STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS WILDERNESS AREAS Mineral Resources of the Jarbidge Wilderness and Adjacent Areas, Elko County, Nevada By R. R. COATS, R. C. GREEN, and L. D. CRESS, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SuRVEY, and L. Y. MARKS, U.S. BuREAU OF MINES With a section on INTERPRETATION OF AEROMAGNETIC DATA B)' w. E. DAVIS, u.s. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS-WILDERNESS AREAS G E 0 L 0 G I C A L S U R V E Y B U L L E T I N 1439 An evaluation of the mineral potential of the area UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON 1977 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR CECIL D. ANDRUS, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY V. E. McKelvey, Director Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 77-91036 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington, D. C. 20402 Stock Number 024-001-03018-7 STUDIES RELATED TO WILDERNESS WILDERNESS AREAS In accordance with the provisions of the Wilderness Act (Public Law 88-577, September 3, 1964) and the Joint Conference Report on Senate Bill 4, 88th Congress, certain areas within the National Forests previously classified as "wilderness," "wild," or "canoe" were incorporated into the National Wilderness Preservation System as wilderness areas. The act provides that the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines survey these wilderness areas to determine the mineral values, if any, that may be present. The act alsl provides that areas under consideration for wilderness designation should be studied for suitability for incorpora­ tion into the Wilderness System. Mineral surveys constitute one aspect of the suitability studies. The act also directs that the results of such surveys are to be made available to the public and submitted to the President and Congress. This bulletin reports the result of a mineral survey of the Jarbidge Wilderness and certain adjacent study areas, Elko County, Nevada. CONTENTS Page Summary _________________________________ ------------------- __________ ------------------------------------------ ----------- ---- 1 Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 Location, geographic setting, and access ------------------------------------------------------------ 2 Previous studies ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 Present studies -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 Acknowledgments -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Geologic appraisal, by R. R. Coats, R. C. Greene, and L. D. Cress ____________________ 7 Geologic setting-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Rocks__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8 Prospect Mountain Quartzite---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Pogonip Limestone ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Valmy Formation-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9 Sandy and limy sedimentary rocks---------------------------------------------------------------- 10 Reservation Hill Formation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12 Undifferentiated marine sedimentary rocks________________________________________________ 13 Diorite------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 13 Dacitic ignimbrite of Wildcat Creek -------------------------------------------------------------- 15 Tuff, sedimentary rocks, and basalt -------------------------------------------------------------- 15 Jarbidge Rhyolite-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 Volcanic and sedimentary rocks______________________________________________________________________ 20 Quaternary deposits -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21 Terrace gravel and glacial outwash ------------------------------------------------------ 21 Glacial moraine and landslide deposits------------------------------------------------ 21 Alluvium and talus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 22 Colluvium and rock glaciers______________________________________________________________________ 23 Structure -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 24 Pre-Jurassic deformation------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 24 Post..f!retaceous deformation ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 Interpretation o£ aeromagnetic data, by W. E. Davis ____________________________________ _. _________ 26 Mineral resources, by R. R. Coats, R. C. Greene, L. D. Cress, and L. Y. Mark.s. 29 Commodities considered -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 Methods of study ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 31 Significant values ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 31 Geochemical exploration ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 32 Gold and-silver ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 32 Mercury .. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 33 Molybdenum ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 37 Copper -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 37 Berylli!lm and fluorine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 40 Barium -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 41 Economic appraisal, by L. Y. Marks------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 45 Methods of evaluation ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 45 Sampling and analytical techniques______________________________________________________________________ 45 v VI CONTENTS Economic appraisal, by L. Y. Marks-Continued Page Mineral commodities and economic considerations ---------------------------------------- 45 Gold and silver ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 46 Barite ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 46 Mining claims ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 47 Mines, prospects, and mineralized areas-------------------------------------------------------------- 47 Gold and silver lodes ___________________________________________________________________________________________ _ 47 Altitude area 49 Jumbo Peak area -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------­ 50 Matterhorn area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------­ 51 Cougar Peak area------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 52 Norman area -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 53 Marys River Peak area _______________________________________________________________________________ _ 55 Three Day Creek area---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 56 Slide Creek area __________________ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 56 Camp Creek area ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 56 Gold placers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 56 Barite lodes-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 57 Camp Creek area ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 59 Camp Creek prospect ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 60 Sun Creek area ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61 References cited _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _ 63 ILLUSTRATIONS Page PLATE 1. Geologic and magnetic intensity map of the Jarbidge Wilderness and adjacent areas, Elko County, Nev _______________ In pocket 2. Map showing sample localities in the Jarbidge Wilderness and adjacent areas, Elko County, Nev ------------------------------------In pocket FIGURE 1. Index map of Elko County showing location of Jarbidge Wilderness area --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------