RT

I UR

MA

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ureau of Mines, ~ n ~ v e r s ~ ~ of Nevada, R rchased by mai l add 15 cents t

costs.

N T S

Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 In t roduct ion. . . . * . a * , * . . . # . * . . . . * . . * . * . . . a 1

Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Historical surhmary . , . . * . . . . a . . . a . . (. . 1 Methods of investigation . . . . . a . . * . . a . . * a

Titanium ore minerals and host rocks . . . a . . L1 . . + . a . Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 9 0 Hostrocks. a * . * . . . * . * . . . . * . . . * . - . - . * . * .

onomic aspects of titanium deposits . . . . . a a . . a a 4 rrent titanium prices . . a . . . . a . . a a . a . . a a a 6 assification and distribution o f titanium occwrrenc s i n Nevada. I )

ion of occurrences by county . . . . . . a . . . . . neral statement . . . . . * a . . . . 8

o u n t y . . . . . s . o * . . . . . . . ringsarea * . . . . a * . + . - . . m .

Table Mountain district . . a . a a . a . a . . . . . ........**.*................*.*. 1

I l e d i s t r i c t . . * . . . * . . * . * . * . 11 i c t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1

springs district . . . . . . a . . . 14 . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ” . . 14 uckskin district . . a ., . . . . . . . a . 1 . . . . 0 . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . ~ . . . . . . . . 1

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . - 0 I f . . . * . . . 0 . 15 c t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . e . . . . . . . O . r . . . r r 15

i s t r i c t . * . * . . - . * . * . . . * . * . (. * . . a 15 .....l...... . . . O . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

nge . . . O . . . . . . . . . O . B . . . . . . . . . . 16 koccurrence. . . . . . + . a . a . . . . . 17

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 tep lace rs . * . (t e . a * . . . * . * . . 17 . . . e . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . o . . 17

verarea . .. * . # . * . . . . . * . . . . . * . 17 . . . . . . . 0 . . . . . . . . 0 s . 0 . 0 . . . . . 0 19

r t . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e . . . . . . . . . . e . 19 ellehelen d is t r~c t a . . a . a a . (I . . . I) * . . . *

nd is t r i c t * - . a LI a * . a a

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ ~ . ~ * . . . . . . . . . . 0 . . D . . * . . . . . . . e . . . . .

. . * . . . . . . . * * . . D . . . . . . . . . . . . . ingsdistrict . . . . . . * . a

c o s ~ ~ ~ ~ t r i c t a . * . . * . . . . . . ther occurrences . . . . . . a a . I( .

escription of occurrences by counfy - nfinued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ounty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Range e . e a * a . . a * *

r ~ a ~ ~ ~ ~ s t r i ~ t ~ * . * . a ., . a a

avinedistrict a a . . a a a

heroccurrences. . a . . a ., a a

urnrnary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . eferences (. a * * * (d a * .

sumples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I n d e x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

LLU PI

cks . .

iv

e no known titanium or

been ~ o ~ w m e n t e ~ for nearly 5 f either cwrren

- 1 -

RutiIe was first noted b

hortly after World War II qu -sericite dikes contai s i t rse rut i le were i mi less than I percent T i

T ect5

ec t or ~ c c u r r e n ~ e i n he ~ n i t ~ a l r e ~ o n n a ~ s

Most samples, both those collected i n the f ie ld and those sent in by in terest~d arties, were analyzed for titanium content and the mineralogy and/or petrography

Particular a t ten~ ion was given to the heavy mineral fraction5 of these determined samples.

Is which have b e e n

i te e i t h e r i n a n s r t h o s i t e s a n d e sf i n t rus ive bs

and/or ilmenite that have been concentrated by sedimen sits; those found i n ~ u s t r a

itanium depos~ts m e n e f ~ c ~ a t ~ o n cost

briefly discuss each of these

e ruti le concen meta I

for industry

b e n e ~ ~ c ~ a t ~ o n meth ds are governed notice nited States are re$tricted mainly r deposits of ilmenite and rut i l

employ Iow-cost mining and benef~ciat~on methods.

nv re deposit, Tahawus, New York, from which comes a large part of oduction of titanium ores, ore i s mined by open-pit methods, The

