MADCAP 1 MINE CLAIM
The Madcap 1 mine claim consists of one (1) unpatented lode claim covering 20.66 acres on federal land managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The Madcap 1 claim is located in the Manhattan District in Nye County, Nevada which was one of the largest (and richest) producing gold districts in Nevada during the 1900-1941 period. The Manhattan District has recorded production of 566,000 ounces of gold.
The Madcap 1 claim has three (3) mapped shafts (see picture). There host rocks at the shafts have extensive quartz veining, malachite, and sulphide mineralization. Locally there are numerous prospect pits, tailings and other workings to explore. The north shaft is in a narrow gulch that might be prospective for placer gold which is widespread in the district. The shafts are timbered with significant tailings – a good sign.
I am re-listing this claim because the previous buyer failed to pay. Good claims in the Manhattan District are rare and usually held for long periods of time.
Location and Access: Starting at the Tonopah, Nevada take US Highway 6 east (signs for Ely/Austin), drive 5.4 miles, take a left at NV Highway 376 North, drive 13.3 miles, take a right on NV-82 North, drive 18.4 miles, take a left on E. Manhattan Road, drive 2.2 miles. 600 feet after the junction of E. Manhattan Road and NF-440 there is a dirt road on your left which leads directly to the claim in about 0.9 miles.
GPS Coordinates: Lat: 38.5112° Long: -116.98721° (SE Shaft)
Mining and Exploration Potential: The Mapcap 1 claim has 3 shafts along a NW-SE trending structure on the contact between Tertiary volcanics and Cambrian metasediments. These types of rock unit contacts are usually very conducive to gold deposits and responsible for many gold deposits in southern Nevada. The vein material at the shafts have chalcopyrite, malachite and extensive quartz veining – similar to some of the ore in the sulphide mines such as the White Caps.
The Manhattan District was famous for high grade ores. Some areas had pockets which ran 400 oz gold per ton! A large portion of the production came from near surface structures. New geophysical techniques could potentially locate high grade pockets or minor faulting that would carry values.
The Manhattan District is also famous for placer gold and at one time had a large dredging operation. This means there is potential for gold nuggets!
Also, with professional help you could open the workings, locate and test the veins, and assess the property for underground development.
Manhattan was a district that made lots of small miners rich, but also supported large mining operations. Either a smaller mining operation or a larger exploration play is possible here.
Here are the reasons I like this claim: 1) the district is on the edge of the Manhattan caldera complex that has produced Round Mountain (15 mill gold ounce depost), Manhattan (566k oz), and Belmont (one of Nevada’s biggest early silver districts); 2) the Mad Cap is on a volcanic/metamorphic contact – with great surface indications; 3) extensive workings (3 shafts) show that the old timers invested time and money here; 4) reactive, fractured carbonate host rocks; 5) Manhattan is known for high grades and free milling gold; 6) nearby road access – 40 minutes from Tonopah; 7) open ground for expansion; 8) Manhattan claims are always in demand – lots of junior miners nearby; and 9) nugget potential!
The Manhattan District is located in Nye County, Nevada approximately 35 miles NE of Tonopah on the south end of the Toquima Range. To the west is Big Smoky Valley and to the east is Ralston Valley and Monitor Valley. Within the Manhattan District are several dry canyons – Manhattan Gulch and Timber Hill Gulch – which have been important sources of placer gold.
The first mining in the area was at Belmont – 15 miles northeast of Manhattan starting in 1865. Rich silver ores were mined, a town was established with banks, schools, and offices. Belmont had about a 20 year boom, but by 1887 production had declined significantly. By 1920, Belmont was mostly deserted.
Other nearby districts such as Jefferson and Spanish belt were discovered at the same time as Belmont and had similar trajectories.
With the discovery of Tonopah and Goldfield around 1900, prospecting was again active in this part of Nevada.
In 1905, John Humphrey discovered rich specimen ore in the district igniting a rush. By 1906 there were 3,000 people in Manhattan and several mines and mining stock promotions were active.
One of the early reports on Manhattan calls 1906 a “shameful period of promotion”. During the 1907 financial crisis most of these promotions collapsed.
However, in 1907 rich placer gold was discovered in Manhattan Gulch. Shallow underground water sources were available and the grades were very rich – up to 1 oz per cubic yard. The placer gold era lasted until 1912.
In 1917 rich sulphide ore was discovered at the White Caps mine which became one of the District’s big producers. The White Caps is one of the highest grade production mines in Nevada history. Early reports on the mine mentioned grades of 2 oz/ton up to 10 oz/ton.
The White Caps Mine was mined on and off up until the 1960’s. There have been periodic attempts to revive the mine in the 1970’s and 90’s.
From the 1920’s to 40’s there were several active mines in the district.
The second largest underground producer in the district is the Reliance Mine (1932-41) which produced 60,000 tons of ore at about .5 oz/ton. Other active mines in the 1930-50’s period include the Keystone Mine, the Gold Metals Mine, Jumbo and April Fool Mine.
Houston Oil and Minerals (later Echo Bay) bought a large claim block in Manhattan from Summa Corp (Howard Hughes) in 1977 and developed an open pit mine which was operated until 1990.
In the 2000’s Royal Standard Minerals explored the Goldwedge deposit which was sold to Scorpio Gold in 2012.
Several juniors and major mining companies have claims in the Manhattan District as well as nearby districts such as Round Mountain, Jefferson Canyon, Jett, and Belmont.
