Searchlight Deposit

Past Producer in Clark county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Copper, Tungsten, Vanadium, Iron

Sections on this page

Identification information
Geographic coordinates
Site location context
Geographic areas
Public Land Survey System information
Commodities
Materials information
Alteration
Mineral occurrence model information
Host and associated rocks
Nearby scientific data
Geologic structures
Ore body information
Controls for ore emplacement
Economic information about the deposit and operations
Mining district
Land status
Ownership information
Bibliographic references
General comments
Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID	10310513
MRDS ID	W002897
Record type	District
Current site name	Searchlight Deposit
Alternate or previous names	Duplex Mine Area, Quartette Mine Area
Related records	60001653

Comments on the site identification

This deposit encompasses the area in the Searchlight Mining district called the Duplex and Quartette mines and includes all informationin MRDS record W002897 as well as addiitonal updated material.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates:	-114.91804, 35.46584 (WGS84)
Elevation	1100
Relative position	The property is located about 40 miles south of Boulder City and about 22 miles east of Nipton, CA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Clark(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Searchlight(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Davis Dam(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Kingman(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Piute Wash(hydrologic unit)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic accounting unit)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic subregion)

Lower Colorado(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country	State	County
United States	Nevada	Clark

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian	Township	Range	Section	Fraction	State
Mount Diablo	028S	063E	22 23 27 34 02 03		Nevada
Mount Diablo	029S				Nevada

Comments on the location information

The mainmined area is located just south of the town of Searchlight less than a mile.

Commodities

Commodity	Importance
Gold	Primary
Silver	Secondary
Copper	Secondary
Tungsten Critical	Tertiary
Vanadium Critical	Tertiary
Iron	Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

Ore Materials: sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite, gold, chalcocite, cerussite, cuprite, malachite
Gangue Materials: quartz, chalcedony, hematite, calcite, brochantite, limonite, wulfenite, vanadinite, adularia

Materials information

Materials	Type of material
Sphalerite	Ore
Galena	Ore
Chalcopyrite	Ore
Gold	Ore
Chalcocite	Ore
Cerussite	Ore
Cuprite	Ore
Malachite	Ore
Chalcedony	Ore
Hematite	Ore
Calcite	Ore
Brochantite	Ore
Limonite	Ore
Wulfenite	Ore
Vanadinite	Ore
Adularia	Ore
Quartz	Gangue

Alteration

(Local) The deposit has been silicified by hydrothermal activity, and oxidized.

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 Metamorphic Rock > Gneiss

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Precambrian
Host or associated Associated

Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary

Host or associated

Associated

Rock type

Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Intermediate Volcanic Rock > Andesite

Rock type qualifier

porphyry intrusives

Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Miocene
Stratigraphic age (oldest)	Pliocene

Host or associated

Associated

Rock type

Plutonic Rock > Porphyry

Rock type qualifier

andesite intrusives

Stratigraphic age (youngest)	Miocene
Stratigraphic age (oldest)	Pliocene

Host or associated Associated

Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic)

Rock type qualifier lava

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene

Stratigraphic age (oldest) Pliocene

Nearby scientific data

(1)	-114.91804, 35.46584	ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure	Regional
Structure description	The area has been uplifted intruded by igneous rock and denuded by erosion.

Ore body information

General form irregular to flat or saucer-shaped.

General form	irregular to flat or saucer-shaped.

Controls for ore emplacement

Ore is localized by intrusive activity.

Comments on the geologic information

apophyses of quartz monzonite

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type	Underground
Development status	Past Producer
Commodity type	Metallic
Deposit size	Large
Significant	Yes
Discovery year	1897
Discoverer	G. F. Colton (Duplex CLaims)
Year of first production	1898
Year of last production	1959
Production years	1898-1950s

Mining district

District name	Searchlight District

Land status

Ownership category	Private
Ownership category	BLM Administrative Area
Area name	Las Vegas BLM Administrative District

Ownership information

Type Owner

Owner G. F. Colton

Year 1897
Type Operator

Owner Borneo Gold (most recent)

Type	Owner
Owner	G. F. Colton
Year	1897

Type	Operator
Owner	Borneo Gold (most recent)

Comments on the workings information

Underground workings are accessible from 3 shafts, the New Years Gift, the Fraction and the Searchlight shafts. The most recent work was carried on through the Fraction Shaft in about 1959. There are 8 levels developed in the shafts.

Comments on other economic factors

From 1902 to 1962, the combined Searchlight district deposits produced 7.68 tonnes of gold and 10.96 tonnes of silver from 527 kilotonnes of ore (Long and others, 1998). Most of the district's production came from the Duplex and Quartette mines.

Comments on development

The first claims were staked on the Duplex property in 1897 by G. F. Colton , and the Searchlight Mining District was founded July 20, 1898. The Searchlight Post Office was established in October 1898. The Quartette Mining Company, formed in 1900, became the mainstay of the Searchlight District, producing almost half of the area's total output.Searchlight began to boom in 1902 and reached its peak year in 1907. In May, 1902, a 16-mile narrow-gauge railroad was built down the hill to the company's mill on the Colorado River. After 1907, the boom crashed and production fell sharply. Mines were operated mainly by lessees after 1911. Total production up to 1940 amounted to $4.5 million. On March 31, 1907, the 23.22-mile Barnwell and Searchlight Railroad connected the town with the then main Santa Fe line from Needles to Mojave. By 1919 trains were operating over the B and S Railroad only twice a week. A severe washout on September 23, 1923, halted traffic completely and train service was never restored.
In the 1900s, Searchlight reportedly reached a maximum population of 5000 people and was far larger than Las Vegas at the time. A "Mines of Searchlight" map dated October 1906, shows that there were well over 300 mining claims in the area at that time. Eventually, the gold and silver production dwindled with the decreasing grade of the ore and by 1927, there were only about 50 people left in Searchlight.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

Deposit

Callaghan, E. 1939, Geology of the Searchlight District, Clark Co. Nevada: USGS Bull. 906-D p. 135-188
Deposit

Koschmann, A H and Bergendahl, M H, 1968, Principal Gold Producing Districts of the U.S.: USGS Prof. Paper 610, p. 175
Deposit

Ransome, F. L., 1909, Prelim Goldfield, Bullfrog & other mining districts in southern Nevada: USGS Bull. 303 p. 63-75
Deposit

Lincoln, F. C., 1923, Min. Dists of Nevada: Reno, Nev. Newsletter Pub. Co. P. 24-27
Deposit

Ferguson, H. G. 1929, Min Dists of Nevada: Econ Geol, vol 24, P. 135
Deposit

Searchlight NV websites.
Deposit

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

Longwell and others, 1965.

General comments

Subject category	Comment text
Deposit	Deposits in the district are mainly WNW -trending fissure veins (34), irregular in shape, some flat-lying and saucer-shaped. Vein material consists of a breccia of country rock fragments with vuggy quartz cement. Veins occur en echelon along the western contact of a quartz monzonite intrusive. Most production was from oxidized and weathered veins. In some cases, gash-type fractures are filled with vein material that was later brecciated.

Subject category

Comment text

Deposit

Deposits in the district are mainly WNW -trending fissure veins (34), irregular in shape, some flat-lying and saucer-shaped. Vein material consists of a breccia of country rock fragments with vuggy quartz cement. Veins occur en echelon along the western contact of a quartz monzonite intrusive. Most production was from oxidized and weathered veins. In some cases, gash-type fractures are filled with vein material that was later brecciated.

Reporter information

Type	Date	Name	Affiliation	Comment
Reporter	01-JUN-2003	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.

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.