Horton Mine, Tobin and Sonoma Range Mining District, Pershing County, Nevada, USAi

Regional Level Types
Horton Mine	Mine
Tobin and Sonoma Range Mining District	Mining District
Pershing County	County
Nevada	State
USA	Country

T32N R39E
Deposit: Cinnabar occurs in irregular fractures filled with ocherous gossan in greenstone. Shallow underground workings follow a n35e 55n W fault zone which flattens to near horizontal near the ground surface. Greenstone is argillically altered near the fault. This zone of argillic alteration may contain cinnabar although it was not observed. The cinnabar seen was in 1-4 cm wide irregular, vertical, to horizontal fractures and open spaces filled with powdery limonite. Some boxworks after a sulfide mineral were noted in a prospect trench near the corner of secs. 16, 17, 20, 21. Rarely, 1-3 mm quartz veinlets occur in the limonite zones. The sparse cinnabar seen occurs more commonly with dark brown limonite or with the quartz veinlets. The alteration noted in other pits in a 1 sq km area is argillic, with strong limonite staining. Silicification seems to underlie the argilllic alteration at the pit at the corner of secs. 16, 17, 20, 21. This silicification is intense, completely replacing the greenstone, and resembling the opalite in replacement opalite mercury deposits. The mine discovered in 1967. Mining by open pit in 1968 and 1969 produced 487 flasks of mercury ; info.src : 1 pub lit; 2 unpub rept; 3 field observ

Deposit type: Almaden Hg

Development: Open pit mining in 1968 and 1969. The 10 ricky boy claims were locatedn 1957 by thompson and beatty on the site of some long-abandoned prospect holes. Little work was done on the property during the years of declining mercury prices. Beatty relocated the ground in 1964 and in the mid-1960's crofoot mining co. Did some exploratory drilling under lease. In 1967, h.a. Horton, under lease-option, found some good ore while doing contract bulldozing to comply with assessment regulations and soon negotiated a lease for the lifetime of the mine. In late 1967, he leased a rotary furnace in winnemucca and began processing very rich cinnabar ore hauled about 30 miles from the mine. The recovery plant was remodeled to achieve larger capacity, and operated until 1969, during which time about 500 flasks of mercury were recovered. During the same period 1450 tons of lower grade ore hauled to the NE W rotary furnace plant of star city mines, ltd, in winnemucca yielding about 100 flasks hg. No activity at time of examination in 1984.

Geology: Mineralization is in altered greenstone As fine crystals of cinnabar in limonitic zones. The host rock contains numerous calcite and quartz veinlets. The richest ore is associated with the calcite veinlets. Cinnabar occurs As discrete crystals and anhedral aggregates in calcite and in the host rock.

Rock formation(s): Pumpernickel Formation

Other Databases

Link to USGS MRDS:	10040582

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References