Contact District Copper Project, Contact Mining District, Elko County, Nevada, USAi

Regional Level Types
Contact District Copper Project	- not defined -
Contact Mining District	Mining District
Elko County	County
Nevada	State
USA	Country

Structure: Regular sets of joints, fractures, and faults cut the granodiorite stock.

Alteration: Silicification generally accompanies mineralization.

Commodity: Ore Materials: chalcopyrite, bornite, chalcocite, chrysocolla, copper oxides Gangue Materials: abundant quartz, occasional barite

Deposit: The deposit consists of four 4 or more veins, paralleling the granodiorite contact the veins range from 1 to 10 ft. thick. These four or more of the veins yielded most of the ore. They trend generally east paralleling the granodiorite contact, but one of them cuts across the contact. The copper content of the ore ranged from 3% to 50%, but was generally less than 10% Cu. Mineralization os associated with the igneous intrusion and accompanying contact metamorphism and replacement of the limestone intruded by the granodiorite. The Sporadic Mineralization Seems To Be A Replacement Of The Glassy Quartz By Siliceous, Red-Brown Hematite, Associated With The Secondary Copper Mineralization (Schrader, 1912, P.122). The Mineralized Zone Consists Of Discontinuous Veins In White Limestone, Perhaps Marking Extensions Of Fissuring Along The Granodiorite Contact. Site Study Is Part Of Minerlal Survey No. 38547. Veins; In Vicinity Of Delano No. 1 Claim Veins Are Approx. 5 Ft.Wide And Average 3.5% (Up To 50%) Copper (Schrader, 1935, P.25). Nearly 1/2 Of The Production From The Contact M.D. Was Made During 1952-57, Most Of It From The Marshall (Nevada-Belleville) Mine (Smith, 1976). Copper Content Of Ore Ranges From 3% To 50%, But Generally Containslt10% Cu. The Nevada-Bellevue Copper Mining Co. (Organized Around 1917) Comprised 10 Claims, On Which There Were 12 Small Mines And Prospects. Major Production Was During The Years 1913-30 (Schrader, 1935, P 23) The Nevada-Bellevue Mine Is Located On The Delano And Copper King Groups Of Claims Specifically On The Copper King No 1 Claim. The Claims Were Discovered And Located In The Late 1880'S, But No Production Was Recorded Until 1913. 4 Or More Of The Veins Yielded Most Of The Ore. They Trend East Paralleling The Granodiorite Contact, But One Of Them Cuts Across The Contact. The Veins Range From 1-10 Ft. Thick, (Granger, A.E., Et. Al., 1957, P 37-8). Mineral Survey No 3854 Discovery Year: LATE 1880'S This Is One Of The Nevada-Bellevue Copper Mining Company'S Claims, Which Includes The Nevada-Bellevue Mine (Schrader, 1935) The Two Veins On This Property, Situated About 150 Feet Apart And Parallel, Are Regarded As Western Extensions Of The Palo Alto And Blue Bird Veins, At The East End Of The Property An Upper And A Lower Tunnel (70 Feet Apart) Develop The 6-Foot Wide Vein Westward. The Copper Ore Is Best On The Hanging-Wall Side Of The Vein (Schrader, 1912, P 122) Mineral Survey 3854 The Nevada Bellevue (Marshall) Mine Is On This Claim Associated Minerals: actinolite, axinite, azurite/malachite, bornite, cerargyrite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, chrysocolla, cuprite, garnet, hematite, pyrite Associated Rocks: aplite, breccia, hornfels, monzonite porphyry, skarn, syenite porphyry;rhyolite flow, rhyolite tuff;chert, granodiorite, limestone, quartz monzonite, quartzite, shale, siltstone

Deposit type: Porphyry Cu, skarn-related

Development: Claims were discovered and located in the Contact District in the late 1880s, but no production was recorded until 1913. The Nevada-Bellevue Copper Mining Co. was organized about 1917, and encompassed 10 claims on which there were 12 small mines and prospects. Major production occurred during the years 1913-30, but nearly half of the Contact District production was made during 1952-57. Most of the district production was from the Marshall (Nevada-Bellevue) Mine, which is located on the Delano and Copper King groups of claims, specifically on the Copper King No. 1 claim. Contact Project. Drilling during 2004 at Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc.’s Contact copper project focused on the poorly explored North Vein zone, where earlier drilling identified intercepts of 22 feet of 4.35% Cu (including 4 feet of 11% Cu) and 41 feet of 3.03% Cu (including 2 feet of 20% Cu) in two separate holes. 2004 drill holes were placed to confirm and extend this mineralization. Golden Phoenix Minerals learned from this drilling effort that the North Vein becomes absorbed in a large mineralized body that is hosted in highly altered skarn above the granodiorite-limestone contact, identifying a potentially new zone of copper mineralization. Drilling in this zone and the previously identified Brooklyn zone continued in 2005. A resource evaluation of all drill holes and trenches on the property found that the Contact copper deposit holds a mineralized material inventory of 97,427,000 tons averaging 0.54% Cu at a 0.1% cutoff grade. At a 3% Cu cutoff, the mineralized material inventory is 1,777,000 tons averaging 7.17% Cu. Contact features an estimated 61.5 million tons of copper/gold mineralized material at 0.77% Cu and 0.029% Ag. On December 23, 2004, Golden Phoenix terminated the Joint Venture Agreement dated January 28, 1998, by and between the Company and International Enexco, Ltd., and also terminated the Exploration License and Option to Purchase Agreement, dated July 10, 1998, by and between the Company and F.W. Lewis, Inc. The Board of Directors of Golden Phoenix determined that it was in the best interests of the Company to relinquish the Joint Venture Agreement and Exploration License Agreement due to the cost structures of the arrangements and the Company's current financial condition. Patented Claim, Nearly 1/2 The District'S Production Came From This Mine In 1952-1957. Nevada-Bellevue Copper Mining Co., Organized About 1917, Comprised 10 Claims On Which There Were 12 Small Mines And Prospects. Major Production Was From 1913 To 1930

Ore(s): granodiorite contact, intrusive veins, fractures



(Brooklyn Zone; Banner Fissure Zone; Helen B. Smith; old Marshall (Nevada-Bellevue) Mine Area; Marshall Group; Phase 1 Area; Phase 2 Area; Helen Smith; Bluebird; Nevada-Belleview)

Other Databases

Link to USGS MRDS:	10310521

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References