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Empire - Northern Lights Deposit

Producer in Lander county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Copper
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310309
MRDS ID M231333
Record type Site
Current site name Empire - Northern Lights Deposit
Related records 10044017

Comments on the site identification

  • This prospect encompasses the historic Empire Mine and Northern Lights Mine areas, described in earlier MRDS records # M231333 and MRDS #M231366 from which all material has been incorporated into this record and additional new material has been added.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -117.02983, 40.60601 (WGS84)
Elevation 1630
Relative position The Empire - Northern Lights Deposit is located about 7 miles WSW of the town of Battle Mountain.
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Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Lander

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 032N 044E 33 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The Empire - Northern Lights Deposit is located about 2500 feet south of the Sweet Marie Mine and 4000 feet south of the Surprise Mine in the Copper Basin area of Battle Mountain. UTM is to Northern Lights pit.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Copper Primary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: free gold, copper minerals
  • Gangue Materials: quartz, chalcedony, goethite, jarosite, hematite

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Quartz Gangue
Chalcedony Gangue
Goethite Gangue
Jarosite Gangue
Hematite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Predominant alteration types affecting host rocks are silicification, pyritization, argillization, d sericitization. Gold mineralization is associated with fine-grained silica (locally chalcedonic) and pyrite replacing formerly calcareous siltstone and sandstone of the Harmony Formation. Extensive bleaching and argillization are believed to be caused by the breakdown of pyrite and liberation of sulfur as sulfate to form acid-leach type conditions. Monzonite-granodiorite porphyritic sills exhibit strong argillization and, locally, sericitization.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 75
USGS model code 19c
BC deposit profile E03
Deposit model name Distal disseminated Ag-Au
Mark3 model number 18
Model code 172
USGS model code 26a
BC deposit profile E03
Deposit model name Carbonate-hosted Au-Ag
Mark3 model number 15

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Siltstone
    Rock unit name Harmony Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Sandstone
    Rock unit name Harmony Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
    Rock type qualifier siliceous
    Rock unit name Harmony Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Quartz Monzonite
    Rock type qualifier granodiorite-
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Tertiary

Nearby scientific data

(1) -117.02983, 40.60601
ListMap

Geologic structures

Type Description Terms
Local NE-trending faults ad the Dewitt Thrust Fault
Regional Dewitt Thrust Fault

Controls for ore emplacement

  • The intersections of two steeply dippng, mineralized structures which trend NNW and WNW have acted to localize higher grade ore.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant Yes
Discovery year >1875
Year of first production <1918

Mining district

District name Battle Mountain District

Land status

Ownership category Private
Ownership category BLM Administrative Area
Area name Battle Mountain BLM Administrative District

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Newmont Mining Corp.
    Year 2004

Comments on the workings information

  • Historic workings consist of several shallow pits, short adits, a caved shaft and open cuts. These workings are, for the most part, now caved and inaccessible, and more recently replaced by an open pit.

Comments on other economic factors

  • An unrecorded amount of copper ore was produced from this deposit in the early days of the district. In 1996, the total endowment for the Empire (1982 & 1991-1994 production and 1996 reserves) was reported at: 88,416 ounces of gold and 289,677 ounces of silver. In 1996, the total endowment for the Northern Lights (1993 production and reserves) was reported at 19,964 ounces of gold and 73,587 ounces of silver. The total endowment, production and reserves, for the combined Empire- Northern Lights Mine area orebodies is 108,380 ounces of gold, and 363,264 ounces of silver. This is probably a low threshold of actual endowment, since early production is unrecorded. 2004 reported Empire Mine resource of approximately 1.5 million tonnes averaging 1.8 g Au/t and a Northern Lights Mine resource of approximately 390,000 tonnes averaging 1.6 g Au/t.

Comments on development

  • Some copper ore was produced here in the early days of the district, and a few tons of sorted ore from the dumps was shipped in 1918. The principal shaft, reported to be about 300 feet deep, is now caved.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Roberts, R.J. And Arnold, D.C., 1965, Ore Deposits of the Antler Peak Quadrangle, Humboldt and Lander Counties, Nevada: U.S.G.S. Prof. Paper 459-B.

  • Deposit

    Stewart, J. H., Mckee, E. H., and Stager, H. K., 1977, Geology and Mineral Deposits of Lander County, Nevada, NBMG Bull. 88.

  • Deposit

    Schmidt, K. W., Wotruba, P. R., and Johnson, S. D., 1988, Gold-Silver and Related Mineralization at Copper Basin, Nevada, in Gold Deposits Of North Central Nevada, Special Publication #8, the Geological Society of Nevada, Reno.

  • Deposit

    Long, K.R., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., and Ludington, S.D., 1998, Database of significant deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the United States; Part A, Database description and analysis; part B, Digital database: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-206, 33 p., one 3.5 inch diskette.

  • Deposit

    Doebrich and Theodore, 1996.

  • Deposit

    Geological Society of Nevada, 1999, Geology and Gold Mineralization of the Buffalo Valley Area, Northwestern Battle Mountain Trend; GSN Special Publication No. 31, 1999 Fall field trip Guidebook.

  • Deposit

    Wendt, Clancy, 2004, Technical Report on the? ICBM/COPPER BASIN Property, Lander and Humboldt Counties, Nevada, Staccato Gold website, : http://www.staccatogold.com/i/pdf/icbm-43-101.pdf

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit The Northern Lights deposit occurs in the interbedded siltstones and sandstones of the Harmony Formation. The higher grade ore is localized by north-northeast and west-northwest steeply dipping structures. Several sub-horizontal monzonite-granodiorite porphyritic sills occur within the deposit. Gold mineralization is associated with fine-grained silica (locally chalcedonic) and pyrite replacing formerly calcareous siltstone and sandstone of the Harmony Formation. The intersections of two steeply dippng, mineralized structures which trend NNW and WNW have acted to localize higher grade ore. Distal disseminated silver-gold ore associated with silica-pyrite alteration at the Empire Mine (approximately 1.5 million tonnes averaging 1.8 g Au/t) and at the Northern Lights Mine (approximately 390,000 tonnes averaging 1.6 g Au/t) may be associated genetically with the Buckingham porphyry molybdenum system.

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.