Notes on Some Mining Districts in Humboldt County, Neyada
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOE 4:14: NOTES ON SOME MINING DISTRICTS IN HUMBOLDT COUNTY, NEYADA BY FREDERICK LESLIE RANSOME WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1909 CONTENTS. Page. Introduction.............................................................. 7 Itinerary.................................................................. 9 General history of mining development..................................... 10 Literature................................................................. 13 Seven Troughs district..................................................... 14 Introduction.......................................................... 14 General geology........................................................ 15 Topography....................................................... 15 Early exploration................................................. 16 Pre-Tertiary rocks.................................................. 16 Tertiary volcanic rocks............................................. 18 Distribution and development of the mines............................. 20 Character of the deposits.............................................. 22 Outlook for the district................................................. 25 Rosebud district.......................................................... 25 Situation and history.......................... ; ........................ 25 General geology........................................................ 26 Ore deposits.......................................................... 26 Red Butte district........................................................ 27 Situation and history................................................... 27 General geology........................................................ 28 Copper deposits....................................................... 30 Humboldt Range......................................................... 31 General geology........................................................ 31 Humboldt Queen mine................................................ 33 Fitting and American Canyon......................................... 35 Unionville and vicinity............................................... 38 Star Canyon and vicinity. ............................................. 41 Ryepatch mine ....................................................... 43 Eldorado Canyon...................................................... 45 North end of the Star Peak Range...................................... 46 General features of the ore deposits of the Humboldt Range.............. 46 Pahute Range............................................................ 47 General features....................................................... 47 Chafey and the Sierra district.......................................... 49 Kennedy............................................................. 52 Nickel and cobalt deposits of Cottonwood Canyon........................ 55 Coppereid............................................................ 59 Sonoma Range............................................................. 62 Mineralogy of the ore deposits.............................................. 64 Introductory statement................................................. 64 Amphibole............................................................ 64 Annabergite.......................................................... 64 3 A CONTENTS. Mineralogy of the ore deposits Continued. ' Page. Argentite........................................................;..... 64 Arsenopyrite........................................................... 64 Axinite............................................................... 64 Azurite.............................................................. 64 Barite................................................................. 65 Bornite.............................................................. 65 Brochantite...................................... ; ................... 65 Calcite............................................................... 65 Cerargyrite............................................................. 65 Chalcocite. ...................................................,....:. 65 Chalcopyrite.......................................................... 65 Chloanthite........................................................... 65 Chrysocolla........................................................... 65 Cinnabar............................................................. 65 Copper...;............................................................ 66 Covellite......................................... .................... 66 Cuprite.............................................................. 66 Diopside............................................................. 66 Epidote...................................:.......................... 66 Erythrite.............................................................. 66 Fluorite..............................:.................-.............. 66 Galena............................................................... 66 Garnet................................................................ 66 Gersdorffite.................................'.......................... 66 Gold................................................................. 66 Hematite.............................................................. 67 Jamesonite........................................................... 67 Jarosite .........'...... ............................................... 67 Magnetite............................................................ 67 Malachite............................................................. 67 Orthoclase............................................'.................. 67 Proustite.............................................................. 67 Pyrrhotite............................................................ 67 Silver................................................................. 67 Sphalerite............................................................. 67 Stibnite............................................................... 68 Sulphur......................:........................................ 68 Tetrahedrite.......................................................... 68 Tourmaline............................................................ 68 Vesuvianite........................................................... 68 Types of deposits represented in the region................................... 68 Basis of classification.................................................... 68 Antimonial silver deposits............................................. 69 Gold-silver deposits.................................................... 69 Copper deposits....................................................... 70 Antimony and quicksilver deposits...................................... 71 Nickel and cobalt deposits.............................................. 71 Conclusion.......................................................:......1. 71 Index............................................."....................., 73 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. PLATE I. Outline map of parts of Humboldt, Lander, and Churchill counties, Nevada........................................................ 7 FIGURE 1. Index map of Nevada, showing area covered in part by,the recon naissance of 1908...........;.................................. 8 2. Sketch of folded limestone as exposed on the slope of a small hill north of the Humboldt Queen mine............................. 34 3. Structural details at the Humboldt Queen mine................... 35 4. Sketch plan showing the geologic relations of the Arizona mine.... 39 5. Diagrammatic section of the Sheba ore body....................... 42 6. Diagrammatic section of the Ryepatch ore body.................. 44 7. Sketch section of the Auld Lang Syne vein zone.................. 52 5 U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 414- PLATE I flWl livfWo Spriny ; 67-FTrV .' - KfrS FT agS&fel^ ;r ^^^^^m^^\imrKtt^ ^^fi&^^ f ^ , 45' 30' Based on the 40th Parallel Survey OUTLINE MAP OF PARTS OF HUMBOLDT, LANDER, AND CHURCHILL COUNTIES, NEVADA 5 0 5 10 15 Miles Contour interval approximately 600 feet 1909 NOTES ON SOME MINING DISTRICTS IN HDMBOLDT COUNTY, NEVADA. By FKEDEKICK LESLIE RANSOME. INTRODUCTION. In the apportionment of my field season in 1908, a period of six weeks was allotted to. a reconnaissance examination of that part of liumboldt County, Nev., lying between the fortieth and forty-first parallels and the one hundred and seventeenth and one hundred and nineteenth meridians. Within this area of about 7,000 square miles (see fig. 1) are the Seven Troughs, Rosebud, Star, Unionville (Buena Vista), Humboldt, Fitting, Chafey (Dun Glen, Sierra), Kennedy, and Adelaide (Gold Run) districts,a with many others of less note. North of the region particularly investigated is the Red Butte district and south of it is Coppereid (White Cloud district). Both of these were visited. Some of the districts examined, such as Seven Troughs, Rosebud, and Red Butte, have been prospected only within the last two or three years; others, like Star City and Unionville, reached their acme of productiveness in the decade beginning with the year 1860 and have not yet participated in the recent general revival of mining activity in Nevada; one or two, like Chafey, have received new names and are being exploited in various ways that modern experience and inge nuity have devised for this purpose; still others, like