Regional Geology: The Madcap 1 claim is located in the Walker Lane mineral belt within the Basin and Range physiographic province. The Basin and Range province covers most of Nevada and consists of narrow NE trending mountain ranges between flat, arid valleys and basins. The Walker Lane mineral belt is an area with a high density of parallel strike-slip faults extending from Reno to Las Vegas roughly along the California- Nevada border. Faulting and volcanic activity make the Walker Lane favorable for hosting gold and silver deposits including some of the most famous precious metal mining districts in the US including the Comstock, Goldfield, Tonopah, Bullfrog, Mineral Ridge, and Round Mountain.
Local Geology: The Manhattan District is located on the southern edge of the Manhattan Caldera. Round Mountain is north of the Manhattan caldera and Belmont is to the east.
At the north end of the Manhattan District is ash-flow tuff and volcanic rocks from the caldera.
Immediately south of the ash flow tuffs – forming the main part of the district are Cambrian and Ordovician metasediments. These are mostly cross-bedded quartzite, schist, chert, siltstones and phyllite. These are the green rocks in the geologic map.
To the south of the district are intrusive Tertiary volcanics. Pink rocks in geologic map (attached).
There are two large east-west faults running through the district. These are low angle faults. Ore can be localized and grades enhanced by N-S high angle faults intersecting the main E-W faults.
The main host rocks for the deposit are the Cambrian Gold Hill formation which is phyllitic to schistose quartzitic strata and some minor marble. Deposits are in free milling veins or replacement deposits in limestones (sulphides).
Supergene enrichment was important in the district and likely responsible for some of the spectacular grades.
Other deposits are found in the limestone formations such as the White Caps Limestone. At the April Fool mine the ore was in the limestone in rich pockets of 1-5 tons that could reach up to $8,000/ton (in 1924 dollars).
Most of the production in the District was within 100 feet from the surface. It is possible for some ‘blind’, but shallow veins to remain unexplored in this district.
The fault / vein structure at the Madcap 1 runs NW-SE. The shafts line up along these structure and probably intersected it. There might be some E-W intersecting veins which further localize the gold here.
Available Reports:
The Manhattan District has many, high quality reports due to the long activity in the district.
Henry, Cristopher D., John, David A., ‘Magmatism, ash-flow tuffs, and calderas of the ignimbrite flareup in the western Nevada volcanic field, Great Basin, USA’, Geological Society of America, 2013.
Ferguson, Henry G., ‘Geology and Ore Deposits of the Manhattan District, Nevada’, U.S. Geological Survey, Bulletin 723, 1924. (190 pages)
Kleinhampl, Frank J., Ziony, Joseph I., Mineral Resources of Northern Nye County, Nevada, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, 1984. Pgs 140-49.
Lincoln, Francis Church, ‘Mining Districts and Mineral Resources of Nevada’, Nevada Publications. 1923. pgs 175-177.
Shawe, Daniel R., ‘Complex History of Precious Metals Deposits, Southern Toquima Range, Nevada’, Open-File Report 86-0459, US Geological Survey, 1986.
FAQ
Why Nevada?
Nevada is consistently ranked as one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world for being mining-friendly and continuing to produce major discoveries. If Nevada was a country it would be the 5th largest gold producer in the world (after Australia, Canada, China, and Russia). Nevada is home to the Carlin Trend, the Cortez Trend, the Walker Lane Trend, the Getchell Trend and many other prolific gold producing regions. In addition to gold Nevada also has major mines producing silver, copper, lithium, iron ore, magnesium, gems and many other minerals. Nevada is 85% owned by the federal government and most of this land is available for claim staking. This means some of the best mining ground in the world is open to small prospectors – a very unique situation. There are many mining companies active in Nevada and therefore, multiple potential buyers for any discovery you make. Canadian based junior exploration companies are particularly active in Nevada.
Why Buy a Claim?
Buying a claim is a great way to get started in mining and prospecting. Buying a claim that is professionally staked reduces your upfront work and the risk of making a mistake on your paperwork or in the field. Our claims are in areas with historical mining activity and most have numerous pits, shafts, and adits to explore. Finding these claims takes lots of research that is already done for you. The best place to find gold is where people have already found it!
Why Us?
I have been working in mineral exploration in the southwestern United States and Alaska for 21 years. I have co-founded four junior mining companies and managed numerous drilling and exploration projects. I have worked with large and small mining companies and know what types of projects they are looking for that can be advanced by small prospectors. I have also worked on small hardrock production projects. I usually try to find claims that have known high grade veins that can be produced and that also have some exploration upside. We stand by our claims and fix any problems that come up. We can also help you with your annual filings. All our claims have a BLM serial number and can be found on the U.S. BLM MLRS website database. We hire the same professional claim staking companies that the large mining companies hire and all the claims have professionally drafted and accurate maps.
How is ownership of the claim transferred?
Ownership of mining claims is transferred with a Quitclaim Deed which we prepare. We pay all claim transfer fees and file the claim transfer paperwork with the BLM and Nye County. The BLM takes about 2-3 weeks to process the claim transfer request and register the claim in your name. The Nye County Recorder usually returns the Quitclaim Deed same day if filed electronically. Once the transfer is complete we will send you all the original documents including the file stamped Quitclaim Deed, the original location notices and claim maps.
How Much are the Annual Claim Fees?
The BLM charges a $200 per claim annual maintenance fee which is due on September 1st each year. The BLM fees can be paid online through their claim management portal. Nye County requires that a Notice of Intent to Hold form is filed the first year by Nov 1st along with payment of the recording fee of $12 plus $12 per claim.
If you own less than 10 mining claims you can qualify for a waiver of the annual maintenance fee by filing a Small Miner’s Waiver. However, the Small Miner’s Waiver requires that you perform $100 in labor or improvements on the claim each year.
It is your responsibility to pay the claim fees on time. Failure to pay your claim fees will result in losing your claim.
International Buyers
International buyers must either have dual US citizenship and US address or have a US entity or company to own the claim.