Hot Springs Mercury Deposition at McDermitt Mine, Humboldt County, Nevada

McDermitt mine is located southwest of McDermitt, Nev., ½ mile north of the old Cordero mine. Geologic structure of the district is that of a Miocene age collapse-type caldera in a region of Basin and Range normal faulting. The McDermitt ore body possess a tabular, gently dipping configuration within 150 ft of the surface over an area 2200 x 2500 ft. Indicated ore reserves are 3 million tons at 10 lb Hg per ton. The ore zone averages 20 ft in thickness and consists of cinnabar (HgS) and corderoite (Hg3S2Cl2) deposited parallel to bedding in argillized Miocene age tuffaceous lacustrine sediments. The ore body is localized above a silicious sinter-silicified lake-bed breccia. This "opalite" breccia unit possesses a gently dipping, apronlike configuration, striking northeast, parallel the trend of the Cordero deposit, and thinning to the north and northwest.