GEOCHEMICAL

ß
STUDIES OF THE EPITHERMAL
DEPOSITS AT GOLDFIELD, NEVADA.

H. D. B. WILSON.

ABSTRACT.

Approximately fifty samplesof vein material and wallrock

from the ore depositsof Goldfield, Nevada, were quantitatively
analyzed by means of the spectrograph to determine whether
the quantitativedistributionof certain elementswould give some
clue to the loci' of mineralization. It has been established that
three elements,bismuth,silver and tin, are geneticallyassociated
with gold values in the deeperveins. These elementsare deter-
minableeven in very low grade vein material.
Thequantitative
variation
of some
elements
in thewallrock
giveshopeof determiningthe distanceof a given wallrock sample
from a vein.
Vertical zoning at Goldfield is evident with respectto 'tin, less
definite for bismuth and probably present among several of the
accompanyingelements.

INTRODUCTION.

QUA•TIT^TIV• spectrochemical methodsoffer a rapid means of

obtainingaccuratechemicalanalyses,particularly of the rarer ele-
ments in veins and rocks. In the Goldfield district the ore is char-
acteristicallydistributedin rich pocketsscatteredthrough wide
silicifiedzonesand the bonanzaareasare found only by extensive
development work. In sucha districtany guidesto ore are par-
ticularlyacceptable.Somecluesregardingthe loci of mineraliza-
tion may be obtainedfrom the quantitativedistributionof the
rarer elements. The problemcanbe attackedeitherby a studyof
the distributionof elementswithin a vein in the vicinity of an ore
shootor on a largerscale,by the studyof the quantitativevariation
of particularelementsin the wallrockin the regionof minerali-
zation.
^CI(•OWI. Er)GUE•TS.

I wishto thankDr. I-t. J. Fraser,CaliforniaInstituteof Tech-

nology, for his supervisionand many helpful suggestions. Mr.
37
38 H. D. B. WILSON.

H. P. Kervin, GoldfieldOperators,aided the field work, obtained

permission to samplecertainminesand placedhis intimateknowl-
edgeof the districtat the writer'sdisposal. Dr. M. F. Hasler of
the AppliedResearchLaboratories,Los Angeles,suggested the
spectroscopictechniqueand gave freely of his time in discussing
analyticalproblems.
TECHNIQUE.

The veinswere channelsampledbut it was later realizedthat

othermethodsof samplingmight havebeenmoreapplicable. In-
dividualsamples weighedabouttwo poundsto the foot and were
brokenat widthsof fivefeetor less,dependingon the widthof the
vein. The wallrocksampleswerefive-footchannelsamplestaken
at approximatelyten-foot intervals away from the vein. The
entire samplewas crushed,one-quarterseparatedby a Jones
splitter and pulverized,about one hundredgrams separatedand
repulve.
rizedanda one-gramsamplesplit,thengroundin an agate
mortar after the iron filings were removedby an electromagnet.
Duplicatesampleswere split from eachoriginal sample.
Spectrographic analyseswere made on an Applied Research
Laboratoriestype grating spectrograph in the geologicallabora-
tories of the California Institute of Technology. A technique
of silicateanalysis
suggested
by Dr. M. F. Haslerof the Applied
Research Laboratories was adapted to this problem. The
analysesare quantitativebut are expressedas intensityratios
rather than percentages.
An intensityratio for any elementis the ratio of the intensity
of a specificline to the intensityof a specificline of anotherele-
ment used as an internal standard. The internal standard is an
elementthat is presenteithernaturallyor artificiallyin constant
amountsin every sample. Intensity ratios are directly propor-
tional to actualpercentage ratios for any two elementswithin
restrictedranges. Lithium wasusedas an internalstandardand
eachsamplewasdilutedwith 50 per centlithiumcarbonate.As
the spectroscopic
sensitivitydiffersfor eachelementan intensity
ratio of 1 may represent.001 per centactuallypresentfor one
 EPITHERMAL DEPOSITS AT GOLDFIELD, NEVADA. 39

elementwhile the sameratio for anotherelementmay be ob-

tainedwhenonly0.1 per centis present. The intensityratiosfor
silverto lithium were checkedagainstsilverassaysand found to
be directlyproportionalto the amountof silver present.
Duplicate analyseswere made of all samples. Analyses
checkedwithin 10 per cent for all elementsfound useful. ßHow-
ever whereMn and Mg are reportedwith ratiosgreaterthan 100,
the intensityof the lines was too great to permit quantitative
measurement underthe conditionsnecessarilyin use for the other
elements of the sample. Someelementssuchas Ba, Sr, K, and Ga
are presentbut have no spectrallines suitablefor quantitative
analysisunderthe prevailinganalyticalconditions.

