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Sedimentary exhalative (sedex) zinc-lead-silver deposit model

This report draws on previous syntheses and basic research studies of sedimentary exhalative (sedex) deposits to arrive at the defining criteria, both descriptive and genetic, for sedex-type deposits. Studies of the tectonic, sedimentary, and fluid evolution of modern and ancient sedimentary basins have also been used to select defining criteria. The focus here is on the geologic characteristics of sedex deposit-hosting basins that contain greater than 10 million metric tons of zinc and lead. The enormous size of sedex deposits strongly suggests that basin-scale geologic processes are involved in their formation. It follows that mass balance constraints of basinal processes can provide a conceptual underpinning for the evaluation of potential ore-forming mechanisms and the identification of geologic indicators for ore potential in specific sedimentary basins. Empirical data and a genetic understanding of the physicochemical, geologic, and mass balance conditions required for each of these elements are used to establish a hierarchy of quantifiable geologic criteria that can be used in U.S. Geological Survey national assessments. In addition, this report also provides a comprehensive evaluation of environmental considerations associated with the mining of sedex deposits.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

Stress changes ahead of an advancing tunnel

Instrumentation placed ahead of three model tunnels in the laboratory and ahead of a crosscut driven in a metamorphic rock mass detected stress changes several tunnel diameters ahead of the tunnel face. Stress changes were detected 4 diameters ahead of a model tunnel drilled into nearly elastic acrylic, 2·50 diameters ahead of a model tunnel drilled into concrete, and 2 diameters ahead of a model tunnel drilled into Silver Plume Granite. Stress changes were detected 7·50 diameters ahead of a crosscut driven in jointed, closely foliated gneisses and gneissic granites in an experimental mine at Idaho Springs, Colorado. These results contrast markedly with a theoretical elastic estimate of the onset of detectable stress changes at 1 tunnel diameter ahead of the tunnel face. A small compressive stress concentration was detected 2 diameters ahead of the model tunnel in acrylic, 1.25 diameters ahead of the model tunnel in concrete, and 1 diameter ahead of the model tunnel in granite. A similar stress peak was detected about 6 diameters ahead of the crosscut. No such stress peak is predicted from elastic theory. The 3-dimensional in situ stress determined in the field demonstrate that geologic structure controls stress orientations in the metamorphic rock mass. Two of the computed principal stresses are parallel to the foliation and the other principal stress is normal to it. The principal stress orientations vary approximately as the foliation attitude varies. The average horizontal stress components and the average vertical stress component are three times and twice as large, respectively, as those predicted from the overburden load. An understanding of the measured stress field appears to require the application of either tectonic or residual stress components, or both. Laboratory studies indicate the presence of proportionately large residual stresses. Mining may have triggered the release of strain energy, which is controlled by geologic structure.

Colorado↗

The brown iron ores of west-middle Tennessee

A study of the brown iron ore deposits of west-middle Tennessee has been carried on recently under a cooperative agreement between the Tennessee State Geological Survey and the United States Geological Survey. A detailed report on the subject was submitted in the spring of 1925 to the State Survey for publication as a bulletin, and the writing of the present report was completed in March, 1926. The field work was done mainly between October 22 and November 2, 1921, and April 26 and July 18, 1923; but in October, 1924, a visit was made to the mine at Napier. The writer was assisted in the field in 1921 by. R. W. Smith, assistant geologist, and in 1923 by C. C. Anderson, topographer, both of the Tennessee Survey. Mr. Wilbur A. Nelson, State geologist at the time the work was in progress, visited several mines with the writer and on these occasions as well as many times during the preparation of the report rendered helpful suggestions and guidance. Mr. H. D. Miser, of the United States Geological Survey, State geologist from September 1, 1925, to July 1, 1926, who is especially familiar with the southern part of this area, also cooperated heartily in the preparation of this report; and Mr. H. W. Davis, of the United States Bureau of Mines, compiled the statistical data on iron ore and pig iron. To all these gentlemen the writer desires to express his appreciation. Acknowledgments are also due to the officials and employees of the iron mining and manufacturing companies and to people living in the vicinity of inactive mining properties for their courteous attention and for the large amount of information furnished. In the present paper the general features of the region and of the iron-ore deposits are delineated, but only a few typical ore deposits in each county are described, as the State bulletin will contain detailed descriptions of all properties.

