The Buena Vista Mine is located south of

Lovelock, Nevada Lovelock is the county seat of Pershing County, Nevada, United States, in which it is the only incorporated city. It is the namesake of a nearby medium-security men's prison and a Cold War-era gunnery range. Formerly a stop for settlers on t ...

. In the past, the area has been known as the Mineral Basin (discovered in 1880), though another name for the area has been the Buena Vista District. There are at least two other Buena Vista Mining Districts in Nevada, one is located near

Unionville, Nevada Unionville is a small hamlet in Pershing County, Nevada, located south of I-80 and just west of State Route 400 on Unionville Road, with the most recent population estimate being approximately 20 people. The town's best years were during the 187 ...

, the other located in Esmeralda and Mineral counties near the California border. The nearby Buena Vista Hills are named for the mine. The district encompasses roughly of mineral and surface rights, and is one of the largest un-mined iron ore resources in the western United States.

History

In the late 1880s, 500 tons of ore were shipped to

Union Iron Works Union Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries ...

in San Francisco. However, when it was determined that most of the ore was on Central Pacific Railroad land, operations were suspended. Production was recorded in 1943 and continued intermittently on the Thomas, Dodge, Segerstrom, and Buena Vista deposits until the 1960s. Total production was about 4 million tons, all of it high-grade 'lump' ore consisting of

magnetite Magnetite is a mineral and one of the main iron ores, with the chemical formula Fe2+Fe3+2O4. It is one of the oxides of iron, and is ferrimagnetic; it is attracted to a magnet and can be magnetized to become a permanent magnet itself. With th ...

and minor hematite. In 2006 high steel prices renewed iron ore exploration which renewed interest in the district. Several different companies funded exploration efforts, including geophysical exploration as well as drilling. This exploration significantly boosted reserves. In late 2009 for the first time, the entirety of the Buena Vista Iron District was presented for sale by Western Resources Group and priced at $75 million. In June, 2011, Richmond Mining LTD, an Australian mining company (RHM:ASX), received a special use permit to develop the Buena Vista Iron Ore Mine in

Churchill County, Nevada Churchill County is a county in the western U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 25,516. Its county seat is Fallon. Named for Mexican–American War hero brevet Brigadier General Sylvester Churchill, the county wa ...

. The permit includes a

slurry pipeline A slurry pipeline is a specially engineered pipeline used to move ores, such as coal or iron, or mining waste, called tailings, over long distances. A mixture of the ore concentrate and water, called slurry, is pumped to its destination and the w ...

north to Colado Siding near Interstate 80 and annual use of up to of water. In 2011 an exploration campaign was undertaken by Nevada Metal Mines LLC in areas of the district that had previously been overlooked. The exploration, which included ground magnetic surveys and geophysical data analysis of those surveys, has indicated the potential for several million tons of iron ore. Samples taken from these areas all assayed to be of direct shipping grade, in excess of 66% total iron. In 2020, Nevada Iron LLC became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Magnum Mining and Exploration Ltd (ASX MGU). Nevada Iron is developing the Buena Vista iron ore resources into an integrated carbon neutral pig iron operation. The products are for electric arc furnace steelmakers. The integrated operation is to become the first green pig iron producer in the USA.

Geology

The district is located within a Middle Jurassic volcano-plutonic complex composed of basaltic lavas and volcaniclastics underlain and intruded by gabbroic rocks. Mafic dikes are abundant and form sheeted dike swarms. Deposition of iron was not associated with silicification or sulfidation. Host rocks contain veins and large accumulations of pure magnetite in structural or breccia zones, or are impregnated with clots of magnetite in all size ranges. Magnetite is readily liberated from the host material by crushing and the iron removed by magnetic or gravity separation. Veins of pure magnetite in excess of 10 feet thick are common in the open pits and drill intercepts. Oxidation has produced some hematite.

Iron ore reserves

The district contains over 500 million tons of measured and indicated iron ore, with more suggested by magnetic and drill hole data.

External links

A Guide to the Buena Vista Mining District records, 2004-10
Special Collections, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Reno.

References

* {{Cite book , last1=Johnson , first1=David A. , last2=Barton , first2=Mark B. , editor1-last=Dilles , editor1-first=J. H , editor2-last=Barton , editor2-first=M. D , editor3-last=Johnson , editor3-first=D. A. , editor4-last=Proffett , editor4-first=J. M , editor5-last=Einaudi , editor5-first=M. T , title=Contrasting Styles of Intrusion Associated Hydrothermal Systems: Society of Economic Geologists Guide Book Series , chapter=Time-Space Development of an External Brine-Dominated, Igneous-Driven Hydrothermal System: Humboldt Mafic Complex, Western Nevada , volume=32 , pages=145–162 , chapter-url=http://www.geo.arizona.edu/~mdbarton/MDB_papers_pdf/Johnson%5B00_TimeSpaceHumboldtIOCG_SEGFG032.pdf , year=2000 , access-date=2014-12-14 * Johnson and Barton (2000b) Mining in Nevada Geography of Pershing County, Nevada