Placer Gold Deposits of Nevada

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Placer Gold Deposits
of Nevada
By MAUREEN G. JOHNSON
G E O L O G I C A L S U R V E Y B U L L E T I N 1 3 5 6
A catalog of location, geology, and

production with lists of annotated references
pertaining to the placer districts
º UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1973
|3 E2 O CU3
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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
ROGERS C. B. MORTON, Secretary
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
V. E. McKelvey, Director
Library of Congress catalog-card No. 72–600324.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, D.C. 20402 - Price $2 (paper cover)
Stock Number 2401-02211
CONTENTS
Page
Abstract-------------------------------------------------------------- 1
Introduction---------------------------------------------------------- 1
History of placer mining in Nevada------------------------------------- 1
Purpose and scope of present study------------------------------------- 3
Churchill County------------------------------------------------------ 4.
1. Holy Cross district------------------------------------------------- 4.
2. Jessup district----------------------------------------------------- 5
3. Sand Springs district----------------------------------------------- 6
Clark County---------------------------------------------------------- 6
4. Eldorado Canyon district------------------------------------------- 6
5. Gold Butte district------------------------------------------------- 7
6. Las Vegas district-------------------------------------------------- 8
7. Searchlight district------------------------------------------------ 9
Other districts------------------------------------------------------- 10
8. Boulder Dam-------------------------------------------------- 10
9. Bunkerville district--------------------------------------------- 10
10. Muddy River placers------------------------------------------- 10
Pouglas County------------------------------------------------------- 11
11. Mount Siegel district---------------------------------------------- 11
12. Genoa district---------------------------------------------------- 12
Other districts------------------------------------------------------- 12
13. Mountain House (Pine Nut) district------------------------------- 12
Plko County----------------------------------------------------------- 13
14. Centennial (Aura, Bull Run) district-------------------------------- 13
15. Charleston (Cornwall) district-------------------------------------- 14
16. Cope (Mountain City) district-------------------------------------- 15
17. Gold Circle (Midas) district---------------------------------------- 16
18. Jarbidge district-------------------------------------------------- 16
19. Island Mountain (Gold Creek) district------------------------------ 17
20. Tuscarora district------------------------------------------------- 19
21. Van Duzer district------------------------------------------------ 21
Other districts------------------------------------------------------- 22
22. Alder (Tennessee Gulch) district---------------------------------- 22
23. Gold Basin (Rowland) district------------------------------------ 22
Esmeralda County----------------------------------------------------- 22
24. Lida district (Tule Canyon placers)--------------------------------- 22
25. Sylvania district (Palmetto Wash, Pigeon Springs placers)-------------- 24
Other districts------------------------------------------------------- 25
26. Desert (Gilbert) district----------------------------------------- 25
27. Goldfield district----------------------------------------------- 25
28. Gold Mountain (Tokop) district---------------------------------- 25
29. Hornsilver district---------------------------------------------- 25
30. Klondyke district----------------------------------------------- 26
III
IV CONTENTS
Page
Eureka County-------------------------------------------------------- 26
31. Lynn district---------------------------------------------------- 26

Other districts------------------------------------------------------- 28
32. Eureka district------------------------------------------------- 28
33. Maggie Creek district------------------------------------------- 28
Humboldt County----------------------------------------------------- 29
34. Sawtooth district------------------------------------------------- 29
35. Dutch Flat district----------------------------------------------- 30
36. Gold Run (Adelaide) district--------------------------------------- 31
37. Rebel Creek and National districts---------------------------------- 32
38. Varyville district (Leonard Creek placers)-------------------------- 33
Other districts------------------------------------------------------- 34
39. Awakening district--------------------------------------------- 34
40. Dunnashee district---------------------------------------------- 35
41. Jackson Creek district------------------------------------------- 35
42. Kings River (Disaster) district------------------------------------ 35

43. Potosi district-------------------------------------------------- 35
44. Warm Springs district------------------------------------------- 35
45. Winnemucca district-------------------------------------------- 36
Lander County-------------------------------------------------------- 36
46. Battle Mountain district------------------------------------------ 36

47. Bullion (Tenabo) district------------------------------------------ 39
48. Hilltop district (including Pittsburg)-------------------------------- 41
49. McCoy district---------------------------------------------------
Other districts-------------------------------------------------------
50. Birch Creek prospect--------------------------------------------
51. Iowa Canyon prospect------------------------------------------
52. Kingston district-----------------------------------------------
53. Reese River placer---------------------------------------------
54, Steiner Canyon prospect-----------------------------------------
Lincoln County--------------------------------------------------------
55. Eagle Valley district----------------------------------------------
56. Freiberg district--------------------------------------------------
Lyon County----------------------------------------------------------
57. Buckskin district-------------------------------------------------
58. Yerington district------------------------------------------------
59. Silver City (Gold Canyon, Dayton) district---------------------------
Other districts-------------------------------------------------------
60. Como (Palmyra, Indian Springs) district--------------------------
61. Eldorado Canyon district----------------------------------------
62. Pine Grove district---------------------------------------------
63. Talapoosa district----------------------------------------------
Mineral County-------------------------------------------------------
64. East Walker district (Mount Grant placers)--------------------------
65. Hawthorne district (Pamlico placers)--------------------------------
66. Rawhide (Regent) district-----------------------------------------
Other districts-------------------------------------------------------
67. Aurora district-------------------------------------------------
68. Bell district---------- ------------------------------------------
69. Candelaria (Columbus) district-----------------------------------
70. Santa Fe district-----------------------------------------------
71. Silver Star district----------------------------------------------
72: Telephone Canyon (Pilot Mountains) district-----------------------
CONTENTS V
Page
Nye County----------------------------------------------------------- 56
73. Bullfrog district-------------------------------------------------- 56
74. Johnnie district-------------------------------------------------- 57
75. Cloverdale district------------------------------------------------ 59
76. Ione (Union) district--------------------------------------------- 60
77. Millett (Twin River) district--------------------------------------- 61
78. Manhattan district----------------------------------------------- 62
79. Round Mountain district------------------------------------------ 64
Other districts------------------------------------------------------- 68
80. Belmont district------------------------------------------------ 68
81. Currant district------------------------------------------------ 68
82. Eden district--------------------------------------------------- 68
83. Ellendale district----------------------------------------------- 69
84. Fairplay district------------------------------------------------ 69
85. Lodi (Mammoth) district---------------------------------------- 69
86. Longstreet district---------------------------------------------- 69
87. Tonopah district----------------------------------------------- 69
Pershing County------------------------------------------------------- 70
88. Antelope (Scossa) district------------------------------------------ 70
89. Placerites district------------------------------------------------- 71
90. Rosebud and Rabbit Hole districts---------------------------------- 72
91. Seven Troughs district-------------------------------------------- 74
92. Trinity district--------------------------------------------------- 74
93. Imlay (Humboldt) district----------------------------------------- 75
94. Unionville district------------------------------------------------ 76
95. Rochester district------------------------------------------------ 76
96. Spring Valley district--------------------------------------------- 78
97. Sierra (Chafey, Dun Glen) district---------------------------------- 82
98. Willow Creek district--------------------------------------------- 83
Other districts------------------------------------------------------- 85
99. Goldbanks district--------------------------------------------- 85
100. Kennedy district---------------------------------------------- 85
101. Mill City (Central) district------------------------------------- 85
102. Star district--------------------------------------------------- 85
103. Staggs district------------------------------------------------- 86
Storey and Ormsby Counties-------------------------------------------- 86
104. Comstock district (Storey County)--------------------------------- 86
105. Carson River district (Ormsby County)---------------------------- 87
Washoe County-------------------------------------------------------- 88
106. Jumbo (West Comstock) district----------------------------------- 88
107. Olinghouse (White Horse) district--------------------------------- 88
108. Peavine district-------------------------------------------------- 90
109. Galena (Washoe) district----------------------------------------- 91
110. Little Valley district---------------------------------------------- 91
White Pine County---------------------------------------------------- 92
111. Bald Mountain (Joy) district-------------------------------------- 92
112. Cherry Creek district--------------------------------------------- 93
113. Osceola district-------------------------------------------------- 93
Other districts------------------------------------------------------- 95
114. Granite district------------------------------------------------ 95
115. Robinson district---------------------------------------------- 95
Gold production from placer deposits------------------------------------- 95
VI CONTENTS
Page
Summary------------------------------------------------------------- 105
Age of lode mineralization--------------------------------------------- 105
Age and distribution of placers----------------------------------------- 106
Bibliography----------------------------------------------------------- 106
Literature references-------------------------------------------------- 106
Geologic map references---------------------------------------------- 115
ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
PLATE 1. Map showing reported location of placer gold deposits in

Nevada--------------------------------------------- In pocket
FIGURE 1. Graph showing Nevada placer gold production----------------- 104.
TABLES
Page
TABLE 1. Nevada placer gold production------------------------------ 96
2. Major gold districts in Nevada------------------------------- 102
PLACER GOLD DEPOSITS OF
NEWADA
By MAUREEN G. JoHNsoN
ABSTRACT
One hundred and fifteen placer districts in Nevada are estimated to have pro
duced a minimum of 1,700,000 ounces of placer gold from 1849 to 1968. The
location, areal extent, past production, mining history, and probable lode source
for each district are summarized on the basis of information obtained from a wide
variety of published reports relating to placer deposits. Annotated references to
all reports give information about individual deposits for each district.
Most of the placer gold found in Nevada has been derived from veins and
replacement deposits that have been successfully worked for the gold and silver
content of the ores. In the few districts for which the source of the gold is un
known, it is presumed to be small scattered veins in the adjacent bedrock. In most
of the very productive lode mining districts, only small amounts of placer gold
have been recovered, whereas in the very productive placer districts, lode-gold
production is close to, and sometimes less than, placer gold production. Most of
the placer mining was done before 1900 by small-scale methods utilizing portable
equipment, such as rockers, sluices, and drywashers, to work small deposits; most
of the placer gold produced in the State since 1900 was mined by a few very large
dredge operations between 1920 and 1959.
INTRODUCTION
HISTORY OF PLACER MINING IN NEVADA
The first authenticated discovery of placer gold in Nevada was made

in 1849 by Abner Blackburn, a member of an emigrant train to Cali
fornia, at the junction of Gold Canyon and the Carson River at the
present site of Dayton, Lyon County (De Quille, 1891; Vanderburg,
1936a). Parties of men worked the gravels in Gold Canyon and nearby
Six Mile Canyon, Storey County, for 8 years before the source of the
placers, the Ophir silver lode, was discovered by Peter O'Reiley and
Patrick McLaughlin in 1857 while digging a small water hole for placer
mining in Six Mile Canyon (De Quille, 1891). Other lode discoveries
in the immediate area followed, and soon the whole world knew of the
Comstock lode in Nevada. Although placer mining continued on a small
scale in Gold Canyon and Six Mile Canyon, and other placers were
discovered elsewhere in the State, the richness and fame of the Comstock
1
2 PLACER GOLD DEPOSITS OF NEWADA
lode far overshadowed the importance of placer production and new

placer discoveries.
Following the discovery of placers at Gold Canyon, placer discoveries
in Nevada were broadly in three periods: the 1860's to 1880's, when many
small deposits throughout the State were discovered and sporadically
worked and several large placers were discovered and extensively worked;
the short period between 1906 and 1910, when very rich placers were dis
covered at Lynn, Battle Mountain, Manhattan, and Round Mountain; the
early 1930's, when economic conditions created by the depression caused
a renewed interest in placer mining, and many individuals sought, and a
few discovered, new placer areas throughout the State. The location of
the placers described in this report is shown on plate 1.
Very little factual information can be found about the early periods
of placer mining in Nevada. For many placers, the only reports available
are hearsay estimates of production and speculations about the extent of
the placer ground based on remnants of placer pits, shafts, and other
workings. Many of the placers said to have had a high production between
1860 and 1890 were worked by Chinese miners who came to Nevada dur
ing the building of the railroads and stayed on to work at mining and
other activities. The Chinese were reputed to be secretive with their
earnings from the placers and did not ship the gold to the mint by Wells
Fargo or other shippers. They worked the gravels very thoroughly in areas
where American miners did not wish to expend great labor to win the
gold. The placers in the Sierra and Spring Valley districts, Pershing
County, were worked by Chinese miners; they have a very high estimated
production before 1900 and a comparatively low known production since
that time.
One reason for the lack of information about early placer-mining
activity in Nevada was the great attention given to the rich silver-lode
districts such as the Comstock, Eureka, and Reese River districts. Whereas
in many other States, the discovery of gold placers stimulated the search
for lode-gold deposits and other gold placers, in Nevada early attention
was devoted to searching for rich silver lodes not necessarily associated
with derived placers.
The comparatively late discovery of some of the richest placers in the
State has afforded a very clear picture of the development of placer
mining during the 1900's. The discovery of rich silver ores at Tonopah
in 1900 and rich gold ores at Goldfield in 1902 stimulated great activity
in mining exploration throughout Nevada. Many placers discovered during
the 1906–10 period were found by men looking for ores similar to ores
at Tonopah and Goldfield. Placer mining at Manhattan and Round
Mountain districts, Nye County, and Battle Mountain district, Lander
County, began with numerous small drywash operations in the gravels,
then expanded as water supplies were developed for sluicing and hydraulic
INTRODUCTION 3
methods of mining. Late in the history of these districts, but long after
many other placer districts were inactive, large-scale dredging operations
began. The success of the dredge operations in these semiarid districts
is unique in the history of placer mining in the Southwestern States.
Placer-mining history in the other districts is typical of desert placer
mining throughout the southwest. Most production resulted from the rela
tively intense period of prospecting immediately following discovery; a
decline in placer-mining activity followed, then a small revival during
the early 1930's. The economic depression of the early 1930's stimulated
investigations of many Nevada placer districts for the purpose of develop
ing large-scale placer-mining operations. By the late 1930's, many mining
companies had investigated many placer areas and had formulated plans
to develop certain areas. The placer activity of the 1930's was abruptly
halted by the beginning of World War II and the passage of War Board
Order L–208, which restricted gold mining throughout the country. The
dredge operation at Manhattan was given special permission to continue
operations, although on a reduced scale, and, as a result, placer gold
production after 1942 did not decline as markedly in Nevada as in other
States.
Most of the placer mining was done by the basic methods of dry
washing, sluicing, and rarely, small-scale hydraulic mining. In addition
to the large dredge operations at Manhattan, Round Mountain, and
Battle Mountain, other dredges operated in different districts, notably
Silver City, Lyon County; Spring Valley, Pershing County; Van Duzer,
Elko County; and Bullion, Lander County. Since the completion of the
Round Mountain dredge operation in 1959, placer mining in Nevada
has progressively diminished in importance.
PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF PRESENT STUDY
The present paper is a compilation of published information relating

to the placer gold deposits of Nevada, one of a series of four papers de
scribing the gold placer deposits in the Southwestern States. The purpose
of the paper is to outline areas of placer deposits in the State and to
serve as a guide to their location, extent, production history, and source.
This work was undertaken as part of the investigation of the distribution
of known gold occurrences in the Western United States.
Each placer is described briefly. Location is given by geographic area
and township and range. Topographic maps and geologic maps which
show the placer area are listed for each. Access to each area is indicated
by direction and distance along major roads and highways from a nearby
center of population.
Detailed information relating to the exact location of placer deposits,
their thickness, distribution, and average gold content (all values cited
in the text have been converted to gold at $35 per ounce, except where
otherwise noted) is included, when available, under “Extent.” U.S. Bureau
of Land Management land plats of surveyed township and ranges were

especially helpful in locating old placer claims and some creeks and dry
washes not named on recent topographic maps. These land plats were
consulted for all the surveyed areas in Nevada. U.S. Bureau of Mines
records were also consulted for the location of small placer claims.
Discovery of placer gold and subsequent placer-mining activity are
briefly described under “Production history.” Detailed discussion of min
ing operations is omitted, as this information can be found in the indi
vidual papers published by the State of Nevada, in the yearly Mineral
Resources and the Minerals Yearbooks published by the U.S. Bureau of
Mines and the U.S. Geological Survey, and in many mining journals.
Placer gold production, in ounces (table 1), was compiled from the yearly
Mineral Resources and Minerals Yearbook volumes and from infor
mation supplied by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. These totals of recorded
production are probably lower than actual gold production, for substan
tial amounts of coarse placer gold commonly sold by individuals to jewelers
and specimen buyers are not reported to the U.S. Bureau of Mines or
to the U.S. Bureau of Mint. Information about the age and type of lode
deposit that was the source of the placer gold is discussed for each dis
trict.
A detailed search of the geologic and mining literature was made for
information concerning all the placers. A list of literature references is
given with each district; the annotation indicates the type of information
found in each reference. Sources of information are detailed reports on
mining districts, general geologic reports, Federal and State publications,
and brief articles and news notes in mining journals. Two excellent gen
eral source books for the placer-mining districts of Nevada are Nevada
Bureau of Mines Bulletins 18 and 30. (Smith and Vanderburg, 1932;
Vanderburg, 1936a). County reports are also excellent sources for infor
mation relating to the mining districts. These source books give the loca
tion and history of most placer areas in the State. Many other publica
tions give additional information about the placers. A complete bibliog
raphy, given at the end of the paper, includes separate sections for
all literature references and all geologic map references.
Map publications of the Geological Survey can be ordered from the
U.S. Geological Survey, Distribution Section, Denver Federal Center,
Denver, Colo. 80225; book publications, from the Superintendent of
Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
CHURCHILL COUNTY
1. HOLY CROSS DISTRICT
Location: Terrill Mountains and Barnett Hills, T. 14 N., R. 29 E.; T.
15 N., R. 30 E. >
CHURCHILL COUNTY 5
Topographic map: Allen Springs 15-minute quadrangle.

Geologic map: Willden and Speed, 1968, Geologic map of Churchill
County, Nevada (pl. 1), scale 1:200,000.
Access: From Fallon, 24 miles south on U.S. Highway 95 to dirt road
leading east through Rawhide Flat. Mining areas are north and south
of the main dirt road and accessible by minor dirt roads.
Extent: I have not found any information that locates the placer deposits
in the Holy Cross district. The main part of the district is in the
Terrill Mountains, west of the site of Camp Terrill on the south side
of Rawhide Flat (secs. 10 and 11, T. 14 N., R. 29 E.), but the dis
trict also includes mines and prospects on the west side of the Barnett
Hills (sec. 25, T. 15 N., R. 30 E.) about 6 miles northeast of the
Terrill Mountains and on the north side of Rawhide Flat.
Production history: Placer gold was produced from the Holy Cross dis
trict in 1923 and 1947.
Source: The source of the placer gold was undoubtedly local material
eroded from the veins in the Terrill Mountains and (or) Barnett
Hills. The ore deposits in the Terrill Mountains (predominantly silver
ore with smaller amounts of gold) are found in altered rhyolitic tuffs
near dacite intrusives and are of Tertiary age. The ore deposits in
the Barnett Hills are found in quartz veins in Cretaceous granodiorite;
the Bimetal ores contain more free gold and silver than those in the
Terrill Mountains.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1940: Describes lode mines and prospects in Holy Cross
district.
Willden and Speed, 1968: Describes bedrock geology and lode mines
in Holy Cross district.
2. JESSUP DISTRICT
Location: Southern Trinity Range, T. 24 N., Rs. 27 and 28 E.
Topographic map: Desert Peak 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Willden and Speed, 1968, Geologic map of Churchill
Access: From Reno, about 66 miles east and north on U.S. Interstate
80 to the Jessup exit, a dirt road leading northwest about three-quarters
of a mile to the townsite of Jessup in a pass through the Trinity Range.
Extent: A small placer deposit was discovered in 1932 on a low hill near
the Valley King lode claims (location not recorded) in alluvium that
consists of clay, small boulders, and well-rounded pebbles. Small lode
deposits of gold, silver, and copper are found on the northern side of
the range in secs. 8 and 17–20, T. 24 N., R. 28 E., and in sec. 22, T.
24 N., R. 27 E.
Production history: A few ounces of placer gold about 600 fine were dry
washed in 1932, but this production was not reported to the U.S.
Bureau of Mines. In 1938, placer equipment was installed on the
Valley King No. 3 placer claims, and 1 ounce of gold was recovered.
Source: The gold-silver deposits in the Jessup district occur in altered
Tertiary volcanic rocks; the gold at the Valley King lode mine occurs in
a free state, and the silver, in cerargyrite.
Literature:
Mining Journal, 1938a: Reports installation of placer equipment on
Valley King No. 3 placer claims.
Vanderburg, 1940: Reports discovery of placer gold in 1932; produc
tion, and fineness of gold; lithology of alluvium.
3. SAND SPRINGS DISTRICT
Location: North end of the Sand Springs Range, T. 16 N., R. 32 E.

Topographic map: Reno 2 degree sheet, Army Map Service.
Geologic map: Nevada Bureau of Mines, 1962, Reconnaissance geologic
map and sections, Sand Springs Range (pl. 4), scale 1:31,680.
Access: From Fallon, 28 miles west on U.S. Highway 50 to Summit King
mine area, in Sand Springs Range, a quarter of a mile south of high
way.
Extent: The placers are probably near the Summit King (formerly Dan
Tucker) lode claims (approximately secs. 10 and 11, T. 16 N., R. 32
E.). These lode claims are the only productive ones in the district.
Production history: The placer gold was recovered in 1949.
Source: The Summit King group of claims are in quartz veins that trend
east-west across the range and cut both metamorphic and volcanic
country rocks. Free gold occurs in the quartz veins along with cerargy
rite and argentite. The placer gold was probably recovered from ma
terial eroded from these quartz veins.
Literature:
Nevada Bureau of Mines, 1962: Describes ore deposits in Sand Springs
Range; describes Summit King lode claims.
CLARK COUNTY
4. ELDORADO CANYON DISTRICT
Location: Along Eldorado Canyon, between Nelson and the Colorado

River and adjacent banks of the Colorado River, T. 26 S., Rs. 64
and 65 E.
Topographic maps: Mount Perkins and Nelson 15-minute quadrangles.
Geologic map: Longwell, 1963, Geologic map and sections of area along
Colorado River between Lake Mead and Davis Dam, Arizona-Nevada
(pl. 1), scale 1:125,000.
CLARK COUNTY 7
Access: From Las Vegas, 31 miles southeast on U.S. Highway 95 to junc

tion with State Highway 60, then east on State 60 12 miles to Nelson.
State Highway 60 follows Techatticup Wash paralleling Eldorado
Canyon on the north for 8 miles east from Nelson to the Colorado
River.
Extent: Small amounts of placer gold have been found in the gravels of
Eldorado Canyon, a major east-trending tributary of the Colorado
River, and in bars along the Colorado River, for an unspecified distance
south of Eldorado Canyon. The gold recovered from the bars along
the river was fine grained and erratically distributed.
Production history: Recorded placer gold production attributed to the
Eldorado Canyon district has been small; the bulk of the production
was recovered between 1932 and 1933 from small-scale operations in
bars along the Colorado River. Before the 1930's, little work was done
on placer deposits in the area. Placer gold valued at $6,000 was re
covered in the 1890's, but no further production was recorded until the
1930's. In 1909 a large dredge was constructed to work gravels on the
Arizona side of the Colorado River opposite Eldorado Canyon. This
operation was a failure. In recent years, very small amounts of placer
gold have been recovered from the Eldorado Canyon placers, mostly
from the Gresh Group of claims in the upper canyon near Nelson
(sec. 4, T. 26 S., R. 64 E., Nelson quadrangle).
Source: The source of the placer gold is probably the lode mines near
Nelson. The principal ores of the mines occur in fissures in Tertiary
quartz monzonite. Much of the gold is contained in sulfides, and, ex
cept where the veins are oxidized, there is little free gold. The paucity
of free gold and its small particle size may account for the limited
placers in the area.
Literature:
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1965: Placer-mining operations; placer claim
named; production.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Extent; placer-mining operations; production.
5. GOLD BUTTE DISTRICT
Location: On the north side of Lake Mead in the hills south of the
Virgin Mountains, T. 19 S., R. 70 E. (projected); T. 22 S., R. 69 E.
(projected).
Topographic maps: All 15-minute quadrangles—Gold Butte, Iceberg Can
yon, Virgin Basin.
Geologic maps: Longwell, Pampeyan, Bowyer, and Roberts, 1965, Geologic
map of the Copper King and Gold Butte districts, Clark County,
Nevada (pl. 12), scale approximately 94 in=1 mile.
Access: From Las Vegas, 74 miles northeast on U.S. Interstate 15 to
Riverside. From Riverside, light-duty roads lead south about 37 miles

to Gold Butte area and about 15 miles farther south to Temple Bay
area.
Extent: Placers are found in two areas in the isolated region north of
Lake Mead and south of the Virgin Mountains. The Gold Butte dis
trict is in the vicinity of Gold Butte south of Tramps Ridge (T. 19
S., R. 70 E., projected, Gold Butte quadrangle). Temple Bar placer
is on the north shore of Lake Mead, near Temple Bay (T. 22 S., R. 69
E., projected, Iceberg Canyon and Virgin Basin quadrangles).
The gravels at Gold Butte are 2–20 feet thick and contain fine gold,
no larger than the size of a pinhead (about 1 mm), in the several
feet of gravel immediately overlying bedrock. The gravels at Temple
Bar and the surrounding area contain very fine gold associated with
a large amount of black sand. Temple Bar was inundated by the rising
waters of Lake Mead, but similar deposits farther inland from the
original shoreline of the Colorado River (in the NE 94 T. 22 S., R.
69 E.) still exist.
Production history: One ounce of placer gold is the only recorded pro
duction for the area, but reports of small-scale intermittent placer
mining since 1926–27 suggest a greater actual production. One report
indicates that value of some of the gravels at Gold Butte averaged
$2.50 per cubic yard.
In the summer of 1967 the gravels around Gold Butte were placered
with the aid of a steam shovel, and the Temple Bar area was being
worked for both lode and placer gold, which were transported from the
area by barges (P. M. Blacet, oral commun., 1967).
Source: The placer gold at Gold Butte was derived from erosion of the
small gold veins found in the Precambrian granite that forms Gold
Butte. The placer gold near Lake Mead might have been derived from
similar veins.
Literature:
Longwell and others, 1965: Locates placer-mining operations; source

