Mineral Gulch, formerly called Black Pine, is located in Cassia County, Idaho along the southeast edge of the Black Pine Mountains, approximately 128 KM SE of Burley and 28 km NW of Utah.
Ownership
100% owned (exploitation license)
History
The project encompasses the historic Black Pine Mining District and surrounding exploration ground. Sporadic small-scale gold and base-metal mining occurred in the area as early as 1915. Pegasus Gold acquired the property from Noranda and produced over 500,000 ounces of gold from several small open pits in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s. Historic exploration and mining efforts have generally focused on near-surface, oxidized ore bodies.
Geology
Fine-grained disseminated gold is found in favorable structurally disturbed Paleozoic carbonate rocks with tabular geometries. The trace element geochemistry and tenor of mineralization is similar to Carlin-style gold occurrences.
The Black Pine Mountains are composed of sedimentary and slightly metamorphosed
sedimentary rocks, which range in age from Devonian to Permian. The rocks in the area are dominantly limestone, dolomite, and quartzitic sandstones that have been extensively deformed by folding, thrust faulting, and high-angle faulting. Siltstones are locally abundant. Intrusive rocks are present only as narrow altered dikes. Finely divided gold (micron-sized) particles and minor pyrite are the principal metallic minerals found within the ore body. Native gold grains are disseminated in limestone and siltstones. Disseminated gold mineralization occurs in the Black Pine Mining District in the southeast comer of the Black Pine Range. Some gold is associated with organic carbon in both the limestone and siltstone rock types.
