NBMG OPEN-FILE REPORT 2001-3
 

Nevada Abandoned Mines Database Compilation Update
 
 

Ronald H. Hess
 
 

This information should be considered preliminary.

It has not been edited or checked for completeness

or accuracy.
 
 

This information should be considered preliminary. It has not been edited or checked for completeness or accuracy.
 

The goal of this project was to compile and update existing digital datasets containing information and location data on mine and prospect sites throughout the State of Nevada. Digital copies of these datasets in shapefile format and dBase III+ file format accompany this report. All UTM coordinates associated with this project are in zone 11, meters, and NAD 27 projection.
 

The compilation effort concentrated on four primary datasets: Selected items from the Minerals Availability System/Mineral Industry Location System (MAS/MILS) database (USGS Open-File Report 98-512) originally produced by the U.S. Bureau of Mines; the Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) database (USGS Open-File Report 99-169) produced by the U.S. Geological Survey; the Nevada Division of Minerals Abandoned Mine Database; and the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Open-File Report 96-4 prospect/mine site point file. This last dataset set was digitized from 7.5' USGS topographic maps and consisted of mine, prospect, shaft, and quarry symbols. Attributes were assigned to these points based on their map symbology and quadrangle name. This dataset was reviewed and edited and also used to digitize location information for the Nevada Division of Minerals Abandoned Mine Database. The datasets prepared for this project were designed for use and presentation at a scale of 1:100,000 or smaller. This report and associated digital files were delivered to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Nevada Division of Minerals, and are also available for viewing or purchase at the NBMG information and sales offices.
 
 

Selected elements of Nevada records contained in the MAS/MILS database were taken from "U.S Geological Survey Mineral Databases - MRDS and MAS/MILS, by E.J. McFaul, G.T. Mason Jr., W.B. Ferguson, and B.R. Lipin, USGS Digital Data Series DDS-52" and converted to shapefile format and projected to UTM, zone 11, NAD27 coordinates. This dataset, containing 7,700 records, was then exported from shapefile format to a standard dBaseIII+ format for nongraphic applications and use in other GIS type systems.
 

Nv_mils contains 7,700 records with the following data fields:
 

STATE_CODE     State code
COU             County (or political subdivision, if foreign)
SEQ               The MAS sequence number to uniquely identify this property
NAM             Primary (or most current) name of this site
TYP               Type of operation (surface, underground, etc.)
CUR              Current status
LAT               Latitude (decimal)
CHARLAT    Latitude (degrees, minutes, seconds)
LON              Longitude (decimal)
CHARLON   Longitude (degrees, minutes, seconds)
POR              Point of reference for locational position of site
POP              Precision of point for above in meters of possible error (9999 indicates error over 500 meters)
ELE               Elevation, in meters
ELP               Elevation precision for above in meters of possible error (9999 indicates error over 500 meters)
DAT              Datum of elevation point, S=Sea level, L=Local Datum, D=Depth of Water
YFC              Year Field Checked
ZON             UTM zone
HEM             UTM hemisphere
NOR             UTM northing
EAS              UTM easting
QUA250       1:250,000 quadrangle name
MAP            Other map name
SCA             Other map scale
FEDLAND   Federal land status from GIS coverage
FEDSCA      Scale used to determine above status
DOM            Land domain
RIV               River drainage name
HOL1            Type of land holdings #1
HOL2            Type of land holdings #2
GSC              MRDS record number
YOI               Year of information
PLT                Plant type
PID                Plant ID
MER              Meridian (for Public Land Survey)
TWN             Township
RNG              Range
SEC               Section
SUB               Subsection(s)
SUR               Survey status
YOD              Year of discovery
YIP                Year of initial production
YLP               Year of last production
MDN              Mining district name
COMPANY    Primary company associated with this site
MINEMET      Predominant mining method employed
MILLMET       Predominant milling method employed
DLM                Date of last modification
COMMOD      Commodities present
COM1              1st commodity
MOC1              Modifier of COM1
MAR1              Marketability of COM1, P=Primary,C=Co-product,B=Byproduct,R=Recoverable,A=Affecting
COM2              2nd commodity
MOC2             Modifier of COM2
MAR2              Marketability of COM2, P=Primary,C=Co-product,B=Byproduct,R=Recoverable,A=Affecting
COM3             3rd commodity
MOC3             Modifier of COM3
MAR3              Marketability of COM3, P=Primary,C=Co-product,B=Byproduct,R=Recoverable,A=Affecting
COM4              4th commodity
MOC4              Modifier of COM4
MAR4              Marketability of COM4, P=Primary,C=Co-product,B=Byproduct,R=Recoverable,A=Affecting
COM5             5th commodity
MOC5             Modifier of COM5
MAR5              Marketability of COM5, P=Primary,C=Co-product,B=Byproduct,R=Recoverable,A=Affecting
NAME1           1st alternate site/property/mine name
NAME2           2nd alternate site/property/mine name
NAME3           3rd alternate site/property/mine name
NAME4           4th alternate site/property/mine name
NAME5           5th alternate site/property/mine name
NAME6           6th alternate site/property/mine name
MINERALS             Minerals associated with mine
MODNAMNUM     USGS deposit model name OR number
 