of gold.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Location; history of placer-mining activity; extent
of placer; depth of gravel; size and value of gold in gravels.
6. LAS VEGAS DISTRICT
Location: Along the former drainage of Las Vegas Wash, now inundated
by Lake Mead, T. 21 S., R. 64 E.
Topographic map: Henderson 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Longwell, Pampeyan, Bowyer, and Roberts, 1965, Geologic
map of Clark County, Nevada (pl. 1), scale 1:250,000.
Access: From Las Vegas, 16 miles southeast on U.S. Highway 95 to
CLARK COUNTY 9
Henderson; from Henderson, about 8 miles northeast on State High

way 41 to vicinity of Las Vegas Beach, south of Las Vegas Wash.
Extent: Unknown. A few reports indicate that gold occurred in gravels
along Las Vegas Wash, a tributary to the Colorado River, now inun
dated by Lake Mead.
Production history: Placer gold was produced from the Las Vegas dis
trict in 1905. In 1909 the Empire Gold Dredging Co. of Los Angeles
controlled 1,440 acres of placer ground in Las Vegas Wash on which
they planned to install a large dredge. These plans were not imple
mented.
Source: Unknown.
Literature:
Mining World, 1909: Reports plans to dredge gold-bearing sands in
Las Vegas Wash.
7. SEARCHLIGHT DISTRICT
Location: West of the Colorado River on the east side of the Newberry
Mountains, Tps. 28–31 S., Rs. 65 and 66 E.
Topographic map: Spirit Mountain 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Longwell, 1963, Geologic map and sections of area along
Colorado River between Lake Mead and Davis Dam, Arizona-Nevada
(pl. 1), scale 1: 125,000.
Access: From Las Vegas, 57 miles southeast on U.S. Highway 95 to
Searchlight. From Searchlight, light-duty roads lead east and south
about 16 miles to the north end of the Newberry Mountains. Dirt roads
lead farther south along the mountain flanks.
Extent: The lode-gold mines in the Searchlight district are in the low
hills between the southern Eldorado Mountains and the northern New
berry Mountains (T. 28 S., Rs. 63 and 64 E.), but the meager infor
mation available about the placers indicates that these deposits are
east of the main lode-gold mining area between the Newberry Moun
tains and the Colorado River (Tps. 28–31 S., Rs. 65 and 66 E.).
Most of the placer gold was recovered from gravels described as ancient
riverbed gravels, remnants of which occur in the vicinity of the New
berry Mountains. Some of the placer gold may have been recovered
from the main Searchlight mining area.
Production history: Most of the placer gold attributed to the Searchlight
district was recovered in the 1930's.
Source: Small gold-bearing quartz veins in Precambrian granite and meta
morphic rocks have been mined in places in the Newberry Mountains.
Placer gold recovered in this area was probably derived from this type
of vein.
The ores in the Searchlight lode-mining district, which might have

supplied some of the placer gold attributed to the district, are found
in igneous rocks of Tertiary age. These deposits are largely oxidized
and contained both gold and silver in the heavy-surface ores.
Literature:
Longwell and others, 1965: Describes geology and ore deposits (but not
placer deposits) in the Searchlight district and Newberry Moun
tains.
Richardson, 1936: Describes methods used in testing gold-bearing
gravels in Newberry Mountains; size of gravels; accessory minerals.
OTHER DISTRICTS
8. BOULDER DAM
Less than 1 ounce of placer gold was recovered from the vicinity of
Hoover Dam (formerly Boulder Dam) in 1935, probably from sands
along the Colorado River. In the early 1900's, several news notes in min
ing journals reported the existence of supposedly rich deposits of fine gold
in Colorado River sands in this area, but none of these deposits were
ever productive.
9. BUNKERVILLE DISTRICT
Placer gold is reported in sands and gravels in Nickel Creek (T. 15 S.,
R. 70 E.) and other creeks to the east of Nickel Creek, in the northern
Virgin Mountains near Bunkerville Ridge. No placer production has been
reported.
Literature:
Beal, 1965: Reports placer gold occurrences.
10. MUDDY RIVER PLACERS
In 1912 and 1932, small amounts of placer gold were recovered from
the Logan and Muddy River (Moapa) districts. These districts (in T.
15 S., Rs. 66 and 67 E.) are along the Muddy River, a major tributary
to the Colorado River. In 1931 very fine placer gold was discovered in
bottom-land gravels along the Muddy River, 3 miles southwest of Moapa,
but the deposit was considered to be uneconomic. The gold recovered
from the Logan district (Logandale is 8 miles southeast of Moapa) prob
ably came from the Muddy River gravels, although the Logan district
may be synonomous with the Bunkerville or Gold Butte (20 miles east of
Logandale).
Literature:
Nolan, 1936a: Reports placer bullion shipped from Logan district;
questions location.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Describes placer deposits near Moapa; reports
uneconomic concentration.
DOUGLAS COUNTY 11
DOUGLAS COUNTY
11. MOUNT SIEGEL DISTRICT
Location: On the northeast flank of Mount Siegel in the Pine Nut Moun
tains, T. 12 N., R. 22 E.
Topographic maps: Mount Siegel and Wellington 15-minute quadrangles.
Geologic map: Moore, 1969, Geologic map of Lyon, Douglas, and Ormsby
Counties, Nevada (pl. 1), scale 1:250,000.
Access: From Reno, 45 miles south on U.S. Highway 395 to Minden;
from there, dirt roads parallel Buckeye Creek for 20 miles eastward to
the Mount Siegel placer area in the Pine Nut Range.
Extent: Placers are found on the major headward fork of Buckeye Creek,
which drains north along the east side of the crest of the Pine Nut
Mountains. Some reports state that the placers are found over a large
area covered by Tertiary sedimentary rocks, but practically all activity
was concentrated at Slaters placer mine (NW/4 sec. 11, T. 12 N., R.
22 E., Wellington quadrangle) at an elevation of 7,100 feet.
The placers consist of unsorted debris composed of rocks, gravels,
sands, and some large boulders; the gold occurs throughout the gravels
and is both fine and coarse.
Production history: The Mount Siegel placers were discovered in 1891
and worked intermittently to 1943. In 1896 a company spent large
sums on pipelines and tunnels to bring water from a small lake to the
placers for use in hydraulic mining; lack of water resulted in failure
of this operation. In 1896 the King brothers worked placers along bed
rock, reportedly recovering $10 per day per man. Placer-mining activity
was continuous to 1919. In 1903, 1904, and 1906 about 200 ounces of
gold was recovered; in other years, the amount was less than 100
Ounces.
Source: The placer gold is a reconcentration of material derived from

Tertiary sedimentary rocks in recent gully gravels. No lode source is
exposed in the Mount Siegel area; south of Mount Siegel, gold veins
are found in quartz monzonite in the Silver Lake (Red Canyon) dis
trict. Presumably, erosion of similar veins during the Tertiary was the
source of the placer gold that has been reconcentrated in the recent
gravels on Buckeye Creek.
Literature:
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1896b: Reports developments at

Buckeye placer; depth of gravel and production per day per man
at King brothers workings.
Gray, 1951: Locates Slaters placer; age and derivation of placer gold;
does not discuss lode source.
Lincoln, 1923: Location; history.
474–407—72—2
Moore, 1969: Locates Slaters placer mine; distribution of gold; produc

tlOn.
Overton, 1947: History; location; placer-mining operations in 1890's;

distribution and size of gold in gravels; fineness of gold.
Smith and Vanderburg, 1932: Location; age of placer gravels; pro
duction for 1911; fineness of gold; estimate of total production (to
1932).
Vanderburg, 1936a: Location; early placer-mining operations; estimate
of production; distribution of placers; size of gravel material; size
and fineness of gold; source of the gold placers; problems in early
placer-mining operations.
12. GENOA DISTRICT
Location: East side of the Carson Range in the Sierra Nevada, west of
the Carson River, T. 13 N., R. 19 E.
Topographic map: Carson City 15-minute quadrangle.
Access: From Reno, 35 miles south on U.S. Highway 395 to junction
with State Highway 57; from there, about 8 miles west and south
on State Highway 57 to Genoa. Placers are found west of town.
Extent: No descriptions of the exact location of the placers in the Genoa
district are available. The placers are said to be in Tertiary gravels
located a short distance west of the town of Genoa.
Production history: Minor gold and silver lodes were extensively pros
pected in the 1860's but were found to be of little economic value.
Placer gold was recovered from the area in 1908 and 1909; the deposits
were prospected again in 1916.
Source: The placer gold recovered from the district was material prob
ably eroded from the small gold and silver lodes formed by intrusion
of the Cretaceous granites into Triassic sedimentary rocks.
Literature:
Overton, 1947: Describes lode deposits in district.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Notes prospecting activity in 1916; states that
Tertiary gravels are of doubtful economic importance.
OTHER DISTRICTS
13. MOUNTAIN HOUSE (PINE NUT) DISTRICT

A few ounces of placer gold have been recovered intermittently from
placers in the southern Pine Nut Range in western Douglas County (T.
10 N., Rs. 21 and 22 E.). The source of the gold is unknown.
Literature:
Overton, 1947: Describes lode deposits of district.
ELKO COUNTY 13
ELKO COUNTY
14. CENTENNIAL (AURA, BULL RUN) DISTRICT

Location: Central part of the Bull Run Mountains, north of Bull Run
Reservoir, Tps. 43 and 44 N., R. 52 E.
Topographic map: Bull Run 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Decker, 1962, Geologic map of the Bull Run quadrangle,
Elko County, Nevada (pl. 1), scale 1:62,500.
Access: From Elko, 66 miles north and west on State Highway 11-43 to
State Highway 11a; from there, it is about 12 miles north on 11a to
the Centennial district.
Extent: Small placers are in the Centennial district along Blue Jacket
Creek and Columbia Creek (T. 44 N., R. 52 E.) and in the Bull Run
Basin (T. 43 N., R. 52 E.). The placers along Blue Jacket Creek are
on the west side of the creek in sec 22 and at the junction of California
Gulch and Blue Jacket Creek in sec. 26. The placers along Columbia
Creek are north of the Columbia Ranch in secs. 24 and 25 where the
creek drains southward. Placers in Bull Run Basin are along Sheridan
Creek (secs. 3, 10, and 9, T. 43 N., R. 52 E.).
Production history: The placers in the Centennial district were found after
the lode discovery in 1869 and were worked in the 1870's. I have found
no estimates of this early production. In 1905 a company organized to
work the gravels in Bull Run Basin spent considerable money on
ditches, flumes, and pipes to develop the ground. The operation was
abandoned after a few hundred yards of material was sluiced. Placer
mining since 1905 has been sporadic.
Source: According to Decker (1962, p. 55), mesothermal vein deposits oc
cur in limestones in the area near Blue Jacket Creek (formerly called the
Aura district) and within and bordering Cretaceous intrusive stocks of
dioritic composition in the area near Columbia Creek (formerly called
the Columbia district). In contrast to the predominantly gold-sulfide
veins of the Edgemont district on the west flank of the Bull Run Moun
tains, most of these veins contain silver with lesser amounts of gold and
base metals. The Aura King group, in Blue Jacket Gulch, however, is
located on a vein containing high gold values.
Literature:
Decker, 1962: Describes lode deposits.
Emmons, 1910: Reports failure of large-scale placer-mining operations.
Mining and Scientific Press, 1908a: Reports placer-mining activity in
the valley of Sheridan Creek; states that the valley has some of the
best placer ground in the area.
Mining World, 1907a: Number of acres of placer ground in Bull Run
Basin; locates placer claims at Aura King group of lode claims.
Vanderburg, 1936a: History; lack of recent activity.
15. CHARLESTON (CORNWALL) DISTRICT

Location: In several gulches on the south side of Copper Mountain, east
of the Bruneau River, Tps. 43 and 44 N., R. 47 E.
Topographic maps: Mount Velma 15-minute quadrangle; Wells 2-degree
sheet, Army Map Service.
Geologic maps:
Coash, 1967, Geologic map of the Mount Velma quadrangle, Elko
Granger, Bell, Simmons, and Lee, 1957, Reconnaissance geologic map
of Elko County, Nevada (pl. 1), scale 1:250,000.
Access: From Elko, 26 miles northeast on Interstate 80 to Deeth. About 8
miles north of Deeth, a dirt road leading from the Marys River Road
crosses the low hills; about 38 miles north to Charleston.
Extent: Placer gold has been found in Badger, Union, and Seventy-Six
Creeks, Pennsylvania Gulch (not shown on maps), and Dry Creek, all
southwest-draining tributaries of the Bruneau River, and for an un
known distance along the Bruneau River in the vicinity of these creeks.
The placer gravels are as much as 50 feet thick and consist of well
rounded pebbles of volcanic rocks and smaller amounts of quartzite
and granitic pebbles.
Production history: The placer deposits were the first metalliferous de
posits discovered in the area and were presumed to have been found in
1876 because of the name, Seventy-Six Creek, given to the creek. Con
siderable placer gold was recovered from the gravels of Seventy-Six
Creek during the years following discovery, but no production records,
estimates of production, or discussions of the placers have been found
in the literature. I estimate that probably about 300 ounces of placer
gold was recovered before 1900.
During the early years of placer-mining activity after 1876, Seventy
Six Creek was most actively worked, but during the 20th century min
ing has been concentrated in the other tributaries and along the river.
In 1907 and in 1932, ambitious plans were made to mine placer gravels
on a large scale in the vicinity of Badger Creek and the Bruneau River
(secs. 22 and 27, T. 44 N., R. 57 E.); these plans were abandoned
almost immediately.
Source: Schrader (1923, p. 83) considers the placer gold to have been
derived by erosion of small gold veins in Paleozoic sedimentary rocks in
truded by Cretaceous granitic rocks in the vicinity of Copper Mountain.
The metallization is considered to be related to the Cretaceous intru
sions and thus to be of Cretaceous age. Subsequent volcanic activity and
erosion of the volcanic rocks probably caused mixing and diluting of the
gold-bearing debris; the thick gravel deposits in the area are derived
ELKO COUNTY 15
principally from the Tertiary volcanic rocks and contain only small
amounts of quartzite and granitic debris from the metallized area.
Literature:
Coash, 1967: Notes Charleston as placer-mining district.
Lincoln, 1923: Location; history.
Schrader, 1923: Locates major placers; source.
Smith and Stoddard, 1932: History; gold yield per day per man in
1932; placer-mining developments at Earl Prunty Ranch.
Smith and Vanderburg, 1932: Names gold-bearing creeks; lithology and
thickness of placer gravels; placer-mining operations in 1907 and
1932; average value of placer gravel at Prunty Ranch.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Virtually repeats Smith and Vanderburg, 1932;
reports no development at Prunty Ranch placers; number of men
working the placers in early 1930's.
16. COPE (MOUNTAIN CITY) DISTRICT
Location: On the south side of the Owyhee River, north of Mountain City
and Sugarloaf Peak in the Bull Run Range (partly on Humboldt Na
tional Forest land), T. 46 N., R. 53 E.
Topographic map: Mountain City 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Coats, 1968a, Preliminary geologic map of the southwestern
part of the Mountain City quadrangle, scale 1:20,000.
Access: From Elko, 87 miles north on State Highways 11 and 43 to Moun
tain City. Placers are on the south side of the Highway north of the
town.
Extent: Small placer deposits occur along the Owyhee River, north of
Mountain City and near Sugarloaf Peak. Grasshopper Gulch (secs. 26
and 35, T. 46 N., R. 53 E.), a north-trending tributary to the Owyhee
River, is said to have been placered extensively in the early days of the
district, discovered in 1869. Other deposits have been worked along
banks of the Owyhee River for a few miles north of Mountain City.
Production history: No records of placer production directly credited to
this area have been found. Any gold produced from the Owyhee River
gravels and reported to the U.S. Bureau of Mines probably was included
with production from the Van Duzer district on the south—even though
the production was listed under the Mountain City or Cope district
name. The placers were worked as early as 1870, when Chinese placer
miners were reported to recover $2 to $3 per day per man from gravels
on the north side of the river. The placers in Grasshopper Gulch were
worked in the middle 1870's, for about half a mile along the gulch;
considerable gold is said to have been recovered. I would estimate that
not more than 200 ounces of placer gold was recovered before 1900 and
perhaps another 50 ounces since.
Source: The source of the placer gold is small pyritic gold-silver veins in a
granodiorite pluton. The age of mineralization is said to be Cretaceous.
Literature:
Raymond, 1872: Placer-mining activity on Owyhee River; yield per day.
Roberts and others, 1971: Source of placer gold; age of mineralization.
Smith, 1932: History; placer-mining operations on Owyhee River in
1932; source of gold.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Virtually repeats Smith and Vanderburg, 1932:
names placer-bearing creeks; history and early production; placer
mining operations and developments in 1932.
17. GOLD CIRCLE (MIDAS) DISTRICT
Location: North of Squaw Valley between Midas Creek and Squaw Creek,
T. 39 N., R. 46 E.
Topographic map: Midas 7%-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Rott, 1931, Geologic map of the Gold Circle mining dis
trict, Elko County, Nevada (pl. 1), scale 1 in. =1,000 feet.
Access: From Winnemucca, Humboldt County, 18 miles east on Interstate
80 to junction with State Highway 18; from the junction, Midas is 42
miles northeast on State Highway 18. Numerous light-duty and dirt
roads lead from Midas to the mining area.
Extent: The location and extent of the placers are unknown. They are
probably in the vicinity of the lode mines, in the low hills south and east
of Midas (SW94 T. 39 N., R. 46 E.).
Production history: The recorded production from the Gold Circle dis
trict occurred during the periods 1911–12 and 1920–21 and in 1941.
The deposits and the mining methods were not described.
Source: The placer gold was probably eroded from the gold-silver veins
that occur in volcanic rocks in the area. The ore deposits in the vol
canic rocks formed about 15 m.y. (million years) ago (Miocene).
Without accurate locations of the placers, it is impossible to ascertain
which veins were the probable source.
Literature:
Rott, 1931: Describes lode mines in the district in detail.
Roberts and others, 1971: Dates mineralization in the district.
18. JARBIDGE DISTRICT
Location: Along the Jarbidge River, north of the Jarbidge Mountains.

Tps. 45 and 47 N., R. 58 E.
Topographic map: Jarbidge 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Coats, 1964, Geologic map of the Jarbidge quadrangle >
Nevada-Idaho (pl. 1), scale 1:62,500.

Access: From Elko, 26 miles northeast on Interstate 80 to Deeth. From
Deeth, it is about 46 miles north on a dirt road to the site of Charleston.
ELKO COUNTY 17
A dirt road crosses the mountains east of Charleston to Jarbidge, a dis

tance of about 16 miles; from Jarbidge, dirt roads parallel the river
north of the town. Jarbidge is more easily accessible from Idaho.
Extent: Minor amounts of placer gold have been recovered from gravels
along the Jarbidge River, especially north of the town of Jarbidge (T.
46 N., R. 58 E.). Residual soils adjacent to lode mines on the west side
of the Jarbidge Mountains between Snowslide Gulch (sec. 3, T. 45 N.,
R. 58 E.) and Jack Gulch (sec. 4, T. 46 N., R. 58 E.) have yielded
placer gold. The gold in the placers is very fine grained and has not
formed economic concentrations—some reports state that it is so fine it
floats away in water.
Production history: Placer production from the Jarbidge district has been
very small, primarily because of the very fine size of the gold and diffi
culties in its recovery.
Source: The ore deposits of the Jarbidge district are gold-silver fissures
and veins in Tertiary volcanic rocks, the probable source of the placer
deposits.
Literature:
Buckley, 1911: Distribution, size, and shape of placer gold in the Jar
bidge River; distribution of residual gold in soils; sketch map shows
location of mines and placer claims.
Schrader, 1912: Notes absence of workable placer deposits; discusses
distribution of fine gold in stream gravels; prospecting activity in
1910; number of colors of fine gold per pan; indicates areas where
economic concentrations of gold might be found.
1923: Notes presence of small placer gold deposits along Jar
bidge River and East Fork; reasons for sparsity of placer deposits.
19. ISLAND MOUNTAIN (GOLD CREEK) DISTRICT
Location: Alluvial basin north of Island Mountain in the unnamed moun
tains between the Owyhee River and the Bruneau River, T. 44 N., Rs.
55 and 56 E.
Topographic map: Mount Velma 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Coash, 1967, Geologic map of the Mount Velma quad
rangle, Elko County, Nevada, (pl. 1), scale 1:62,500.
Access: From Elko, 66 miles north on State Highways 11 and 43 to the
Wild Horse Reservoir; from there, a dirt road leads east paralleling
Penrod Creek for about 4 miles to Island Mountain and vicinity.
Extent: Placers occur in the alluvial basin on the north side of Island
Mountain (N/4 sec. 18, T. 44 N., R. 56 E.), and along Gold Creek,
Hammond Canyon, and Coleman Canyon, which drain south into the
basin (NW. T. 44 N., Rs. 55 and 56 E.). Most of the placer mining was
in the shallow gravels of the alluvial basin, which extends about 1%

miles east-west and 1 mile north-south. The gravels were worked to an
average depth of 7 feet, and much coarse gold, including nuggets valued
at $50, was recovered.
Production history: The Island Mountain placers were discovered in 1873
by Emanuel Penrod, C. Rouselle, and W. Newton. Penrod and a few
other miners worked the gravels by primitive methods for about 20
years before others became interested in the area. Penrod's claims occu
pied most of the alluvial basin. The early production is estimated at
about $800,000, and those who worked the area reportedly recovered in
gold as much as $1 per hour of labor on the gravels. Ambitious plans
were made in 1897 to construct a ditch from the Sunflower Reservoir
(built to store water for placer mining) to the placer deposits; but the
ditch was not completed, and the boom placer-mining days of Island
Mountain ended.
Placer mining was sporadic during the 20th century until 1934, when
small-scale placer mining again became common. This activity lasted
until the late 1950’s.
Source: The placer gold is thought to have been derived from small vein
and replacement lode-gold deposits in pre-Cenozoic rocks north of the
alluvial basin and to have been transported south along Gold Creek and
the creeks in Hammond Canyon and Coleman Canyon. The replace
ment deposits are associated with a small intrusive of probable Cre
taceous age that is situated between Hammond Canyon and Coleman
Canyon. The placer gold may have been derived from this area. Coash
(1967, p. 19) states that much of the material in the placer gravels is
similar to older prevolcanic gravels, and that the placer gravels, though
postvolcanic (late Tertiary), may have been partly derived from re
working of the prevolcanic (early Tertiary) gravels.
Literature:
Burchard, 1883: Placer-mining operations; production in 1882.
Coash, 1967: Source and age of placer gravels; history and early pro
duction.
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1896a: Placer-mining developments
by Gold Creek Mining Co.; high value of placer ground; average
value.
1897b: Test pit on Gold Creek near the mouth of Hope Gulch
yielded $7.35 in gold from 5 cubic yards of gravel.
1897c: Reports failure of Gold Creek Mining Co. to pay em
ployees and states amount of attachments placed on the property.
1898: Discusses reasons for failure of Gold Creek Mining Co.;
reports resale of the property.
ELKO COUNTY 19
Lincoln, 1923: History.

Murbarger, 1957: Early history of discovery, production, and mining
at Island Mountain.
Paher, 1970: History of the development of Gold Creek (Island Moun
tain); photographs of town, miners, and hydraulic mining.
Smith and Vanderburg, 1932: History of early placer-mining opera
tions; early production per day per man; problems in placer mining;
(name of placer creek erroneously given as Gold Run Creek instead of
Gold Creek).
Vanderburg, 1936a: Early history; placer-mining operations during the
period 1934–35; distribution of gold in gravels; size of gold recovered;
Source.
Whitehill [1875]: History of placer discovery and early operations; pro

duction.
20. TUSCARORA DISTRICT
Location: Southeast slope of Mount Blitzen in the Tuscarora Range, Tps.

