The Cortez Mine is located in the Crescent Valley which is between the Shoshone and Cortez Mountains, a basin in the traditional Basin and Range setting of Nevada. Precious metal mineralization came during Jurassic-Miocene periods. The Pipeline complex lies within of silty limestone in what is called the Silurian Roberts Mountain Formation. Above this is Devonian Wenban Limestone, which acts as the host rock of the Cortez Hills deposit. Above the Devonian Limestone is Quaternary alluvium.