THE ORE DEPOSITS.

The' ores of Goldfieldoccur in "ledges"mostly in Tertiary

dacite,rhyolite,andlatitebut alsoto a very limitedextentin the
underlyingCambrianshales. Ransome• has describedthe ledges
as "irregularmassesof alteredand mineralizedrock traversedby
small, irregularly intersectingfractures,such fracturing passing
in manyplacesinto thoroughbrecciation." The ledgesare usually
intenselysilicifiedand the ore occursin shootsEndpocketswithin
theseledges. Ganguemineralsincludequartz,chalcedony, alunite,
kaolinite, zircon, epidote,and in some placesopal. Lindgren2
classifiesthe oresas gold-aluniteepithermaldeposits.
Figure 1 is a diagrammaticsketchof some of the principal
"ledges"or veinsof the Goldfielddistrict. The greatestpart of
the gold and silverproductionof the districthas comefrom the
Consolidatedledge which containedthe rich ore shootsof the
Mohawk,Florence,Red Top, JumboEx, and severalothers. The
ledgehasa crescent-shaped outcropand dipstoward the east. It
is irregularand varies from a few feet to possiblythree hundred
feet in width.
The Jumbovein, lying approximatelysevenhundredfeet east
x Ransome, F. L.: Geology and ore deposits of Goldfield, Nevada. U.S. Geol.
Surv. Prof. Pap. 66, 1909.
2 Lindgren, W.: Mineral Deposits. 1933. P. 510.
4o H. D. B. [VILSON.

of the Consolidatedledge, trends roughly north, but has many

sharp angled bends. The vein ranges from about four to ten
feet wide and dipsalmostvertically. It has beenstopedalongits
lengthfor about400 feet and to a depthof from 200 to 300 feet.
The vein may connectat depthwith the Consolidated vein and if
continuedalongstrike wouldjoin the main Consolidated vein near
the Florence shaft.

ß 0olumbia Mt.

Fro. 1. Diagrammaticsketchof someof the principalveinsat Goldfield,

Nevada.

The Clermontvein,lyingstill furthereast,alsodipsto the east,

but its exactdip is not knownin its uppersection. The Clermont
veincutsacross theJumboEx shaftat aboutthe600-footleveland
may possibly join the main Consolidated vein nearthe 830-foot
level of the Velvet shaft.
Ransome 8 hasrecognized threetypesof wallrockalterationin
thedistrict. In thefirstandmostintensetype,representedby the
Ransome, F. L.: op. cit.
 EPITHERMAL DEPOSITS AT GOLDFIELD, NEVADA. 41

characteristic
ledgesof the district,the rockshave beenchanged
to a porous, fine grained aggregateof quartz. In the second
type the rocksare alteredto a comparatively soft, light-colored
mass of quartz, kaolinite, alunite, and pyrite. The boundary
betweenthesetwo typesof alterationmaybe sharpor gradational.
The third type is propyliticin characterand is not so closely
associatedwith ore. It has resultedin the development in the
wallrockof calcite,quartz, chlorite,epidote,and pyrite. The
aluniticandpropylitictypesare not intermixed.
Sulphidemineralscommonin the veinsincludepyrite, fama-
tinite, and bismuthinite. Tolman and Ambrose4 have also listed
marcasite,sphalerite,wurtzite,tennantite,goldfieldire,
gold-silver
tellurides,and gold. A tin sulpho-salt
hasalsobeenfoundin the
JumboEx mine.

LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION OF SAMPLES.