39 and 40N., R.51 E.
Topographic maps: Tuscarora and Mount Blitzen 15-minute quadrangles.
Geologic maps:
Nolan, 1936, Sketch map of Tuscarora mining district, Elko County,
Nevada (pl. 1), scale 134 in.-2,000 feet.
Access: From Elko, 45 miles northwest on State Highway 11 to junction
with State Highway 18; from there, it is 10 miles west to Tuscarora on
State Highway 18.
Extent: The placers in the Tuscarora district are largely confined to the
low hills southwest of Tuscarora and north of McCann Creek (secs. 3
and 4, 9 and 10, T. 39 N., R. 51 E., Tuscarora quadrangle). Both hill
side and gulch gravels were placered to depths of 4–10 feet. Other
placers were worked on the south side of Beard Hill (sec. 7, T. 39 N.,
R. 51 E., Mount Blitzen quadrangle).
Production history: The Tuscarora placers were discovered in 1867 by the
Beard brothers, Mr. McCan (sic), and Mr. Heath, prospectors from
Austin. They found gold in small quantities for 3 miles along McCann
Creek. News of the discovery reached Austin, and soon an influx of
miners led to the discovery of placers and lodes in the hills north of the
creek. Nuggets weighing 1 ounce were commonly found in the shallow
gravel. Most of the early work was done by sluicing; to aid these opera
tions, ditches were built to carry water 3–6 miles to the placers. The
placer ground was turned over to Chinese miners in 1869, when the
American miners began work on the silver mines to the north at Tus
carora. The Chinese placer miners reportedly recovered $2 to $15 per
day per man. Early estimates of placer production stated that the placers |
yielded gold valued at about $7 million, but Nolan (1936b, p. 14),
after studying production records, concluded that placer production did ||
not exceed $700,000.
The placers have been worked only sporadically during the 20th
century. The largest recovery was in 1902, 1905, and 1909; in other
years, very small amounts of gold were recovered. The operation in
1909 was hydraulic mining by the Nevada Hydraulic Mining and Mill
ing Co., which owned 480 acres of placer ground where the gravels
ranged in depth from 4 to 15 feet. The value of the gravels was said to
range from $1 to $3.50 per cubic yard, but the small amount of gold re
covered indicates that the operation was not a financial success.
Source: The gold in the placers was derived from the small gold veins and |
stringers in bedded volcanic rocks in the area southwest of Tuscarora.
The age of mineraliaztion is 38 m.y. (late Eocene or early Oligocene).
The lode-gold deposits are confined to this area, as are the placers. Parts
of the hillside gravels may have been residual concentrations of gold, as
reports of the Nevada Hydraulic Mining and Milling Co. indicate that a
gold ledge was found below placer gravels. The U.S. Geological Survey
began (1970) studying this area in detail.
Literature:
Browne, 1868: Discovery history; early placer-mining operations; pro
duction; distribution of gold.
Emmons, 1910: History; production; distribution of gold; size of gold;
early placer-mining operations.
Martin, 1931: Production estimates; early history of placer discovery
and mining.
Mining World, 1907b: Plans of Nevada Hydraulic Mining and Milling
Co. to work placer ground; acres owned; depth of gravel; average
value of gravel.
Nolan, 1936b: History; early production estimates (revises Emmons,
1910 estimate); locates placer claims; placer-mining operations in
1932; source of placer gold in that operation; source of placer gold
in old placer operations.
Roberts and others, 1971: Age of mineralization in district.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Early history and production; extent of placered
area; names richest gulches; depth of gravel; size of gold particles;
size of largest nugget found; source; placer-mining operations during
the period 1931–35; indicates potential dredging ground based on
report by Emmons (1910).
Whitehill [1873]: Placer mining during the period 1869–72; number of
miners; average yield per day per man.
ELKO COUNTY 21
21. WAN DUZER DISTRICT
Location: On the southwest side of the Owyhee River, south of Mountain

City at the eastern edge of the Bull Run Mountains, Tps. 44 and 45 N.,
Rs. 53 and 54 E.
Topographic maps: All 15-minute quadrangles—Mountain City, Owyhee,
Wild Horse.
Geologic maps:
Coats, 1968b, Preliminary geologic map of the Owyhee quadrangle, scale
1:31,680.
Access: From Elko, 81 miles north on State Highway 43 to Van Duzer
Creek (6 miles south of Mountain City). Placers are along the creek,
southwest of the Owyhee River.
Extent: Van Duzer Creek drains the low hills west of the Owyhee River
for a distance of about 8–9 miles. Most placer-mining activity was con
centrated in the upper reaches of the creek where the channel is nar
row (secs. 32 and 34, T. 45 N., R. 53 E., Owyhee quadrangle). The
gravel is generally less than 15 feet deep and consists of fine-sized
granules and subangular and rounded pebbles. The gold varies from fine
dust to nuggets weighing 5 or 6 ounces.
Production history: The Van Duzer placers were discovered in 1893 by
Rutley M. Woodward, who worked the gravels by sluicing and hy
draulic methods, reportedly recovering $50,000 in placer gold in the
first years following discovery. The placers have been worked sporadi
cally in the 20th century, generally with good returns.
In 1941 the Morrison-Knudsen Co. dredged the placer area from a
point 1% miles north of the junction with Cobb Creek (NE/4 sec. 32,
T. 45 N., R. 53 E.) downstream about 1% miles to farmland (SE/4
sec. 34, T. 45 N., R. 53 E.), recovering 2,128 ounces of gold. Subse
quent operations by different companies in 1948 and 1949 on Van
Duzer Creek and Cobb Creek recovered gold averaging 33 cents per
cubic yard in 1948 and 70 cents per cubic yard in 1949. Most of the
production credited to the “Mountain City or Cope” district by the
U.S. Bureau of Mines was recovered from the Van Duzer Creek placers.
Source: The source of the placer gold in Van Duzer Creek is not well
known. Small gold veins distributed throughout the Ordovician Valmy
Formation probably are the source of the placer gold.
Literature:
Decker, 1962: States that placer gold deposits in Trail Creek and Van
Duzer Creek (north of the Bull Run quadrangle) appear to be spa
tially related to an exposed thrust surface.
Emmons, 1910: Location; extent of placer; width and depth of placer

channel; size of placer gold; source.
Lincoln, 1923: Location; history; geology.
Smith, 1932: History; early production; placer-mining operations in
1932.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Early production; size and fineness of placer gold;
source; placer mining in 1932.
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1941: Dredge operation on Van Duzer Creek
described.
1948: Placer operation on Van Duzer Creek; cubic yards mined;
amount of gold recovered.
1949: Placer operation at Estella Claim; cubic yards mined;
amount of gold recovered.
OTHER DISTRICTS
22. ALDER (TENNESSEE GULCH) DISTRICT
Before 1900 placer deposits were worked along Gold Run Creek and
Tennessee Gulch (T. 45 N., R. 56 E.) in the hills north of Island Moun
tain on the east side of Meadow Creek. No record of placer production
exists.
Literature:
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1897a: Reports placer claims ad
jacent to Sunset group of lode claims in Tennessee Gulch.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Notes past placer-mining activity in Gold Run
Creek.
23. GOLD BASIN (ROWLAND) DISTRICT
Placers were worked before 1900 and in 1931 along the north fork of
the Bruneau River in the vicinity of Rowland (T. 47 N., R. 56 E.), but no
production has been recorded from the area.
Literature:
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1893: Reports discovery of placers
along Bruneau River.
Paher, 1970: States placer gold discovered on Bruneau River in 1869.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Reports small placer-mining activity in 1931;
gravels valued at less than $1 per cubic yard.
ESMERALDA COUNTY
24. LIDA DISTRICT (TULE CANYON PLACERS)

Location: Along Tule Canyon, between Magruder Mountain and the
northeast flank of the Sylvania Mountains, Tps. 6 and 7 S., Rs. 39 and
40 E.
Topographic map: Magruder Mountain 15-minute quadrangle.
ESMERALDA COUNTY 23
Geologic map: McKee, 1968, Geologic map of the Magruder Mountain

area, Nevada-California (pl. 1), scale 1:62,500.
Access: From Tonopah, 34 miles south on U.S. Highway 95 to Lida Junc
tion; from there, 19 miles west to Lida on State Highway 3. About 5
miles west of Lida a dirt road branches off Highway 3 and leads south
to Tule Canyon, which is paralleled by another dirt road.
Extent: Placer deposits occur along Tule Canyon and in some side gulches
for an undetermined distance along the upper 4 miles of the canyon.
Tule Canyon heads at the east side of an alluvial basin near Walker
Springs and trends eastward between Magruder Mountain and the
Sylvania Mountains to the alluvial valley at the east flank of the moun
tains, where it turns and drains south to Death Valley. Placers were
worked in the alluvial basin near the head of the canyon (sec. 36, T.
6 S., R. 39 E.) and at other points along the eastward part of the wash.
The alluvium along Tule Canyon is about 12–18 feet thick and is com
posed of sand, gravel, and medium-sized boulders in the upper part of
the canyon; angular detritus containing large boulders are found in the
lower part of the canyon.
Gold is concentrated along bedrock and within the overlying 6 feet
of gravels above bedrock. The gold recovered at the Los Angeles Rock
and Gravel Co. claims is coarse and rounded; gold recovered at the Ray
White placer claims is coarse, angular, and attached to quartz.
Production history: The Tule Canyon placers are reported to have been
discovered in 1876, but there is evidence of work by Mexicans before
1848. Early in the history of the district, the area was mined ex
tensively by Chinese placer miners, who recovered large amounts of
gold—estimated by some writers at more than $1 million. No real evi
dence exists to support this claim of high gold recoveries. During the
20th century, the placers have been worked continuously, although on a
small scale. The operations of the Los Angeles Rock and Gravel Co.
(1933–36) and those of E. E. Layton at the Ray White claims (1935)
were two attempts at mining the gravels on a larger scale than usual in
the district. The Los Angeles Rock and Gravel Co. worked an area 2
miles in extent along the upper part of the canyon, and E. E. Layton
worked an area 1 mile in extent about 1% miles below their operation.
These operations recovered about 1,200 ounces of placer gold from 1933
to 1936. After cessation of these mechanized operations, placer mining
was continued by individuals using drywashers or sluices utilizing water
from the small springs in the area.
Source: The presumed source of the placer gold is gold ores in the Jurassic
granites that form the Sylvania Mountains. Details of the gold oc
Currence are unknown.
Literature:
Stuart, 1909: Production estimate for Tule Canyon placers.
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1935: Amount of gravel placered, in cubic
yards; production.
Vanderburg, 1936a: History; location and extent of placers; placer
mining operations in 1930's; depth of gravel; placer-mining tech
niques; size of gravel material; size and fineness of gold; value of
large nugget found; average value of gravel in lower Tule Canyon;
Source.
Whitehill [1875]: Placer-mining activity; size of nuggets (chispas)

recovered.
25. SYLVANIA DISTRICT (PALMETTO WASH, PIGEON

SPRINGS PLACERS)
Location: In the northwest end of the Sylvania Mountains between Lead
ville Canyon and Palmetto Wash, T. 6 S., R. 39 E.
Topographic map: Magruder Mountain 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: McKee, 1968, Geologic map of the Magruder Mountain
area, Nevada-California (pl. 1), scale 1:62,500.
Access: From Tonopah, 34 miles south on U.S. Highway 95 to Lida Junc
tion; from there, 19 miles west to Lida on State Highway 3. The placer
area is about 9 miles west of Lida on State Highway 3 in Palmetto
Wash and in tributary washes reached by a dirt road leading south from
the highway.
Extent: Small placer deposits occur on the east slope of the northwest end
of the Sylvania Mountains in Leadville Canyon (sec. 20, T. 6 S., R. 39
E.) and in an unnamed major tributary to Palmetto Wash, near Pigeon
Spring (secs. 16 and 17, T. 6 S., R. 39 E.).
Production history: The placers in the Sylvania district were reportedly
discovered in 1866 and 1869 (Palmetto Wash placers). The gold found
in Palmetto Wash contained large amounts of silver and was worth at
that time only $13.50 per ounce. Activity in the area has been on a
very small scale and intermittent.
Source: The placer gold probably comes from veins in Jurassic granites
along the crest of the Sylvania Mountains. Silver and lead have been
produced from these veins.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1936a: Virtually repeats Smith and Valderburg (1932).

Brief note of placer occurrence in area called Pigeon Springs; methods
of mining; year of greatest mining activity; placer-mining activity
during the period 1929–30.
White, 1871: Discovery and location of Palmetto placers; size and fine
ness of placer gold.
ESMERALDA COUNTY 25
OTHER DISTRICTS
26. DESERT (GILBERT) DISTRICT
A small amount of placer gold was recovered in 1935 and 1938 from this
district, on the inner north slope of the Monte Cristo Range, a crescentic
range in northern Esmeralda County (T. 4 N., R. 38 E., unsurveyed).
The production in 1938 was recovered from the Gold Ridge claim. The
placer gold was probably derived from late Tertiary gold veins in and
near stocks of the Oddie Rhyolite.
Literature:
Ferguson, 1927: Describes lode mines.

Ferguson and others, 1953.
27. GOLDFIELD DISTRICT
Placer gold production was credited to the district for many years during
the period 1909–49, but I have found no description of any placer deposit
in this famous lode-gold mining district. The gold, which is very fine, oc
curs in late Tertiary veins that are generally not exposed at the surface.
Placer gold was recovered in 1931 from erosional material from the Com
bination Fraction claims (sec. 1, T. 3 S., R. 42 E.). Some gold credited
to placer production may have been recovered from mill tailings, which
were extensively reworked.
It is also possible that placer gold production credited to the Goldfield
district originated in outlying areas and was sold in, and therefore at
tributed to, Goldfield. One probable source for the placer gold is the Klon
dyke district (12 miles north of Goldfield). Placer deposits are reported
for this district, but no production has been credited to it.
Literature:
Albers and Stewart, 1972.
28. GOLD MOUNTAIN (TOKOP) DISTRICT
This district, also known as the Oriental Wash district, covers a large
area in southern Esmeralda County between Slate Ridge and Gold Moun
tain. (Tps. 7 and 8 S., Rs. 40 and 41 E., unsurveyed). The area has been
prospected since 1866 and contains some high-grade gold veins such as
that at the Oriental mine, discovered in 1871. The location of the small
placer gold deposits reported by Vanderburg is unknown.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1936a.
29. HORNSILVER DISTRICT
This district, formerly known as the Lime Point district, is in the area
now called Gold Point (T. 7 S., R. 41 E.) on the south side of Lida Val
ley in southern Esmeralda County. Placers were discovered in 1946 and
|
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sampled in 1950 by a 45-foot shaft. Values reportedly increased in depth
from $10.50 at the surface to $18.50 at the bottom of the shaft (Engineer
ing and Mining Journal, 1950). However, no placer gold is known to
have been recovered in 1950. In 1956, 16 ounces was produced from un
located deposits, and none has been produced, or reported, since.
Literature:
Ransome, 1909a: Describes lode mines.
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1950: Reports developments in sam
pling activity by Goldpoint Mining Co.; gives results of sampling.
30. KLONDYKE DISTRICT
Although no placer gold production has been credited to this district,

which is 12 miles north of Goldfield in T. 1 N., R. 42 E., a few reports in
dicate placer-mining activity on a small scale since the 1870's. A nugget
valued at $1,200 was reported found. (See Goldfield district.)
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1936a.
EUREKA COUNTY
31. LYNN DISTRICT
Location: Along Lynn, Sheep, and Rodeo Creeks in the southern Tusca
rora Mountains, T. 35 N., Rs. 50 and 51 E.
Topographic map: Rodeo Creek NE 7%-minute quadrangle (prelimi
nary).
Geologic maps: Roberts, Montgomery, and Lehner, 1967, Geologic map of
Eureka County, Nevada (pl. 3), scale 1:250,000; Map of part of the
Lynn mining district, Eureka County, Nevada (pl. 7), scale 1 in.=200
feet.
Access: From Carlin, 20 miles northwest on light-duty road through the
Maggie Creek Canyon, to Lynn Creek on the east slope of the Tusca
rora Mountains.
Extent: Placers are found near the headwaters of Lynn, Sheep, and Rodeo
Creeks on the summit of a low divide in the southern Tuscorora Moun
tains adjacent to the north end of Carlin gold mine. Most of the placers
are concentrated on and near the crest of the divide (EW, sec. 11 and
WVA sec. 12, T. 35 N., R. 50 E.) in streambed and hillside gravels.
Lynn Creek was placered from near the headwaters downstream to the
head of the dissected alluvial fan at the eastern edge of the mountain
front (sec. 12, T. 35 N., R. 50 E.; sec. 18, T. 35 N, R. 51 E.). The
gravels along this part of the creek have an average width of about 25
feet and a thickness of 10–28 feet; most of the placer gold was concen
trated in the 4 feet of gravel immediately overlying bedrock. The hill
sides on the south side of Lynn Creek, especially near the headwaters,
EUREKA COUNTY 27
were also placered; here, the gravels in one placer were 3–5 feet thick,
and the gold was concentrated in the 1–1% feet of gravel overlying
bedrock.
Sheep Creek heads on the low divide a few hundred feet southwest of
Lynn Creek and flows south and then west, into the Carlin mine tailings
pond. The placers were concentrated in that part of the creekbed that
trends south for a distance of about 2,500 feet (SE% sec. 11, T. 35 N.,
R. 50 E.). The gravels in this area occupy a channel 25–40 feet wide
and about 8 feet deep; the gold is concentrated in the lowermost 1%–4
feet above bedrock.
Rodeo Creek drains northwest on the opposite side of the divide; the
placers here were apparently concentrated in a small area near the upper
reaches of the stream (NW/4 sec. 11, T. 35 N., R. 50 E.).
Production history: The placers in the Lynn district were discovered in
1907 by Joe Lynn; placer mining has been almost continual since that
time and has yielded a few tens to hundreds of ounces of gold per year.
The gold recovered from the Lynn district placers is exceedingly fine
(average 920–960). Most of the placer mining was done by hand
methods and small concentrating machines. Most of the placer areas
along the upper reaches of the streams and adjacent hillsides that
yielded as much as $1.50 to $8.00 per cubic yard have been thoroughly
worked over, but the Southern Pacific Company (1964) reports an
area of potential placer ground in the lower part of Lynn Creek (Ny;
sec. 17, T. 35 N., R. 50 E.) along a dissected alluvial fan. The com
pany estimates reserves exceeding 1 million cubic yards, some of which
carries 22 cents per cubic yard in placer gold.
Source: The placer gold in the Lynn district is derived from small aurif
erous quartz veins and stringers in chert of the Ordovician Vinini For
mation that, in the Lynn area, contains shales and quartzites. Most of
the placer-mining activity occurred in the upper reaches of stream
channels that drain the mineralized chert. Only along Lynn Creek is
gold found for an appreciable distance away from the bedrock source at
the head of the creek.
The occurrence of gold in lodes and placers in the Lynn district con
trasts with the finely disseminated gold in the carbonate rocks of the
Silurian Roberts Mountains Formation about a mile south of the Lynn
district at the Carlin gold mine. The Roberts Mountains thrust lies be
tween the Carlin deposit and the placers of Sheep and Simon Creeks.
The closeness of the Lynn and Carlin deposits suggests that the two ore
bodies may be related despite their occurrence in such different host
rocks. Current investigations by the U.S. Geological Survey on these
ores may shed light on possible genetic relations of the two deposits.
474-407—72–3
Literature:
Emmons, 1910: Production from Hilltop placer claim; notes presence of
placer gold in several gulches.
Koschmann and Bergendahl, 1968: Production.
Lincoln, 1923: Location, brief history, and extent of placers.
Roberts and others, 1967: Location and extent of placers; sketch map
locates placers; width and depth of placer channel in Lynn Creek;
width and depth of placer channel in Sheep Creek; source of placer
gold.
Smith and Vanderburg, 1932: History; production estimates; accessory
minerals; extent of placers; detailed description of placer-mining
operations in Sheep and Lynn Creeks in 1932; depth and width of
placer channel at Bulldog placer on Lynn Creek; thickness of pay
streak; average gold content of gravel.
Southern Pacific Company, 1964: Locates potential placer ground in
lower Lynn Creek; average per cubic yard; estimate of gravel reserves.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Detailed descriptions of placer-mining operations
in 1935; location of placer operations; extent of placer ground that
has been worked; size of nuggets recovered from Lynn Creek; placer
extent on hillsides.
1938a: Placer discovery; names placer creeks; distribution of
gold in gravels; size and fineness of placer gold.
OTHER DISTRICTS
32. EUREKA DISTRICT
A small amount of placer gold was recovered from bench gravel at the
north end of the town of Eureka (T. 19 N., R. 53 E) in 1937. The dis
trict is predominantly a silver district and probably does not contain ap
preciable amounts of placer gold. Production of 411 ounces of placer gold
erroneously attributed to the Eureka district for 1941 was shown by the
U.S. Bureau of Mines to have been actually recovered from the Lynn
district.
Literature:
Nolan, 1962.
33. MAGGIE CREEK DISTRICT
Placers were reportedly worked near the headwaters of Maggie Creek
(TPs. 35 and 36 N., R. 51 E.) between the Tuscarora Mountains and In
dependence Mountains. Maggie Creek receives drainage from Lynn Creek,
a Productive gold-bearing creek in the Tuscarora Mountains. No record of
placer gold production has been found for the Maggie Creek district.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1936a: States that Placers were worked on Maggie Creek.
HUMBOLDT COUNTY 29
HUMBOLDT COUNTY
34. SAWTOOTH DISTRICT
Location: Northwest end of the Antelope Range, Tps. 34 and 35 N., Rs.
30 and 31 E. (unsurveyed).
Topographic map: Lovelock 2-degree sheet, Army Map Service.
Geologic maps:
Willden, 1964, Geologic map of Humboldt County, Nevada (pl. 1),
scale 1:250,000.
Tatlock, 1969, Geologic map of Pershing County, Nevada, scale 1:200,
000.
Access: From Lovelock, 37 miles north on Interstate 80 to Imlay; from
there, a light-duty road leads 28 miles northwest to Sawtooth Knob and
placer area at the Humboldt County-Pershing County border.
Extent: The placer deposits in the Sawtooth district are in a nearly level
area of approximately 6 square miles near the west side of Sawtooth
Knob, a small prominence at the northern end of the Antelope Range.
The gold is found in gravels composed of angular pebbles and few
boulders. The gravels rest on a false bedrock of clay at depths of 8
inches to 2 feet; the clay in the gravels is said to be considerable and
must be dried before drywashing the gravels. The gold recovered was
coarse and rough and said to be 880 fine.
Production history: The placers were discovered in 1931 and were worked
continually, although largely on a small scale, until 1942 and intermit
tently since that time. Some of the placer miners reportedly recovered
$35 per day for short periods of time, but most of the miners were not
so successful. Because there is little water in the area available for
placer mining, dry concentration methods are used to recover the gold.
Various attempts at large-scale placer mining were not successful.
Most of the production (810 oz.) was attributed to Humboldt County,
where the major area of placer concentration is located, only 131
ounces of the total production being attributed to Pershing County.
Placer production credited to the Sulphur district (located 6 miles
west of Sawtooth Knob and noted for sulfur deposits) is included here
in the Sawtooth district.
Source: Unknown.
Literature:
Smith and Vanderburg, 1932: Discovery of placer gold; placer-mining

activity and production per day in 1931; character of placer gravel;
distribution of gold in gravels; thickness of gravels; values recovered
per cubic yard in 1932 from drywash operation; size of nuggets re
covered.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Discovery and resulting placer-mining operations

in 1931; extent of placer area; distribution of gold in gravels; size

and fineness of gold; operations of Oregon-Nevada Mining Co.
1936b: Discovery of placer gold; placer-mining operations; pro
duction; distribution of gold in gravels; size and fineness of placer
gold.
1938b: Discovery; production per day per man; extent of
placer area; distribution of gold in gravel; size and fineness of placer
gold.
35. DUTCH FLAT DISTRICT
Location: West flank of the Hot Springs Range, on the east side of Para
dise Valley, T. 38 N., R. 40 E.
Topographic maps: Bliss and Osgood 15-minute quadrangles.
Geologic map: Hotz and Willden, 1964, Geologic map and sections of
the Osgood Mountains quadrangle, Humboldt County, Nevada (pl. 1),
scale 1:62,500.
Access: From Winnemucca, about 13 miles north on U.S. Highway 95
to junction with dirt road leading east across Paradise Valley to Sodarisi
Canyon and Dutch Flat placers.
Extent: The placers of the Dutch Flat district occur in a small area
about 1 mile from east to west and 2,000 feet from north to south,
in the alluvium of Sodarisi Canyon and El Paso Gulch between Hot
Springs Ridge and Belmont Hill, and at the head of the alluvial fan
at the mouth of Sodarisi Canyon (sec. 17, T. 38 N., R. 40 E.). The
placer deposits contain gold, scheelite, and cinnabar in economic quan
tities and occur in stream deposits along the gulches and in the alluvial
fan, and in slope wash as high as 50 feet above the sides of the gulches.
The stream deposits are 10–35 feet thick along the gulches; the slope
wash deposits are 5–25 feet thick. The alluvial-fan gravels are known
to be at least 90 feet thick in some placers. The size, and possibly the
concentration, of the various minerals change with distance from the
source in the upstream end of the gulches. Assays based on the price
of the metals in 1954 indicate an average value of $1.50 per yard of
gravel in the lower stream gravels and alluvial fan. Values of placer
gravels in the slope wash run higher, probably owing to the presence
of large nuggets.
Production history: The Dutch Flat placers were discovered in 1893 and
reportedly produced $75,000 in placer gold the first year after dis
covery. Estimates of total production of $100,000–$200,000 before the
1930's have been made, but recorded production figures do not sup
port these estimates. However, it is possible that actual production was
higher than recorded production, for before the 1930's the placer area
was for many years leased to several individuals engaged in small
scale operations who might not have reported the amount of gold
HUMBOLDT COUNTY 31
recovered. Lack of water for placer mining apparently has inhibited

attempts at large-scale mining.
Gold recovered from the Dutch Flat area was frequently credited to
the “Paradise Valley district” by Mineral Resources and Minerals Year
books. The Paradise Valley district proper is on the east side of the
north end of the valley in the Santa Rosa Range, and, although some
placer gold is said to have been recovered from the area, the discus
sions under “Mine descriptions” for most years of production indicate
that the gold originated in the Dutch Flat district.
Source: The gold, scheelite, and cinnabar in the placers were derived
from two, possibly three, different sources. The gold was derived from
erosion of gold- and base-metal-bearing quartz veins that cut a small
granodiorite stock (secs. 16 and 17, T. 38 N., R. 40 E.) of probable
Cretaceous age and the Harmony Formation of Cambrian age; these
veins also contain a few small grains of scheelite. The cinnabar occurs
in fractures and interstices between mineral grains in Harmony sand
stone, and is apparently slightly younger than the gold veins. Willden
and Hotz (1955, p. 665) think that contact metamorphic deposits
may be present in the district and may have contributed the scheelite
(and accessory garnet) found in the placers.
Literature:
Hotz and Willden, 1964: Summarizes earlier report (1955) on gold
scheelite-cinnabar placer; adds detailed information about lode de
posits that were source of placers.
Vanderburg, 1936a: History of placer mining in area; estimates of
early production; methods of placer mining; extent and depth of
placer gravels; size of large nugget; average fineness of gold.
1938b: History; early production; average depth and value of
gold-bearing gravel; placer operations in 1904; distribution, size,
and fineness of placer gold.
Willden, 1964: Describes error in location of Paradise Valley district
by earlier writers.
Willden and Hotz, 1955: Detailed description of three metals in placer
deposits; extent of placer area, values of metals in placers; source
of metals; variation in size of metals with distance from source.
36. GOLD RUN (ADELAIDE) DISTRICT
Location: East slope of the Sonoma Range, on the west side of the
Pumpernickel Valley, T. 34 N., R. 40 E.
Topographic maps: Edna Mountain and Winnemucca 15-minute quad
rangles; Gold Run 7%-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Gilluly, 1967, Geologic map of the Winnemucca quad
rangle, Pershing and Humboldt Counties, Nevada, scale 1:62,500.
Access: From Winnemucca, about 16 miles east on Interstate 80 to light
duty road south of Golconda; from there, it is 10 miles south to