Selected elements of Nevada records contained in the MRDS database were taken from "An Arc/Info point coverage of Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS) Locations in Eleven Western States, USGS Open-File Report 99-169" and "U.S Geological Survey Mineral Databases - MRDS and MAS/MILS, by E.J. McFaul, G.T. Mason Jr., W.B. Ferguson, and B.R. Lipin, USGS Digital Data Series DDS-52" and converted to shapefile format and projected to UTM, zone 11, NAD27 coordinates. This dataset, Nv_mrds, was then exported from shapefile format to a standard dBaseIII+ format for nongraphic applications and use in other GIS type systems.
 

Nv_mrds contains 6,903 records with the following data fields:
 

Record_num      MRDS record number
Rep_date           Date record created or edited in master database
Site_name          Site Name
State_code         Two letter State abbreviation
County_nam       County Name
Comm_type       Commodity type code. M=metallic, N=non-metallic, B=both, X=no entry
Quad_250          Name of 1:250,000 scale topographic map
District_nam       Mining district name
Lat_decima         Latitude in decimal degrees
Long_decim        Longitude in decimal degrees
Comm_prese      Commodities present, listed most to least important, by elemental abbreviation
Dep_size             Deposit size, S=small, M=medium, L=large
Dep_type            Deposit type
UTM_Zone         UTM zone number
UTM_E UTM     easting, zone 11, NAD 27
UTM_N UTM     northing, zone 11, NAD 27
Major_Comm      Major commodities
Minor_Comm      Minor commodities
Trace_Comm       Trace or occurrence of a commodity
Yr_Disc               Year of deposit discovery
Yr_1st_Pro         Year of first production
Yr_Last               Year of last production
Ore_Strike           Strike of orebody
Ore_Dip              Dip of orebody
Depth_Wk          Depth of workings below surface
Depth_Wk_U     Units of measure for depth of workings below surface
Len_Wk              Length of workings
Len_Wk_U         Units of measure for length of workings
Work_Type         Type of workings, S=surface, U=underground, B=both
Quad_24k           1:24,000 scale USGS topographic map name from NBMG digital coverage
Ore_materi          Ore materials (minerals, rocks)
Nonore_mat         Pertinent mineralogy other than ore minerals
Min_age               Age of mineralization
Hrck_name           Host rock names
Hrck_age              Age of host rock (may have multiple values)
Artyp_name          Name of other associated rocks
Work_desc           Description of physical workings
Alteration              Type of rock alteration
Model_name         USGS deposit model name
 
 

All data manipulations were performed to a standard that maintained the location accuracy of the initial data, i.e., the accuracy of MRDS and MAS/MILS data. Therefore the location of data points is only as good as the accuracy and completeness of the original digital data supplied by the U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Bureau of Mines. In some cases the location information in these databases is of very poor resolution but in most cases the data are sufficiently accurate to convey the needed information for this project. Furthermore, few records have available information for every field.
 
 

This project utilized and updated the Nevada points database from NBMG Open-File Report 96-4. This database, as updated in this project, contains the digitized location of mine shaft, prospect, mine tunnel or cave, quarry, and gravel-sand-clay or borrow pit locations from all Nevada 7.5' USGS topographic quadrangles. Included in this effort was the identification and digitizing of Nevada Division of Minerals hazardous

mine site locations. These locations were digitized from quadrangle maps supplied by the Division of Minerals. Each location has an associated record that identifies the map name, symbol type, mining district name determined from NBMG Report 47, Mining Districts of Nevada (if within a district), Division of Minerals serial number (for their sites only), land management code which identifies the site as being on Federally managed land or private (location data merged from digital land status coverage supplied by BLM), and UTM (zone 11, NAD27) location coordinates. This digital file is named NV_PTS.