A suiteof channelsamples wascollected from the 830-footlevel

of the "main" Consolidated vein in the JumboEx mine. These
sampleswere takenat ten- to twenty-footintervalsalongthe vein
to determinethe geochemical relationshipsof the elementswithin
the vein. Thirty-onesampleswere collectedfrom the 225-foot
levelof the Clermontvein arounda goodore shoot. This suite
includeda seriesof wallrocksamples from boththe foot andhang-
ing wallsas well as vein material. A suiteof sampleswas taken
from the hangingwall (west) side of the Jumbovein to deter-
mine changesin the dacitewall as the vein is approached on the
surface. The sampleswere collectedfrom an adit running per-
pendicularto the Jumbo vein twenty feet below the surface.
Thesesampleswere at a distanceof 6, 16, 25, 45, and 60 feet
from the vein. This suite also containedsamplesof the vein
material, the contactof vein and wallrock, and one of relatively
fresh dacite obtained several hundred feet back in the footwall
of the Consolidated
ledge. This latter samplewas takento deter-
mine the differencebetweenfresh 'and altered dacite. A single
4 Tolman, C. F., and Ambrose, J. W.: The rich ores of Goldfield, Nevada. EcoN.
GEo,,. 29: 255-279, 1934.
42 H.D.B. WILSON.

sampleof ore wastakenfrom the surfaceof a vein in the rhyolite

on the east side of Columbia mountain.
The veinmaterialfromall localities
is similar. It is composed
of fine-grained
quartzwith clearcoarserquartzdeposited along
small fractureswhichoccasionally widento form smallvugs.
The quartzcarriesoneor two percentof sulphides.The Cler-
montandJumboveinscontaina few largegrainsof corrodedun-
strainedquartz,probablyoriginalphenocrysts in the dacitebut
now in variousstagesof replacementby the later quartz. In the
Jumbovein a few straight-edged patchesof fine-grained silica
and pyritesuggestoriginalphenocrysts of someferromagnesian
mineral. Theseveinsaretypicalof Ransome's mostintense type
of alteration,
that of an almostcompletely
silicified
ledge.
Thewallrockof theJumboveinis highlyalteredthroughout the
sixtyfeetsampled.The wallrockof the Clermontveinis highly
alteredfor abouttwentyto twenty-fivefeet on eithersideof the
vein. A thinsection
fromtheJumbo
veinshows
thatthegi-ada-
tion from vein material to dacite wallrock occurs in about one
millimeter. Megascopically the highly alteredwallrockhas a
chalkywhite groundmass with whiter feldsparphenocrysts and
dull greenishgray phenocrysts of alteredferromagnesians. In
thin sectionthe groundmass is a fine-grainedmixtureof alunite,
quartz,kaolinite,and pyrite. The quartz phenocrysts are cor-
rodedand somepyrite has beendepositedalong fractures. The
feldsparis completely
alteredto quartz,aluniteand kaolinite,and
the ferromagnesians are entirely altered to epidoteand pyrite
togetherwith scatteredquartz,kaoliniteand alunite. This highly
alteredwallrockis a fairly advancedstageof Ransome'ssecond,
or alunitic,type of alteration.
In additionto the contactof vein and highlyalteredwallrockof
theClermontvein,a sharpboundaryoccursbetween highlyaltered
and lessaltered wallrock, on both hangingand footwall sidesof
the vein. This contactis roughly parallel to the vein-wallrock
contactand in this area is about twenty-fivefeet from the vein.
The textureof the daciteis wellpreserved in thislessalteredwall-
rock. Someof the labradoriteappearsquite fresh althoughmost
 EPITHERM,4L DEPOSITS AT GOLDFIELD, NEVADA. 43

hasbeenpartlyalteredto alunite. Onlypatc.

hesof pyriteand
aluniteremainas pseudomorphsof the ferromagnesians.Quartz
phenocrystsare fresh and quartz also occursin small veinlets.
The groundmass is alteredto quartz,alunite,kaolinire,andpyrite.
Relatively fresh dacite from severalhundred feet back in the
footwall of the Consolidated ledgehas a gray groundmass with
small quartz phenocrysts and light gray phenocrystsof fresh
feldspar. This rock is still within the zoneof alunitization,but
it is only slightly altered when comparedwith other wallrock
specimens.Labradoriteis clear but cut by small veinletsof
alunite. Many labradoritecrystalsshowthe characteristic border
of glass inclusionsmentionedby Ransome. Biotite is mostly
alteredto pyrite. Quartzphenocrysts are unaltered.The ground-
massof the daciteis partly alteredto quartz, alunite,kaolinite,
andpyrite,but is muchfreshetthanthat observed in otherspeci-
mens of altered wallrock.