Mining operations require In 1955, the total resources of the area were

deposit i s approximately 9 a waste-to-ore ratio of 1 .25 to 1 .O. estimated to be 1

feet wide and 1,800 feet long

-4-

ME I

Rock Type No. of

% T i Analyses

uartn r n o n ~ o ~ ~ te

Adamellite

37 9

4 11

0.5 0 -5 1 . I

a lc -a l ka l~ rhyo l~ te (rhy 0. I ka I i rh yo I i te (rh yo I i t e -obs~~ ian ) 0.17 er-alkal~ne rhyolite (rhy

verage rhyolite

acite ( d a c ~ t ~ c - o b s ~ 5

ndesi te

Tho I ei i tic basa I t Tho I ei i tic o I i v i ne basa I t

ormal a lka l i basalt l ~ v i ~ e - f r e e a lka l i basa It I i v i ne -ri c h basa I t ntral basalt

Average basalt

1 .31

137

1 . I0 .09 370

-5 -

be placed i n wo princi ted sed~mentary de

ted included ~egmat~tes,

ral and Iucwstrine), residual

oncentrati~ns of titanium minerals seem to have r I 1 ) e The majority o f the more intere

(3) recent p l its adjacent to titaniwm-rich cks containing varying amou

matiites and associ ted rocks are i n gener

ief ly titaniferows magnetite or i lmeni te,

itaniwrn miner

mples from these d

-7-

anyon area (T. n the eastern Flan the Sti I lwater Range and i s a~~roximate of U. S, Highway 50 and the ized area covers about half Fallon, Nev.

-1 9) made what was a lthough Ransome (1 90 setting

led much o f i t s complex

nt ly the first geological died adjacent areas and

Hand (1 955) made a detailed study o f the eology and m~nera logy~

ssoc ia ted w i t h

period of gold minin

e titanium de r etaceous sedi ~n t ruded by fine-grained ~ u r a s s ~ c ( ? ) d i

onsible for the u lift of the range and i l i c i f i ed limest e titaniferous d

d, and c o ~ p o s e d of albite, ca lc i o ~ c e n t r a t ~ o n s of anatase occur lo

dikes. These fine-grained dikes which cut the d ior i t ic host rock occur over a north- westerly elongated area o f x ~ m a t e l y 40 acres. ~ o c a l l y th titanium dioxid content of the a lb i t i c dikes r other bodies varies from I

Workings inc lu I short adits and ce o f the bodies

certain^, owing to the erratic natur lar a lb i t ic masses have maximum

of the a l b ~ t ~ c masses.

hance claims (secs. 1

-9-

II /I

// T i t o n i f e r o u s

a n d s i l l s

SCALE 0 500 f e e l

a n d s i l l s

s i l l s

-- F a u l t s

S:-< S h e a r z o n e

-...- S t r e a m

1.7d yo T i 0 2 in d i o b o s e

2.0~ '/o T i 0 2 i n o l b t t t c dikes

F i g u r e 1. Geologic map o f C o r r a l C a n y o n , C h u r c h i l l County, N (a f t er Hand, 1955)

R V W

-1 0-

The complex geology of the area i s similar to th ccur more or less continuously along the eastern fr

lites, syen~tes(?)~ diorites, and gabbros (chief mingled with andesites and b a s ~ l t s ~ Within h e east, there are narr w vein-l ike bodies that consist

mounts o f cinnabar.

Whitney Rids

r the northern end of Wh~tney , there are numerous

matites contain t~ tan~ferows m

T

wtte district, which i the southern part of the quadrangle, and the wes

he mineral deposits i n the distr first i n v e s t ~ ~ a t e d i n 1909 osits have been

t s i n limestone and qu

oduced limited

The oldest rocks i n the d is t r ic t consist of r ec a m b r i a n g ran i tes , ~ e s m a ti tes , eisses, and schists. ~ e d ~ m e n t a r y rocks found i n the eastern and northern

area are of Paleozoic Age. Recent ~nves t iga t~ons i n the area include en Bowyer and others (1

-1 1 -

inches have been found 1 ~ ~ ~ 1 1 ~ i n the washes. sible to est;mate the grades

lacer r n a ~ e ~ ~ ~ ~ c

-1 2-

S C A L E I : 62,508 % Ti 09 - pegmati te gneiss - schist complex granite complex 19 rock somp'