Mine/prospect site locations where digitized from paper USGS topographic maps and attributed according to the type of USGS symbol used to represent the location on the map. Locations that were also identified as sites visited or secured were identified by adding "DOM" in front of the symbol type classification. In some cases symbols were duplicated with a DOM and non-DOM entry for the same site. Some sites are new locations that DOM plotted on to a topographic map which originally showed no mine/prospect symbol. DOM sites were also attributed with the DOM serial number (DOMID) which links the site to the Division of Minerals Database. Many sites that where visited but were not considered a hazard or have yet to be assigned an ID number were also indicated on the maps and are also indicated in the database with just a two-character county ID in the Domid field and "DOM" preceding the site type classification.
 

Nv_pts contains 106,209 records with the following fields:

DOMID         Division of Minerals ID code (Only used if site has assigned been assigned code)
Quadrangle     Name of USGS topographic quadrangle site was digitized from
Type               Type of symbol shown or indicated on map or by Division of Minerals notations
X_coord         UTM easting, zone 11, NAD 27, meters
Y_coord         UTM northing, zone 11, NAD 27, meters
District_n        Name of mining district from NBMG Report 47 (Empty for sites outside of a district)
Commodities   Major commodities associated with identified mining district from NBMG Report 47
Land_manag   Responsible land managing entity for site identified from BLM Land Status Map
Land_code     Code for responsible land managing entity for site identified from BLM Land Status Map
 
 

Type field symbol classifications:
======================================================================
mine shaft                         USGS topographic symbol
prospect                           USGS topographic symbol
tunnel/cave                       USGS topographic symbol
quarry/pit                         USGS topographic symbol
gravel/clay/borrow pit       USGS topographic symbol
DOM mine shaft               USGS topographic symbol marked by Division of Minerals
DOM prospect                 USGS topographic symbol marked by Division of Minerals
DOM tunnel/cave             USGS topographic symbol marked by Division of Minerals
DOM quarry/pit                USGS topographic symbol marked by Division of Minerals
======================================================================

Approximately 106,209 of these locations were digitized statewide. These digital files are supplied in shapefile format and dBaseIII+ format.
 

A subset of the locations contained in the Nv_pts database, those that had numbered DOMID codes, was joined to a dataset of Abandoned Mine Sites provided by the Nevada Division on Minerals. The Nevada Division of Minerals dataset contains a listing of abandoned mine sites that pose a potential hazard to the citizens of Nevada and/or have been physically secured by the Division. These sites have been visited and/or secured by Division personnel who have then recorded the sites location and hazard information. As part of this project we digitized the location of these sites, from paper 1:24,000-scale USGS topographic maps, and attributed the point locations with the information available in the digital abandoned mines database maintained by the division. The database supplied by the Division of Minerals for this purpose was current as of January 2001. The point locations were joined to the digital attribute data based on the Division of Minerals DOMID number which was maintained throughout the project in both databases. There were 7,068 sites that had complete DOMID numbers in the point location file and those sites are contained in the Dom_aml shapefile. This file was also exported into a dBaseIII+ file format for compatibility with various other GIS and spreadsheet software.
 

Dom_aml contains 7,068 records with the following fields:

DOMID         Division of Minerals ID code

Quadrangle    Name of USGS topographic quadrangle site was digitized from

Type             Type of symbol shown or indicated on map or by Division of Minerals notations

X_coord       UTM easting, zone 11, NAD 27, meters

Y_coord       UTM northing, zone 11, NAD 27, meters

District_n       Name of mining district from NBMG Report 47 (Empty for sites outside of a district)

Commodities  Major commodities associated with identified mining district from NBMG Report 47

Land_manag   Responsible land managing entity for site identified from BLM Land Status Map

Land_code     Code for responsible land managing entity for site identified from BLM Land Status Map

Date_inves     Date site investigated

Inves_by        Who investigated site

Date_reser     Date reserved

Township      PLSS Township

Range           PLSS Range

Section         PLSS Section number

Q_section     PLSS quarter section location

Loc_haz       Hazard rank based on distance from inhabited structure or maintained road, 1 low through 5 high

Deg_haz       Hazard rank based on physical danger associated with the site, 1 low through 5 high

Haz_rank     Hazard ranking obtained by adding Loc_haz and Deg_haz ranking. Lower number less potential physical hazard, higher number greater potential physical hazard