DISCUSSION OF ANALYSIS OF VEIN MATERIAL.

JumboEx Mine. TableI presents the intensityratiosof de-

terminable elements in veinsamples of theJumboEx mine. Data
of this type are usedin the compilation of graphsshowingthe
quantitativerelationship of variouselementsin the veins.
A definiterelationship existsin theJumboEx between bismuth,
gold,silver,andtin on the 830-footlevelas shownin Figures2,
3, and4.
In Figure2 theintensityratioof bismuthis plottedagainstthe
intensityratio of silverand tin respectively.Both figuresshow
a straightline relationship.
In Figure3 the intensityratiosof bisnmth,silverand tin are
plottedagainstthe goldcontentdetermined by fire assay. The
smoothcurvesof Figure 3 demonstrate the relationshipbetween
gold, silver,bismuth,and tin. If plottedlogarithmically these
curvesbecome straightlines. Onlyonesample out of ninefailed
to showthis relationship andevenin that sample,bismuth,silver
and tin were mutuallyrelatedalthoughthey wouldnot correlate
with gold content.
44 H. D. B. WILSON.

TABLE I.

ANALYSESOF SAMPLES
FROMJUMBOEX MINE, 830-FOOTLEVEL.

Intensity Ratios
Element
G 101 G 103 G 103 G 108 G 109 G 110 G 112 G 113 G 118

B .39 .36 .44 .28 .61 .24 .66 .50 .44

AI 3.0 2.7 2.0 4.1 2.2 3.1 2.9 4.3 3.6
Mg 3.4 3.1 2.2 8.0 2.8 2.0 2.6 2.4 1.6
Fe 4.8 2.8 3.6 6.4 4.2 6.8 4.1 5.4 3.0
Pb 1.5 1.9 1.5 .84 1.7 1.2 1.4 1.25 .78
Bi 2.3 12.5 1.2 1.75 5.3 10.0 8.0 2.8 .76
Sn .65 2.2 .48 .38 1.4 2.4 2.0 .75 .32
V 1.2 1.6 .90 1.0 .84 1.2 1.1 1.8 1.35
Cu 100. 100. 100. 100. 100. 100. 100. 50. 10.
Ag 1.8 16.5 .70 1.0 3.3 8.8 7.0 2.4 .40
Na 3.0 4.4 4.3 5.9 7.5 3.8 5.3 2.7 3.4
Ni .86 .78 .70 .55 .68 .92 .56 .72 .68
Co .97 1.0 .80 .80 1.05 .94 1.05 1.04 1.02
Mn 2.2 2.3 3.4 5.0 4.2 13.5 5.0 10.0 6.4
Cr 1.4 2.1 3.1 6.3 5.0 20.5 5.4 14.0 8.1
Ca 3.0 4.1 4.2 4.6 4.0 4.4 5.1 7.5 5.0
Zr .29 tr tr tr tr
Ti .90
Si major major major major major major major major major
Ga tr tr tr tr tr tr tr ' tr tr
.K wk wk wk wk wk wk xvk wk wk
ga s s s s s s s s s
Sr s s s s s s s s s

The distributionof bismuth,silver and tin along the 830-foot

levelin the JumboEx is shownin Figure 4. The quantitative
association of thesethree elementsis again apparentin spiteof
their erraticdistribution. Other elements,suchas lead,presentin
minor amounts,show no variation like that of tin, silver, gold,
and bismuth. Copperwasnot determinedquantitatively.
The apparentrelationshipbetweenchromiumand manganese
shownby theanalyses in Table I is believeddueto impuritiesintro-
ducedby a smallamountof pulverizersteelnot removable by the
electromagnet.
It is possiblethat the quantitativerelationships
established
in
thissectionof the minemight beusedin the searchfor the bonanza
ore shoots characteristic of this district.
ClermontVein. A definiterelationshipwas found on the 830-
ß

