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Mount Hamilton Mine

Producer in White Pine county in Nevada, United States with commodities Tungsten, Molybdenum, Copper, Gold, Silver, Zinc, Lead, Arsenic, Bismuth, Tellurium, Antimony
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Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310557
Record type Site
Current site name Mount Hamilton Mine
Alternate or previous names Centennial Mine, Northeast Seligman Mine, Treasure Hill Mine

Comments on the site identification

  • No earlier MRDS record was found for this mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -115.55688, 39.2498 (WGS84)
Relative position The mine is located about 70 kilometers west of Ely.
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Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada White Pine

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 016N 057E 16 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • The mine is located on the west side of the White Pine Range.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Tungsten Primary
Molybdenum Primary
Copper Primary
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Zinc Secondary
Lead Secondary
Arsenic Tertiary
Bismuth Tertiary
Tellurium Tertiary
Antimony Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Ore Materials: scheelite, molybdenite, chalcopyrite, gold, pyrite, arsenopyrite
  • Gangue Materials: quartz, garnet, pyroxene, tremolite

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Scheelite Ore
Molybdenite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Arsenopyrite Ore
Quartz Gangue
Garnet Gangue
Pyroxene Gangue
Tremolite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) An extensive alteration aureole (five kilometers by two kilometers) formed in the Cambrian Secret Canyon and Dunderberg Shale Formations surropunding the Cretaceous granodirite stock. Alteration consistes of an early biotite hornfels replaced in part by a diopside-orthoclase hornfels. Skarn alteration is zoned from a garnet-dominated assemblage adjacent to the stock to a garnet-pyroxene skarn to a calcite-diopside-quartz-kspar-tremolite skarn, to distal biotite hornfels. Retrograde alteration consists of quartz-calcite-iron oxide assemblage afterg arnet and a subordinate quartz-calcite-epidote-iron oxide-amphibole-chlorite assemblage after garnet-pyroxene.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 72
USGS model code 19a
Deposit model name Polymetallic replacement
Mark3 model number 47

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Carbonate > Limestone
    Rock unit name Secret Canyon Shale
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Cambrian
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
    Rock unit name Dunderberg Shale
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cambrian
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granodiorite
    Rock type qualifier hornblende-biotite
    Rock unit name Seligman Stock
    Chronological age 104.5
    Dating method K-Ar
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cretaceous
    Chronological age 106.6
    Dating method K-Ar
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Early Cretaceous

Nearby scientific data

(1) -115.55688, 39.2498
ListMap

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Rocks in the mine area have been affected by the NNW-trending Hoppe Springs Anticline, and later by steep normal faults with N-S, NE, and NW orientations.

Ore body information

  • General form irregular

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Ore is structurally controlled by the NW- and NE-trending faults and by the Hoppe Springs anticlinal axis, as well as by retrograde alteration zones, host rock lithology control, and proximity to the intrusive stock.

Economic information

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant Yes

Mining district

District name White Pine District

Land status

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

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Mount Hamilton Mining Co.
    Year 1997

Comments on the workings information

  • The mine is developed by at least two open pits

Comments on other economic factors

  • 1994: resv. 9.04 Mt, 0.052 opt Au, 0.38 opt Ag; 1996: 10.8 Mt, 0.038 opt Au, 0.24 opt Ag; 1997: (Centennial) 7.72 Mt, 0.035 opt Au 1997: 7.72 Mt, 0.035 opt Au Production 1995-97: 99,500 oz Au, 207,500 oz Ag 1997: 12,500 oz Au, 36,000 oz Ag

Comments on development

  • Exploration of the Mount Hamilton area in the 1970s concentrated on the tungsten potential of the skarn system, and a large tungsten-molybdenum resource was defined. Continued exploration of the system identified copper-zinc-gold-enriched zones in addition to the W-Mo target. In 1996, Westmont Mining, Inc. was in the process of developing the two orebodies. Mount Hamilton Mining Co. mined the property but mining ceased in 1997. Exploration in the mine area was ongoing in the late 1990s.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    NBMG MI-96

  • Deposit

    MI-97

  • Deposit

    Map 91

  • Deposit

    NBMG Bull 57, 1960

  • Deposit

    Myers, G., Dennis, M. D., Wilkinson, W. H., and Wendt, C. J., 1991, Precious Metal Distribution in the Mount Hamilton Polymetallic Skarn System, Nevada: in Raines, G.L., Lisle, R.E., Schafer, R.W. and Wilkinson, W.H., Eds., Symposium Proceedings, Geology and Ore Deposits of the Great Basin, Geologic Society of Nevada and the U.S. Geological Survey, April 1-5, 1990, p. 677-685.

  • Deposit

    Myers, G., Dennis, M. D., Wilkinson, W. H., and Wendt, C. J., 1991, Precious Metal Distribution in the Mount Hamilton Polymetallic Skarn System, Nevada:reprinted in Geology and Gold Deposits of Eastern Nevada; Bald Mountain Mine, Alligator Ridge, Robinson Project, Mount Hamilton Mine, Jones, A. Elizabeth, Ed., Special Publication - Geological Society of Nevada, Report: 23

  • 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.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Gold and silver mineralization is associated with a W-Mo-Cu-Pb-Zn- bearing garnet-pyroxene-tremolite skarn system developed around the margins of the Cretaceous Seligman stock hornblende-biotite granodiorite. The deposit encompasses both the Centennial ore zone on the south side of the Seligman stock, and the Northeast Seligman ore zone on the northeast side of the stock.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-2002 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.