placers in Gold Run Creek.
Extent: The placers of the Gold Run district are in the upper part of
Gold Run Creek, just east of the town of Adelaide, in a basin com
posed of older fan gravels and recent alluvium (secs. 17 and 20, T. 34
N., R. 40 E.). The gravels in this area are about 10–14 feet thick,
but gravels along lower Gold Run Creek are apparently as thick as
60 feet.
Production history: The Gold Run placers were reportedly discovered in
1886; early production is unknown. The placers were worked on a
small scale throughout the 20th century, but except for the years
1903–04, when more than 1,000 ounces was recovered, total recorded
yearly production has been small.
Source: The placer gold was probably derived by erosion of gold veins
in the near vicinity of the placers. Such veins are exposed at the Crown
mine, where gold and silver occur along a mineralized fault zone 10–
80 feet wide between Cambrian and Ordovician shales and quartzites.
Literature:
Koschmann and Bergendahl, 1968: Placer production from Gold Run
Creek.
Mining World, 1911: Reports plans to develop Gold Run placers; dis
tribution of gold in gravels; thickness of gravels.
Southern Pacific Company, 1964: Locates area of potential placer
ground along lower Gold Run Creek.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Early placer-mining activity; placer-mining opera
tions at the Ontario-Nevada Mines Inc. property in 1935. Depth of
gravel.
1938b: History; production.
37. REBEL CREEK AND NATIONAL DISTRICTS
Location: West flank of the Santa Rosa Range between Santa Rosa Peak
and Buckskin Mountain, Tps. 43 and 45 N., Rs. 38 and 39 E.
Topographic maps: Hinkey Summit and McDermitt 15-minute quad
rangles.
Geologic map: Willden, 1964, Geologic map of Humboldt County,
Nevada (pl. 1), scale 1:250,000.
Access: From Winnemucca, 49 miles north on U.S. Highway 95 to dirt
road leading to Rebel Creek Ranch. Other roads parallel the main
highway along the range front for 14 miles north to Canyon Creek.
Extent: Placers occur in several of the creeks that drain the west flank
of the Santa Rosa Range on the east side of the Quinn River Valley.
The creeks reported to contain placer gold are (from south to north)
the Rebel, Willow, Pole, and Canyon. Most of the placer-mining ac
HUMBOLDT COUNTY 33
tivity was concentrated along Willow Creek (T. 44 N., R. 38 E.), which
was worked as early as the 1870's by Chinese miners, who reportedly
washed much coarse gold from 6 miles of the canyon. American miners
turned the placer ground over to the Chinese miners because of the
great depth of bedrock and the lack of drainage in the flat country
side. No descriptions of the exact location of the placers have been
found.
Production history: Recorded placer production, which amounts to only
a few ounces, has been credited to districts called Rebel Creek, Na
tional, and Quinn River. The gold credited to the National district
was probably recovered from Canyon Creek (T. 45 N., R. 39 E.), as
no placer gold is known to occur in creeks that drain the immediate
vicinity of the National district (T. 46 N., R. 39 E.). The early pro
duction is unknown.
Source: The gold was probably derived from numerous minor gold
silver-copper-lead deposits of Late Cretaceous or early Tertiary age that
are widely distributed throughout the range, or from the less abundant
but richer gold-silver deposits of late Tertiary age that formed the
ores in the Buckskin and National districts.
Literature:
Burchard, 1884: Reports placer mining in 1883.
Compton, in Willden, 1964, p. 122–127: Describes lode deposits in
vicinity of placers.
Lindgren, 1915: States that no placers were found in vicinity of Na
tional district mines.
Paher, 1970: Placer-mining history in Rebel and Willow Creeks.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Names placer gulches; brief history of mining.
38. VARYVILLE DISTRICT (LEONARD CREEK PLACERS)
Location: On the west side of Leonard Creek Valley at the south end of
the Pine Forest Range, north of the Black Rock Desert, T. 42 N., Rs.
28 and 29 E.
Topographic map: Duffer Peak 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic maps:
Willden, 1964, Geologic map of Humboldt County, Nevada (pl. 1),
scale 1:250,000.
Smith, 1972, Geologic map of the Duffer Peak quadrangle, Humboldt
County, Nevada, scale 1:48,000.
Access: From Winnemucca, 33 miles north on U.S. Highway 95 to junc
tion with State Highway 140; from there, 40 miles west on State
Highway 140 to junction with dirt road leading 20 miles southwest
to Leonard Creek Ranch. Dirt roads lead north into mountains and
placer area.
Extent: Small placer deposits have been worked in gravels of various

tributaries of Leonard Creek and in the gravels along the lower part
of the creek, particularly in the area on the west side of the creek be
tween Snow Creek on the north and the Pine Forest Range. But some
men worked the gravels of Teepee Creek, a tributary on the east side
of Leonard Creek. Most of the activity was concentrated in the vicinity
of New York Canyon and the slopes and valley bottom of Leonard
Creek (secs. 11, 14, and 23–25, T. 42 N., R. 28 E.).
Production history: Production from the Leonard Creek placers, which
were discovered in 1914, has been small. Descriptions of the gravels
and estimates of average value of gold per cubic yard seem to indicate
that production was much lower than expected, or that actual pro
duction was rarely reported. Considerable attention was given in the
late 1940's to placer gravels higher on the slopes of the Pine Forest
Range than those worked near Leonard Creek; no production is known
from the operations of the Eureka Hamburg Mining Co., which ex
pended much effort in developing a placer area along the upper part
of New York Canyon in a tributary locally called Fish Gulch. (secs.
13 and 14, T. 42 N., R. 28 E.).
Source: Unknown.
Literature:
Clark, 1947: Describes pilot plant for placer-mining gravels in Fish
Gulch, tributary to New York Canyon; discusses topography of area
where gold-bearing gravels are found; future plans of Eureka Ham
burg Mining Co.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Repeats Smith and Vanderburg (1932). Brief
history; placer-mining developments in 1931; average depth of gravel
and average value of gravels; placer-mining activity in 1932.
1938b: History; production; placer-mining operations in 1937;
width and depth of gold-bearing gravel channel; values per cubic
yards; size and fineness of placer gold.
OTHER DISTRICTS
39. AWAKENING DISTRICT
The Awakening district, also known as the Amos district, is in the

Slumbering Hills (Tps. 39 and 40 N., Rs. 35 and 36 E.) between Silver
State Valley and Desert Valley. Placer gold was recovered from stream
gravels along Teepee Creek in the Slumbering Hills in 1914. The Creek
is not shown on the maps of the area but is probably on the east side of
the hills that were the locale of prospecting activity at that time. One
ounce of placer gold was recovered in 1937.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1938b.
HUMBOLDT COUNTY 35
40. DUNNASHEE DISTRICT
The Dunnashee (or Donna Schee) placer area is on the east flank
of the southern Jackson Mountains at Donna Schee spring (in sec. 25,
T. 37 N., R. 31 E., or sec. 30, T. 37 N., R. 32 E., unsurveyed). Only
a small amount of placer gold was recovered from gravels at the Last
Chance placer mine.
Literature:
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1954.
41. JACKSON CREEK DISTRICT

Placer deposits have been reported in the vicinity of Jackson Creek,
a west-trending creek that drains part of the northern Jackson Moun
tains north of King Lear Peak. Iron mines occur near the headwaters
of the creek (T. 40 N., R. 32 E.), but no descriptions of gold lodes or
placers are available.
42. KINGS RIVER (DISASTER) DISTRICT
A few reports mention past placer-mining activity (1914, 1935) along

China and Horse Creeks at the north end of the east side of the Kings
River Valley (Tps. 46 and 47 N., Rs. 33 and 34 E.). Total produc
tion was probably very small.
Literature:
Lincoln, 1923.
Vanderburg, 1936a.
43. POTOSI DISTRICT
A few ounces of placer gold was recovered from stream gravels in the
Potosi district (T. 38 N., R. 42 E.) on the east side of the Osgood Moun
tains. The gold was probably derived from erosion of the rich gold-silver
ores of the Getchell mine and similar veins.
Literature:
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1958.
Willden, 1964.
44. WARM SPRINGS DISTRICT
Placer gold was recovered in 1935 and 1941 from the Warm Springs
district (Tps. 45 and 46 N., Rs. 28 and 29 E.) in the northern Pine Forest
Range. The placer gold was probably derived from, and found near,
the few small gold veins such as those at the Ashdown and Cherry Gulch
mines in this area.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1938b.
45. WINNEMUCCA DISTRICT
This district is a loosely defined district that includes the Blue Moun
tains, Krum Hills, and Winnemucca Mountain, north of the Humboldt
River and south of the Slumbering Hills and Santa Rosa Range. Small
gold-silver–base-metal veins occur over this wide area, and some of these
veins have been worked as small lode mines. Most of the mines are found
at various locations in T. 36 N., Rs. 35–38 E. The small intermittent
production probably resulted from the work of individual miners placering
gravels near some of the veins.
Literature:
Willden, 1964.
LANDER COUNTY
46. BATTLE MOUNTAIN DISTRICT
Location: North, east, and south slopes of Battle Mountain, south of the
Humboldt River and northwest of the Reese River, Tps. 31 and 32
N., Rs. 43 and 44 E.
Topographic map: Antler Peak 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic maps: Roberts and Arnold, 1965, Geologic map of the Antler
Peak quadrangle, Humboldt and Lander Counties, Nevada (pl. 1),
scale 1:62,500; Geologic map of the southeastern part of the Antler
Peak quadrangle, Nevada, showing metamorphic zones and location
of mines (pl. 3), scale 1:31,680; Copper Canyon fan (pl. 19), scale
1:9,600.
Access: State Highway 8a leads southwest from Battle Mountain (town)
on U.S. Highway 40 to mining areas around the flanks of the Battle
Mountain Range; light-duty and dirt roads lead from the main high
way to placer areas.
Extent: Placers occur in many gulches that drain the north, east, and
south slopes of Battle Mountain and in alluvial fans formed at the
range front. The most productive placers are concentrated near two
bedrock areas characterized by high copper-gold-silver metallization
spatially and genetically related to centers of Tertiary intrusions. The
placer area near the south flank of the range is bounded by Copper
Canyon and Galena Canyon and includes placers in these drainages and
in Box, Philadelphia, and Iron Canyons. The second placer area is
in the Copper Basin lode area and includes Long Canyon and its
tributaries, Licking Creek and Vail Canyon. Other placers are found
on the north flank of the range, near small intrusive bodies at Snow
and Piute Gulches, and in Elder Canyon. Some gold was recovered
from Rocky, Willow, and Cottonwood Creeks outside the main placer
area.S.
In general, the gold is found in the lower gravel layers of alluvial

LANDER COUNTY 37
fans, terrace gravels, and valley fill within the range (“older alluvium”
of Quaternary age; Roberts, 1964b). This debris was eroded during an
earlier, comparatively better watered, stage of the erosional cycle that
shaped Battle Mountain.
The placers in the gulches occur in channels along bedrock and in
terrace gravels and slope wash on the sides of the canyons; the main
gold-bearing channels are buried by as much as 40–50 feet of rela
tively barren gravels or soils. Placers on the north side of Philadelphia
Canyon occur in gravels overlain by basalts that are considered to be
of late Tertiary or early Quaternary age.
The placers in the alluvial fan at the mouth of Copper Canyon (the
most productive placer area) occur in lower gravel layers that are
characterized by a higher degree of roundness, sorting, and washing
than the overlying fan gravels, which are relatively unsorted, unwashed,
and barren. Within these lower gravels, the gold occurs in channels,
sheetlike bodies, and lenses having different concentrations in different
horizons. Gold is found throughout most of the lower gravels (as much
as 200 ft thick in the southern part of the fan), but a few gravel lenses
are barren. The high-grade gravels occur in channels at bedrock near
the head of the fan and in discrete lenses erratically distributed in the
lower part of the fan. (See Roberts and Arnold, 1965, for detailed
descriptions of gravel depth and value at individual placers.)
Production history: The lode deposits in the Battle Mountain area have
been worked since 1866, but the placers apparently were not worked
until 1909, when the discovery of rich gold lodes and associated placers
near the mouth of Philadelphia Canyon stimulated a rush to this
area, then called Bannock. Within 5 years, many of the other placers
in the district were discovered and worked. Lack of water and the
great depth of pay gravels were problems frequently encountered in
small-scale mining of the placers. The early work was mainly drifting
and slucing of deep gravels in Copper Canyon and other canyons in the
district. The most productive periods were 1913–22, 1932–39, and
1947–55. Throughout these periods, the placers in Copper Canyon and
in the Copper Canyon fan have been the most continuously worked and
most productive deposits, but production from the other placers has
been considerable. (See Roberts and Arnold 1965, for production data
attributed to the different placers.)
The most productive operation in the district was that by the
Natomas Co. (1947–55), which dredged a triangular area about 3,200
feet long and about 2,800 feet wide at the base, from the mouth of
Copper Canyon down the fan (sec. 33, T. 31 N., R. 43 E.). The com
pany used a dragline dredge to work the upper part of the fan between
1947 and 1948 and a large bucket-line dredge, capable of digging
through 15 feet of gravel at the bottom of an 85-foot-deep pond, to

work the downslope part of the fan between 1949 and 1955. Pro
duction attributed to this operation is partly confidential, but probably
amounts to about 100,000 ounces in total.
Source: The placers in the Battle Mountain district are derived from lode
deposits within the three areas of copper-gold-silver metallization pres
ent in the district. Gold is present in varying amounts in all the base
metal deposits. Metallization in the district is genetically associated with
the intrusion of porphyritic quartz monzonite bodies, which at Copper
Canyon are dated at 38 m.y. (Oligocene). The size, degree of round
ness, and fineness, gold-silver ratio) of the placer gold and the lithology
of the gold-bearing gravels indicate that the gold in the different
gulches and alluvial fans was derived from lode sources close to the
individual placers.
Literature:
Hill, 1915: Locates some placer workings; distribution of gold in
gravels; richest areas of placer accumulation.
Huttl, 1950a: Details of dredge operation at Copper Canyon fan; depth
of dredge pond and depth of gravel excavated; source of water and
electricity for dredge.
Luther, 1950: Brief history of placer-mining activity at Copper Canyon
placers. Detailed description of Natomas dredge operations at Copper
Canyon; details of dredge construction and methods of placer min
1ng.
Martin, 1910: Placer operations in 1910; size of placer gold recov
ered; describes lode mines at Bannock.
Mining World, 1940: Purchase price paid by Natomas to J. O.
Greenan for placer area; depth of pay gravel; average value per
cubic yard; plans for dredging.
Roberts, 1964b: Sections “Quaternary System” and “Geomorphology”
pertain to origin and deposition of gravels that in many places con
tain economic concentrations of gold.
Roberts and Arnold, 1965: Detailed descriptions of placer areas at
Battle Mountain. History of placer mining during the period 1910–
55; scattered production data for selected placers; describes extent,
lithology, depth, gold distribution, size and fineness, and average
grade of individual placers; source of gold in gravels; describes de
tails of lode mines from which placers have been derived.
Silberman and McKee, 1971: Dates intrusive rocks in Battle Mountain
district.
Southern Pacific Company, 1964: Locates Copper Canyon placer; brief

history of mining; average grade of gravel mined by bucket-line
dredge during the period 1947–55; depth of high-grade gravels.
LANDER COUNTY 39
Theodore and Roberts, 1971: Reports trace-element concentration in

placer gold from Iron Canyon placer and isotopic composition of
lead contained in placer gold. Concludes that placer gold was de
rived from lode source within the zone of introduced pyrite.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Names placer gulches; early history of placer
mining; estimate of placer production during the period 1910–35;
describes Copper Canyon placers; size and fineness of gold recovered
from gravels; details of placer-mining methods at individual placer
properties at Copper Canyon in 1930's; source.
1939: Describes depth, value, gold distribution, and size at
Iron Canyon, Vail placer, and Copper Canyon deposits; summarizes
placer-mining methods.
47. BULLION (TENABO) DISTRICT
Location: East flank of the Shoshone Range in the southern part of
Crescent Valley, Tps. 28 and 29 N., R. 47 E.
Topographic map: Crescent Valley 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Gilluly and Gates, 1965, Geologic map of the northern
Shoshone Range, Nevada, (pl. 1), scale 1:31,680.
Access: From Winnemucca, 85 miles east on U.S. Highway 40 to junc
tion with State Highway 21; from there, 28 miles south on State High
way 21 to Tenabo. Placers are found south of Tenabo and 5 miles north
in Mud Springs Gulch.
Extent: Placers are found in two areas in the Bullion district. The most
productive deposits are in Mill and Triplett Gulches (secs. 8 and 9, 16
and 17, T. 28 N., R. 47 E.) south of the townsite of Tenabo on the
eastern edge of the Shoshone Range. Small placers are found in various
spots along Mud Spring Gulch and tributaries, Rosebud and Tub
Spring Gulches (T. 29 N., R. 47 E.) between Granite Mountain and
the eastern edge of the Shoshone Range.
The Triplett Gulch placers (secs. 16 and 17, T. 28 N., R. 47 E.)
occur in shallow gravels, 1–12 feet thick, composed of sand, soil, and
rock fragments less than 5 inches in diameter. The Mill Gulch placers
(secs. 8 and 9, T. 28 N., R. 47 E.) occur in gravels composed of sand
and medium-sized boulders, ranging in thickness from 10 to 45 feet
above bedrock. Gold in both gulches, which head near the Gold Quartz
mine (west edge of sec. 8), is both fine and coarse in size. Scheelite
has been reported from the Mill Gulch placers.
The Mud Springs Gulch placers are found along bedrock in gravels
60–90 feet thick. The deeper parts of the gravels contain many small
and large boulders and are cemented in places. The gold is coarser
near the head of the gulch than in the lower parts. No descriptions
have been found of the placers in the Rosebud and Tub Springs
Gulches, tributary to Mud Springs Gulch.
Production history: Placers were first worked in 1907 in the Mud Springs
area of the Bullion district. These small deposits were worked by small
scale hand methods and reportedly produced about $2,000 in placer
gold. None of the placer production data from U.S. Bureau of Mines
records can be directly attributed to the Mud Springs placer area.
The placers in Mill Gulch were discovered in 1916, but little is
known of the development in this area until 1931, when small-scale
operations began and continued until 1942.
The Mill Gulch Placer Mining Co. operated a dragline dredge and
washing plant in Mill Gulch from May 1, 1937, to April 3, 1939.
During this same period, many small operators worked placers in
nearby Triplett Gulch and reportedly recovered substantial amounts
of placer gold; therefore, the total amount of gold recovered by the
dredge in Mill Gulch is difficult to determine. I estimate a produc
tion of about 6,000 ounces for the Mill Gulch Placer Mining Co. op
eration. In 1938 this company was the largest producer of placer gold
in the State, recovering somewhat less than 4,200 ounces. In the last
3 months of operation in 1939, the dredge handled 101,382 cubic yards
of gravel to yield 800 ounces of gold and 93 ounces of silver, an aver
age of about 24 cents per cubic yard in placer gold.
The Triplett Gulch Mines, Inc., operated a nonfloating washing
plant in Triplett Gulch that received gravels from bulldozers and
carryalls from January 1, 1940, to December 15, 1940. The washing
plant handled 120,000 cubic yards of gravel to yield 1,627 ounces of
gold and 160 ounces of silver, having an average value of about 49
cents per cubic yard in placer gold.
Source: The gold in the Mill Gulch and Triplett Gulch placer deposits
was derived from veins distributed near the margin of the granodiorite
stock that underlies the central part of the Tenabo mining area. The
veins occur both within the stock and in the adjacent chert and crop
out mainly on the ridge between the two gulches. Both the stock and
the gold mineralization are of Oligocene age. The placers in the Mud
Springs area were probably derived from veins near the large mass of
granodiorite at Granite Mountain.
Literature:
Silberman and others, 1969: Dates age of mineralization and host rock
at Tenabo.
Southern Pacific Company, 1964: Locates areas of potential placer

ground in Black Rock Canyon, Mud Springs Gulch, and Tub Springs,
Gulch.
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1938–41: Reports large-scale operations in Mill

Gulch and Triplett Gulch; amount of gravel worked and ounces of
gold recovered for some years.
LANDER COUNTY 41
Vanderburg, 1936a: Extent of placers; date of discovery; placer-mining

operations during the period 1930–35; depth and value of placer
gravels in different gulches; size of large nuggets recovered.
1939: Placer discovery; placer-mining operations in Mill, Trip
lett, and Mud Springs Gulches.
Wrucke and others, 1968: Describes distribution of lode gold and
associated elements in mining areas around Tenabo and Mud Springs.
48. HILLTOP DISTRICT (INCLUDING PITTSBURG)
Location: On the northeast slope of Mount Lewis in the northern Sho
shone Range, T. 30 N., R. 46 E.
Topographic map: Mount Lewis 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Gilluly and Gates, 1965, Geologic map of the northern
Shoshone Range, Nevada, (pl. 1), scale 1:31,680.
Access: From Winnemucca, 55 miles southeast to Battle Mountain on
U.S. Highway 40; 2 miles past Battle Mountain, a light-duty road
leads south about 10 miles to Rock Creek and Crum Canyon on the
east side of the Reese River Valley. From the edge of the mountains,
it is about 6 miles farther south to the headwaters of Rock Creek in
Crum Canyon.
Extent: Gold-bearing gravels are found in the upper part of Crum Canyon
(variously spelled Krum Canyon) near the junction of Maysville Canyon
and Hilltop Canyon. The most actively worked placer is called the
First Riffle claim and includes about 160 acres in Crum Canyon and
Hilltop Canyon. The shaft shown on the topographic map as the Nelson
mine (SW cor. sec. 28, T. 30 N., R. 46 E.) is probably one of the
shafts in this placer group. In 1939 the property was explored by
four shafts ranging in depth from 27 to 72 feet and one bedrock drift
500 feet long; the alluvium consisted of sand and mud near the sur
face and contained medium-sized boulders near bedrock where the
gold was concentrated. A small placer was worked in 1937 near the
Pittsburg mine (sec. 32, T. 30 N., R. 46 E.) on the slopes above Mays
ville Canyon.
Production history: Recorded production is small. John Nelson discovered
placer gold in upper Crum Canyon in 1914, and lessees who worked the
gravels between 1914 and 1916 are said to have recovered about $2,000
in placer gold by drift mining. This production was apparently not
reported to the U.S. Bureau of Mines but has been added to the pro
duction table. Before Nelson's placer discovery, 75 ounces of placer
gold was recovered from an underscribed deposit in the Hilltop dis
trict in 1911.
Source: The placer gold in the Hilltop district was probably derived from
the free-gold-bearing fissure veins in altered cherts and quartzites in
the Ordovician Valmy Formation. These veins are well developed in

the mountain slopes between Maysville Canyon and Hilltop Canyon
at the Red Top and Hilltop mines. The placer gold was probably
transported down these canyons to their junction in Rock Creek in
Crum Canyon.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1939: Placer discovery; production; location of placer
claims.
49. McCOY DISTRICT
Location: East flank of the Fish Creek Mountains, on the west side of the
Reese River Valley, T. 28 N., R. 42 E. (unsurveyed).
Topographic map: McCoy 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Ferguson, Muller, and Roberts, 1951a, Geologic map of
the Mount Moses quadrangle, Nevada, scale 1: 125,000.
Access: From Winnemucca, 55 miles east on U.S. Highway 40 to Battle
Mountain and junction with State Highway 8a. From there, it is 12
miles south on State Highway 8a to light-duty road leading south
west about 10 miles to Fish Creek Mountains. A dirt road leads 8 miles
south to the McCoy district on the east side of the mountains.
Extent: Small placers were worked in the near vicinity of the Gold Dome
mine, one of the group of mines northeast of the site of McCoy (ap
proximately sec. 2, T. 28 N., R. 42 E., unsurveyed).
Production history: Small placer gold production has been recorded for
3 years, 1924, 1935, and 1939. The district was first located in 1914,
and some unrecorded placer gold was probably obtained soon after.
Source: The placer gold was presumably derived from erosion of the
lode-gold deposits in the area that contain free gold. The Gold Dome
mine is a replacement deposit in diorite and contains abundant free
gold. The placer gold recovered from the area in 1924 was 756 fine.
Literature:
Schrader, 1934: Notes past small-scale placer-mining activity near Gold
Dome mine; describes geology and lode deposits.
U.S. Geological Survey, 1924: Fineness of placer gold recovered in
McCoy district.
OTHER DISTRICTS
50. BIRCH CREEK PROSPECT
Birch Creek is on the eastern flank of the Toiyabe Range, southeast

of Austin. Gold, silver, and lead occur in granitic rocks and adjacent
metamorphic rocks of the area. Before 1938, shafts were sunk in the
gravels of Birch Creek at the edge of the range (secs. 34 and 35, T. 18
N., R. 44 E.) to explore for placer gold; but the results were discourag
ing, and no recovery of placer gold was reported from the area.
LANDER COUNTY 43
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1939.
Stewart and McKee, 1968.
51. IOWA CANYON PROSPECT
Iowa Canyon drains the west slope of the Toiyabe Range, north of
Mount Callaghan. Before 1936, placer gold was discovered in the canyon
near the Joseph Phillips Ranch (unlocated). The same situation prevailed
as at Steiner Canyon—a large flow of water was encountered when a
shaft was sunk in an attempt to reach bedrock, and no placer gold was
recovered from the area.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1936a.
52. KINGSTON DISTRICT
This district is in Kingston Canyon, in the Toiyabe Range, south and

