Goldfields, Nevada

Goldfield is a classic epithermal acid-sulfate bonanza gold deposit hosted in Tertiary silicic volcanic rocks of the Goldfield mining district (Esmeralda and Nye counties, Nevada). Discovered in December 1902 and mined from 1904 to 1951, it yielded roughly 130 t of Au, 45 t of Ag and 16 870 t of Cu from about 4.2 Mt of ore.

Mineralization occurs in N–S–trending fault and fracture zones cutting silicified rhyolite–andesite country rocks, with pervasive advanced-argillic (quartz–alunite) alteration grading outward to phyllic and potassic assemblages.

Well-exposed veins, alteration zoning and structurally controlled high-grade shoots make Goldfield an ideal field analogue for ward geologists studying acid-sulfate epithermal systems.