Show geological FEATURES OF CALIENTE written for the mining review P the intense interest now centered in tonopah To goldfield and bullfrog nevada and other places along the great and recently discovered gold belt very naturally extends in a lesser degree to the mineral resources of the entire state of nevada in fact if we are to believe the stories now current about all one has to do is to scratch the back of mother earth almost anywhere along the belt and presto the aged dame yields a fortune at the grassroots grass roots alladin and his wonderful lamp or the wildest dream of walt macdougal pales before the golden realism odthe tonopah goldfield bullfrog bonanza land during the past several months fairy tales of strikes of fabulous values in the vicinity of Cal caliente lente and to the south along the north side of the colorado river have frequently appeared in the utah press evidently the gentlemen who wield the facile faber down in the sunny southland south land desires to have his section of nevada share in the honors showered on the tonopah To et al country and it is yet to be proved that his roseate dreams are impossible of fulfillment the report last spring of a government geologist who had given the goldfield country a hotfoot hot foot examination deterred the writer hereof from going down there and shoveling up a fortune let no misguided man turn from caliente in disgust or break his neck in the eff effort ort to get in iff on the ground floor because of the following report on the geological conditions condi tons us to caliente it should be borne in mind that all expert reports are infallible or callable fal lable just in proportion to the gullaci gullibility gul clity or the lack of it on the part of the public but gentle reader together let us go over the caliente country and then you may render your own verdict instead of burros we will board the S P ii A S L it is less strenuous near the utah nevada line we enter a maze of low volcanic hills among which the train writhes like a monster serpent it is only a few miles until we enter the head of the clover valley wash and realize for the first time that we are descending towards the pacific abrupt walls are on either side of the wash and enable us to study the forba formations as they apparently move eastward in an endless panorama the walls are composed om of a cemented mass of sand and wave washed pebbles and small polished boulders representing the floor of a pre glacial glacia lake in places the bedding lines are quite sharply tilted and prove that crust movements succeeded the period A few miles farther down the wash eruptive rocks ap pear under the cement and soon become the chief objects of interest As we proceed we become interested in the problem of the origin of the wash ilo ho v came it that this flat bottomed slowly descending sc canyon which provides such lucli an admirable pathway for the iron horse in his swift descent towards tide water was excavated out of the indu rated volcanic rock without warning the truth flashes upon us lis we notice that the rocks on opposite sides of the wash are entirely different perhaps on one side ragged volcanic breccia rises abruptly from the sand and fine gravel ol of the bottom while on the opposite side is massive porphyry the train is traversing an ancient fault and the rest is easy from the melting of the great sheets of ice during the expiring centuries of the glacial period a thousand rivulets and torrents converged within this line of least resistance and formed a river as large perhaps as the colorado at first it boiled and foamed over and between rocky obstructions on its way to the las vegas basin but as the years passed by the shattered rocks along the line of faulting were removed and ground into fine sand and gravel along a distance of a few hundred yards the great river swept swiftly and gracefully until encountering a projecting mountain mass it became a cauldron cauldren caul dron of swirling maddened ice water during centuries the river beat against those projecting barriers and carved out graceful amphitheaters then on to another attack the railroad grade instead of rounding those sharp points goes Cal caliente lente change cars for the west drawls the and our dreams vanish in the awesome presence of a box car the temporary station the meadow valley wash like the clover wash 1 is 1 s an ancient line of faulting and was subjected to identical forces A few miles northeasterly from caliente the wasn gasn opens into an extensive basin shore lines and wave smoothed deltas and the maze of deep water courses in the yellowish clay mutely relate the history of a post glacial lake at the northeast head of the lake is the mormon town of panacea while about six miles to the north is historic old bullion ville with its tall brick smelter stack standing guard over the fast decaying bui buildings laings and blasted hopes of bygone years some twelve miles beyond rises the mountain range where millions of dollars in ore and scores of pioche toughs are buried but we are wandering it is not reminiscences but geology and indications that we are pursuing and we will now make a resolute effort to overtake them by a survey of the country it will be seen that antelope wash from the north west forms a junction with the meadow valley and clover valley washes and like them represents a line of faulting at the mouth of the first named wasu wasai the quartzite limestone and eruptive rocks intermingle in almost hopeless confusion the result of local faulting induced by intense volcanic upheavals hea vals the locality is highly interesting in its