east of Bunker Hill. The area has been prospected and mined for gold
silver deposits since 1863. A few ounces of placer gold was recovered
from the Kingston claim (unlocated) in 1935.
53. REESE RIVER PLACER
The Reese River drains a large part of central Nevada from its head
near the southeast summit of Toiyabe Dome in Nye County to where
it joins the Humboldt River, east of Battle Mountain, in Lander County.
Some placer gold was recovered from somewhere along this large drain
age. Vanderburg (1939, table 7) includes the placer gold production
with the production from the Reese River lode district at Austin, Lander
County (T. 19 N., 44 E.). This district is predominantly a silver dis
trict, but minor amounts of gold have been recovered.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1939.
Ross, 1953.
54. STEINER CANYON PROSPECT
Steiner Creek drains the west flank of the Simpson Park Range in
eastern Lander County (Tps. 20 and 21 N., R. 46 E.). Placer gold was
reportedly discovered in the 1870's by men digging a well to supply water
for a stage station; but so much water was encountered at the depth
of the placer gold that recovery was impossible. Again in the early 1930's,
two attempts to dig to bedrock in the same well and in another shaft
up canyon were given up soon after the water table was reached. So far
no placer gold has been recovered from the canyon.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1936a.
474–407—72—4
LINCOLN COUNTY
55. EAGLE VALLEY DISTRICT
Eagle Valley district (T. 2 N., Rs. 69 and 70 E.) is a small gold
silver-lead district between the Wilson Creek Range and the White Rock
Mountains in eastern Nevada. The source of the placer gold recovered
in 1935 is unknown.
Literature:
Tschanz and Pampeyan, 1970.
56. FREIBERG DISTRICT
The Freiberg district (T. 1 N., R. 57 E.) is at the north end of the
Worthington Mountains, western Lincoln County. The district has a
very small production of lode gold, and nothing is known about the
placer gold production in 1935.
Literature:
Tschanz and Pampeyan, 1970.
LYON COUNTY
57. BUCKSKIN DISTRICT
Location: North end of Smith Valley between the Buckskin Range on

the east and the Singatse Range on the west, T. 13 N., Rs. 23 and
24 E.
Topographic map: Como 15-minute quadrangle.
Access: From Reno, 65 miles south and east on U.S. Highway 395 to
Holbrook Junction and State Highway 3; 11 miles east on State High
way 3 to junction with State Highway 22. From there, it is about 18
miles north on State 22 to the north end of Smith Valley and placer
area.
Extent: The placers in the Buckskin district are in the low hills that
trend east-west between Lincoln Flat and Smith Valley. The placer
area is in eastern Lyon County, and the major lode mines of the
Buckskin district are in western Douglas County. Placer-mining activity
was concentrated in the vicinity of low hills west of Wishart Hill (sec.
8, T. 13 N., R. 24 E.). The Ambassador placer (formerly Scott
Case) is in the upper part of the dry ravine between two low hills
(NE/4 sec. 8), and the Guild-Bovard placer is on the alluvial fan be
low the dry ravine (southern part of sec. 8). Other placers are found
west of these deposits along the southwestern base of Wishart Hill
(mostly in sec. 9). The Ambassador placer consists of gravel com
LYON COUNTY 45
posed of rhyolite fragments that range in depth from 2 feet in the

upper part of the ravine to 16 feet at the lower part of the ravine
on a rhyolite bedrock. The Guild-Bovard placer consists of well
cemented gravel, also largely composed of rhyolite fragments and lying
on rhyolite bedrock, found at depths as great as 76.5 feet.
Production history: The recorded production from the Buckskin district
placers is 75 ounces (for the years 1939–41), but some production
(especially for the years 1933–35) may have been held confidential
or may have been grouped with the Yerington district. Vanderburg
(1936, p. 64) estimates a production of $9,000. The Ambassador Gold
Mines, Ltd. operated the Ambassador placer during the period 1934–
35. This company expended considerable money constructing a pipe
line to facilitate hydraulic mining, but their enterprise failed. The
Guild-Bovard placer was operated in 1933 and 1934 by a power shovel
and portable washing plant.
Source: The gold may have been derived from the rhyolite bedrock (part
of the Hartford Hill Rhyolite Tuff of early Miocene age). Overton
(1947, p. 21), however, states that the placer gold was derived locally
from erosion of gold- and copper-bearing ores that occur as contact
metamorphic deposits between Triassic sedimentary rocks intruded by
gº Cretaceous granitic rocks.
3g Literature:
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1933a: Describes hydraulic operation
by Ambassador Gold Mines, Ltd.
Nevada Mining Press, 1931b: Details of placer discovery by Fred
Hughes; assays of samples given; average value of gold in clay mate
rial; extent of placers; names claims of placer ground.
1931c: Reviews report on placers by Nevada Bureau of Mines
(press release)-average value of gravel; extent; potential dredging
ground indicated; source of gold said to be old river gravels 200 feet
west of discovery ravine; extent of old river channel; size and shape of
gravels; heavy accessory minerals in river channels compared with
same in placer gravels.
Overton, 1947: Location; source.
Vanderburg, 1936a: History; production; description of discovery site
and Scott-Case claims; placer-mining developments by Ambassador
Gold Mines, Ltd.; placer-mining techniques; history of operation;
size of gold recovered; depth of gravel; lithology of gravels; describes
placer-mining operations at Guild-Bovard claim; techniques. Table
gives depth of pay gravel and average value of pay gravel per cubic
yard at Guild-Bovard placer; size of largest nugget found; fineness
of gold.
58. YERINGTON DISTRICT
Location: In the Singatse Range between Gallagher and Mason passes at

the north end of Smith Valley, T. 14 N., R. 24 E.
Topographic maps: Como and Wabuska 15-minute quadrangles.
Geologic maps:
Moore, 1969, Geologic map of Lyon, Douglas, and Ormsby Counties,
Knopf, 1918, Geologic map of the Yerington district, Nevada, (pl. 1),
scale 1:24,000.
Access: From Reno, 35 miles east on U.S. Highway 40 to Fernley and
junction with U.S. Highway 95A; from there, it is 34 miles south to
Wabuska. About 5 miles south of Wabuska, dirt roads lead west to the
Singatse Range. The dirt road 2 miles south of the Gallagher Pass road
leads directly to placer area.
Extent: The placers in the Yerington district are in a stream channel that
traverses the Singatse Range on the west side of Carson Hill (secs. 23
and 24, T. 14 N., R. 24 E., unsurveyed) 6 miles north of the Anaconda
Co. copper mine at Weeds Heights. The stream channel is about 2
miles long and 300–600 feet wide; the gravels, which average 20 feet
thick, were mined for a distance of about 0.9 mile along the channel
between two parallel dirt roads that branch and rejoin at the margins
of the placer area. This deposit is known as the Adams-Rice (or Guild)
placer. The upper parts of the channel gravels consist of small sub
angular cobbles, pebbles, and sand, crudely or poorly stratified. In places,
the lower parts of the channel consist of cemented gravels containing
well-rounded boulders interpreted by some geologists as a part of a
Tertiary river system. Most of the gold was apparently found in the
recent gravels and was observed to have two shapes, angular and water
worn, indicating that some of the gold was reconcentrated from the
older gravels.
Small amounts of placer gold were found in the alluvial fan at the
mouth of the canyon (sec. 18, T. 14 N., R. 25 E., Wabuska quadrangle),
but little work has been done in this area.
The Penrose placer is about 2 miles southwest of the Adams-Rice (or
Guild) placer in Lincoln Flat. The exact location is uncertain but is
probably in the low hills on the west side of the range and about 3
miles north of Wishart Hill at the north end of Smith Valley (approxi
mately sec. 22, T. 14 N., R. 24 E., unsurveyed, Como quadrangle). The
Penrose placer is in gravels of the Tertiary river channel, which are as
much as 120 feet thick; the average value of the gravels is 20 cents per
cubic yard. Penrose (1937, p. 4) states that 90 percent of the material
in the 120-foot-deep shaft and drifts from the shaft was foreign to the
LYON COUNTY 47
area; he found well-rounded fragments of serpentine and pieces of

steatite.
Production history: The placer production from the Yerington placers has
been small, despite the active development of the placers during the
1930's. Some placer gold was reported from the district in 1917, but the
Adams-Rice and Penrose placers were discovered in 1931 (1929–30
according to Penrose). The Adams-Rice placer was worked by a cater
pillar-mounted dryland dredge, which reportedly recovered an average
of 60 cents per cubic yard. The Penrose placer was worked by a dry
concentrating table.
Source: The ancient river channel that underlies the placer gravels in the
Yerington district is thought to be a continuation of the Tertiary (early
Miocene) fluvial conglomerate that occurs at the base of the Hartford
Hill Rhyolite Tuff and overlies Cretaceous granodiorite, mapped by
Knopf (1918) just south of the placer area. The conglomerate trends
northeast from the north end of Wishart Hill. The conglomerate con
tains well-rounded, but unsorted and unstratified, cobbles and boulders;
the cobbles are mainly andesite, and the boulders are granitic siliceous
sediments. If some of the gold in the placers was derived by reworking
this fluvial conglomerate, that gold was derived from a source exposed
in the early Tertiary. The ultimate source of this gold is unknown.
The angular fragments of gold found in the recent gravels at the
Adams-Rice (or Guild) placer are thought to be derived from quartz
veins at the head of the canyon.
Literature:
Huttl, 1934: Describes dryland dredge used by Apex Mining Co.; de
tails of gold-recovery techniques; average value of gravel mined.
Mining Journal, 1945: Reports development plans by Singatse syndicate
to mine lava-capped placers.
Moore, 1969: Locates Guild placer mines.
Penrose, 1937: Describes Tertiary river channel; locates channel and
traces extent for 6 miles; character of gold in channel; depth of shaft
at Penrose placer; type of rocks found in shaft; difficulties in mining
gravels.
Stoddard and Carpenter, 1950: Location of placer claims; placer-min
ing operations; production from these operations; depth of gravel;
reported average value per cubic yard; size of gold recovered; source.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Describes Adams-Rice placer—location; average
depth to bedrock; different types of gravel; lithology of ancient river
channel gravel; size and shape of gold in gravels; size of largest nug
get found; placer-mining operations. Describes Penrose placer—loca
tion; age of gravel channel; lithology of gravels; average value of
gravels; size of gold.
59. SILVER CITY (GOLD CANYON, DAYTON) DISTRICT

Location: South slope of the Virginia Range, north of the Carson River,
Tps. 16 and 17 N., R. 21 E.
Topographic maps: Dayton and Virginia City 15-minute quadrangles.
Geologic maps:
Moore, 1969, Geologic map of Lyon, Douglas, and Ormsby Counties,
Thompson, 1956, Geologic map and sections of the Virginia City quad
rangle, Nevada (pl. 3), scale 1:62,500.
Access: From Reno, 29 miles south on U.S. Highway 395 to Carson City;
from there about 11 miles northwest on U.S. Highway 50 to Dayton.
Placers are west and north of Dayton and are accessible by dirt roads.
Extent: The first discovery of gold in Nevada was made in 1849 in gravels
near the junction of Gold Canyon and the Carson River near the pres
ent location of Dayton. This discovery led, after 10 years, to the dis
covery of the Ophir mine of the Comstock Lode—the first major loca
tion on the lode. The Ophir was discovered by Peter O'Reiley and
Patrick McLaughlin, two placer miners looking for unworked placer
gravels at the head of Six Mile Canyon.
Gold and silver have been recovered from the gravels along Gold
Canyon, Six Mile Canyon, and the north side of the Carson River.
Early placer miners worked Gold Canyon from the vicinity of Gold
Hill (sec. 32, T. 17 N., R. 21 E., Virginia City quadrangle, Storey
County) downstream to the Carson River (sec. 23, T. 16 N., R. 21 E.,
Dayton quadrangle, Lyon County) and Six Mile Canyon (6 miles north
of Gold Canyon in T. 17 N., R. 21 E., Virginia City quadrangle, Storey
County) for an undetermined distance to its head. After the discovery
of the Comstock lode, most placer-mining activity was concentrated in
Gold Canyon, in particular, in the lower part of the canyon in the
alluvial fan west of Dayton. This area, and the gravels in the townsite
of Dayton, northwest of the Carson River, were the scene of large-scale
placer-mining operations after 1940.
The gravels at the Rae placer (sec. 16, T. 16 N., R. 21 E.), the site
of intense placer operations during the period 1920–23 and in 1940,
are on a terrace sloping southwest to the Carson River. These gravels
are at least 90 feet thick, but the gold values decrease below 40 feet.
The gravels northwest of the Carson River within the townsite of Day
ton (sec. 23, T 16 N., R. 21 E.; the site of dredging during the period
1941–42) are more than 120 feet thick. The gold-bearing gravel there
is overlain by barren soil 2–8 feet thick.
Production history: The Silver City district placers are the most productive
in Lyon County and among the most productive in the State. Total
early placer production is unknown, but placer mining probably con
LYON COUNTY 49
tinued on a small scale throughout the latter half of the 19th century.
The most productive years were probably those between 1849 and
1859, before the discovery of the Comstock lode, when the area was
solely a placer-mining region. Lord (1883, p. 24) estimates a placer
production of $548,600 from 1850 to 1857.
Placer-mining activity during the 20th century has continued steadily,
mostly on a small scale. Five large-scale operations since 1900 recovered
considerable amounts of placer gold and silver. Gold Canyon Dredging
Co. (1920–23) operated a large electric bucket-line dredge in Gold
Canyon from about 2 miles south of Silver City (in stream gravels in
the Manuel King placer ground) to an area west of Dayton (in terrace
gravels of the Rae placer ground). This operation recovered a total of
14,621 ounces of gold and 7,482 ounces of silver. The Oro-Neva
Dredging Co. (1940) operated a dragline dredge on the terrace gravels
of the Rae placers, west of Dayton, recovering a total of 3,365 ounces of
gold and 1,703 ounces of silver. The Dayton Dredging Co. (1941–42)
operated a large dragline and floating washing plant on a strip of
gravels 2,000 feet wide and 2,200 feet long on the north side of U.S.
Highway 50 within the townsite of Dayton, close to the original placer
discovery site. This operation recovered about 32,000 ounces of placer
gold (silver recovery is undetermined). After World War II, the Dayton
Dredging Co., then called the Grafe Dayton Dredging Co. (1946–47),
resumed work on company placers, recovering about 3,900 ounces of
gold. The Dayton Co. worked the placers again during the period
1952–54, but recovery was only about 500 ounces for each year.
Source: The placers in the Silver City district were derived from erosion
of the Comstock lode. The lode deposits consist of brecciated quartz
veins, in places exceedingly rich in silver sulfide and native gold (rang
ing in age from 13.7 to 12.4 m.y.; M. L. Silberman, oral commun.,
1970) found at intervals along the Comstock fault and the Silver City
fault. The ratio of silver to gold is reported as 40:1. The placer gold
contains a large amount of silver (average gold fineness 660), and the
weight of silver recovered with the placer gold amounted to about half
that of gold recovered.
The possibility of finding placer gold in Tertiary gravel deposits in
the area has been mentioned by many geologists. The young age of
mineralization (Miocene or Pliocene) precludes the presence of placers
in gravels older than Pliocene.
Literature:
Bonham, 1969: Summarizes earlier work on geology of the Comstock

lode; dates mineralization of lode.
De Quille, Dan, 1891: Early history of placer discovery in Gold Canyon;
Production per day from gravels per man; production per day per
man on residual gravels at Gold Hill; discovery by placer miners in

Six Mile Canyon of the Ophir silver mine; production from this
residual placer.
Gianella, 1936: Distribution of placer gold; ratio of silver to gold in
ores and in placers.
Lincoln, 1923: History, placer-mining operations, and origin of the
Gold Canyon placers.
Lord, 1883: Chapters 1–3 describe early placer mining; daily yield per
day per man; early lode discoveries by placer miners; estimates of
placer production; problems in placer mining.
Mining World, 1941a: Construction and operating details of 14-cubic
yard bucket dragline dredge used at Dayton, 1941–42; length, width,
and depth of area to be dredged; distribution of gold in gravels;
thickness of barren overburden.
Moore, 1969: Production during the period 1940–43; plate 2 locates
placer deposits; brief history of early placer mining.
Paher, 1970: History of the town of Dayton includes brief history of
placer mining; photograph of dredge used in 1897 included. Silver
City and Johntown are described with history of placer mining near
these sites.
Southern Pacific Company, 1964: Locates placer operation during the
period 1920–23; reports extent of stripping on Southern Pacific land;
concludes that part is worked out.
Stoddard and Carpenter, 1950: History and location of placer-mining
operations during the period 1920–43; placer-mining techniques;
production from the different operations; average value of gravel.
Thompson, 1956: Notes extent of placers; describes lode mines.
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1940–43, 1946–47, 1952–54: Reports large-scale
placer operations; production.
U.S. Geological Survey, 1920–23: Reports large-scale placer operations;
production; yardage mined (1922).
Vanderburg, 1936a: History of early placer activity (1849–57); aver
age wage per day per man; source; placer-mining operations during
the period 1920–23; production; placer-mining techniques; describes
Rae placer ground; depth of pay gravels; distribution of gold in
gravels; average value of gravels; fineness of gold; history of opera
tions along Carson River to recover gold in mill tailings from Com
stock lode.
Young, 1920: Reports activities at opening day of dredge mining in

Gold Canyon; summarizes early history of placering; gives construc
tion features of dredge.
1921: Detailed description and chronology of dredge construc
tion; source of water and power used in dredge operations; brief de
scription of placer ground and problems anticipated in dredging.
MINERAL COUNTY 51
OTHER DISTRICTS
60. COMO (PALMYRA, INDIAN SPRINGS) DISTRICT

Placer deposits in the vicinity of the Como-Eureka mine (T. 15 N., R.
22 E.) in the northern Pine Nut Range were worked in 1883, but lack of
water apparently inhibited development. No production directly at
tributed to this area has been recorded in the 20th century, but for many
years production from this district was included with production from the
Silver City district.
Literature:
Burchard, 1884, p. 537.
61. ELDORADO CANYON DISTRICT
Eldorado Canyon, a major tributary to the Carson River, forms the

Lyon County-Ormsby County boundary. The district contains lignite de
posits worked in the 1860's; no gold deposits have been described in the
area. The small placer gold production recorded may have occurred near
the junction of the canyon with the Carson River opposite the town of
Dayton.
Literature:
Stoddard and Carpenter, 1950.
62. PINE GROVE DISTRICT
Only a few ounces of gold has been recovered from placer deposits in
this district, which is on the east flank of the Pine Grove Hills (some
times called the Smith Valley Range) in southern Lyon County. Placers
occur on the slopes of Sugar Loaf Mountain near the mouth of Pine
Grove Canyon (T. 10 N., R. 26 E.), but only a little work was done on
these deposits.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1936a. (Described under Mineral County.)

63. TALAPOOSA DISTRICT
Gold deposits have been known in the northern end of the Virginia
Range since the 1860's, but little work has been done in the district. A
small placer deposit is reported to have been worked in 1922.
Literature:
Stoddard and Carpenter, 1950.
MINERAL COUNTY
64. EAST WALKER DISTRICT (MOUNT GRANT PLACERS)

Location: On the west flank of the Wassuk Range, southwest of Mount
Grant on land included in the Naval Ammunition Depot Reservation,
T. 8 N., R. 28 E.
Topographic map: Mount Grant 15-minute quadrangle.

Geologic map: Ross, 1961, Geologic map of Mineral County, Nevada
(pl. 2), scale 1:250,000.
Access: About 59 miles south of Fallon on U.S. Highway 95, a light-duty
road paralleling Cottonwood Creek leads west and south through the
Wassuk Range to the placer area. As access to the Naval Reservation is
restricted, permission for entering may be required.
Extent: Placer gold is found in gravels of Lapon Meadow (variously
spelled Laphan, Lapham Meadow) at the head of Lapon Creek (secs.
24 and 25, T. 8 N., R. 28 E.). The placer deposit worked by the Grant
Mountain gold mine consisted of alluvium described as black loam
overlying decomposed granite. (Previous studies have called this de
posit volcanic ash.) The gold recovered from a channel 40 feet wide
and 9 feet deep was coarse and had a fineness of 898.
Production history: The placers were first worked in 1906, when the area
was withdrawn from the Schurz Indian Reservation; but early produc
tion is unknown and may have been included with production from the
Pamlico area in the Hawthorne district. The placers were actively
worked between 1935 and 1940 under the name Grant Mountain gold
mine with a dragline mounted on caterpillars and a portable sluice.
Gold recovery was reported to be 55 cents per cubic yard.
Source: Unknown. Small fissure veins in Cretaceous granites exposed in
Cottonwood and Corey Canyons, north and east of Lapon Meadow,
contain small amounts of gold. Similar veins may exist in the Lapon
Meadow area but are either unexposed or not described.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1936a: Brief description of placer deposits and mining
operations during the period 1932–36; states that gold is found in bed
of volcanic ash; size of large nugget recovered ($30). Reports dis
covery of placer gold in Baldwin Canyon south of the Lapon Meadow
placer area. Placers described under the name “Hawthorne district.”
1937b: Placer-mining history at Lapon Meadow; placer-mining
operations at Grant Mountain gold mine; estimate of early produc
tion; depth and width of placer channel; bedrock type; distribution,
size, and fineness of gold; average value of gravels; placers described
under the name “Mount Grant district.”
65. HAWTHORNE DISTRICT (PALMICO PLACERs)

Location: Central western edge of the Garfield Hills on land outside the
eastern boundary of the Naval Ammunition Depot Reservation, T. 7 N.,
R. 31 E. -
Topographic map: Pamlico 7%-minute quadrangle.

Geologic maps: Archbold and Paul, 1970, Geologic map of the Pamlico
MINERAL COUNTY 53
mining district (pl. 1), scale 1:24,000; Geologic map of the main
Pamlico mines (pl. 2), scale 1:2,400.
Access: From Hawthorne, a dirt road leads southeast about 10 miles to
the Pamlico area.
Extent: Small placer deposits of unknown extent and exact location have
been worked intermittently in the vicinity of Pamlico Hill and Pamlico
Canyon (secs. 13 and 24, T. 7 N., R. 31 E.) at the western edge of the
Garfield Hills.
Production history: The Pamlico placers have apparently been worked
since 1908, the first year of recorded production attributed to the Haw
thorne district. During 1915 and 1916, deep deposits at Pamlico in
Pamlico Canyon were worked by drift mining, and slope wash or skree
on Pamlico Hill was worked by placer methods. Subsequent placer min
ing has been on a small scale and intermittent.
Source: Gold-bearing quartz veins in volcanic rocks of the Excelsior For
mation (Triassic?).
Literature:
Archbold and Paul, 1970: Brief history of placer mining; geology of
bedrock and lode deposits.
Lincoln, 1923: States that placers were worked in the vicinity of the
Pamlico mine by drift mining from 1915 to 1917.
Paher, 1970: Brief history of mining activity at Pamlico; photograph
shows placer mine where a shaft was dug 170 feet to bedrock.
U.S. Geological Survey, 1915: Reports drift mining at Pamlico; method
of mining; depth of gravels; average value of gold in gravels; pro
duction.
1916: Reports placer mining of erosional material on Pamlico
Hill; source.
Vanderburg, 1937b: Notes placer mining in Pamlico Canyon below the
Pamlico mine; estimate of placer production in 1912; depth of
gravels.
66. RAWHIDE (REGENT) DISTRICT
Location: At Hooligan and Balloon Hills, south of the Sand Springs

Range and north of Alkali Flat, T. 13 N., R. 32 E.
Topographic map: Reno 2-degree sheet, Army Map Service.
Geologic map: Ross, 1961, Geologic map of Mineral County, Nevada (pl.
2), scale 1:250,000.
Access: From Fallon 22 miles south on U.S. Highway 95 to dirt roads
leading east about 22 miles to Rawhide through Rawhide Flat.
Extent: Placers in the Rawhide district are found in Rawhide Wash and
tributaries extending about 4 miles southeastward from the townsite of
Rawhide to the alluvial fan at the base of the hills. Most of the placer
mining activity was confined to the main wash and side gulches between
Hooligan Hill on the west and Balloon Hill on the east. The gravels
average about 15 feet deep on the southeast slope of Hooligan Hill but
attain depths of 40–90 feet in the alluvial fan. The gold is erratically
distributed in pay streaks that differ in thickness and depth throughout
the lower part of the gravels. Within individual pay streaks, which are
interpreted to be former creek channels, the gold is scattered or is
locally concentrated. The erratic distribution of the gold is considered to
be the result of erratic deposition during torrential floods of short dura
tion.
Production history: The placer deposits at Rawhide were discovered and

first worked at the time of the lode mining boom during the period
1907–8. Production to 1930 is estimated at about $200,000 to $250,000,
although recorded production during this time amounts to only $34,800.
Reports of high values of gold recovered from the placers in the early
days support the high estimate of placer gold recovery.
The placer deposits of the Eagleville district northeast of Rawhide
and 2% miles east of State Highway 31 are probably part of this dis
trict. Vanderburg (1936a) states that a small amount of placer gold was
recovered in 1906 and some placer gold was discovered in the canyon
south of the Eagleville mine in 1931. These small deposits may be in
either Churchill or Mineral County.
Source: The placer gold is derived from gold-silver quartz veins in altered
Tertiary volcanic rocks that occur at Balloon, Murray, and Hooligan
Hills.
Literature:
Mining and Scientific Press, 1908b; Notes presence of placer gold;
mentions limited erosion and many cloudbursts, which should prevent
finding large amounts of placer gold; size of gold recovered.
1908c: Depth to bedrock in lower part of Rawhide Gulch.
Nevada Mining Press, 1930a: Placer-mining developments; reviews
past placer-mining activity and production; reports value of gravel in
85-foot-deep shaft to bedrock; size of nuggets recovered; extent of
placer ground; average depth of gravel.
1930b: Average value of gravel at Hart shaft (see Nevada Min
ing Press, 1930a); reports sampling activity to determine possible
dredgeable ground; extent of placer ground; methods of mining by
early placer miners.
1931a: Reports unexplained cessation of sampling by Idaho Gold
Dredging Corp.; begun on March 29, 1931.
Paher, 1970: Locates Eagleville; small production during the period
1905–8.
Schrader, 1947: A comprehensive description of geology, lode, and

