Crescent Valley Placers

Past Producer in Lander county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Tungsten

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID	10310337
MRDS ID	M232525
Record type	Site
Current site name	Crescent Valley Placers
Alternate or previous names	Triplett Gulch Placers, Mill Gulch placers, Mud Springs Valley placers
Related records	10044896

Comments on the site identification

The current record describes an area covered by the Triplett Gulch, Mill Gulch, and Mud Springs placer deposits described in part by earlier MRDS records M232525, M232526, and M232527 from which all material has been incorporated into the current record, as well as additonal new material.

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates:	-116.69815, 40.30602 (WGS84)
Relative position	The Crescent Valley placer deposits are located about 28 miles south of Beowawe.
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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	028N	047E	07 08 09 16 17 18		Nevada

Comments on the location information

The Crescent Valley placer deposits are located along three creeks: predominantly Triplett Gulch and Mill Gulch just south of Tenabo, and some along Mud Springs Gulch a few miles to the north. UTM is to the Mill Gulch placer area.

Commodities

Commodity	Importance
Gold	Primary
Silver	Secondary
Tungsten	Secondary

Comments on the commodity information

Ore Materials: free gold, electrum, scheelite

Materials information

Materials	Type of material
Gold	Ore
Electrum	Ore
Scheelite	Ore

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code	119
USGS model code	39a
BC deposit profile	C01. C02
Deposit model name	Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number	54

Host and associated rocks

Host or associated Host

Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel

Rock type qualifier alluvial

Stratigraphic age (youngest) Quaternary

Nearby scientific data

(1)	-116.69815, 40.30602	ListMap

Ore body information

General form blanket; channels

General form	blanket; channels

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type	Surface-Underground
Development status	Past Producer
Commodity type	Metallic
Deposit size	Small
Significant	Yes
Discovery year	1916
Discoverer	A. J. Raleigh (Mill Gulch); Gus Fowler (Mud Springs Gulch )
Year of first production	1905
Year of last production	1940
Production years	1905-1940, intermittently

Mining district

District name	Bullion District
District name	Tenabo District

Land status

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

Ownership information

Type Owner-Operator

Owner Pacific Gold Corp

Year 2004
Type Owner-Operator

Owner Coral Gold Corp.

Year 2004

Type	Owner-Operator
Owner	Pacific Gold Corp
Year	2004

Type	Owner-Operator
Owner	Coral Gold Corp.
Year	2004

Comments on the workings information

By 1938, about 30 shallow shafts 60-90 feet deep had been dug to bedrock through the placer gravels in Mud Springs Gulch .

Comments on other economic factors

From 1931 to 1936, the Bullion district placer deposits produced 1111 ounces of gold and 119 ounces of silver from as many as 9 different placer operations mining at the same time. The placer deposits at Mud Springs Gulch and its tributaries reportedly produced only a total of about $2,000 worth of gold from their discovery in 1907 until about 1938. The Triplett Gulch placer mines produced 1,627 ounces of gold and 160 ounces of silver in 1940 and an unrecorded amount by numerous lessees before that. Production from the 1937-1939 dredging operation in Mill Gulch is estimated at no less than 6,000 ounces of gold. Proven placer reserves reported in 2003 are 1.98 million cubic yards of placer gravels grading 0.034 ounces of gold per ton and 6.3 million cubic yards of placer gravels grading 0.031 ounces of gold per ton .

Comments on development

The lode deposits in the district were discovered in 1905, but the Tenabo (Crescent Valley) placer deposits were not discovered until 1916. Some hand work with dry washers and rockers was done by Raleigh and lessees, but no production was recorded until 1931. In 1936, the Mill Gulch Placer Mining Company bought the Mill Gulch placer claims from Raleigh, and filed placer claims over a large area in adjacent Triplett Gulch. The company installed a floating washing plant and a dragline and began 24 hour- a-day production in 1937 continuing at least until 1939 followed by a few more years of small-scale workings. Production from this operation in Mill Gulch is estimated at no less than 6,000 ounces of gold. In 1938 Mrs. G. W. Triplett and E.O. Swackhamer held 9 unpatented placer claims over the main workings in Triplett Gulch. There were up to 40 sublessees working the ground with small-scale dry washing equipment, and processing up to 50 cubic yards of material a day. Triplett Gulch Mines, Inc. operated a non-floating washing plant in Triplett Gulch in 1940. It processed 140,000 cubic yards of placer material yielding 1,627 ounces of gold and 160 ounces of silver. The placer deposits at Mud Springs Gulch and its tributaries a few miles to the north, were discovered by Gus Fowler in 1907 and were worked intermittently by hand methods through the 1930s, producing only a total of about $2,000 worth of gold. The rise in god prices since 2000 generated renewed interest in the old placers, and the area was being prospaected in 2003 by Pacific Gold Corp and Coral Gold Corp., who reported reserves for the Crecent valley placer properties.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

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.

General comments

Subject category	Comment text
Deposit	The alluvium in Mill Gulch is sand and medium boulders from 10 to 45 feet thick, with most of the gold occurring near the underlying bedrock. Gold ranges from fine to coarse-grained, with a fineness of 920. A small amount of scheelite occurs in the gravels with the gold. The Triplett Gulch placer is a half-mile south of Mill Gulch. The alluvial gravels in Triplett Gulch wer 1-12 feet thick, averaging 6 feet thick- placer deposits. The placer material in Triplett Gulch is chiefly sand and soil containing a small proportion of angular rock fragments. Depth of the alluvium ranges from 1 to 12 feet. Average value of dry washed material in 1939 was $2 cu/yd.

Subject category

Comment text

Deposit

The alluvium in Mill Gulch is sand and medium boulders from 10 to 45 feet thick, with most of the gold occurring near the underlying bedrock. Gold ranges from fine to coarse-grained, with a fineness of 920. A small amount of scheelite occurs in the gravels with the gold. The Triplett Gulch placer is a half-mile south of Mill Gulch. The alluvial gravels in Triplett Gulch wer 1-12 feet thick, averaging 6 feet thick- placer deposits. The placer material in Triplett Gulch is chiefly sand and soil containing a small proportion of angular rock fragments. Depth of the alluvium ranges from 1 to 12 feet. Average value of dry washed material in 1939 was $2 cu/yd.

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.