Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Compositions, modes, isotope values, and microthermometry of igneous minerals, epigenetic minerals, and fluid inclusions, and compositions and isotope values of igneous and mineralized whole rock samples in the Goldfield, Tonopah, Comstock Lode and other

October 6, 2026

This dataset consists of varietal modal, chemical, and isotopic analyses and petrographic observations made episodically from 1982-2026 on samples of igneous rocks and epigenetic minerals collected in the Goldfield district, Esmeralda County, Nevada, Tonopah district, Nye County, Nevada, Comstock Lode district, Storey, Washoe, and Lyon Counties, Nevada, and other districts in Nevada, and on archival specimens borrowed from the Keck Museum (University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada), Smithsonian Institution (Washington, D.C.), The Field Museum of Chicago (Chicago, Illinois), Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford, California), Harvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts), and gifted by associates. Tables from this data release are cited in USGS SIR _____ “Stratigraphy, Structure, and Epigenetic Mineralogy of the Goldfield District “The dataset includes whole rock geochemistry, igneous and epigenetic mineral, modal, chemical, and isotope compositions determined by petrography, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron microprobe analyses (EMPA), laser ablation-multi collector-inductively coupled-mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS), laser ablation-inductively coupled-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and paleofluid properties determined by fluid inclusion microthermometry. In addition to archival and gifted specimens, samples were obtained from surface exposures, mine workings and dumps, and drill core. They were analyzed by commercial and USGS laboratories, including USGS contract geochemistry laboratories, USGS laser ablation and stable isotope laboratories in Denver, Colorado, the USGS electron microprobe laboratory in Menlo Park, California (now at Moffett Field, California), the University of Nevada Reno scanning electron microscopy and electron microprobe laboratory in Reno, Nevada, a contract electron microprobe laboratory, numerous commercial geochemical laboratories, fluid inclusion analytical laboratories maintained by associates, and fluid inclusion microthermometric instrumentation maintained by a mining company.

Publication Year 2026
Title Compositions, modes, isotope values, and microthermometry of igneous minerals, epigenetic minerals, and fluid inclusions, and compositions and isotope values of igneous and mineralized whole rock samples in the Goldfield, Tonopah, Comstock Lode and other
DOI 10.5066/P1EMSCOP
Authors Peter Vikre, Michael Pribil, Simon Poulson, Wayne R Premo, Joel Desormeau
Product Type Data Release
Record Source USGS Asset Identifier Service (AIS)
USGS Organization Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Rights This work is marked with CC0 1.0 Universal
Was this page helpful?