Getchell Mine

{{Short description|Gold mine in Nevada, United States}} {{Use American English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox mine | name = Getchell Mine | image = Realgar - Getchell Mine, Nevada, USA.JPG | width = | caption = Realgar from the Getchell Mine. Characteristic traces of silver, arsenic, antimony, mercury, thallium and barium are associated with Carlin-type mineralization,<ref name=carlin/> and are widely used as pathfinders in geochemical prospecting for gold. | alt = | pushpin_map = Nevada | pushpin_mapsize = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption= | pushpin_image = | pushpin_label = | pushpin_label_position = | coordinates = {{Coord|41|13|19.68|N|117|15|3.48|W}} | place = | subdivision_type = Potosi Mining District | state/province = Nevada | country = United States | products = | amount =  | financial year = | type = | greatest depth = | discovery year = | opening year =  | active years =  | closing year =  | owner = | official website =  | acquisition year = | module =  }} [[File:Getchellite-Orpiment-41642.jpg|thumb|Getchellite (red) & Orpiment (yellow) from the old Getchell open pit. Don't lick your hands after handling these rocks!]] The '''Getchell Mine''' is an underground gold mine in the Potosi Mining District of Humboldt County, Nevada, on the east flank of the Osgood Mountains, 35 miles northeast of Winnemucca. Prospectors Edward Knight and Emmet Chase discovered gold in 1933 and located the first claims in 1934. With the financial backing of Noble Getchell and George Wingfield, the Getchell Mine, Inc. was organized in 1936 and the mine was brought into production in 1938.<ref name=nbmg/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/scans/3680/36800073.pdf |title=The Getchell Project |publisher=FirstMiss Gold, Inc |date=1988 |accessdate=20 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812185329/http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/scans/3680/36800073.pdf |archivedate=12 August 2014 }}</ref>

The mining operation currently consists of two underground mines, Getchell and Turquoise Ridge, operated as the Turquoise Ridge Joint Venture. Barrick Gold is operator and 75% owner with Newmont Mining owning the remaining 25%.<ref name=bgc/> The mining methods currently used are cut-and-fill and long hole stoping. The refractory gold ore is treated by pressure oxidation technology at the Twin Creeks Sage autoclave and gold recovered using conventional carbon-in-leach technology.<ref name=nbmg>{{cite book |last1=Tingley |first1=Joseph V. |url=http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/dox/r47/r47.pdf |title=Mining Districts of Nevada |volume=Bulletin 47 |edition=2 |location=Reno, NV |publisher=Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology |year=1998 |page=177 |accessdate=20 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150221051144/http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/dox/r47/r47.pdf |archivedate=21 February 2015 }}</ref><ref name=bgc>{{cite web |url=http://www.barrick.com/operations/united-states/turquoise-ridge/default.aspx |title=Turquoise Ridge (75%) |work=Barrick Gold Corporation |accessdate=20 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140719221638/http://barrick.com/operations/united-states/turquoise-ridge/default.aspx |archivedate=19 July 2014 }}</ref>

The gold deposit is a sediment-hosted disseminated Carlin–type deposit, with sub-micron sized gold distributed in pyrite and marcasite.<ref name=carlin>{{cite book |last1=Cline |first1=Jean S. |last2=Hofstra |first2=Albert H. |last3=Muntean |first3=John L. |last4=Tosdal |first4=Richard M. |last5=Hickey |first5=Kenneth A. |url=http://www.nbmg.unr.edu/staff/pdfs/Carlin100AV.pdf |title=Economic Geology. One Hundredth Anniversary Volume. |chapter=Carlin-Type Gold Deposits in Nevada: Critical Geologic Characteristics and Viable Models |location=Denver, CO |publisher=Society of Economic Geologists, Inc. |year=2005 |pages=451–484 |isbn=978-1-887483-01-8 |accessdate=20 July 2014 }}</ref>

The mineral getchellite, a rare sulfide of arsenic and antimony, AsSbS<sub>3</sub>, was discovered at and named after the Getchell mine.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Crystal Structure of Getchellite, AsSbS3 |journal=Acta Crystallographica |year=1973 |last1=Guillermo |first1=Tomás A. |last2=Wuensch |first2=B.J. |volume=B29 |issue=11 |pages=2536–2541 |doi=10.1107/S0567740873006965 |url=http://journals.iucr.org/b/issues/1973/11/00/a10324/a10324.pdf |accessdate=20 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812165625/http://journals.iucr.org/b/issues/1973/11/00/a10324/a10324.pdf |archivedate=12 August 2014 }}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==Further reading== *{{cite journal | doi = 10.2113/gsecongeo.46.3.267 | title = The occurrence of gold at the Getchell Mine, Nevada | year = 1951 | last1 = Joralemon | first1 = P. | journal = Economic Geology | volume = 46 | issue = 3 | pages = 267–310}} *{{cite journal|doi=10.2113/96.1.75 |url=http://www.segweb.org/eg/papers/Abs96-1_files/cline.pdf |title=Timing of Gold and Arsenic Sulfide Mineral Deposition at the Getchell Carlin-Type Gold Deposit, North-Central Nevada |year=2001 |last1=Cline |first1=J. S. |journal=Economic Geology |volume=96 |issue=1 |pages=75–89 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727141558/http://www.segweb.org/eg/papers/Abs96-1_files/cline.pdf |archivedate=2011-07-27 }}

==External links== {{Commons category}} *[http://www.mindat.org/loc-3905.html Getchell Mine at mindat.org] *[https://miningdataonline.com/property/601/Turquoise-Ridge-Mine.aspx Turquoise Ridge JV, Twin Creeks Operation], mine data updated to 2018. Accessed 11/9/2019. *[https://elkodaily.com/mining/a-photo-tour-of-turquoise-ridge/collection_16b45b02-aba9-5bb7-865d-fbbfc92b3393.html#1 Photo tour of Turquoise Ridge], Mar 21, 2018. Accessed 11/9/2019 *[https://westernmininghistory.com/mine_detail/10310336/ Turquoise Ridge Mine] at Western Mining History

Category:Gold mines in Nevada Category:Buildings and structures in Humboldt County, Nevada Category:Underground mines in the United States Category:Barrick Mining Category:1938 establishments in Nevada