Tennessee↗

Quicksilver deposits of the Pilot Mountains, Mineral County, Nevada

In the course of general geologic mapping of the Hawthorne quadrangle, in western Nevada, the writer undertook a short study of the quicksilver deposits of the Pilot Mountains. The work was. done under the supervision of Henry G. Ferguson, in charge of the field work in the Hawthorne quadrangle, and the writer was accompanied by L. B. Spencer, mining engineer, of Mina, Nev., whose intimate knowledge of the district greatly facilitated the study and to whom the writer is indebted for much valuable information. Data on the general geology of the district, collected by Messrs. Ferguson and Cathcart, were freely drawn upon. The deposits of the Pilot Mountains were first described by Knopf* and later briefly by Ransome. 2

Nevada↗

The importance of mineralogical input into geometallurgy programs

Mineralogy is the link between ore formation and ore extraction. It is the most fundamental component of geomet programs, and the most important aspect of a life-of-project approach to mineral resource projects. Understanding orebodies is achieved by understanding the mineralogy and texture of the materials, throughout the process, because minerals hold the information required to unlock the value they contain. Geomet mineralogy programs absolutely require the appropriate expertise and at least three steps of mineral characterisation prior to using semi-automated or other methods: field examination, thorough core logging, and optical microscopy. Economic geological inputs for orebody characterisation are necessary for orebody understanding, and are exemplified by current research in the Zambian Copperbelt, where revised sequence stratigraphy and understanding of alteration, metasomatism and metamorphism can be used to predict topical issues at mine sites. Environmental inputs for sustainability characterisation are demonstrated by recent work on tailings from the Leadville, Colorado, USA area, including linking mineralogy to water quality issues. Risk assessments need to take into account the technical uncertainties around geological variability and mineral extractability, and mineralogy is the only metric that can be used to make this risk contribution.

Conference Paper↗

Errors in using modern stream-load data to estimate natural rates of denudation

The practice of calculating natural rates of denudation from routinely collected data on the loads of suspended and dissolved matter in modern rivers is subject to several significant errors. The sources of these errors are demonstrated by examples from the Atlantic drainage of the United States, where their total effect has apparently doubled the natural rate of erosion. The largest error is caused by assuming that modern sediment loads in populated areas represent natural erosion, whereas in fact they mainly reflect the influence of man. Conversion of forests to croplands in the middle Atlantic states causes about a tenfold increase in sediment yield. Coal mining, urbanization, and highway construction have added extra loads of sediment to the streams. Modern sediment loads in the Atlantic-draining rivers are probably 4 to 5 times greater than they would be if the area had remained undisturbed by man. Errors in calculating the chemical denudation are caused by atmospheric contributions to the dissolved loads of streams and by pollutants that are added directly to stream waters. About one-quarter of the salts in Atlantic-draining streams were contributed from the atmosphere, either as recycled sea salts or as pollutants and soil dust that originally became airborne as a result of the activities of man. Perhaps another one-tenth of the dissolved load consists of industrial and agricultural wastes or acid mine waters that have been added directly to the streams.

Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachu↗

Mercury-contaminated sediments in the North Bay: A legacy of the Gold Rush

A legacy of the Gold Rush is mercury-contaminated sediments in the Bay. Miners used mercury to extract gold from tailings during the gold rush. A large amount of this mercury (some estimates are as great as 10,000 tons) was lost during extraction to the watershed during the gold rush era. This mercury-contaminated hydraulic mining debris made its way to the Bay.

