The Kinsley mine – A structure-controlled sediment-hosted disseminated gold deposit in eastern Nevada

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The Kinsley mine is a sediment-hosted, disseminated gold deposit in the Kinsley
Mountains, a ridge approximately 11 kilometers long that is the northernmost end of
the Antelope Range in southeastern Elko County, Nevada. The Kinsley mine may be
somewhat unusual in its location in that it is at least 80 kilometers from the nearest
modern gold mine and not apparently associated with any recognized regional gold-producing
trend. Reconnaissance rock-chip and soil sampling of auriferous jasperoid
outcrops in the mid-1980s identified the gold anomaly in an area previously undisturbed
by mining or exploration activity. Several companies conducted exploration
programs, which eventually culminated in Alta Gold Company putting the mine into
production in 1995. The mine produced approximately 150,000 ounces of gold
between 1995 and 1999. Average ore grades were commonly between 0.03 and 0.05
ounce per ton.
The dominant structure in the Kinsley mine is a wrench fault zone, approximately
750 meters wide, which strikes N60°W and is bounded on the north and south
by near-vertical left-lateral (?) strike-slip faults. Within the fault zone is a system of
anastamosing shears that bound rotated blocks of varying size composed of Cambrian
strata. Gold production occurred from at least five distinct stratigraphically
controlled deposits in these rotated blocks. Anomalous gold does not occur in the fault
zones between the blocks. Selected members of at least six stratigraphic units of
Middle Cambrian age host gold deposits. From youngest to oldest, these are the Notch
Peak Formation, Windfall Limestone, Dunderberg Shale, Big Horse Limestone, and
an unnamed sequence of limestone and siltstone. The most prolific gold producing
unit is the Dunderberg Shale, a sequence of thin-bedded calcareous siltstone, limestone
and shale.

SKU: 2005-30 Category:

Additional information

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Primary Author

J.P. Robinson

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Commodity

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Deposit Type

Mine

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