Reveille Mines

Producer in Nye county in Nevada, United States with commodities Silver, Lead, Zinc, Gold, Antimony, Copper, Selenium, Arsenic, Molybdenum, Barium-Barite
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 10310480
MRDS ID M231731
Record type Site
Current site name Reveille Mines
Alternate or previous names Forlorn Hope Patented Claim, Last Chance patented claim, Liberty patented claim, Cascade Group, Admiral, Admiral No. 1, Eagle, L.C. Extension, Reveille Lead Mine, South Reveille Mine, New Reveille Mine, Gila Mine, Lost Burro Mine, Kietzke Mine, Antimonial Mine
Related records 10044332

Comments on the site identification

  • This record includes data from MRDS records #M231731, M231729, M231728, and M231726 for some of the major historic mines in the district. The current record also contains additional new material.
    See NBMG mining district file - Runnels report on the Reveille District mines - comprehensive 38-page repoort

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -116.17672, 38.02828 (WGS84)
Elevation 2200
Relative position The Reveille mine area is located about 75 miles east of Tonopah in the Reveille Range, 15 miles southeast of Warm Springs.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Nye(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Reveille(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Warm Springs(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Tonopah(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Hot Creek-Railroad 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 Nye

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 002N 51.5E 24 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The ?Old Reveille mines? are located within less than a mile north and southwest of the historic Reveille townsite in the Reveille Range. These mines account for the bulk of the pre-1904 production. The ?New Reveille? mine area is located about 2 miles southwest of the historic Reveille townsite, abd accounts for most of the post-1904 production.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Silver Primary
Lead Primary
Zinc Critical Primary
Gold Primary
Antimony Critical Primary
Copper Secondary
Selenium Tertiary
Arsenic Critical Tertiary
Molybdenum Tertiary
Barium-Barite Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: cerargyrite, cerussite, argentiferous galena and sphalerite, argentite, pyrargyrite, rosasite, free gold, stibnite, malachite, azurite, chalcopyrite, molybdenite, arsenopyrite, antimony oxides, smithsonite, hemimorphite, beaverite, jarosite, tennantite,conichalcite, anglesite
  • Gangue Materials: jasperoid, pyrite, quartz, sericite, kaolinite, calcite, gypsum, fluorite, barite, iron and manganese oxides

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cerargyrite Ore
Cerussite Ore
Galena Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Argentite Ore
Pyrargyrite Ore
Rosasite Ore
Gold Ore
Stibnite Ore
Malachite Ore
Azurite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Arsenopyrite Ore
Smithsonite Ore
Hemimorphite Ore
Beaverite Ore
Jarosite Ore
Tennantite Ore
Conichalcite Ore
Anglesite Ore
Pyrite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Sericite Gangue
Kaolinite Gangue
Calcite Gangue
Gypsum Gangue
Fluorite Gangue
Barite Gangue
Iron Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Alteration of rocks in the ddistrict is extensive and includes at least four types:
    1. extensive silicification of dolomite to jasperoid with some accompanying hematite staining.
    2. sericitization nad pyritization of dacite, as well as propylitization causing formation of a chlorite-calcite-hematite-some pyrite assemblage.
    3. kaolinization and other clay-alteration of rhyolite and quartz latite tuffs; also sericitization of same host rocks
    4. kaolinization, sericitization, and silicificationof the silicic intrusive rocks.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 72
USGS model code 19a
Deposit model name Polymetallic replacement
Mark3 model number 47

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Dolomite
    Rock unit name Lone Mountain dolomite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Devonian
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Late Silurian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Eureka Quartzite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Ordovician
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Middle Ordovician
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Antelope Valley Limestone of the Pogonip Group
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Ordovician
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Middle Ordovician
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Pyroclastic Rock > Tuff > Welded Tuff
    Rock type qualifier Biotite-rhyolite crystal
    Rock unit name Williams Ridge Tuff
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Mafic Volcanic Rock > Basalt
    Rock type qualifier augite-olivine-

Nearby scientific data

(1) -116.17672, 38.02828

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Several fault sets have complexly cut the roacks in the Reveille area, with prominent sets trending N-S, NW, NE, and E-W. In particular, the NE-trending faults that cut the Eureka quartzite in the vicinity of the Gila and New Reveille mines may have contributed to ore formation. Also, five major zones of E-W-faulting ahcut across the entire range and have exerted much structural control in channeling mineralizing solutions.