Northern California Geological Survey Newsletter↗

Geological and geochemical studies in the Wadi Bidah District, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Geological and geochemical followup studies of airborne electromagnetic anomalies in the Wadi Bidah district, southwestern Saudi Arabia, did not reveal metals of economic grade. Investigation of an anomaly enclosing the Rabathan ancient mine disclosed tightly folded and sheared Proterozoic tuffaceous rocks interlayered mostly with chert, dolomite, carbonaceous rocks, and volcanic wacke including cherty iron-manganese formations slightly anomalous in copper and zinc. Three drill holes placed to test anomalies within these formations yielded negative results. Studies of a long, narrow anomaly north of the Rabathan area indicated a similar geological environment. This northern area also contains limited zones that are highly anomalous in copper and zinc and extensive zones that are slightly anomalous in those metals. Drilling was not undertaken in this area. The Bilajimah airborne electromagnetic anomaly west of Wadi Bidah coincides with a broad synclinorium of layered felsic turfs and gossans. Geochemical studies indicated slightly anomalous copper, zinc, and silver values in gossans within the anomaly area. Two drill holes intersected carbonaceous rock that contained approximately 15 percent pyrrhotite and traces of sphalerite and chalcopyrite. Two geophysically anomalous areas west of Wadi Bidah surround ancient mines at Mahawiyah and Khayal al Masna'ah. Results of geochemical sampling at these workings were positive. An airborne electromagnetic anomaly located in the Assifar area in the southwestern corner of the Wadi Bidah district is underlain principally by metasedimentary rocks that include large linear zones of cherty iron-manganese formation and a few gossans .containing secondary base metal minerals. Detailed mapping and sampling of the Mulhal ancient mine, located west of Wadi Bidah, revealed two types of polymetallic gossans : (1) stratiform deposits interlayered with ignimbrites and mafic volcanic rocks and (2) barite-bearing gossanous material in shear zones that grade into hydrothermally altered shear zones and extend beyond the mine area. The gossans and gossanous shear zones contain anomalous amounts of gold, silver, lead, copper, zinc, barium, and selenium. Two gossans west of Wadi Bidah were mapped and sampled in detail; both gossans are interlayered, with siliceous volcanic rocks. Although the gossan at Jabal Mohr covers a large area, it contains low amounts of precious and base metals. The gossan at Mulhal No. 2 contains moderate to high amounts of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc.

Open-File Report↗

Geology and ore deposits of the Rico District, Colorado

The Rico district is in the Dolores River valley at the east end of Dolores County in southwestern Colorado. Mining has been actively carried on in the district since 1879. In the early days, silver was the chief product and was mined largely from Newman Hill southeast of the town of Rico. After 1900, the base metals, particularly lead and zinc, mined in other parts of the district, became the major products, though silver remained an important byproduct. The production of the Rico district from 1879 to 1968 has been about 83,000 ounces gold, 14,500,000 ounces silver, 5,600 tons copper, 84,000 tons lead, and 83,000 tons zinc.

Colorado↗

Concentrations of metals and trace elements in aquatic biota associated with abandoned mine lands in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area and nearby Clear Creek watershed, Shasta County, northwestern California, 2002-2003

Park management of the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, in northwestern California, identified a critical need to determine if mercury (Hg) or other elements originating from abandoned mines within the Upper Clear Creek watershed were present at concentrations that might adversely affect aquatic biota living within the park. During 2002–03, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Park Service, collected aquatic invertebrates, amphibians, and fish, and analyzed them for Hg, cadmium, zinc, copper, and other metals and trace elements. The data from the biota, in conjunction with data from concurrent community bioassessments, habitat analyses, water quality, and concentrations of metals and trace elements in water and sediment, were used to identify contamination “hot spots.” In 2002, we selected collection sites within the study area based on the presence of historical mines and results from sampling of bed sediment in 2001. In 2003, collection sites were selected based on sediment data as well as data on water and biota from this study in 2002. Eleven sites were sampled in both 2002 and 2003, 11 sites were sampled only in 2002, and 14 sites were sampled only in 2003. Comparisons of sites within the Upper Clear Creek watershed indicated that most of the more contaminated sites were outside of the park boundaries, especially at sites within the French Gulch, Cline Gulch, and Whiskey Creek watersheds. The site with the highest overall contamination within the park, based on both fish and invertebrate data, was WLCC, a site on Willow Creek impacted by acid mine drainage and listed as impaired under Section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act. Compared with other recently evaluated mine-impacted watersheds in northern California, invertebrates, amphibians, and fish from sites within the Upper Clear Creek watershed tended to have significantly lower concentrations of Hg than at most other sites. For other metals and trace elements, Upper Clear Creek sites were only compared with the Deer Creek watershed, Nevada County, California. Copper from both Willow Creek sites (WLCC and WLTH) in the Clear Creek watershed was the only metal with concentrations in biota that were significantly higher than biota from Deer Creek

