90-206A, 33 p.; 98-206B. one 3.5 inch diskette.

  • Deposit

    Staccato Gold

  • Deposit

    Resources Ltd. news release, 11/19/2004.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Maverick Springs hosts a large silver-rich system that may be amenable to low unit cost bulk mining, similar to Carlin-type deposits. The Maverick Springs Project is underlain primarily by Upper Paleozoic calcareous and siliciclastic sediments covered by local basin-fill Tertiary volcanic rocks. Silty limestone and fine-grained calcareous clastic sediments of the Permian Rib Hill Formation are the dominant hosts to the silver-gold mineralization at Maverick Springs. These units generally strike to the north and dip to the east. Intrusives of felsic and intermediate composition have been intersected in drill holes and these are believed to be feeder systems for the Tertiary basin fill volcanics. The target mineralization does not crop out and has been delineated by programs of reverse circulation (RC) and diamond core (DD) drill holes. The target trends NNE and occurs as a gently-folded sub-horizontal zone, of dimensions of approximately 8,000 ft along strike and 2,500 ft wide. The zone of mineralization is approximately 200 ft thick and occurs at depths of 500 ft to 600 ft below surface. The silver-gold mineralization forms an arch-shaped zone of about 8,000 feet in length, with a width of 2,500 feet and a thickness of approximately 200 feet. Mineralization is open to the south and north-northwest.
The Maverick Springs gold-silver property contains a large, flat-lying, Carlin-type system with gold-silver mineralization occurring in a zone 100 to 400 feet in thickness.

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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