foot levelof the JumboEx mine. No quantitativerelationship

 EPITHERMAL DEPOSITS AT GOLDFIELD, NEVADA. 45

! i I I I I I I I I I I

! I ! m i i m I I I I I

I,IJ.fiNSll dO OIJ.V•I AJ.ISN3J.NI

 46 H. D. B. WILSON.

betweensilver, gold, bismuth,and tin is evidentin the Clermont

vein at the 225-foot level,in the Jumbovein near surface,or in the
surfacevein in rhyolite on the side of Columbiamountain. Tin
and bismuth are either absent in these near surface veins or occur
in very faint traces(.0005-.001 per cent) evenin a sampleassay-
ing 1.60 ouncesof goldwhereasin deeperlevelsof the JumboEx
minebismuthmay be foundin amountsup to a few tenthsof one
per cent.

o I• I I I i i
o .io .•o .•
ß
.5o .½•1) .7o
OUNCES • 6OLD PER TON

FiG. 3. Relation of bismuth, silver, and tin to gold on the 830-foot level
of the Jumbo Ex mine.

The intensityratio of silver in the Clermontvein is plotted

againstgold fire assaysin Figure 5. No suchconstantrelation-
shipis shownbetweengoldand silveras that illustratedin Figure
3 althoughin generalhigher silver valuesindicatehigher grade
gold ore. Assayresultslikewiseshowa lack of correlationbe-
tweengoldand silvercontentof thesenear surfaceveins.
Somechangehas apparentlytaken placein mineralizationbe-
tween the 830-foot and 225-foot levels. Bismuth and tin are
moreabundantand more closelyassociated
with silverand gold
in the deeperlevels.
CHEMICAL CHANGES IN THE ALTERED WALLROCK.

The spectrographic methodis well adaptedto a studyof chemi-

cal changesin wallrockalterationsincedata on many elementscan
 EPITHERMAL DEPOSITS AT GOLDFIELD, NEVADA. 47

20

IO

i I I i i i i
4o' 80' 120' 16o' 2:00'

DISTANCE ALONG VEIN FROM FIRST SAMPLE

Fro. 4. Distribution of bismuth,silver, tin, and lead along the vein on

the 830-foot level of the Jumbo Ex mine.
 48 H. D. B. WILSON.

be obtainedquicklyand easily. The intensityratios of certain

elementsare plottedagainstthe distanceof the samplefrom the
vein in Figures 6-8 inclusive. In the following discussion,these
elementsare grouped accordingto their behavior in wallrock
alteration. The relative abundance of some of the elements-is in-
. dicatedby approximatepercentages.

I I I
.5 1.0 1.5 2.0

INTENSITY RATIO OF SILVER

Fro. 5. Relationof silver to gold on the 225-foot level of the Clermont

mine.

Elementsthat showlittle or no changeduring wallro.

ck altera-
tion includealuminium,titanium,and vanadium. The aluminium
contentof Goldfieldsamples
variesfrom oneto ten percentwith
theexceptionof onesamplefromthehighlysilicifiedledgeof the
Jumboveinwhichcontained notmorethan0.1 per cent. Fresh
dacite contains as much aluminium as dacite in areas of intense
alunitization. The averageamountof aluminiumin the ledge
 EPITHERMAL DEPOSITS AT GOLDFIELD,
ß
NEVADA. 49

il I ! I
i i i i i i i i
-
--
5o H. D. B. WILSON.
ß

material of the JumboEx and Clermont veins is somewhatlower

than in the wallrock (Figure 6), but this leachingis not marked
except in the Jumbo ledge where aluminum is extremely low.
Titanium occursin about equal amountsand with little variation
in both veins and wallrock. The veins contain less vanadium
than the wallrock but no significantvariation.couldbe found.

> •oo

I \
/ \
\x

/
o Na

,I
ledge
da½lle
O/STANCE FROM ovl. DISTANCE FROM LEDGE (IN FEET)
VEIN

F•G. 7. (Left) Distribution of magnesium,manganese,and sodiumin

the hangingwall of the Clermontvein on the 225-foot level. (Right)
Distributionof magnesium,manganese,
and sodiumin the wallrockof the
Jumbo vein near surface.
 EPITHERMAL DEPOSITS AT GOLDFIELD, NEVADA. 51