California↗

Platinum-group elements

The platinum-group elements (PGEs)—platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium—are metals that have similar physical and chemical properties and tend to occur together in nature. PGEs are indispensable to many industrial applications but are mined in only a few places. The availability and accessibility of PGEs could be disrupted by economic, environmental, political, and social events. The United States net import reliance as a percentage of apparent consumption is about 90 percent. PGEs have many industrial applications. They are used in catalytic converters to reduce carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, and nitrous oxide emissions in automobile exhaust. The chemical industry requires platinum or platinum-rhodium alloys to manufacture nitric oxide, which is the raw material used to manufacture explosives, fertilizers, and nitric acid. In the petrochemical industry, platinum-supported catalysts are needed to refine crude oil and to produce aromatic compounds and high-octane gasoline. Alloys of PGEs are exceptionally hard and durable, making them the best known coating for industrial crucibles used in the manufacture of chemicals and synthetic materials. PGEs are used by the glass manufacturing industry in the production of fiberglass and flat-panel and liquid crystal displays. In the electronics industry, PGEs are used in computer hard disks, hybridized integrated circuits, and multilayer ceramic capacitors. Aside from their industrial applications, PGEs are used in such other fields as health, consumer goods, and finance. Platinum, for example, is used in medical implants, such as pacemakers, and PGEs are used in cancer-fighting drugs. Platinum alloys are an ideal choice for jewelry because of their white color, strength, and resistance to tarnish. Platinum, palladium, and rhodium in the form of coins and bars are also used as investment commodities, and various financial instruments based on the value of these PGEs are traded on major exchanges. PGEs are among the rarest metals; Earth’s upper crust contains only about 0.0005 part per million (ppm) platinum. Today, the average grade of PGEs in ores that are mined primarily for their PGE concentrations varies from 5 to 15 ppm, although the concentration of PGEs in hand-picked ore specimens may range from tens to hundreds of parts per million. More than 100 different minerals have one of the PGEs as an essential component. PGE minerals occur as native metals. They also occur as compounds with other transition metals (copper, iron, mercury, nickel, and silver), post-transition metals (bismuth, lead, and tin), metalloids (antimony, arsenic, and tellurium), and nonmetals (selenium and sulfur). From 1900 to 2011, approximately 14,200 metric tons of PGEs was produced, and roughly 95 percent of that production (13,500 metric tons) took place between 1960 and 2011. The breakdown of production by country shows that, since 1900, about 90 percent of the production came from South Africa and Russia. The secondary supply of platinum, palladium, and rhodium is obtained through the recycling of catalytic converters from end-of-life vehicles, jewelry, and electronic equipment. Recycled platinum, palladium, and rhodium provide a significant proportion of the world’s total supply; these secondary sources are sufficient to close the gap between world mine production and consumption. Exploration and mining companies report resources of about 104,000 metric tons of PGEs (including minor amounts of gold) in mineral deposits around the world that could be developed. For PGEs, almost all the reported production and identified resources are associated with deposits in three geologic features—the Bushveld Complex, which is a layered mafic-to-ultramafic intrusion in South Africa; the Great Dyke, which is a layered mafic-to-ultramafic intrusion in Zimbabwe; and sill-like intrusions associated with flood basalts in the Noril’sk-Talnakh area of Russia. The metallic forms of PGEs are generally considered to be inert. PGEs pose a risk to human health only in cases where individuals are occupationally exposed to synthetic PGE compounds, especially workers in precious-metal refineries. In the natural environment, background PGE concentrations are low in water, sediment, soil, and plants. Anthropogenic sources of PGEs in the environment include catalytic converters used in modern automobiles, platinum-based chemotherapy drugs, and smelter emissions. The abundance of sulfide minerals defines the environmental and geologic characteristics of PGE-enriched magmatic sulfide deposits; those deposits with the highest amount of sulfide minerals could have the highest environmental impact. Acid rock drainage from reef-type and contact-type deposits is unlikely because the ores and their host rocks contain low proportions of sulfide minerals. For some conduit-type orebodies with massive ores, mineral-processing techniques separate and produce concentrates of copper-, iron-, and nickel-bearing sulfide minerals; those with copper and nickel are processed to extract metal, but the iron-sulfide minerals, mainly pyrrhotite, are discarded as waste. This results in waste material with a high acid-generating potential. The most significant primary source of PGEs in the United States is a deposit in the Stillwater Complex, which is a layered igneous intrusion in Montana. Approximately 305 metric tons of platinum and palladium have been mined from the Stillwater Complex deposit since 1986. Exploration and development drilling indicate that another 2,200 metric tons are present. Mining has progressed to depths of 1,800 meters below the surface, but the bottom of the ore deposit has not been reached; geologic estimates suggest that another 1,000 to 6,200 metric tons of PGEs could be present at depth. In the future, PGEs may be mined from deposits found near the base of the Duluth Complex, which is a group of igneous intrusions in Minnesota.