illustration of the results of dynamic forces heat and solutions altered the limestone and the presence of iron oxide in abundance gives a ruddy color to the rocks and to the prospectors dream of nearby wealth A half mile or so up the wash from the locality just described quartzite is the country rock over a distance of several miles and is in a practically undisturbed condition A couple of miles or so up meadow valley wash the eruptive wall recedes to the north and in bending around again to the wash forms a basin traversing the center of the depression is an almost white northerly and southerly belt upon which a number of claims have been held during several years A few pot holes have been dug but no serious effort has been made to determine the worth of the locality values in gold brunnig from 1 to 5 are readily found and from the appearance of the locality there is no reason why values in paying quantities should not be discovered in a concentrated condition A couple of miles over the hills to the north from the africans Afric anus basin is the panacea facea mine owned by W B E long lorenzo heaps and C P it is reputed to be under bond to C 0 whittemore of salt lake and that reduction works await the driving of the gold spike on the san pedro over which the machinery will be hauled mr long kindly conducted mr hose of the caliente express and the writer down the foot incline and through the several hundred feet of levels which disclose a twelve foot body of red oxide and manganese ore carrying an average of 10 per ton in gold the foot wall is quartzite with a lime hanger evidences of replacement are everywhere present in fact the ore is similar to the product of the old mercur mine of utah being largely altered limestone and will as readily yield to cyanide solutions the shattered condition of the would seem to indicate the quartzite as the source from which the ore bearing solution collected the atoms of gold the locality is backed by a mountain of intensely mineralized quartzite and in which a half mile or so west of the panacea mine is a fissure that has yielded considerable shipping ore and now contains so mr lon long asserts large bodies of 28 gold ore it is E the property of H W lawrence of salt lake the uplift of the quartzite moun mountain taW 8 tilted the limestone to an angle of about degrees to the east the incidental lines of 0 fracture are now represented by porphyry dykes returning to the antelope wash we find 1 tile the coun country try to the west less broken than at the intersection of the principal faults in the limestone near its contact with a porphyry dyke is a large body of red iron oxide which the owner mr maynard assured me will yield 3 per ton in gold proceeding to the southwest we find the fetterman group situated S on the low foothills bordering the northwest side of the tri angular valley A porphyry dyke extends from the meadow to the north a few nun dred feet where it abruptly terminates or 1 is capped by a subsequent flow of eruptive material from nearby sources on the west side of the dyke is a bold outcrop of white quartz carrying so it is alleged free gold of good milling grade A short crosscut cross cut tunnel just below the droppings crop pings has pierced the ore body upon which a little sinking has been done into the point of the dyke a acot tunnel has been driven in under the droppings crop pings with the result that in the absence of specific information can only be inferred the owners mr fetterman of caliente and simon bamberger of salt lake surely have faith in the property as is evidences eviden cew by the steady emp employment cyment of a couple of miners who are driving the tunnel nearly para lelling on the south side and in close p proximity roxi mity to the clover valley fault a great dyke of cuts through the earlier eruptive material over a distance or several miles the dyke like a great white snake ake winds its sinuous course amongst a maze of lesser dykes of porphyry and volcanic breccia and occasionally throws out short spurs or arms of into the adjacent country rock in concluding during the greater portion of the tertiary age caliente and vicinity was a plateau capped with silurian limestone A few hundred feet beneath the surface was bedded sandstone the world wide mountain building forces so active during the closing centuries of the tertiary rent asunder the bedded sandstone and lime the principal fissures or faults were formed and f from rom a thousand fractures volcanic fires or faults were formed and from a thousand fractures volcanic fires and eruptive material burst forth after partial or entire solidification of the magma the great dyke was forced up from profound depths this was succeeded by the circulation of hot solutions and the work of almost metamorphism was completed that heat has not entirely expired is proved by the existence of thermal springs near the junction of the two great f faults aults those who believe in the relation of cause and effect as enunciated in dynamical geology will discern the steps that lead up to the conclusion that a large portion of the country near caliente is an inviting field for discriminating laboratory work gold values are widely diffused in the country rock in the form of great chimneys and veins almost fair milling values uniformly distributed are known to exist that many places will he be found where nature has collected the golden grains from the country rock and concentrated cent rated them within fissures contacts and the channels of thermal springs or geysers is an legitimate inference from the presence of all necessary conditions J F GIBBS |