Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology - University of Nevada, Reno

LOCATION
BLACK KNOB DISTRICT
The Black Knob district is located in the northern West Humboldt
Range in south central Pershing County. The district lies south of Black
Knob and west of Packard Flat and, in area, covers only the northeast
portion of T27N,R33E. The principal mine in the area, the Sutherland
antimony mine, is just north of the Coal Canyon road at a point about 15
miles east of the town of Lovelock.
HISTORY
According to White (1871), claims on the Sutherland antimony
occurrence were staked in June 1870. A second mine is described in the
same report as being located about 2 miles to the east, on the southeast
slope of the mountain. This second property was a gold-silver occurrence.
The district was considered part of the Relief district at the time of
this early activity. About 3000 tons of 20 percent antimony ore were mined
from the Sutherland deposit prior to 1914. Between 1915 and 1919 and again
in 1948-1949 the Sutherland was the largest antimony producer in Nevada
(Johnson, 1977). In 1970, the National Lead Co. built a mill at Oreana,
north of the district, to treat antimony ores from the Sutherland and
other nearby mines. There is no record that any ore-was mined at that
time, however. Later, around 1972-73, Greg Austin of Winnemucca leased the
Sutherland and mined some ore from the deposit. Ore was trucked to the
mill at Toulon, south of Lovelock, for treatment. Again, no record of this
mining exists but the total production was small. At the time of our
examination in 1985 there was no activity at the Sutherland property.
GEOLOGIC SETTING
Shale and interbedded calcareous shale, sandstone, and limestone of
Triassic-Jurassic age are exposed in most of the Black Knob district.
Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks capped by Tertiary and Quaternary
basalt cover the sedimentary bedrock on the east and west sides of the
district (Johnson, 1977).
ORE DEPOSITS
As described by Lawrence (1963), the Sutherland Mine is on a quartz
vein that cuts the sedimentary sequence, which at the mine is part of the
western limb of a north-plunging anticline. The vein is from 1 t o 48
inches wide, strikes approximately north and dips 80 degrees west to 80
degrees east. The vein contains small pods, streaks, blebs, and crystals
of stibnite that is slightly oxidized to the full depth of the workings.
The antimony mineralization probably is related to the intrusion and
silicification of the volcanic plugs west of the mine (Johnson, 1977).
Elsewhere in the district, antimony and mercury prospects occur in a
northwest-trending limestone bed in Sections 11, 13, and 14, T27N,R33E
Black Knob District - 1