Mineral Resources of the South Mccullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area, Clark County, Nevada
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Mineral Resources of the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area, Clark County, Nevada U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1730-C 'f Chapter C Mineral Resources of the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area, Clark County, Nevada By ED DE WITT, J. L ANDERSON, H. N. BARTON, R. C. JACHENS, M. H. PODWYSOCKI, and D. W. BRICKEY U.S. Geological Survey T. J. CLOSE U.S. Bureau of Mines U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1 730 MINERAL RESOURCES OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS SOUTHERN NEVADA DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR MANUEL LUJAN, JR., Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Dallas L. Peck, Director Any use of trade names in this report is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey or the U.S. Bureau of Mines. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1989 For sale by the Books and Open-File Reports Section U.S. Geological Survey Federal Center Box 25425 Denver, CO 80225 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mineral resources of the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area, Clark County, Nevada. (Mineral resources of wilderness study areas southern Nevada ; ch. C) (U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1730) Bibliography: p. Supt. of Docs, no.: I 19.3:1730-C 1. Mines and mineral resources Nevada South McCullough Mountains Wilderness. 2. South McCullough Mountains Wilderness (Nev.) I. DeWitt, Ed. II. Series. III. Series: U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 1730. QE75.B9 no. 1730-C 557.3 s [553'.09793'13] 88-600463 [TN24.N3] STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS Bureau of Land Management Wilderness Study Areas The Federal Land Policy and Management Act (Public Law 94-579, October 21, 1976) requires the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines to conduct mineral surveys on certain areas to determine the mineral values, if any, that may be present. Results must be made available to the public and be submitted to the President and the Congress. This report presents the results of a mineral survey of a part of the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area (NV-050-435), Clark County, Nevada. CONTENTS Abstract Cl Summary Cl Introduction C3 Investigations by the U.S. Bureau of Mines C3 Investigations by the U.S. Geological Survey C6 Appraisal of identified resources C6 Setting C6 Mining history C6 Mines and prospects C7 Recommendations for further work C7 Assessment of potential for undiscovered resources C7 Geology C7 Geologic setting C7 Early Proterozoic preplutonic rocks CIO Early Proterozoic plutonic rocks CIO Proterozoic structural features Cll Tertiary rocks C12 Tertiary structural features C13 Geochemistry C13 Geophysics CIS Aeromagnetic survey CIS Radioactivity survey CIS Landsat Thematic Mapper data survey C17 Mineral and energy resource potential C17 Metallic mineral resources C17 Energy resources C21 Other commodities and deposit types C21 Recommendations for further study C21 References cited C22 Appendix C25 PLATE [Plate is in pocket] 1. Mineral resource potential and geologic map of the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area FIGURES 1. Index map showing location of the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area C2 2. Summary map showing mineral resource potential of the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area C4 3. Residual total-intensity aeromagnetic anomaly map of the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area C16 Contents TABLES 1. Summary descriptions of mineral sites within and adjacent to the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area C8 2. Slightly anomalous concentrations of selected elements in heavy-mineral concentrates from stream-sediment samples C14 3. Summary of anomalous areas determined from Landsat Thematic Mapper data for the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area CIS 4. Summary of areas having mineral resource potential in and adjacent to the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area C19 VI Contents MINERAL RESOURCES OF WILDERNESS STUDY AREAS-SOUTHERN NEVADA Mineral Resources of the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area, Clark County, Nevada Ey Ed DeWitt, J.L Anderson, H.N. Barton, R.C. Jachens, M.H. Podwysocki, andD.W. Brickey U.S. Geological Survey TJ. Close U.S. Bureau of Mines ABSTRACT young volcanic rocks are omitted) has a low resource potential for zinc, copper, silver, and gold in medium-size to The South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study small stratabound deposits, or for niobium, tantalum, Area includes 19,558 acres and contains no identified uranium, rare-earth elements, and thorium in small pegmatite mineral resources and has no areas of high mineral resource bodies, and an unknown potential for gold and silver in small potential. Five areas that make up 20 percent of the study to medium-size breccia pipes. The entire study area has no area have a moderate potential either for undiscovered silver, resource