Magnesiumand manganeseare stronglyleachedfrom the wall-

rock. The magnesiumcontentshowstwo distinct and very sharp
breaks; the changetakes place within a few inches. The first
break is betweenledgematerial and highly alteredwallrock,and
the secondis betweenhighly alteredand lessalteredwallrock. In
the ledgesthe intensityratio of magnesium
variesfrom 1.6 to 8.0;

'øt
• / '--./
--

/
/
.o- .o... •

I
I
I
I0' 20' • decits
O4STANCK
F•OM eve DISTANCEFRO¾ LEDGE (iN FKKT)
VKiN

Fro..8. (Left) Distribution of aluminium, calcium, and cobalt in the

hanging wall of the Clermontvein on the 225-foot level. (Right) Dis-
tributionof aluminium,calcium,and cobaltin the wallrock of the Jumbo
vein near surface.
52 H. D. B. VeILSON.

in the highlyalteredwallrockfrom 26 to 72; and in the lessaltered

wallrock and fresh dacite it is always greater than 100. The
absolutepercentageof magnesium rangesfrom 0.1 percentin one
of the vein samplesto severalper cent in the fresh dacite. The
wave-likeleachingof magnesium is illustratedin Figures6 and 7
which showthe suddenincreasein magnesiumas the contactof
highlyalteredand lessalteredwallrocksis passedin the Clermont
vein. Figure 7 showsthe magnesiumcontentof the ledge'ma-
terial, highly alteredwallrock,and fresh dacite.
Manganese behaves verysimilarlyto magnesium duringaltera-
tion. It is stronglyleachedin the highly alteredwallrockand
ledgematerial(Figures6 and 7), then suddenlyincreases as the
boundarybetweenintenselyalteredwallrockand alteredwallrock
is passed. Impurities introducedby the pulverizerplateswere
negligiblein making this observationsincethey formed sucha
smallproportionof the manganese in the lessalteredwallrock.
Elementsshowinga gradualleachingfrom the wallrockinclude
sodiumand possiblycalcium. Vein materialcontainsapproxi-
matelythe sameamountof sodiumas the highlyalteredwallrocka
few feetfromthevein. In thewallrockhoweverFigures6 and7
suggest a gradualdecrease in theamountof sodiumastheveinis
approached.No abruptrise in sodiumcontentoccursat the
boundary between highlyalteredand lessalteredwallrdckin the
Clermontvein. The wallrockfrom the Jumbovein (Figure 7)
wasall highlyaltered,butunlikemagnesium andmanganese which
wereleachedoverthewholedistance sampled,sodiumhadreached
a nearlyconstant valueaboutforty feet from the vein. Samples
farther than forty feet from the vein had almostthe same
amount of sodiumas the fresh dacite. Calcium, althoughshow-
inga definite
decrease
withincreasing
alteration,
is notashighly
leachedas someother elements. It is presentin almostconstant
amounts
in bothveinsandhighlyalteredwallrocks.In Figure6
theleachingof calciumseems
to begradualwithnomarked in-
creasein passingfromhighlyalteredto alteredwallrock.In
Figure8 however,theincrease
atthisboundaryismorenoticeable.
 EPITHERMAL DEPOSITS AT GOLDFIELD, NEVADA. 53

In the wallrockof the Jumbovei,•near surface(Figure 8) calcium

is constantand leachedoverthe wholedistancesampled.
Cobaltis the onlyelementin theseanalyseswhichshowsan en-
richment in the wallrock as distinguishedfrom the actual vein.
Figure.s6 and 8 illustratethis enrichment
in the wallrockwith
enrichmentgraduallydecreasingand becomingconstantbetween
thirty and forty feet from the vein. It is notablethat cobaltis
enrichedonly in the wallrockand not in the vein.' Cobalt occurs
in approximatelyequaland remarkablyconstantamountsin the
vein,weaklyalteredwallrock,andfreshdacite(Figures6 and8).
Elements
showing
erraticandno significant
distribut.
ionin both
veins and altered wallrock include boron, gallium, nickel, and
zirconium. Copperand lead are enrichedin some of the vein
materialbut have no significantdistributionin the wallrock. -
Importantchangesnot discussed in detail includethoseof silica,
water, potassium,and iron. Iron is fairly evenly distributedin
the wallrockand doesnot seemto be leached. It is probablethat
during wallrockalterationit was redeposited almostin placeas
pyrite. Iron in the vein material has an erratic distribution.
Petrographicstudiesshowthat silica,water andsulphatehavebeen
added to the wallrock during alteration. The distributionof
potassiumwas not investigated.