Placer deposits of Rawhide district; lithology of placer gravels; ex
MINERAL COUNTY 55
tent and distribution of gravels; thickness of gravels; distribution of

gold in gravels; placer-mining history and operations; early produc
tion; methods of working gravels; problems in placer mining; bibli
ography of mining in district; describes individual placer claims.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Early history; estimate of production and yield
per day per man; extent of profitable placer ground; depth of gravels
on slope of Hooligan Hill and in alluvial fan; distribution of gold;
size of large nugget; reason for discontinuing sampling operations in
1930.
1937b: Extent of placers; location of most profitable placer dig
gings; depth of these richer gravels; location of deep gravels; concen
tration of gold; placer-mining history.
Wolcott, 1909: Extent of placer ground; details of drywashing machine
used in placer mining; depth to bedrock in the lower part of Rawhide.
OTHER DISTRICTS
67. AURORA DISTRICT
A few ounces of placer gold (408 fine) was recovered from gravels in
Bodie Creek (T. 5 N., R. 28 E.) in southwestern Mineral County during
the period 1940–41. Bodie Creek receives drainage from both the Bodie
district, Mono County, Calif., and the Aurora district, Mineral County,
Nev. Although both districts are rich gold-silver lode mining districts,
neither is noted for placer deposits.
68. BELL DISTRICT
This district is in the northern Cedar Mountains in southeastern Mineral

County. Some placer gold was recovered from the Valley View claim (un
located) in 1935. The gold was probably derived from erosion of the gold
silver quartz veins in volcanic rocks.
Literature:
Ross, 1961.
69. CANDELARIA (COLUMBUS) DISTRICT
I have found no information, other than production data, about the
placer gold recovered in 1914 from this district, which is in the southern
part of Mineral County (Tps. 3 and 4 N., R. 35 E.). The area is princi
pally a silver district.
Literature:
Page, 1959.
70. SANTA FE DISTRICT
Placer gold was recovered in 1914 in this district, which is in the Gabbs
Valley Range (T. 8 N., R. 35 E.) but also includes mines in the eastern
Garfield Hills (T. 7 N., Rs. 32 and 33 E.). The ores of the district are
most valued for copper, silver, and tungsten but gold is present in minor
amountS.
Literature:
Ross, 1961.
71. SILVER STAR DISTRICT
Placer gold was recovered from the Big Dyke claim in the Silver Star
district (Tps. 4–6 N., Rs. 32–34 E.). The district covers a large area in
the Excelsior Mountains in southern Mineral County, and contains gold
silver veins with some tungsten. Free gold is found in brecciated and
hydrothermally altered andesites in the eastern part of Camp Douglas area
in the Silver Star district (T. 6 N., R. 34 E.).
Literature:
Ross, 1961.
72. TELEPHONE CANYON (PILOT MOUNTAINS) DISTRICT
Placer gold was recovered from deposits near the mouth of Telephone
Canyon (near the Belleville mine, T. 6 N., R. 35 E.) in the Pilot Moun
tain Range in 1931. No record of this production exists, and little is
known about the deposits.
Literature:
Vanderburg, 1936a.
NYE COUNTY
73. BULLFROG DISTRICT
Location: Bullfrog Hills and Bare Mountain on both sides of the Amar
gosa River. Tps. 10–13 S., Rs. 45–48 E.
Topographic maps: All 15-minute quadrangles—Bullfrog, Bare Mountain,
Thirsty Canyon.
Geologic maps:
Cornwall and Kleinhampl. 1961, Geology of the Bare Mountain quad
rangle, Nevada, scale 1:62,500.
1964, Geologic map and sections of the Bullfrog quadrangle, Nye
County, Nevada-California (pl. 1), scale 1:48,000.
Lipman, Quinlivan, Carr, and Anderson, 1966, Geologic map of the
Thirsty Canyon SE quadrangle, Nye County, Nevada, scale 1:24,000.
Access: From Tonopah, 84 miles south on U.S. Highway 95 to Beatty.
Mining areas are accessible by roads that extend from Beatty into sur
rounding hills.
Extent: Small amounts of gold have been recovered intermittently from
placers in the Bullfrog district, which includes the Bullfrog Hills and
the Amargosa Valley in the vicinity of Beatty (Tps. 11 and 12 S., Rs.
45 and 46 E., Bullfrog quadrangle). Some placer gold was reportedly
NYE COUNTY 57
recovered from gravels along the Amargosa Valley near the town of
Beatty, east of the Bullfrog Hills.
Placer gold is reported to occur in the Carrara or Flourine district
(sometimes also called the Beatty district) from the west slope of the
Bare Mountains, southeast of the Bullfrog Hills (Tps. 12 and 13 S., R.
47 E., Bare Mountain quadrangle); the deposit was considered uneco
nomic.
One report notes a Paramount placer property located 15 miles north
east of Beatty in which the gravel is partly cemented and work was done
by drifting into high-grade material. The location given for the prop
erty indicates the Camp Transvaal mining area (at the border of Tps.
10 and 11 S., R. 48 E., Thirsty Canyon quadrangle), southwest of
Timber Mountain.
Production history: The placer gold production from this area has been
small and intermittent. Most of the placer gold was recovered in 1912
and 1914.
Source: Since the exact location of the placers are not known, directly re
lated source areas cannot be named. Numerous gold lodes present in
both the Bullfrog Hills and Bare Mountain are the most probable source
of the placer gold. In the Bullfrog Hills, the lodes are typically finely
disseminated gold and silver in grains of pyrite in fissures and veins
related to normal faults; in the Original Bullfrog lode (sec. 12, T. 12 S.,
R. 45 E.) native gold occurs as visible particles. On the west side of
Bare Mountain, gold deposits occur in shear zones.
Literature:
Cornwall and Kleinhampl, 1964: Describes ore deposits.
Kral, 1951: Describes lode deposits at Bullfrog Hills and Bare Moun
tain; notes placer property northeast of Beatty; describes methods of
working.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Notes placers in Amargosa River and Bare Moun
tain; states that the deposits have no economic importance.
74. JOHNNIE DISTRICT
Location: North end of the Pahrump Valley, in the low hills west of the
Spring Mountains, Tps. 17 and 18 S., Rs. 52 and 53 E.
Topographic map: Mount Shader 7%-minute quadrangle (preliminary).
Geologic map: Cornwall, 1967, Preliminary geologic map of southern Nye
Access: From Las Vegas, 8 miles south on U.S. Highway 91 to junction
with State Highway 16; from there, it is about 70 miles west and north
on State Highway 16 to Johnnie and placer deposits north and south of
the town.
Extent: Small placers are found in hillside and gulch gravels adjacent to,
and below, many of the gold-quartz veins in the Johnnie district. Most
placer-mining activity occurred in the gulches below the Congress mine
(sec. 1, T. 18 S., R. 52 E.), located east of Mount Montgomery and
half a mile south of the town of Johnnie. Most of the gold is concen
trated in the 6 inches of gravel material that overlies bedrock and is
overlain by as much as 25 feet of gravel. Samples of the 6 inches of
material on bedrock have values as high as $6 to $30 per cubic yard,
but the amount of material in this pay streak is unknown.
Placers are also found near the Johnnie and Overfield mines (sec. 20,
T. 17 S., R. 53 E.) and the Labbe mine (sec. 30, T. 17 S., R. 53 E.)
located northeast of the Johnnie on the west slope of the Spring Moun
tains. Parts of these placers are residual concentrations of gold, and
parts are stream and hillside concentrations of transported gold.
Production history: The first recorded production of placer gold from the
Johnnie district occurred in 1918, but the more productive accumula
tions of placer gold were discovered in 1920. This later discovery cre
ated considerable excitement and led to a short boom. A small amount
of placer gold was produced almost yearly until 1950, and sporadically,
until 1960. Most of the placer gold was recovered by drywashing the
gravels. In 1949 the hillside below the Johnnie mine was mined by
sluicing with water under high pressure. The amount of gold recovered
by this technique did not differ appreciably from the amount recovered
by drywashing techniques.
Source: The placer deposits were derived from the gold-quartz veins along
faults in the Cambrian sedimentary rocks of the region thought to have
formed mainly during the middle Cretaceous and to have remained ac
tive into the Tertiary.
Literature:
Cornwall, 1972: Notes placer-mining activity in 1949 and 1960; de
scribes gold-quartz veins in district.
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1921: Names and locates placer
leases in the Johnnie district.
Kral, 1951: History; location and extent of placers; type of placer;
thickness of gravels; concentration and value of pay streaks ; placer
mining operations.
Labbe, 1921: History; location; distribution of gold in gravels; thick
ness of pay streaks; characteristics of the gold; amount of gold in
pyrite; placer-mining techniques with Mexican Air Jig.
Vanderburg, 1936a: . History; production ; location and extent of
placers; thickness of gravels and gold-bearing pay streak; size of large
nugget; placer-mining activity in 1935.
NYE COUNTY 59
75. CLOVERDALE DISTRICT
Location: Along Cloverdale Creek between the Shoshone Mountains and

the Toiyable Range, north of Big Smoky Valley, Tps. 8–10 N., R. 40 E.
(unsurveyed; on Toiyabe National Forest land).
Topographic map: Black Spring 15-minute quadrangle, U.S. Forest Serv
ice, scale 1:31,680.
Geologic map: Kleinhampl and Ziony, 1967, Preliminary geologic map of
northern Nye County, Nevada, scale 1:200,000.
Access: From Tonopah, 2 miles west on U.S. Highway 6–95 to State
Highway 89; from there, about 38 miles northwest to vicinity of Clover
dale Ranch; a dirt road paralleling Cloverdale Canyon leads north to
placer area.
Extent: Placer gold occurs along the lower half of Cloverdale Canyon,
which trends north-south for about 15 miles from its headwaters to
Cloverdale Ranch. In 1906 the first placer was discovered 4 miles east
of Cloverdale Ranch (approximately center of T. 8 N., R. 40 E.). Most,
if not all, later work was concentrated in the gravels along Cloverdale
Canyon for 8 miles north of Cloverdale Ranch (T. 9 N., R. 40 E.). The
creek channel in this part of the canyon is 750 feet wide, and the depth
to bedrock is 42–50 feet. Placers were worked in creek gravels and hill
side gravels below East Golden, a small lode-mining area 8 miles north
of Cloverdale Ranch, and at West Golden, on the west side of the ridge
from East Golden. These placers and adjacent small lodes are probably
in that part of the creek 2 miles below Farrington Ranch and 3 miles
north of Four Mile Spring (secs. 8 and 17, T. 9 N., R. 40 E., unsur
veyed).
Production history: Placer production from the Cloverdale district has
been small and intermittent. Most of the placer gold was recovered by
drywashing. Excessive water at the West Golden placer led to abandon
ment of placer mining. In 1928, ambitious plans were made to dredge
7% miles of Cloverdale Canyon, after exploratory drilling indicated
gold values of the gravels of 10 cents to $1.50 per cubic yard, but the
plans were abandoned.
Source: The gold in the Cloverdale Canyon placers is probably derived by
erosion of the lodes at East and West Golden mining areas. Kral, (1951,
P. 44, 46) states that at East Golden the gold is found in shear zones in
a brecciated rhyolite, and at West Golden (p. 44), in narrow veins.
Literature:
Kral, 1951: Locates two placer areas; placer operations in 1931 noted;
Problems in placer mining at one site; source.
Lincoln, 1923: Notes placer discovery.
Mining Journal, 1928: Reports plans to dredge Cloverdale Canyon; ex
474–407—72—5
tent of placer area; length of placer area in canyon; width and depth
of gravels in canyon; gold content of 10¢ to $1.50 per cubic yard.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Notes small-scale placer-mining activity beginning
in 1906; reports plans to dredge area in 1931.
76. IONE (UNION) DISTRICT
Location: West slope of the Shoshone Mountains, on the east side of the
Ione Valley, T. 13 N., R. 39 E. (unsurveyed); partly on Toiyabe Na
tional Forest land).
Topographic map: Ione 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic maps:
Silberling, 1959, Geologic map and sections of pre-Tertiary rocks of the
Union district, Nye County, Nevada (pl. 10), scale 1:24,000.
Vitaliano, 1963, Cenozoic geology and sections of the Ione quadrangle,
Nye County, Nevada, scale 1:62,500.
Access: From Tonopah, 64 miles northwest to Ione on dirt roads that lead
through Big Smoky Valley to Ione Valley. Placers are in immediate
vicinity of Ione.
Extent: The placers in the Ione district occur in shallow gravels at the
western edge of the mountains at two localities, 1 mile north and north
west of Ione (approximately secs. 28 and 29, T. 13 N., R. 39 E., pro
jected) and 1 mile southwest of Ione (approximately secs. 2 and 3, T.
12 N., R. 39 E., projected). The gold is found in surface debris and
gravels 1–2 feet thick overlying caliche layers adjacent to, and down
slope from, small gold veins in the Tertiary volcanic rocks.
Production history: The Ione placers were first worked in 1909, and then
intermittently until 1941. Total recorded placer gold production has
been small, but the placers have attracted attention from companies
considering large-scale operations. A group of Goldfield miners re
portedly installed 2 miles of pipeline to bring water to the placers in
1909 in preparation for mining gravels valued at $1 per cubic yard.
Between 1948 and about 1950, the placers north of the Ione road were
sampled over an area 300 by 2,400 feet to a depth of 1 foot and were
said to average $1.25 per cubic yard. In 1958 the Goldfield Rand Co.
investigated a 1,280-acre placer claim in the Ione Valley and reported
that drill samples of the gravels indicated a value of $1 per yard. This
company had plans to install a large bucket dredge. None of the plans
for large-scale operations materialized.
Source: Kral (1951, p. 196–197) states that weathering of high-grade gold
stringers in Tertiary rhyolite are the source of the gold placers lying
adjacent to and below these veins. One property where these gold de
posits have eroded to form gold placers is the Bald Mountain Bill prop
erty, 1 mile northwest of Ione. The ore at this small property occurs
NYE COUNTY 61
in high-grade gold stringers and pockets in Tertiary rhyolite associated

with jasper.
Literature:
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1958a: Reports drilling tests on 1,280
acre placer in Ione Valley by Goldfield Rand Co.; gravels said to in
dicate values of $1 per yard.
Kral, 1951: Locates placer deposits; reviews placer tests on different
claims; value of gravels per cubic yard; source of placer gold.
Mining and Scientific Press, 1909: Reports developments at Ione
placers; length of pipeline being built; value of gravels per cubic yard.
Smith and Vanderburg, 1932: Describes details of placer-mining opera
tions in 1932; reports average value of gravel.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Brief description of placer-mining activity during
the period 1932–35.
77. MILLETT (TWIN RIVER) DISTRICT
Location: East and west flanks of the Toiyabe Range at Ophir and Crane
Canyons, T. 13 N., Rs. 41 and 42 E.
Topographic map: Round Mountain 30-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Ferguson and Cathcart, 1954, Geologic map of the Round
Mountain quadrangle, Nevada, scale 1: 125,000.
Access: From Tonopah, 65 miles north on State Highway 8a to dirt road
leading west to Ophir Canyon; this road continues across the Toiyabe
Range paralleling Ophir Creek and Clear Creek, half a mile south of
Crane Canyon.
Extent: Small placers occur in gravels near the eastern range front along
Ophir Canyon (approximately sec. 34, T. 13 N., R. 42 E.) and along
Crane Creek, on the west side of the range (T. 13 N., R. 41 E.).
Production history: Placer gold was first credited to the district in 1910.
The placers described here were located and prospected during the
period 1946–47, but no production was recorded for 1946–47.
Source: Small gold veins occur at various localities throughout this area,
but the major producing mine was the Murphy or Ophir, a silver mine
in Ophir Canyon. Near the Murphy mine, high-grade gold ore occurs in
a narrow quartz vein, and near-surface ores reportedly yielded ap
preciable quantities of gold. The placer gold was probably derived from
this type of deposit.
Literature:
Kral, 1951: Locates small placers below mouth of Ophir Canyon.
Mining World, 1947: Reports plans of Natomas Co. to test gravels in
Crane Creek; notes placer discovery the previous summer (1946) in
Ophir Canyon in this same area.
78. MANHATTAN DISTRICT
Location: Southern end of the Toquima Range, on the east side of the Big
Smoky Valley, T. 8 N., Rs. 43 and 44 E.
Topographic map: Manhattan and vicinity, special edition, scale 1:24,000.
Geologic map: Ferguson, 1917, Geologic map of the Manhattan district,
Nevada, (pl. 6), scale 1:48,000.
Access: From Tonopah, 5 miles east on U.S. Highway 6 to junction with
State Highway 8a; from there, 38 miles north to junction with State
Highway 69, which leads 6 miles east to Manhattan mining area.
Extent: The placers in the Manhattan district were discovered in 1906
and have been the second most productive in the State during this cen
tury. These deposits are largely confined to Manhattan Gulch, which
trends east-west across the west flank of the Toquima Range, draining
the adjacent lode-gold mining area between Gold Hill and Palo Alto
Hill.
Gold is found in four types of gravel corresponding to different stages
of development of the gulch and adjacent hillsides. The oldest gravels are
found in patches on both sides of the gulch at elevations of 20–70 feet
above the present gulch level. These gravels are the remnants of an early
stage in the development of the gulch before active downcutting of the
canyon, and the gold concentration is much lower than that in the
younger gravels. Active downcutting of the canyon resulted in the ero
sion of gold lode from Gold Hill and Palo Alto Hill, and deposition of
gold-bearing gravels continued during downcutting of the canyon. These
rich gold-bearing gravels are now seen as bench gravels on the canyon
walls and as gravels in the deep channel of Manhattan Gulch. They
overlie bedrock and are generally less than 10 feet thick, and are, in
turn, overlain by as much as 40–100 feet of relatively barren overburden.
These gravels are known to be Pleistocene in age on the basis of fossil
remains recovered during placer operations. The youngest placers are
found in recent wash on the hillsides, derived from erosion of the under
lying veins.
The placers have been worked for a distance of about 6 miles from
the vicinity of Gold Hill (approximately sec. 20, T. 8 N., R. 44 E., un
surveyed) to the eastern edge of the Big Smoky Valley (approximately
sec. 21, T. 8 N., R. 43 F., unsurveyed). Detailed studies of the fineness
of the placer gold recovered from the gravels (Ferguson, 1917, p. 191)
show that the gold increases in fineness from east to west (range from
704 to 738) owing to solution of silver and base metals by the long
action of ground water on the gravels, which have been undisturbed
since the Pleistocene.
Production history: Since their discovery in 1906, the placers have been
worked continuously by several methods in both large- and small-scale
NYE COUNTY 63
operations. Most of the placers in this district were reached by shafts

and drifts and worked by sluices and drywashers. The numerous small
operations had a significant yearly production. The most productive
epoch in placer mining at Manhattan occurred between 1938 and 1946,
when the Manhattan Gold Dredging Co., a subsidiary of Natomas Co.
operated a floating bucket-line dredge which had 108 9%-cubic-foot
buckets in Manhattan Gulch. The water for the operation was obtained
from a 12-mile-long pipeline originating at Peavine. The dredge started
at the eastern edge of the Big Smoky Valley (approximately sec. 21,
T. 8 N., R. 43 E., unsurveyed) and worked eastward about 5 miles up
the gulch to approximately the mouth of Black Mammoth Gulch (sec.
19, T. 8 N., R. 44 E., unsurveyed). Barren overburden averaged 30 feet
deep. Both gulch gravels and bench gravels were dredged, the latter
being pushed into the dredge path by large tractors, bulldozers, and
scrapers. The company was given permission to operate at a reduced
scale during wartime (1943–45). The dredge ceased operations at the
end of 1946 and was later shipped to Copper Canyon, Lander County
(see p. 37–38), where it was used in other large placer-mining operations.
Because mining took place after 1905, we have a reasonably complete
record of the amount of placer gold recovered from the district. Re
corded production indicates that $6,342,796 in placer gold was recovered
between 1907 and 1967. The actual true placer production probably is
not less than $7 million, as an unknown amount of placer gold produced
was certainly not reported to the Government over this 60-year period.
The dredge operation recovered somewhat less than 133,608 ounces of
the total gold produced, and small-scale operations have recovered, over
the entire 60-year period, at least 73,290 ounces.
Source: The placer gold in the Manhattan district was derived from the
gold veins in the district, especially those at Gold Hill. The veins at
Gold Hill occur in Cambrian limestones and schists of the Gold Hill
Formation. Most of the placer gold is thought to be derived from the
numerous, closely spaced quartz stringers in the schist rather than from
the gold-bearing narrow fissures and replacement deposits in the lime
stone. The age of mineralization is thought to be early Tertiary or pre
Tertiary, the age of northwest-trending prevolcanic faults in the area.
Literature:
Clark, 1946: Describes techniques of placer mining used during large
scale operations; describes dredge, water supply, recovery methods;
indicates extent of ground worked.
Ferguson, 1917: Detailed description of placers; includes history, pro
duction, mining operations; discusses development of present topog
raphy, distribution of gold in old gravels, deep gravels, and recent
wash; size and fineness of placer gold; accessory minerals.
1924: Brief account of placer occurrences summarized from Bul

letin 640—J (1917), including maps, distribution of gold, character of
gold, stream studies relating to size distributions of gold.
Ferguson and Cathcart, 1954: Text summarizes earlier study of Man
hattan district (Ferguson, 1924).
Jones, 1909: Reviews geology of district; describes early placer-mining
activity; lithology, thickness, and value of placer gravels; mining op
erations in 1909; includes claim maps of placer areas; average value
of ground reported to be $10 per cubic yard.
Kral, 1951: Detailed description of history, geology, lode and placer
mines of the district; much information taken from earlier writers.
Adds information of production of placers to 1949, history of large
scale placer operations during the period 1938–46 and subsequent
small-scale operations to 1949.
Martin, 1912: Production for 1911; depth and value of placer gravels;
placer-mining techniques (paper similar to Toll, 1911).
Mining and Engineering World, 1913a: Describes drywash placer
mining plant owned by Thomas Wilson; extent and number of pay
streaks in gulch worked.
Mining World, 1941b: Details of dredge and stripping operations in
Manhattan Gulch; depth of barren overburden; total depth of
dredgeable ground; details of stripping benches that dredge cannot
reach; distribution of gold-bearing gravel; size of gravel; size of gold.
Paher, 1970: Photographs include many of early townsites and one of a
dredge that operated near mouth of Manhattan Gulch; history of
mining activity at Manhattan.
Stoneham, 1911: Describes rich placer gravels in main gulch below
Manhattan discovered in April 1909; extent and thickness of gravels;
placer-mining operations; drywash plant owned by Thomas Wilson
described; value of gravels; presence of gold in dry lakebed in Smoky
Valley.
Toll, 1911: Placer production for past year (1910–11); average thick
ness of gravel and pay streak; average value per yard in pay streak;
methods of working placers.
U.S. Geological Survey, 1969: Relation of mineral deposits to faults
and age of mineralization.
Vanderburg, 1936a: History and production of district; extent of plac
ers; size of nuggets found; placer-mining techniques and methods to
1935; placer sampling by Natomas Co. described.
79. ROUND MOUNTAIN DISTRICT
Location: West flank of the Toquima Range, T. 10 N., R. 44 E.