5 0 placer s o r n p l e ~

2 0 s

"21s

Fi r t t

Titanium analyses of rock a vary from less than 3 percent to

R I

oss Mine

lue

*

re a

i n I m

sf rocks in the area are massive ~ r ~ w n ~ s h ~ ~ n ~ l ~ r n e P ~ t ~ ~ ~ r ~ x i r n a f e l ~ 30" fca the west.

s i ti Pin

w

b w ky nium ~ ~ ~ i m s

-1 7-

*

n c k ty

-1

,

nalyses courtesy of Lucky raniurn, Inc,, Reno, Nev

t LU

w

nt

Wonder Metal claims

The Wonder Met Titanium claims, have be

r

art

m i les northwest staked during Marc by members o f the Smith lach I Workings inc lud shafts, discovery holes, cuts, and trenches.

, . . /

i t an iu

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T

P P

r ru s i n

u RR

Small ruti ie-~ear~ng veins, which cut altered v just north of the mine (3 miles n

ielely elistr~buted fh ut te el i s tr i c t , w her

cer mater ia l containing c h i i n up to 5 percent Ti

re than a few to or beach sands.

niferous rnagneti add~t ;on , owing to the high

unsuited for upgr

-26-

loration of the orwndwm ~ r o ~ e r t y : U

ownfy, Ne~ada: U,

fwl minerals i n f th

. 1

me mining districts in eastern N e ~ a d a : U. S. I.

liffs, Arin.: U

~ o u n t a ~ n s area ,

itaniwm resources f the world: U.

~ i t a n ~ u m : Miner I c o m r n o d ~ t ~ ~ s of

les of geo~hern~stry: New York, Y, , John Wi ley and Sons, lnc.

e , 1957, Titanium: U, S . Bur. Mines Inf.

-27-

igneous rocks:

1947, Miner ~ @ v ~ d ~ Univ. B u l l . , v.

u i r k , ~ i ~ h a r ~ , 19 s s J o u ~ . ~ v. 43, no. 3,

0

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dams, James, S.: see group, 14

I

ast Walker River, 7 ast Walker River area, 17

t de Nemours, 9 udencio: see Black

claims, 15 ureka, 7 ureka district, 1

renchrnan Station,

M e ta I group, 14

ummel, Fred: see Hwmmel and Low placer property, 1

ummel and Low place ungry Valley, 7,

Hunter Ranch ilmenite claims, 15

-41 -

Jackson Range, 7, 17

Kama Mounta~ns Kawich Range, Knott k, 1

ctahedri te, 1 4,

4

R o c k

S e d i m e n t a r y

LB Combined and

I

3 4 5 6 7

9 10 I1 12 I 3 14 15

eauty claims, E l k o Co. reek, Humboldt Co.

Lost Stand claims, Woshoe CO.

Pershing Titanium claims, Pershing C O . Last Chance claims, Churchil l co. Corra l Canyon, Church i l l Co.

edelius T i tan ium claims, Washoe Ca. M i l l e r T i t a n i u m c la ims , Washoe C O .

lock Panther mine, Washoe Co.

e ta l s c la ims, Pershing Co.

Metals Corundum, Douglas Co.

ounta ins, C la rk Co.

Be l l ehe len d i s t r i c t , Nye Co.

B o s s m i n e , Clark C O .

idge, Clark Co.

d t Co.

3 L a s t S tand c la ims , 0. 4 Constant Mineral Sepa Pershing Co. 5 Dixie Creek, E l ko Co. 6 Last Chance c la ims, Church i l l CO. 7 Hunter Ranch l l m e n i t e , Eureko Co. 8 Sand Spr ings, Church i l l Co. 9 Lucky 9 Uranium, Lyan Go. 10 Round M o u n t a i n , Nye Co.

I 3 Panaca Wash, L inco ln Co.

e r I lmenite, Nye 60. sbu ry Wash , Nye Ca.

100 miles 0 50 H P ’ ” - I

P l a t e I . Map showing location of t i t a n i u m occu r rences in Nevada. R V W