Ore body information

  • General form tabular to irregular

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Ore is localized by a fault contact where faults intersect brittle Eureka Quartzite. Drag zones along fault and fracture intersections acted as solution channels.

Comments on the geologic information

  • The Paleozoic sediments form a homoclinal sequence striking about N-S and dipping 20-30 west. These rocks have been extensively and complexly faulted. Rhyolitic to quartz latitic welded crystal tuffs overlie the Paleozoic sequence on the east side of the range. There is a major N-S-trending fault running through the Reveille townsite separating altered from fresh tuff. Mildly to intensely altered dacite flows cover the Paleozoic rocks on the west side of the range. The Paleozoic sediments are predominantly Ordovician-Devonian dolomites with minor amounts of limestone, shale, and quartzite. here was some replacement of dolomitic wallrock by ore mineralization. tese rocks are intruded by small plugs and dikes of rhyolite porphyry, quartz latite porphyry, and quartz diorite, with one chloritic breccia pipe just south of the Kietzke Mine.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1866
Year of first production 1860
Year of last production 1981
Production years 1866-1921, 1939-1957, 1979-1981

Mining district

District name Reveille District

Land status

Ownership category Private
Ownership category BLM Administrative Area

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner River Mountain Resources, Ltd
    Year 1981
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Gila Mines Corp.
    Year 1982
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner South Reveille Mining, Inc.
    Year 1980
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner West Reveille Mining, Inc.
    Year 1980

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings consist of shafts, adits, large open stopes, open cuts, and shallow shafts. The old Gila shaft reached a depth of 460 feet, the New Reveille lead mine reached a depth of 200 feet. Preparations for open pit operation and a possible heap leach operation were under way in 1981. The largest stope measures 160 feet x 60 feet.

Comments on other economic factors

  • Four mines in the old Reveille part of the distruict produced 5559 pounds of high-grade silver in the first quarter of 1867.
    The most important producer, the Gila (Good Hope ) Mine produced 6128 tons of ore from 1874-1891. This was the last Gila Mine production Later production came mostly from the New Reveille lead-silver mine, with minor copper and gold.
    1866-1921, 8261 tons of silver-lead-copper-gold ore produced.
    1939-1957 - 935 tons of ore produced intermittent mining
    Peak years:
    1939-352 tons of ore produced
    1949-210 tons of ore produced
    1957-150 tons of ore produced
    1940s and 1950s production averaged 10% Pb and 5.2 ounces of silver per ton.
    The New Reveille Mine produced 60 kilotonnes of low grade ore from three small open pits in 1979-80.
    Production in 1980 was 20 kilotonnes of ore containing silver chloride.
    No current reserve figures for the deposit were found.