potential for oil and gas and coal, as well as a low gold, lead, copper, and zinc resources in small vein deposits, resource potential for these nonmetallic commmodities: for lanthanum and other rare-earth elements, uranium, dimension stone; sand and gravel; pegmatite minerals such thorium, and niobium in medium-size carbonatite bodies and as feldspar and mica; and geothermal resources. These dikes, for tungsten and copper in small to medium-size vein conclusions are based on field studies done in 1985 and deposits, or for silver and gold in small vein or breccia-pipe 1986. deposits. Six areas that make up 24 percent of the study area have an unknown resource potential either for gold, silver, SUMMARY lead, and copper in small vein deposits, for gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, and arsenic in small vein deposits or small to As requested by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, medium-size breccia-pipe deposits, for lanthanum and other the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Bureau of Mines rare-earth elements, uranium, thorium, and niobium in studied 19,558 acres of the South McCullough Mountains medium-size carbonatite bodies and dikes, or for tungsten Wilderness Study Area (NV-050-435). In this report the area and copper in small vein deposits. The designation of studied is referred to as the "study area." The study area, unknown resource potential for these areas is used because south of Las Vegas, Nev., and east of Mountain Pass, Calif., available geochemical data are not adequate to assign low, is in the McCullough Range, a north-trending range in moderate, or high levels of resource potential. Four areas that southern Clark County (fig. 1). The area is accessible by trails make up 7 percent of the study area have a low resource leading away from high-voltage transmission lines between potential either for tin, for tungsten and copper, or for copper, Boulder City, Nev., Nevada Highway 68, and Interstate gold, silver, and arsenic in small vein deposits. The remaining Highway 15. Vegetation is typical of the eastern Mojave 30 percent of the study area (areas covered by relatively Desert. Terrain within the study area is rugged, ranging from elevations of 3,200 ft (feet) to 7,026 ft. The McCullough Range is in the Basin and Range physiographic province, a geologic terrane characterized by Manuscript approved for publication September 30, 1988. linear mountain chains flanked by basins. The oldest South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area C1 Las Vegas Boulder City Goodsprings mining district APPROXIMATE BOUNDARY OF THE SOUTH McCULLOUGH MOUNTAINS WILDERNESS STUDY AREA McCullough Mtn McCullough (McClanahan) j AMountai mining district | Sunset mining district Searchlight mining district Crescent ) A Peak Crescent Peak mining district Needles Figure 1. Index map showing location of the South McCullough Mountains Wilderness Study Area, Clark County, Nev. Location of McCullough Mountain (McClanahan) mining district from Close (1987). geologic events (those happening more than 1,000 million niobium, tantalum, uranium, rare-earth elements, and years ago (1,000 Ma)) may have controlled most of the thorium. emplacement of mineral deposits of the area. Those events During Middle Proterozoic time many mountain ranges include emplacement of igneous bodies, shearing, and in the area were intruded by granitic to syenitic stocks. The metamorphism during which quartz veins, pegmatite bodies, Clark Mountain Range to the west of the McCullough Range and possible carbonatite deposits were emplaced. Because was intruded by mafic to silicic rocks and carbonatite bodies most known metallic deposits in the study area have not at this time. Although no rocks of Middle Proterozoic age are been dated by radioactive means, the above statement known to be present in the study area, aeromagnetic data about ages of mineralization is an inference. Younger events, suggest that rocks of this age may underlie the west side of including Mesozoic plutonism and Tertiary faulting (see the study area. If present, these rocks indicate that part of the geologic time chart in Appendix), have only slightly modified area has a moderate potential for lanthanum and other the older geologic terrane. rare-earth elements, uranium, thorium, and niobium. The geologic history of the study area began in Early The Proterozoic rocks remained relatively undisturbed Proterozoic time with the accumulation of large amounts of until early Paleozoic time, when they were covered by a siltstone and sandstone and minor amounts of basalt. sequence of limestone, sandstone, and shale that ranges in Possibly syngenetic (same age as enclosing rocks), stra- age from about 550 to about 150 Ma (Cambrian to Jurassic). tabound deposits in these rocks give part of the study area a Those Paleozoic to Mesozoic units have since been eroded low mineral resource potential for zinc, copper, silver, and from the McCullough Range, but are present in ranges to the gold. These rocks were highly metamorphosed, deformed, west and north. The absence of these rocks indicates that and intruded by at least three types of granitic rocks in Early there is no resource potential for oil and gas and coal in the Proterozoic time.