Professional Paper↗

U.S. Geological Survey ground-water studies in Nevada

Groundwater is an important natural resource in Nevada. In 1985, groundwater provided 24% of the total water withdrawn, and supplied about 40% of the State 's population. Public supply and self-supplied domestic use accounted for about 12% of the groundwater withdrawn, and self-supplied industrial and mining use was about 3%. The major issues related to groundwater in Nevada are: groundwater availability; natural and artificial groundwater recharge; underground storage of hazardous wastes; organic and inorganic trace constituents in groundwater; and geothermal groundwater systems. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is actively conducting 30 hydrologic investigations in Nevada, of which 18 are related to groundwater quantity and quality. Three examples of ongoing groundwater studies by the USGS that are designed to address specific groundwater issues in Nevada are discussed: carbonate-rock aquifers in eastern and southern Nevada; groundwater quality in the Carson River basin, Nevada-California; and groundwater in Honey Lake Valley, Nevada-California. (Lantz-PTT)

Open-File Report↗

Hydrogeologic Framework and Ground Water in Basin-Fill Deposits of the Diamond Valley Flow System, Central Nevada

The Diamond Valley flow system, an area of about 3,120 square miles in central Nevada, consists of five hydrographic areas: Monitor, Antelope, Kobeh, and Diamond Valleys and Stevens Basin. Although these five areas are in a remote part of Nevada, local government officials and citizens are concerned that the water resources of the flow system eventually could be further developed for irrigation or mining purposes or potentially for municipal use outside the study area. In order to better understand the flow system, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with Eureka, Lander, and Nye Counties and the Nevada Division of Water Resources, is conducting a multi-phase study of the flow system. The principal aquifers of the Diamond Valley flow system are in basin-fill deposits that occupy structural basins comprised of carbonate rocks, siliciclastic sedimentary rocks, igneous intrusive rocks, and volcanic rocks. Carbonate rocks also function as aquifers, but their extent and interconnections with basin-fill aquifers are poorly understood. Ground-water flow in southern Monitor Valley is from the valley margins toward the valley axis and then northward to a large area of discharge by evapotranspiration (ET) that is formed south of a group of unnamed hills near the center of the valley. Ground-water flow from northern Monitor Valley, Antelope Valley, and northern and western parts of Kobeh Valley converges to an area of ground-water discharge by ET in central and eastern Kobeh Valley. Prior to irrigation development in the 1960s, ground-water flow in Diamond Valley was from valley margins toward the valley axis and then northward to a large discharge area at the north end of the valley. Stevens Basin is a small upland basin with internal drainage and is not connected with other parts of the flow system. After 40 years of irrigation pumping, a large area of ground-water decline has developed in southern Diamond Valley around the irrigated area. In this part of Diamond Valley, flow is from valley margins toward the irrigated area. In northern Diamond Valley, flow appears to remain generally northward to the large discharge area. Subsurface flow through mountain ranges has been identified from Garden Valley (outside the study area) through the Sulphur Springs Range to Diamond Valley and from southeastern Antelope Valley through the Fish Creek Range to Little Smoky Valley (outside the study area). In both cases, the flow is probably through carbonate rocks. Ground-water levels in the Diamond Valley flow system have changed during the past 40 years. These changes are the result of pumpage for irrigation, municipal, domestic, and mining uses, mostly in southern Diamond Valley, and annual and longer-term variations in precipitation in undeveloped parts of the study area. A large area of ground-water decline that underlies an area about 10 miles wide and 20 miles long has developed in the basin-fill aquifer of southern Diamond Valley. Water levels beneath the main part of the irrigated area have declined as much as 90 feet. In undeveloped parts of the study area, annual water-level fluctuations generally have been no more than a few feet.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