SUMMARY

1. Associationof Elementsin Veins.

This investigationwas startedwith the purposeof determining
whetherthe quantitativedistributionof someelementor groupof
elementsin the vein or surroundingwallrock might give some
clueuseful in determiningthe locationof ore shoots.
While the presentinvestigationrepresentsonly a first attempt
and relativelyfew sampleshave beenanalyzed,the methodgives
hopeof somesuccess.It has beenestablished that certainnon-
economic elements are associated with ore in this district and that
theseelementsmay be determinedby spectrographic
analysis.
In the vein of the JumboEx minebismuthand silverappearto
 54 H. D. B. WILSON.

be the mostpromisingassociated elements. They are presentin

sufficient
amountsto be determinable with the spectrographeven
in extremelylow grade ore. Moreoverin similar samplesthe
sensitivityof bismuthand silver couldbe increasedtwo to four
timesbyusingsilicon
astheinternalstandard
instead
o'fdiluting
the sampleswith lithium. The lithium dilution methodwas used
ß in this work to makethe analyticalresults(intensityratios) of
the veinmaterialcomparable with thoseof the wallrockin which
silicawas not sufficientlyconstantto be usedas an internalstand-
ard. If actual percentageswere determinedthere would be no
needof usingthe samemethodof arcing sincestandardswould be
set up for eachmethod.
2. Zoning.
A changein the characterof the mincralizingsolutionshas
takenplacebetweenthe 830-footlevelof the JumboEx mineand
the 225-foot level of the Clermontmine. Silver, gold, bismuth,
and tin are closelyassociated in the JumboEx mine, but in the
Clermont mine bismuth and tin are almost absent and silver shows
no direct relationshipto gold. Samplesof the Jumbovein near
surface and a surface vein on the east side of Columbia mountain
show some silver but no tin or bismuth.

3. Wallrock Alteration.

Analysesof the wallrockshowa greatdiversityin the change

in distribution of the constituentelements during the process
of mineralizationand the accompanying
alterationof the adjacent
rocks. Someelements, suchas manganeseandmagnesium, show
a sharpquantitative
change
at thecontact
between
highlyaltered
and alteredwallrock, while others,suchas sodiumand sometimes
calcium,completely
fail to showany changewithinthiszone.
Goingfrom theveinintothe wallrock,little changeis apparent
in the manganeseand magnesium contentof the wallrockuntil
the contactbetweenthe highlyalteredwallrockand lessaltered
wallrock is reached. At this contact the amount of manganese
andmagnesium
suddenly
increases
tremendously,
thenshowslittle
 EPITHERMAL DEPOSITS AT GOLDFIELD, NEVADA. 55

additionalchangeat a greater distancefrom the vein. On the

other hand the leachingof sodiumand sometimescalciumgrad-
uallydecreasesaway from the veinwith no markedboundarysuch
as occurswith manganeseand magnesium.
The wallrockof the Jumbovein showsthat magnesium, man-
ganese,andcalciumhavebeendifferentiallyleachedoverthe entire
dist&nceinvestigated,but sodiumis only leachedfor about forty
feetfrom theveinandbeyondthat thehighlyalteredwallrockcon-
tains almost the same amount of sodium as the fresh dacite.
Many other elements,suchas boron, cobalt,copper,nickel,
titanium,and zirconium,showno evidentchangedueto wallrock
alteration. Aluminium and vanadium show little evidence of
changein the wallrockitself, but have beenleachedto a large
degreein the highly silicifiedledgeof the Jumbovein, which
Ransomewouldconsiderthe mostextremetypeof dacitealtera-
tion.
Cobalt showed an increase in the altered wallrock near the vein
at the 225-foot level of the Clermont mine. The enrichment con-
tinuedoutwardfor thirty to forty feet from the vein.
BALCHGRADUATE SCHOOLOFTHE GEOLOGICALSCIENCES,
CALIFORNIAINSTITUTEOF TECI-INOLOGY,
PASADENA• CALIFORNIA•
•Ipril 29, 1943.