Topographic maps: Round Mountain 30-minute quadrangle; Round
Mountain #4, U.S. Forest Service, scale 1:31,680.
NYE COUNTY 65
Geologic map: Ferguson and Cathcart, 1954, Geology of the Round

Mountain quadrangle, Nevada, scale 1: 125,000.
Access: From Tonopah, 5 miles east on U.S. Highway 6 to junction with
State Highway 8a; from there, 49 miles north on State Highway 8a to
State Highway 70, which leads 4 miles east to Round Mountain.
Extent: The Round Mountain placers, the most productive in the State
during the 1900's, are remarkable for the large production yielded for
the small area in which they are found. The main placers are on the
south and west sides of Round Mountain, a small prominence about
6,800 feet in elevation at the western edge of the Toquima Range.
Gravels on the east side of Round Mountain also have yielded some
placer gold.
The main placers occur in coarse angular gravels and talus that are
about 30 feet deep on the west edge of Round Mountain but thicken
to more than 200 feet in the valley about three-quarters of a mile west
of Round Mountain. In places, the deposits are considered to be resid
ual, especially on the hillslope, but farther west towards Smoky Valley,
the gold was probably transported several hundred feet. The gold is
found throughout the gravels but occurs in highest concentrations on
and near bedrock. The size of the gold is generally fine, only as large
as a pinhead, but some nuggets also occur. The fineness of the gold is
rather low, being only slightly finer than the gold in the adjacent lode
deposits, which ranges from 574 to 696. The gold produced by the
Round Mountain Gold Dredging Corp. during the period 1950–52
averaged about 630 fine.
Production history: The lode and placer deposits at Round Mountain were
discovered in 1906. They were first worked by Thomas (Dry Wash) Wil
son, who gained considerable fame for inventing and successfully oper
ating drywashing machines at the Round Mountain placers. The placers
have been intensely worked since their discovery and have yielded con
siderable amounts of placer gold almost every year until 1968. Through
out these 62 years, many different mining methods have been used to
recover the gold. The earliest operations consisted chiefly of drywashing
shallow gravels on the hillside, especially the claims held by Thomas
Wilson adjacent to the Sunnyside lode. The drywash method report
edly recovered only about 70 percent of the placer gold; yet Wilson ob
tained gold worth $30,000 from these rich gravels in 70 days. Subsequent
to initial work with drywashing machines, water was brought in and
small-scale sluicing was used to mine some of the gravel. The sluicing
led to the construction of a pipeline from Jefferson Canyon, about 3
miles away, and the commencement of hydraulic operations by the
Round Mountain Hydraulic Co. Success of the hydraulic technique on
shallow gravels despite the lack of water soon led to the construction of a
14-mile-long pipeline from Jett Canyon across Smoky Valley in the

Toiyabe Range, where a better water supply was obtained. From 1906
to 1950 and during the period 1960–68, placer mining in Round Moun
tain was accomplished by all these methods (sluicing, hydraulicking,
and drywashing) at various scales and intensity. The production from
these small-scale operations amounted to about 87,000 ounces of the
total estimated production for the district.
During the periods 1950–52 and 1958–59, two of the largest and most
productive placer operations in the history of dry placer mining in the
Southwest worked the Round Mountain gravels. The Round Mountain
Gold Dredging Co. worked an area on the west side of Round Mountain
(in secs. 19 and 30, T. 10 N., R. 44 E., unsurveyed) three-quarters of a
mile west of the town of Round Mountain. The operations produced an
open pit about 200 feet or more deep in the gravels, 4,000 feet long from
north to south, and 1,800 feet wide from east to west. The first opera
tion, 1950–52, utilized a dragline with scarifying plate located on the
edge of the pit to break up the gravels and drop the debris into the pit,
where a 7%-yard electric shovel delivered the gravels to a series of
conveyors which, in turn, stacked the gravels for delivery by other con
veyors to trommels to the mill. The mill in which the gravels were
processed to remove the gold operated in the same manner as large
floating dredges, but was stationary and had no dredge pond. A bucket
line dredge such as that used in Manhattan and Copper Canyon could
not be used at Round Mountain because of the thickness of the gravels,
large numbers of boulders, steep slope of the bedrock, and porosity of
the gravels. The second operation, 1958–59, utilized a remodeled mill
and electric shovels to break up the gravels and to strip the overburden,
to mine selected areas within the pit. The placer gold production from
these operations is estimated at about 145,000 ounces.
The Copper Range Exploration Co. and Ordrich Gold Reserves Co.
renewed exploration of both placer and lode areas in the district during
the period 1970–72.
Source: The lode deposits on Round Mountain that are the source of the
placer gold consist of well-defined veins and numerous closely spaced
small veins or stringers containing visible gold in quartz or associated
with limonite and minor manganese oxide. These ores are found in a
Tertiary welded tuff, formerly thought to be rhyolite.
Literature:
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1916: Hydraulic operations by Round

Mountain Mining Co.; type of gravels mined; average value per cubic
yard recovered in placer operations of previous season (1915?).
1958b: Reports first phase of renewed large-scale operations at
Round Mountain by Morrison-Knudsen Co.; amount of overburden
NYE COUNTY 67
stripped; amount of material to be processed; average value of mate

rial.
Ferguson, 1922: History; early production data; value of gravels from
0 to 60 feet; extent of gold-bearing gravels; lithology of gravels; size
and fineness of gold recovered; source of placer gold; describes lodes
from which placers were derived.
Ferguson and Cathcart, 1954: Text summarizes early study of Round
Mountain district (Ferguson, 1922).
Huttl, 1950b: Describes placer-mining techniques at Round Mountain;
location, depth, and size of placer gravels.
Kral, 1951: Detailed description of history, geology, lode and placer
mines of the district; much information taken from earlier writers.
Adds information on large-scale placer mining beginning at that time;
describes general plan of operation.
Mining and Scientific Press, 1908d.: Reports three hydraulic monitors
recovering $1,000 per day in placer gold at Round Mountain.
Mining World, 1908: Reports production of $20,000 in fine gold and
nuggets from first cleanup by Round Mountain Hydraulic Co.
1950: Describes details of large-scale placer-mining operation;
gives illustration of Pit Mining plan; describes talus mined by Round
Mountain Dredging Corp.
1951: Details of mining methods used by Round Mountain Gold
Dredging Corp.; details of gold recovery techniques; size and fineness
of gold recovered; includes flowsheet showing mining procedures.
1959: Brief note which states that the “Round Mountain Gold
Dredging Corp. is doing better in its second placering attempt than
it did several years ago. It is now working selected areas by different
mining methods.”
Packard, 1907: Details of drywashing operations on Sunnyside claim;
daily production; depth of gravel washed; compares drywashing at
Round Mountain with drywashing at Manhattan.
1908: Describes veins at Sunnyside claim believed to be partial
source of placer gold; placer production by Thomas (Dry Wash)
Wilson on Sunnyside placer claim; placer-mining developments by
Round Mountain Hydraulic Mining Co.
Paher, 1970: Early history of mining activity at Round Mountain; pho
tographs include drywashing activity; hydraulic mining; debris left
by placer mining.
Ransome, 1909c: Distribution of gold-bearing gravel; placer-mining
operations in 1908; production.
Tonopah Times-Bonanza, 1970: reports the start of evaluation programs
at Round Mountain by Copper Range Exploration Co. and Ordrich
Gold Reserves Co. Inc.
1972: reports expansion of test program on lode and placer

claims in Round Mountain District.
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1950–52, 1958–60: Describes large placer-mining
operations at Round Mountain.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Early placer-mining history and production; extent
of placer; depth of gravel; size of debris in gravels; values for distri
bution of gold in gravels; details of different types of small-scale
mining methods used in district.
OTHER DISTRICTS
80. BELMONT DISTRICT
Kral (1951) reports the presence of placer gold in Meadow and Antone
Canyons (Tps. 9 and 10 N., R. 45 E.) in the northern part of the Belmont
district on the east slope of the Toquima Range. Several groups of placer
claims were located in these canyons, and nine holes reaching bedrock
reportedly showed about 30 cents in gold per cubic yard. No production
has been recorded from this district. The placer gold may have been de
rived from a base-metal deposit containing gold and silver in meta
morphosed shales and limestones as at the War Eagle Group of claims in
Antone Canyon.
Literature:
Kral, 1951: Locates placer claims; average value of gold per cubic yard.
81. CURRANT DISTRICT
An ounce of placer gold was credited to the Currant district in 1914.

The few gold properties known in this small district are located on the
south flank of the White Pine Range (T. 11 N., R. 59 E.) a few miles
east of the town of Currant. The Sheperd property produced gold-lead
copper ore in 1914, and it is probable that the placer gold was recovered
from the vicinity of this property.
Literature:
Lincoln, 1923.
Kral, 1951.
82. EDEN DISTRICT
Placer gold was recovered in 1935 from the Eden district, on the east
flank of the Kawich Range, southeast of Kawich Peak near the head
waters of Eden Creek (T. 1 N., R. 50 E., Kawich Peak 15-minute quad
rangle). The gold was probably recovered from debris eroded from gold
veins or shear zones in rhyolite at the South Gold Mining Co. claims, at
about 8,000 feet in the Kawich Range.
Literature: -
Kral, 1951; Reports placer gold production from South Gold Mining
Co. claims.
NYE COUNTY 69
83. ELLENDALE DISTRICT
Placer gold was recovered from the Ellendale district in 1935. This
small district is located in the hills of the southern Monitor Range east of
Saulsbury Wash (variously spelled Salisbury Wash). Small mines scattered
throughout this area (Tps. 2 and 3 N., Rs. 46 and 47 E.) were worked
for gold in rhyolite.
Literature:
Kral, 1951.
84. FAIRPLAY DISTRICT
A small amount of placer gold (quantity confidential) was recovered

in the late 1950's from small placers in the Fairplay district, which in
cludes mines at the southern end of the Paradise Range (T. 10 N., R.
36 E.) near the abandoned mining town of Goldyke in western Nye
County.
Literature:
Kral, 1951.
85. LODI (MAMMOTH) DISTRICT
Small placers were worked in the Lodi and Mammoth districts be

tween 1935 and 1938. Lode-gold deposits in the districts (often considered
to be one) are found in such widely separated areas as the southern tip
of the Lodi Hills (T. 13 N., R. 36 E.) and the Ellsworth area on the east
flank of the Paradise Range (T. 13 N., R. 38 E.) across the Ione Valley
from Ione. The placer gold was probably recovered in the vicinity of the
lode deposits.
Literature:
Kral, 1951.
86. LONGSTREET DISTRICT
Kral (1951) reports that placer gold has been recovered from gravels
in Longstreet Canyon, on the east flank of the Monitor Range (T. 6 N.,
R. 47 E.). Three nuggets were reported found in the canyon, and some
gold was recovered from surface detritus at the mouth of the canyon. The
lode deposits of the Longstreet district consist of gold-silver ore in rocks
described as rhyolitic tuff. There is no recorded placer production.
.
Literature:
Kral, 1951: Locates placers; describes recovery of nuggets.

87. TONOPAH DISTRICT
Some placer gold production is credited to this famous silver-gold min

ing district, in eastern Esmeralda County and western Nye County. I have
found no descriptions of any placer occurrence.
Literature:
Kral, 1951.
PERSHING COUNTY
88. ANTELOPE (SCOSSA) DISTRICT
Location: Along the alluvial fan east and southeast of Majuba Hill and
west of the Rye Patch Reservoir, T. 32 N., R. 32 E.
Geologic map: Tatlock, 1969, Preliminary geologic map of Pershing
Access: From Lovelock, 36 miles north on U.S. Highway 40 to light-duty
road 1 mile south of Imlay that leads around the north end of the Rye
Patch Reservoir to the junction with a dirt road leading south, a dis
tance of about 12 miles. From the junction, it is about 8 miles south
on the dirt road and 3 miles west to the placer area.
Extent: Placer are found in the alluvium at the east flank of the Antelope
Range in the Majuba Hill area. The gold reportedly is close to the sur
face, and there is little overburden. Placer claims in T. 32 N., R. 32 E.,
located by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, are concentrated in sec. 8 (Ma
juba claim), sec. 20 (Rio Grande; Delta and Valley View), and sec. 30
(Delta and Valley View; Dice; Owens Circle).
Production history: The placers, reportedly discovered by Mr. C. E. Dice
in July 1938, were most intensively worked from 1938 to 1941; more
than 100 ounces per year was recovered during this period. The small
placer production in 1934 and 1955 may have originated from the
Scossa area of the Antelope district, which is northwest of Majuba Hill
(T. 33 N., R. 30 E.).
Source: Unknown. The ore deposits of the Majuba Hill area are primar
ily silver, lead, tin, and copper. Some gold is associated with the base
metal deposits and might have been the source for the placer gold, but
I have been unable to determine the source of the placers. In the Scossa
district, 10 miles northwest of the Majuba placer area, gold veins occur
in steeply dipping, easily eroded metamorphosed sedimentary rocks, a
condition favorable for placer accumulation, according to Jones, Smith,
and Stoddard (1931).
Literature:
Jones, Smith, and Stoddard, 1931: Describes gold veins and bedrock
geology in district; notes characteristics of bedrock that create condi.
tions favorable for catching eroded gold (at the time of survey, placers
had not yet been worked).
Mining Journal, 1938b: Reports placer discovery by Charles E. Dice in
Majuba area; reports gold is close to surface, with little overburden;
states that drywashing methods are practical.
PERSHING COUNTY 71
89. PLACERITES DISTRICT
Location: In the low hills southeast of the central Kamma Mountains and
northeast of the north end of the Seven Troughs Range, at the corner
of Tps. 32 and 33 N., Rs. 29 and 30 E.
Access: From Lovelock, 18 miles west on State Highway 48 to junction
with light-duty road leading north toward Sulphur along the east flank
of the Seven Troughs Range. From this junction, it is about 39 miles
north to Placerites area.
Extent: Placers in the Placerites district are in a small area of gravel hills
adjacent to Rabbit Hole Creek on the northeast, about 8 miles southeast
of Rabbit Hole. An unpublished map of T. 32 N., Rs. 29 and 30 E.,
and T. 33 N., R. 30 E., prepared by the Southern Pacific Company
shows that most work was concentrated around the southern and east
ern outer edges of the gravel hills. Placer gravels worked in small shallow
ravines were 18 inches to 6 feet thick and rested on a bedrock composed
of slates and shales. Most of the gold recovered is coarse.
Production history: The Placerites district was first worked in the early
1870's (some reports state 1850's) by “Mahogany Jack” and his three
partners, who reportedly recovered $30,000 in gold. In the 1890's, placer
miners hauled the gravels to Rabbit Hole Spring, about 9 miles north
west. Production during this time is unknown. The deposits were ap
parently not worked again until after 1928 and then intermittently until
the present. The quantity of gold recovered from numerous small dry
wash operations each year has not been large. The Nevada-Montana
Co. worked part of the company’s 4,160 acres of claims in 1931 with a
dragline scraper, but did not report the gold recovery. In 1969, Mr.
Stanley held 28 placer claims in the district which were developed by
an opencut 1,000 feet long and 25 feet wide and mostly from 6 to 10
feet deep, although the deepest part was 25 feet (R. C. Reeves, written
commun., 1971).
Source: Unknown. The hills are composed of gravels possibly as old as
late Tertiary (as mapped by Tatlock, 1969), and the placers were prob
ably derived from these older gravels. The coarseness of the placer gold
indicates primary derivation from a nearby bedrock source, possibly
underlying the older gravels.
Literature:
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1931: Reports placer-mining opera

tions by Nevada Montana Co.
Nevada Mining Press, 1929: Reports construction of reservoir by Ne
vada Montana Mining Co.; discusses source of gold; states that no

trace of gold veins has been found in the vicinity of the placers.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Location; history and early production; placer
mining activity and operations during the period 1928–35; depth of
gravel worked; size and fineness of gold; problems in placer mining.
1936b: Early placer production; placer-mining development;
depth of gold-bearing gravel; fineness of gold; size of large nugget;
placer-mining operations in 1936.
90. ROSEBUD AND RABBIT HOLE DISTRICTS
Location: In the northern Kamma Mountains, north of Rosebud Canyon,

T. 34 N., Rs. 29 and 30 E. (projected).
Access: From Lovelock, 18 miles west on State Highway 48 to junction
with light-duty road leading north toward Sulphur along the east flank
of the Seven Troughs Range. From this junction, it is about 61 miles
north to Rosebud Canyon and placer area.
Extent: The extent and exact location of placers in the northern Kamma
Mountains are difficult to determine because of the lack of large-scale
maps showing the location of springs, gulches, and mines. Placers have
been worked northeast of Rosebud Peak in gravels on the side of the
mountains (approximately sec. 8, T. 34 N., R. 30 E., unsurveyed) and
on the southwest side of Rosebud Peak in gravels in ravines northwest
of Rosebud Canyon (S/. T. 34 N., R. 29 E., unsurveyed). Other placers
were worked in ravines known as Coarse Gold Canyon, Red Gulch,
Long Gulch, and Barrel Springs Canyon, said to be tributaries of Rose
bud Canyon.
Most of the gravels in the ravines where gold was found ranged in
thickness from 2 to 12 feet. The gold-bearing gravels characteristically
overlie a false bedrock of clay; shafts sunk below this horizon yielded
little gold. The gold particles recovered from the area are flat; much
of the gold ranges in size from particles having a weight value of a few
cents to a few dollars.
Production history: Although most descriptions of placer mining here state
that work was concentrated in the Rabbit Hole district (west side of
the Kamma Mountains), all but 89 ounces of production was credited
to the Rosebud district (east side of the Kamma Mountains). The
placers near Rosebud Canyon were reportedly first worked in the 1870's
by Chinese placer miners, who recovered several thousand dollars in
placer gold, but placer mining before the 1930's was intermittent. From
1933 until 1942, the placers were worked continuously, by individuals
PERSHING COUNTY 73
who drywashed the gravels and by companies who used dry-concen

trating plants, power shovels, and trucks to mine the gravels. The larg
est yearly production was for 1939 and 1940, when placer-mining opera
tions on the Janke group of claims in Barrel Springs Canyon and on the
Rio Seco claims (unlocated), produced a total of 3,008 ounces of gold.
Production continued intermittently from 1943 to 1963. Most of the
placer ground is controlled by Constant Minerals Separation Co., who
have operated placers in the district since the 1940's.
Source: The rocks exposed in the northern Kamma Mountains consist of
Tertiary volcanic and sedimentary rocks in the central part and on the
east flank, and of Tertiary sedimentary rocks, Tertiary and Quaternary
gravels, and Quaternary alluvium on the west flank. The Janke claims
were reportedly in ancient lakebed gravels. The placer gold was prob
ably derived by erosion of gold-silver veins, in the northern Kamma
Mountains, such as those at the Brown Palace mine, but, because there
have been no detailed studies of the area, this derivation is not certain.
Literature:
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1933b: Reports placer-mining activity
at Rabbit Hole; value of gravel and black sands mined; width and
depth of placer gravel; type of false bedrock; mining techniques.
1942: Reports presence of cassiterite in placers at Rabbit Hole,
Placerites, and Sawtooth districts; notes that tin content is too low
for profitable mining.
Lincoln, 1923: History; extent of placers (Rabbit Hole district); states
the year that placers were first worked in Rosebud district.
Mining Journal, 1939b: Reports living arrangements of placer miners
and number of miners in district.
1940a: Reports amount of gold recovered daily by Rio Seco
Mining Co.
Mining World, 1910: Reports placer-mining developments; average
value of gravels per yard.
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1936–40: Describes placer-mining operations in
Rosebud district; Minerals Yearbook for 1936 states that Janke claims
were in ancient lakebed gravels.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Rabbit Hole—early placer-mining activity and pro
duction (1916); depth of placer gravel; distribution of gold above and
below false bedrock; size and fineness of gold; placer-mining activity
and operations during the period 1932–35; amount of gold recovered
by different operators. Rosebud-brief summary of placer-mining his
tory and activity; depth of placer gravels.
1936b: Early placer-mining history and production; names
placer gulches; depth of gold-bearing gravel; fineness of gold; size of
nuggets; distribution of gold; placer-mining operations.
91. SEVEN TROUGHS DISTRICT
Location: East flank of the Seven Troughs Mountains, T. 30 N., Rs. 28

and 29 E.
Access: From Lovelock, 26 miles west on State Highway 48 to Vernon.
Placers are accessible by dirt roads leading along flank of the mountains.
Extent: No descriptions of placers in the Seven Troughs district have been
found, although placer gold was recovered periodically from 1913 to
1948. The placers are in the gulches and along the flanks of the range
near many small gold and silver lode mines.
Production history: Except for the amount of placer gold produced, no
information has been found describing placer mining in this district.
Source: The placer gold was derived from the gold veins in the area that
contain free gold. Ransome (1909b, p. 22) states, “The valuable con
stituent of the lodes is native gold containing a considerable proportion
of silver, and consequently of a rather pale color. In most of the rich
ore the gold is visible either as clusters of small irregular particles or as
coarse crystalline aggregates * * *. Loose nugget-like masses up to an
ounce in weight have been found in soft crushed vein matter in the
Reagan lease.” Erosion of such veins would account for the origin of
the placers in the area.
Literature:
Ransome, 1909b: Describes lode mines.
92. TRINITY DISTRICT
Location: On the east flank of the Trinity Range, between Black Rock
Canyon and Trinity Canyon, Tps. 28 and 29 N., R. 31 E.
Topographic maps: Oreana 15-minute quadrangle; Lovelock 2-degree
sheet, Army Map Service.
Access: From Lovelock, 10 miles north on light-duty road to Trinity Can
yon.
Extent: Small amounts of placer gold have been recovered from unlocated
deposits in the Trinity district. The deposits probably occur in Trinity
Canyon and nearby gulches, which drain areas where free gold is known
to occur in lodes.
Production history: Placer gold was recovered intermittently between 1939
and 1963. Most of the work was apparently done by snipers using small
scale hand methods.
Source: The placer gold was probably eroded from silver-gold ores in
PERSHING COUNTY 75
which the gold is in the native state or is associated with iron oxides,
as at the Evening Star mine (sec. 3, T. 28 N., R. 31 E.) and other lode
mines in the vicinity.
Literature:
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1957: States that placer mining was done with
small-scale methods by miscellaneous prospectors and snipers.
Vanderburg, 1936b: Describes ores at Evening Star mine.
93. IMLAY (HUMBOLDT) DISTRICT
Location: West flank of the north end of the Humboldt Range between
Prince Royal and Eldorado Canyons, Tps. 31 and 32 N., Rs. 33 and
34 E.
Topographic map: Imlay 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Silberling and Wallace, 1967, Geologic map of the Imlay
quadrangle, Pershing County, Nevada, scale 1:62,500.
Access: From Lovelock, 37 miles north on Interstate 80 to Imlay. Numer
ous dirt roads lead from the highway east to the mining areas.
Extent: Placers occur in Imlay Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and probably
in other canyons at the north end of the Humboldt Range. The placers
in Imlay Canyon are near the Imlay mine (secs. 30 and 31, T. 32 N.,
R. 34 E.).
Production history: Substantial amounts of placer gold have been credited
to the Imlay or Humboldt district between 1913 and 1951. For a few
years between 1938 and 1949, however, placer gold actually recovered
from gravels in Willow Creek (see 98, p. 83–84) was credited to the
Imlay district. Placer-mining activity in the Imlay district was appar
ently restricted to small-scale drywashing of the gravels. The Willow
Creek placers are richer than the Imlay Canyon placers, and it is prob
able that a considerable part of the placer production credited to the
Imlay district actually originated in the Willow Creek district. I have
changed the district data for those years where exact production can
be credited to the proper district, but I estimate that at least 500 ounces
credited to the Imlay district was produced from Willow Creek placers.
Source: The probable source of the placer gold in the Imlay district is
gold-bearing veins that occur in Triassic sedimentary rocks in the re
gion. The Imlay vein, the probable source of placer gold in Imlay Can
yon, is composed of hard white quartz containing silver and gold.
Literature:
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1930–31: Locates placers in Imlay and Antelope
Canyons.
1938–49: Describes placer-mining activity in Willow Creek
under Imlay district.
474—407—72—6
94. UNIONVILLE DISTRICT
Location: East slope of the Humboldt Range, T. 30 N., R. 34 E.

Topographic map: Unionville 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Wallace, Tatlock, Silberling, and Irwin, 1969, Geologic
map of the Unionville quadrangle, Pershing County, Nevada, scale
1:62,500.
Access: From Lovelock, 13 miles north on Interstate 80 to Oreana and
junction with State Highway 50. From there, it is 16 miles east across
the Humboldt Range and 12 miles north to Unionville on State High
way 50.
Extent: Placers are found in gravels in Buena Vista Canyon, above the
abandoned townsite of Unionville, and in Congress Canyon, a tributary
to Buena Vista Canyon from the north. The exact locations of the de
posits in the canyons are unknown. A placer discovered in 1931 in
Buena Vista Canyon consists of a 2- to 3-foot-thick pay streak in gravels
6–10 feet deep to bedrock. A placer worked in 1936 in Congress Canyon
occurs in gravels 12 feet thick.
Production history: Recorded production for the Unionville district placers
dated from 1940 to 1947; yet descriptions of the district indicate that
some placers were worked as early as 1875, and others were actively
worked between 1931 and 1936. Production during 1932 from placers
in Buena Vista Canyon was said to be as high as $10 per day. Total
production is probably twice that of recorded production of 46 ounces
during the 20th century.
Source: The gold was probably derived from gold-bearing quartz fissure
veins such as those worked at the Marigold mines (sec. 28, T. 30 N,
R. 34 E.) in upper Buena Vista Canyon.
Literature:
Cameron, 1939: Source of gold; describes lode mines.
Raymond, 1877: Notes small-scale placer mining in Congress Canyon.
Vanderburg, 1936a: History of placer mining; placer-mining activity
during the period 1931–35; depth of gravel worked in 1931; produc
tion per man per day in 1932.
1936b: Placer mining in 1936; location; depth of gravel.
95. ROCHESTER DISTRICT
Location: West flank of the Humboldt Range, Tps. 28 and 29 N., Rs. 33
and 34 E.
Topographic maps: Unionville 15-minute quadrangle; Rochester mining

district, special map, scale 1:24,000.
1:62,500.
PERSHING COUNTY 77

junction with State Highway 50; from there, it is about 8 miles east
to placer areas north and south of Rochester.
Extent: Placers were worked in Sacramento, Limerick, Rochester, and
Weaver Canyons on the west flank of the Humboldt Range. The placers
were discovered in the early 1860's about the same time as the lode
mines and worked on a small scale. Early placer activity was appar
ently concentrated in Rochester Canyon, but the placer workings are
now covered by mill tailings from the lode mines. The gravels in Roches
ter Canyon below lower Rochester (secs. 13 and 14, T. 28 N., R. 33 E.)
are 50 to several hundred feet thick and contain gold throughout the
deposit. Gold is also reported in Tertiary gravels (sec. 23, T. 28 N., R.
33 E.) northwest of Packard Flat in the West Humboldt Range.
Placers in Limerick Canyon are the most productive in the district.
Early placer miners are said to have worked the gravels in the canyon,
but little information has been found about production from this loca
tion. Near the head of the canyon, west of Spring Valley Pass, an allu
vial basin about 1% miles wide and 1 mile long (secs. 4, 5, 8, 9, T. 28
N., R. 34 E.) known as Limerick Basin was the center for most placer
mining activity in the district in the 20th century. The gold is mainly
concentrated on bedrock or in pay streaks just above bedrock; at the
west end of the basin, however, gold was reported throughout the gravel
thickness of 2–38 feet. Some gravel has yielded as much as $12 to $35
per cubic yard.
The placers in Sacramento Canyon (southern part of T. 29 N., Rs.
33 and 34 E.) in the north end of the Rochester district were discov
ered in 1912 and worked on a small scale.
Small placers were worked in Weaver Canyon (sec. 19, 20, 21, T.
28 N., R. 34 E.) in the south end of the Rochester district.
Production history: The production for the placers on the west side of
the Humboldt Range (Rochester district, proper) is difficult to deter
mine, because data for both Spring Valley and Rochester districts were
grouped for most years. Early production has been estimated between
4,500 and 50,000 ounces; production during the 20th century is about
3,000 ounces.
Most of the placer mining in the Rochester district was on a small
scale with drywashers, but a few small placer operations were mecha
nized. One operation in 1936 and 1937 at the Rhyolite placers in
Limerick Canyon used 5%-cubic-yard shovels and 2%-cubic-yard trucks
to dig and transport the gravels to a stationary washing plant. Most of
the work, however, was done by digging shafts to the pay streak and
using drywashers to concentrate the fairly coarse gold.
Source: The Rochester district is primarily a silver mining district, but a
few small lode-gold mines are found in the area. The gold is associated
with quartz and tourmaline in veins that appear unrelated to the silver
veins. In at least one place, placer gravels were traced to the lode
source at the Hagan lode in Limerick Basin. The gold vein there con
tains quartz, microcline and tourmaline and cuts a quartz keratophyre
phase of the Limerick Greenstone (Early Triassic). The gold veins are
genetically associated with leucogranite (Early Triassic).
Literature:
Bergendahl, 1964: Placer-production estimate for Rochester district.
Gardner and Allsman, 1938: Depth of pay gravel and overburden;
placer-mining techniques and operations at Rhyolite placer, Limerick
Canyon.
Knopf, 1924: Brief description of history and production of placers in
Limerick Basin; depth of gravel; average value; methods of mining;
SOurce. -
Mining Journal, 1931: Reports sale and lease of placer ground in

Rochester Canyon; price paid for land to Southern Pacific Company;
thickness of gravel; average value per yard; purchase price of placer.
Southern Pacific Company, 1964: Locates placer gravels in the lower
parts of Limerick and Rochester Canyons; indicates limited promise
for future development.
Schrader, 1915: Describes placers in Rochester, Weaver, and Limerick
Canyons. Details of depth of gravel, value, size, and production from
Limerick Canyon.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Extent of placers; names of placer gulches; distri
bution of gold and thickness of gravels in Limerick Canyon; compares
lithology of gravels in Limerick Basin with that of American Canyon.
1936b: Placer-mining operations in 1930's in Limerick Canyon;
depth of gravels worked in Limerick Basin; size and fineness of gold
recovered.
96. SPRING VALLEY DISTRICT
Location: East flank of the Humboldt Range, Tps. 28 and 29 N., Rs. 34
and 35 E.
Topographic map: Unionville 15-minute quadrangle.