Central San Juan caldera cluster: Regional volcanic framework

Eruption of at least 8800 km 3 of dacitic-rhyolitic magma as 9 major ash-slow sheets (individually 150-5000 km 3 ) was accompanied by recurrent caldera subsidence between 28.3 and about 26.5 Ma in the central San Juan Mountains, Colorado. Voluminous andesitic-decitic lavas and breccias were erupted from central volcanoes prior to the ash-flow eruptions, and similar lava eruptions continued within and adjacent to the calderas during the period of explosive volcanism, making the central San Juan caldera cluster an exceptional site for study of caldera-related volcanic processes. Exposed calderas vary in size from 10 to 75 km in maximum diameter, the largest calderas being associated with the most voluminous eruptions. After collapse of the giant La Garita caldera during eruption if the Fish Canyon Tuff at 17.6 Ma, seven additional explosive eruptions and calderas formed inside the La Garita depression within about 1 m.y. Because of the nested geometry, maximum loci of recurrently overlapping collapse events are inferred to have subsided as much as 10-17 km, far deeper than the roof of the composite subvolcanic batholith defined by gravity data, which represents solidified caldera-related magma bodies. Erosional dissection to depths of as much as 1.5 km, although insufficient to reach the subvolcanic batholith, has exposed diverse features of intracaldera ash-flow tuff and interleaved caldera-collapse landslide deposits that accumulated to multikilometer thickness within concurrently subsiding caldera structures. The calderas display a variety of postcollapse resurgent uplift structures, and caldera-forming events produced complex fault geometries that localized late mineralization, including the epithermal base- and precious-metal veins of the well-known Creede mining district. Most of the central San Juan calderas have been deeply eroded, and their identification is dependent on detailed geologic mapping. In contrast, the primary volcanic morphology of the symmetrically resurgent Creede caldera, the volcanic framework for Lake Creede, has been exceptionally preserved because of rapid infilling by moat sediments of the Creede Formation, which were preferentially eroded during the past few million years. The ash-flow tuffs and caldera of the central San Juan region have been widely recognized as exceptional sites for study of explosive volcanic processes, and the results reported here provide new insights into processes of pyroclastic eruption and emplacement, geometric interrelations between caldera subsidence and resurgence, the petrologic diversity of sequential ash-flow eruptions, recurrent eruption of intermediate-composition lavas after each caldera-forming event, associated regional fault development, volume relations between ash-flow eruptions and associated calderas, the emplacement of subvolcanic batholiths, and involvement of mantle-derived mafic phases in magma-generation processes.

Colorado↗

Geology and coal deposits of the Linton quadrangle, Greene and Sullivan Counties, Indiana

The Linton quadrangle is the second of a series of quadrangles being mapped by the Division of Geology, Indiana Department of Conservation in cooperation with the United States Geological Survey, as part of a program of study and reappraisal of Indiana coal resources. The field work was done by the writer, assisted by Harold Hutchison, during the summer of 1948; final corrections to the map were made in the field January 1950. The purpose of the mapping is to show in detail areal geology, the stratigraphy of the Pennsylvanian rocks, the extent and structure of the principal coal beds, the locations of mined-out areas and the coal reserves.

Indiana↗