Comments on development

  • The first Reveille district deposits (Gila, Kietzke, Burro) in the northern part of the district around the Reveille townsite, were discovered in 1866, and in 1869 stamp mills were built to treat the ore in Reveille Valley, 12 miles to the west. One mill continued production until 1879, by which time, $1.5 million in bullion had been produced. These operations ceased in about 1890. In the late 1880s, a new camp was discovered and established at New Reveille, about two miles south of the first Reveille mines and operated in the 1890s, 1904-1907 and sporadically from 1911 to the 1950s. The New Reveille mine was mined in the 1890s by a Mr. Gilbert. In 1904-5, a Mr. Reiske discovered a large deeper Pb-Ag orebody and sold it to a company that worked it for 2-3 years. The claims were patented in 1913. It was operated by the Reveille Lead Mining Co. in 1949. In the early 1970s, S.G. Associates secured leases on all patented and unpatented claims in the district and did exploratory mapping and sampling and identification of exploration targets, controlling over 2300 acres in the district. In the mid-1970s, all the major Reveille mines were consolidated under the Gold Creek Mining Company, which attempted to open pit mine ore from the various deposits, and haul the ore to heap leach pads at the western foot of the mountains to be processed. The mine property was owned by River Mountain Resources, British Columbia in 1981. A test shipment of silver ore was sent to the Mount Hope mill in Eureka in Jan., 1981. The South Reveille mine was listed in 1981 as an active open pit mine and heap leach operation, employing 10 persons. This period of mining activity was not, however, successful, and the camp was once again abandoned. The possibility exists for large replacement ore bodies in thick Paleozoic carbonates below the faulted contact with overlying volcanic rocks, which has not been tested by drilling. . The earliest Reveille district deposits (Gila, Kietzke, Burro, Antimonial) in the northern part of the district around the Reveille townsite, were discovered in 1866, and in 1869 stamp mills were built to treat the ore in Reveille Valley, 12 miles to the west. One mill continued production until 1879. by which time, $1.5 million in bullion had been produced. These operations ceased in about 1890. In the late 1880s, a new camp was discovered and established at New Reveille, about two miles south of the first Reveille mines and operated in the 1890s, 1904-1907 and sporadically from 1911 to the 1950s. The New Reveille mine was mined in the 1890s by a Mr. Gilbert. In 1904-5, a Mr. Reiske discovered a large deeper Pb-Ag orebody and sold it to a company that worked it for 2-3 years. The claims were patented in 1913. It was operated by the Reveille Lead Mining Co. in 1949. In the mid-1970s, all the major Reveille mines were consolidated under the Gold Creek Mining Company, which attempted to open pit mine ore from the various deposits, and haul the ore to heap leach pads at the western foot of the mountains to be processed. The mine property was owned by River Mountain Resources, British Columbia in 1981. A test shipment of silver ore was sent to the Mount Hope mill in Eureka in Jan., 1981. The South Reveille mine was listed in 1981 as an active open pit mine and heap leach operation, employing 10 persons. This period of mining activity was not, however, successful, and the camp was once again abandoned.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Ekren, E. B., Rogers, C. L., and Dixon, G. I, 1973, Geol. and Bouguer Gravity map of the Reveille Quad: USGS Map I-806.

  • Deposit

    Kleinhampl, F.J. and Ziony, J.I., 1984, Geology and Mineral Deposits of Northern Nye Co.: Nev. Bur. Of Mines and Geology, Bulletin, 99 A & B. .

  • Deposit

    Kral,V.E.,1951, NBMG Bull 50

  • Deposit

    DeCarbonul,W.,1958, Unpublished report on the New Reveille Mine; NBMG File 246, Item 5.

  • Deposit

    The Denver Mining Record, 9/10/80, 1/21/81.

  • Deposit

    NBMG MI-80 through MI-83.

  • Deposit

    NBMG Map 91, 1st, 2nd, 3rd

  • Deposit

    Denver Mining Record, 9/10/80, 1/21/81.

  • Deposit

    Jones and Bullock, 1985

  • Deposit

    Mining Engineering, 12/82.

  • Deposit

    Runnels, D.D., 1971?, Unpublished report in NBMG Mining District files on Reveille District.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit The mines of the district occupy a window of Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in overlying Tertiary volcanic rocks. The bulk of the production came from shallow oxidized lead-silver ore bodies that formed along silicified fault zones between the Paleozoic sedimentary rocks and overlying Tertiary volcanic rock. Ore is localized by a fault contact where faults intersect brittle Eureka Quartzite. Drag zones along fault and fracture intersections acted as solution channels. Ore occurs both as fissure-fillings and replacement veins along brecciated fault zones. Ores have been mined chiefly from the oxidized zones and include a diverse mineralogy. mined

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
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.

Authoritative Nevada resources

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