Haz_type     Type of hazard, A=adit, I=incline/decline, S=shaft, O=other

Water          Indication of water in workings, true or false

Toxic           Indication of toxic hazard, true or false

Sample        Sample taken, true or false

Clm_name       Claim name

Mineral_su       Mineral survey number

D_cnty_ntf       Date county notified

D_owner_ntf    Date owner notified

D_secured       Date secured

Sec_by            Secured by, AS=already secured, CO=county, DOM=Nevada Division of Minerals, GS=good Samaritan, NAT=nature, NS=not secured, O=owner

Sec_method    Method used to secure site, BR=barricade, EN=Enclosure/Fence, FI=backfilled, G=gate, NS=not secured, P=posted, S=sealed

D_verified       Date site inspected and found properly secured

Verifid_by      Verification of securement, by person, phone, photo, etc.

Lat_deg         Site Latitude - degrees

Lat_min         Latitude minutes to go with Lat_deg

Long_deg      Site Longitude - degrees

Long_min      Longitude minutes to go with Long_deg

Land_stat      Land status, Private, BLM, USFS, etc.

Problem        Problem, Yes, No

Num             Number field (not unique)
 

Click here to see a page size map showing these point coverages of Nevada.
 

As part of the digital data release for this project several digital base layers of Nevada data in Shapefile and Arc/Info export file format, designed to be used at 1:1,000,000 scale, are included on the CDROM with this project. They are:
 

County_p.shp         Statewide county polygon coverage
County_a.shp         Statewide county boundary arc coverage
Cities.shp               Major towns in Nevada
Roads_a.shp          Major roads in Nevada
nv_1x2.shp            Polygon coverage of 1x2 degree USGS topographic map boundaries
nvqdp.shp              Polygon coverage of 7.5 minute USGS topographic map boundaries
tr_p.shp                 Township and Range polygon coverage
tr_a.shp                 Township and Range arc coverage

Also included are seventeen USGS digital raster graphic maps (DRG), 1:250,000 scale, topographic maps in tiffw format. Each map covers an area of 1 by 2 degrees of latitude and longitude. This set of scanned maps cover almost all of Nevada. They are georeferenced in UTM, zone 11, NAD 27 projection and can be used with various GIS and graphic software applications. The names of these map files are:

Caliente.tif
Death_Valley.tif
Elko.tif
Ely.tif
Goldfield.tif
Kingman.tif
Las_Vegas.tif
Lovelock.tif
Lund.tif
Mariposa.tif
McDermitt.tif
Millett.tif
Reno.tif
Tonopah.tif
Vya.tif
Walker_Lake.tif
Wells.tif
Winnemucca.tif

Each of the above files has and additional file by the same name but ending with ".tfw". This is the world file that contains projection information for each raster graphic map.
 
 

These point location coverages have many potential uses including preliminary mine location data for an extended inventory survey, land use planning, historical mining activity, and mineral exploration. These datasets will see many and varied uses and will continue to be modified and edited based on the needs of many future users. Creation of this combined digital dataset was made possible thanks to the foresight of the Nevada State Office of the Bureau of Land Management in funding this digital update and the Nevada Division of Minerals for allowing their abandoned mines data to be included in this dataset.
 

Frank, D.G., 1999, An Arc/Info point coverage of Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS) Locations in Eleven Western States, U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-169, http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/open-file/of99-169/

Causey, J.D., 1998, MAS/MILS Arc/Info point coverage for the Western U.S. (Excluding Hawaii), U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-512, http://wrgis.wr.usgs.gov/open-file/of98-512

Hess, R.H., Johnson, G.L., 1996, Nevada abandoned mines database compilation project; Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, Open-File Report 96-4, cd-rom

McFaul, E.J., Mason, G.T. Jr., Ferguson, W.B., and Lipin, B.R., 2000, U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Databases - MRDS and MAS/MILS, U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-52, cd-rom

Tingley, J.V., 1998, Mining districts of Nevada (second edition), 1998: Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Report 47d, digital map, 1:500,000 scale

Digital Land Status Map of Nevada, 1999, supplied by Mark O'Brien, State office, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Reno, Nevada

Nevada Division of Minerals Abandoned Mines List and Location Maps, January 2001, supplied by Bill Durbin, Nevada Division of Minerals, Carson City, Nevada

U.S. Geological Survey 7.5' topographic map quadrangles covering Nevada, various dates, 1:24,000 scale.