1:62,500.
junction with State Highway 50. From there, it is about 16 miles east
across the Humboldt Range to Fitting in lower Spring Valley Canyon.
Placers are near Fitting and south along the flanks of the range.
Extent: Placers were worked in Spring Valley Canyon, Dry Gulch, and
PERSHING COUNTY 79
American, South American, and Troy Canyons on the east side of the
Humboldt Range. The Spring Valley district was formerly called the
Indian Silver mining district, and it is under this district name that the
first discovery of placer gold was recorded. Placers were discovered in
Spring Valley Canyon in 1875, when the Eagle mine, now known as
the Bonanza King mine, was one of the most active in the area. From
the beginning, the placers were highly productive. Descriptions of
placer-mining activity during the period 1875–76 state that in places 2
ounces of gold dust per day per man was recovered.
Spring Valley Creek heads near the crest of the Humboldt Range and
flows east about 4 miles to Buena Vista Valley. The creek flows through
Spring Valley, an alluvial basin, for about 1% miles near the crest of
the range. Most placer-mining activity was concentrated in the steep
part of Spring Valley Creek, east of Spring Valley Basin (secs. 35 and
36, T. 29 N., R. 34 E., and sec. 31, T. 29 N., R. 35 E.). The gravels
in the lower part of the canyon are 20–30 feet thick and contain gold
in gravel horizons underlain by clay. The gold recovered from these
gravels was coarse, and nuggets worth $3 to $5 were recovered in 1911.
The fineness of the gold recovered in one placer operation ranged from
696 to 730.
Placers have been worked on a small scale in Dry Gulch, 1 mile
south of Spring Valley Canyon (secs. 1 and 2, T. 28 N., R. 34 E.)
since at least 1882.
American Canyon heads in the alluvial basin east of the crest of the
Humboldt Range at Sage Hen Springs and flows about 4 miles east to
Buena Vista Valley. Placers have been worked intensively from the edge
of the range upstream for 2 miles (secs. 17 and 18, T. 28 N., R. 35 E.;
sec. 13, T. 28 N., R. 34 E.). Most of the placer mining was done in
the 1880's and 1890's by Chinese miners who dug shafts 40–100 feet into
the gravels. The gold, both fine and coarse in size, was concentrated in
a pay streak underlain by clay at an average depth of 60 feet but at
shallower depth at the upper end of the placer than at the edge of the
range. Little or no gold was found below the clay or on true bedrock.
A continuation of the deposit was reportedly found in gravels overlain
by lava near the edge of the range (sec. 17, T. 28 N., R. 35 E.).
Schrader (1915, p. 368–370) describes placers overlain by basalts at
the 4,700-foot elevation in Walker Gulch, half mile north of American
Gulch (NVA sec. 17, T. 28 N., R. 35 E.). At the time of his visit, the
deposit was being prospected along shafts 60 and 200 feet deep. The
gold is described as particles generally valued at about one-fifth of a
cent but reaching a maximum of 1% cents, and the gravels were esti
mated to average (at that time) 75¢ to $1.00 per cubic yard.
South American Canyon is less than 1 mile south of American Can
yon and joins American Canyon at the edge of the range. Placers in
South American Canyon are found in a bowl-shaped alluvial area
(probably in the SW, sec. 13, T. 28 N., R. 34 E.). Shafts in the sub
angular gravels were dug to depths of 15 feet.
Troy Canyon is 2 miles south of South American Canyon. Placers in
this canyon were not so extensive nor productive as those in the northern
canyons, and most of the work was apparently concentrated in gravels
near the edge of range (secs. 31 and 32, T. 28 N., R. 35E.).
Production history: The placers in the Spring Valley district are said to
be the most productive in Nevada. Placer production estimated to be
as much as $10 million, largely from American and Spring Valley Can
yons, is attributed to early work by Chinese placer miners. Certainly,
every description of the placer area credits the large amount of work
done by these early miners, but production records for Humboldt County
(before 1919, Pershing County was part of Humboldt County) do not
reveal large amounts of gold. It is generally supposed that the Chinese
miners never revealed the amount of placer gold recovered from the
area, and, indeed, shipped large amounts of their proceeds out of the
country.
The Chinese miners, who numbered in the hundreds, dug numerous
shafts and systematically drifted along pay streaks and bedrock to re
cover the placer gold. The ground in American Canyon was worked by
lessees who held blocks of land 20 feet square. Each block reportedly
yielded $1,500 to $3,000 in gold.
Spring Valley Canyon has been the scene of most placer-mining ac
tivity in the district during the 20th century. Most of the work done
over the years was small-scale drywashing, but two large-scale opera
tions worked the lower part of the canyon. The first dredge in Spring
Valley Canyon, also the first in Nevada, was the wooden dredge oper
ated by the Federal Placer Mines Co. from 1911 to 1914. The dredge
worked stream and bench gravels with an average recoverable value in
gold of 31.6 cents per cubic yard. During the period 1947–49, the
Spring Valley Gold Dredging Co., and then the Southwest Dredging
Co., operated dryland dredges, dragline excavators, and a dryland wash
ing plant in lower Spring Valley Canyon. The dredge tailings from this
operation can still be seen at the mouth of the canyon. Both operations
were successful, the operation in 1949 yielding about 2,000 ounces in
placer gold.
Production figures for the 20th century from Dry Gulch and Ameri
can, South American, and Troy Canyons are not available, but produc
tion has been small compared with that from Spring Valley Canyon.
Source: The only important lode mine in the Spring Valley district is the
Bonanza King mine (formerly called the Eagle mine) located half a mile
PERSHING COUNTY 81
south of Spring Valley Canyon (NE/4 sec. 1, T. 28 N., R. 34 E.). The

ore there contains gold, galena, pyrite, sphalerite, and tetrahedrite. As
suredly, erosion of parts of the Bonanza King vein must have contributed
some gold to the placers in Spring Valley Canyon, but this same vein
could not have been the source of the gold in the placers to the south.
Gold prospects occur along several small quartz-tourmaline veins
which cut Rochester rhyolite at Gold Mountain, south of Spring Valley
(center of sec. 3, T. 28 N., R. 34 E.). Similar quartz veins containing
native gold were observed near the crest of the range (R. E. Wallace
and D. B. Tatlock, written commun., 1971). These veins are related to
swarms of rhyolite porphyry dikes but are in Limerick greenstone or
Rochester rhyolite host rock.
It has been suggested by geologists who studied the area in the past
that the gravels in American Canyon represent an ancient drainage that
at one time crossed the Humboldt Range and connected with gravels in
Limerick Basin and Canyon. Granite pebbles were reported in the
American Canyon placers, although there is no granite exposed in that
area. These pebbles may be from the leucogranite exposed in the Lime
rick Basin area, but this aspect of the geology of the Humboldt Range
has not been studied in detail.
Literature:
Bergendahl, 1964: Placer-production estimate for Spring Valley district.
Burchard, 1883: Production from Spring Valley and Dry Gulches.
1884: Production.
Lincoln, 1923: Gives dates of working placers in American Canyon;
distribution of gold in gravels; dredge operations in Spring Valley in
1911.
Locke, 1913: Describes placers in American Canyon; production; early
mining history; extent of placer; depth of pay streak; distribution of
gold; notes placers found underlying lava.
Murbarger, 1958: Describes abandoned placer camp in American Can
yon. Details how Chinese miners worked placer gravels by construct
ing shafts and drifts to false bedrock.
Paher, 1970: Brief history of early mining by Chinese miners; brief
history of dredge mining; photograph of Federal dredge at work dur
ing the period 1910–14 included.
Ransome, 1909b: Describes extent of placer mining in American Can
yon; depths of pay streaks; minerals associated with gold in placers.
Raymond, 1877: Notes placer production from gulch near Eagle mine.
Schrader, 1915: Describes placers in American Canyon, Walker Gulch,
and Spring Valley and South American Canyons. Details of placer oc
currence in gravels buried by basalt in Walker Gulch.
Southern Pacific Company, 1964: Located placer gravels at the mouth

of Troy Canyon.
Vanderburg, 1936a: History; extent of placer workings; production;
placer-mining operations; distribution of gold in gravels; size and
fineness of placer gold; placer mining in 1936.
1936b: History of placer mining in Spring Valley; placer-mining
operations in 1930's in Dry Gulch and American and Spring Valley
Canyons.
Walker, 1911: Describes dredge used in American Canyon; depth and
average value of gravel; size of gold recovered; problems encountered
in dredging.
Wallace and Tatlock, 1962: Outlines geologic setting for lode gold oc
currence; notes situations for placer gold concentration.
Whitehill, 1877: Placer-mining activity in 1875 and 1876; locates de
posits in relation to Eagle mine in Indian district (now Bonanza King
mine in Spring Valley district); production per day per man; num
ber of men working placers.
97. SIERRA (CHAFEY, DUN GLEN) DISTRICT
Location: Northern part of the East Range. TPs. 31–33 N., Rs. 36 and 37
E.
Topographic maps: Dun Glen and Rose Creek 15-minute quadrangles.

Geologic map: Ferguson, Muller, and Roberts, 1951b, Geologic map of the
Winnemucca quadrangle, Nevada, scale 1: 125,000.
Access: From Lovelock, 46 miles north on Interstate 80 to Mill City; from
there, dirt roads lead northeast 8 miles to Dun Glen flat and placers
along the west flank of the East Range.
Extent: Extensive placer deposits have been worked in Auburn and Wright
Canyons (unlocated) and Barber Canyon, and Rockhill Canyon on the
west flank of the East Range. Less extensive placers have been worked
in Spaulding Canyon on the east flank of the range and in Dun Glen
Canyon at the north end of the district. Willow Creek, lies between
Spaulding Canyon and Rockhill Canyon but is considered to be a dif
ferent district, more because of mining history than because of location.
The placers were discovered in the 1860's, and most of the mining
was done during the period 1870–90 in Auburn and Barber Canyons,
and during the period 1880–90 in Rockhill Canyon by Chinese miners.
Little is known of the depth and value of the gravels mined at that time.
In the 1930's most of the placer-mining activity was concentrated in
Dun Glen, Barber, and Spaulding Canyons. The gravels in these can
yons are deep, ranging from 18 to 40 feet in Dun Glen Canyon and
averaging 30 feet in Barber Canyon. The gold is generally found concen
trated on bedrock and in some benches on the canyon sides.
PERSELING COUNTY 83
Production history: The placers in the Sierra district are among the most
productive in the State, the production being estimated at $4 million
before 1900. This estimate represents the amount of gold thought to
have been recovered by Chinese miners, who between 1870 and 1890
reportedly recovered $2 million from Auburn and Barber Canyons and
between 1880 and 1895 recovered $2 million or more from Rockhill
Canyon. As for many mining districts that were large producers before
accurate records of mining activity were kept, there is some doubt that
the actual production was as high as the estimated.
Placer mining during the 20th century was small scale and intermit
tent. So far as I know, no large-scale operations were successful, al
though a dryland dredge worked a short time in Dun Glen Canyon in
1931 and bulldozers and carryalls were used in Spaulding Gulch in 1940.
Most of the placer gold was recovered by small-scale methods, such as
sluicing, hydraulicking, and drywashing after drifting or stripping to the
richer gravels near bedrock.
Source: The lode mines in the district are quartz veins carrying gold,
silver, and sulfide minerals. Most are in the northern part of the district
near the headwaters of Dun Glen and Barber Canyons (T. 33 N., Rs.
36 and 37 E.). Erosion of these veins, which locally contain high con
centrations of gold, is the most likely source of the placer gold in the
canyons. The veins appear to be post-Triassic and pre- or early Tertiary.
Similar, but less conspicuous, veins probably supplied the placer gold in
canyons south of the main lode-mining area.
Literature:
Ferguson and others, 1951: Briefly describes lode and placer deposits.
Lincoln, 1923: Early production of Chinese placer miners.
Mining Journal, 1940b: Reports beginning of production from placer
operations in Spaulding Gulch; bulldozers and carryalls are used to
move 2,000 yards of gravel per shift.
Vanderburg, 1936a: History of placer mining; names placer gulches,
estimate of early production; placer-mining activity in Dun Glen,
Barber, and Spaulding Canyons during the period 1931–34; depth
and value of gravels in these canyons.
1936b: Repeats placer description of earlier paper. Describes lode
mines in district.
98. WILLOW CREEK DISTRICT
Location: West flank of the East Range, Tps. 31 and 32 N., R. 36 E.

Topographic map: Dun Glen 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Ferguson, Muller, and Roberts, 1951b, Geology of the
Winnemucca quadrangle, Nevada, scale 1: 125,000.
Access: From Lovelock, 46 miles north on Interstate 80 to Mill City; from
there, dirt roads lead southeast about 12 miles to placers near the head
waters of Willow Creek.
Extent: Placers have been worked near the headwaters of Willow Creek,
west of the crest of the East Range (secs. 2 and 11, T. 31 N., R. 36 E.).
Some placers may have been worked farther downstream where the
creek trends east-west (secs. 32–35, T. 32 N., R. 36 E.). The gold is ap
parently concentrated in channel fill of varying widths near bedrock and
is overlain by alluvium. In the SE/4 sec. 11, in the upper part of Willow
Creek where the three headward forks join to form the main creek, the
overburden is from 15 to 30 feet thick.
Production history: Most placer activity took place between 1938 and
1964. Activity was concentrated at the Wadley placer mine (SW, sec. 11,
T. 31 N., R. 36 E.) and the Thacker placer mine (NW, sec. 2, T. 31 N.,
R. 36 E.). Small earth-moving equipment was used to deliver the gravels
to a central washing plant. In 1949 and 1950, Wallace Calder mined
gravels containing $1.85 and 24; in gold per cubic yard at the Wadley
mine. Dragline operations were carried on during the period 1959–60 in
the north-south-trending part of the creek between the Thacker and
Wadley placer mines.
Actual production from the Willow Creek placers is substantially
higher than indicated by the recorded production of 2,823 ounces. For
many years, placer production was included with that from the Imlay
district and probably also with that from the Sierra district.
Source: Gold-bearing calcite and quartz veins exposed near the headwaters
of Willow Creek are, at least in part, the source of the placer gold in
Willow Creek. Both the Wadley and Thacker mines are in gravels
mapped as older alluvium of Quaternary age that form small basins in
the upper part of Willow Creek. These gravels represent remnants of
gravel deposition from an earlier erosion cycle, and the gold found
under the thick overburden was probably deposited at the earliest stage
of the cycle.
Literature:
Ferguson and others, 1951: Notes mining activity in Willow Creek;
source of placer gold.
Mining Journal, 1939a: Reports plans to use small dragline at Willow
Creek.
Southern Pacific Company, 1964: Locates placers in Willow Creek;
depth of overburden; states that the area warrants further investiga
tion.
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1938–63: Placer-mining activity at Willow

Creek; some years give amount of gravel treated and ounces of gold
and silver recovered; names placer claims.
PERSHING COUNTY S5
z OTHER DISTRICTS
99. GOLDBANKS DISTRICT
The eastern edge of the Goldbanks Hills at the north end of Pleasant
Valley (secs. 20 and 21, T. 30 N., R. 39 E.) contain gold-silver ores in
quartz veins within rhyolite that were prospected on a small scale during
the period 1907–8. Gravels at the foot of the hill in which the gold lodes
are situated probably were the source for the small amount of placer gold
recovered from the area in 1949.
Literature:
Dreyer, 1940.
100. KENNEDY DISTRICT
The placer gold credited to the Kennedy district probably was recovered
from gravels in Kennedy Canyon or its tributaries (T. 28 N., R. 38 E.) on
the east side of the East Range. The placer gold was probably derived
from gold-silver ores in veins in the igneous rocks of the area that have
been mined near the head of the canyon, particularly at the Gold Note
mine during the 1890's.
Literature:
Ransome, 1909b.
Vanderburg, 1936b.
101. MILL CITY (CENTRAL) DISTRICT
The Mill City district is in the Eugene Mountains west of the Humboldt
River in Pershing and Humboldt Counties. The area contains productive
tungsten and lead mines and a few small gold prospects. The location and
source of the placer gold credited to the district from both Pershing and
Humboldt Counties are unknown. Most of the gold known to have been
mined in the district apparently occurs in the northern part of the range
in the area known as the Central district, Humboldt County.
Literature:
Willden, 1964.
º Vanderburg, 1936b.
102. STAR DISTRICT
Placers were discovered in Star Creek, northeast of Star Peak on the

eastern flank of the north end of the Humboldt Range in 1868; the most
valuable deposits were found in creek gravels at the range front (sec. 24,
T. 31 N., R. 34 E.), but some gold was found in gravel banks near the
silver mines 2% miles above (west) of the mouth of the canyon. The gold
in the gravels in the lower part of the creek was pure, coarse, and rough.
g2
The Star district is noted for silver deposits upstream from the placers, and
early miners searched for gold lodes that must have been the source, ap
parently without success. No production figures were found for the placers
reportedly worked between 1868 and 1871.
Literature:
Raymond, 1870, p. 192–193.
1873, p. 209.
103. STAGGS DISTRICT
The Staggs district is in the northern Black Mountains, also known as

the Bluewing Mountains, in western Pershing County. A small amount of
placer gold was recovered during the period 1940–41 from a placer de
posit at the northwest end of the mountains (sec. 12, T. 29 N., R. 26 E.).
The placer extends north along the major drainage from the Bluewing
Mountains.
STOREY AND ORMSBY COUNTIES

104. COMSTOCK DISTRICT (STOREY COUNTY)
Location: In the Virginia Range, northwest of the Carson River, T. 17 N.,
R. 21 E.
Topographic map: Virginia City 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Thompson, 1956, Geologic map and sections of the Vir
ginia City quadrangle, Nevada, scale 1:62,500.
Access: From Reno, about 9 miles southeast on U.S. Highway 395 to junc
tion with State Highway 17; from there, about 12 miles southeast on
State Highway 17 to Virginia City and Comstock district.
Extent: Placer gold occurs in Gold and Six Mile Canyons in the Comstock
district. The placer gold credited to this district may have been re
covered from gravels in these drainages or from old tailings found
throughout the mining area. No information has been found to indicate
the location or character of the deposits, mined since 1900.
Production history: Placer gold was recovered from the Comstock district
during the initial prospecting stage (about 1857–59) in this famous
lode-mining area. The discovery of the Ophir mine (sec. 29) is attributed
to placer miners working the gravels of Six Mile Canyon to its head.
Decomposed ores of the Sierra Nevada mine (sec. 20), near Seven Mile
Canyon, tributary to Six Mile Canyon, were mined by placer methods
during the 1860's. Placering during the 20th century is reported for the
period 1934–47, but, except for the year 1934, when 354 ounces of gold
was recovered by two operators, yearly production was very small.
Source: The source of the placer gold is certainly the ores of the Com
STOREY AND ORMSBY COUNTIES 87
stock lode; it is not known whether the gold was truly erosional material
from the lode or from particles contained in old tailings.
Literature:
Bonham, 1969: Summarizes earlier work on geology of the Comstock
lode; dates mineralization of lode.
De Quille, 1891: Describes placer mining in Six Mile Canyon; dis
covery of other lodes.
Paher, 1970: History of early placer mining in Six Mile Canyon; pro
duction per day by O'Reiley and McLaughlin in gravels in Ophir Lode.
Stoddard and Carpenter, 1950: Describes ore deposits of Comstock lode.
Thompson, 1956: Notes extent of placers; describes lode mines.
White, 1871: Describes gold-bearing gravel at Sierra Nevada mine.
105. CARSON RIVER DISTRICT (ORMSBY COUNTY)
Location: Along the Carson River, in the vicinity of Empire, T. 15 N.,
Rs. 20 and 21 E.
Topographic map: Dayton 15-minute quadrangle.
Access: From Carson City, 3 miles northeast on State Highway 50 to
vicinity of Carson River at Empire.
Extent: Gravels along the Carson River have been mined sporadically for
placer gold that in part came from old mill tailings from treatment of
the Comstock ores. The gold recovered during the 20th century ap
parently came from the part of the river in the vicinity of Empire
(secs. 11–14, T. 15 N., R. 20 E.) and near Santiago Canyon (sec. 5,
T. 15 N., R. 21 E.). In 1923, an old 60-foot-wide channel of the Carson
River was reportedly discovered to contain coarse gold.
Production history: Production from the Carson River placers has been
minor. The many attempts to recover gold from old mill tailings along
the Carson River before 1900 met with failure, and placer mining dur
ing the 20th century has been sporadic.
Source: The probable source of the placer gold is the Comstock lode.
Literature:
Mining Review, 1923: Reports discovery of old river channel of Carson
River on the old Mexican Mill property at Empire; channel gravels
reportedly contain coarse gold; width of channel bed is 60 feet.
U.S. Geological Survey, 1911: Notes placer production from Carson
River; states that gold is presumed to have been recovered from old
tailings.
Vanderburg, 1936a: History of operations along Carson River to re
cover gold in mill tailings from Comstock lode.
SS PLACER GOLD DEPOSITS OF NEWADA
WASHOE COUNTY
106. JUMBO (WEST COMSTOCK) DISTRICT

Location: West flank of the Virginia Range, T. 16 N., R. 20 E.
Topographic map: Virginia City 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Thompson, 1956, Geologic map of the Virginia City quad
rangle, Nevada (pl. 3), scale 1:62,500.
Access: From Reno, 16 miles south on U.S. Highway 395 to junction with
dirt road that leads east, up the flank of Virginia Range, about 6 miles
to Jumbo mining district.
Extent: The Jumbo district is a small lode mining district on the opposite
flank of the Virginia Range from the Comstock district. Most of the
mines are near the crest of the range (secs. 34 and 35, T. 16 N., R. 20
E.). Small amounts of placer gold were recovered from placers in this
district.
Production history: Most of the placer gold credited to the Jumbo district
was recovered between 1937 and 1940, by small-scale methods.
Source: The placer gold in the Jumbo district was probably derived from
the small oxidized veins that cut the Alta Formation (Miocene). Free
gold is the only economically important metal in the veins.
Literature:
Bonham, 1969: Describes lode deposits; notes small-scale placer mining.
Mining and Engineering World, 1913b: Reports plans to develop lodes
and placers; extensive placer gravels exposed near Pandora Comstock
lode.
Thompson, 1956: Briefly describes types of ores found in Jumbo district.
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1937–40: Gives placer production figures.
107. OLINGHOUSE (WHITE HORSE) DISTRICT
Location: East flank of the Pah Rah Range, T. 21 N., R. 23 E.
Topographic map: Wadsworth 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Bonham, 1969, Geologic map of Washoe and Storey Coun
ties, scale 1:250,000.
Access: From Reno, 32 miles east on Interstate 80 to Wadsworth; from
there, 3 miles north on State Highway 34 to dirt road in Olinghouse
Canyon leading 6 miles west to mining area.
Extent: Gold placers are found in an alluvial basin about 1 mile long and
% mile wide and in a tributary ravine north of Olinghouse Canyon
and south of Green Hill in the main lode mining area of the district
(secs. 20–29, T. 21 N., R. 23 E.). Gold-bearing placers also occur at the
edge of the range near Frank Free Canyon east of Green Hill (sec. 27,
T. 21 N., R. 23 E.) and Tiger Canyon north of Green Hill (sec. 21,
T. 21 N., R. 23 E.).
WASHOE COUNTY 89
The gravels in the alluvial basin and tributary ravine average about 20
feet deep. The gold is concentrated in the lowermost 5–6 feet of gravel
above bedrock. Along the south and east margins of Green Hill, the
placers are eluvial, whereas those in drainages from Green Hill are al
luvial deposits transported 1 mile or more. Near the edge of the range
at Frank Free Canyon, shafts and churn drills sampled gravels to a
depth of 75 feet that assayed 8, 23, and 94 cents per cubic yard.
Production history: The placers in the Olinghouse district were extensively
worked between 1860 and 1900 and were said to produce considerable
gold, but no authentic records of placer gold production are known. The
total placer and lode-gold production of the district before 1900 ha
been estimated at about $218,000, although some estimates indicate as
much as $500,000. During the 20th century, the Olinghouse placers
have been worked almost continuously, but mostly on a small scale. The
rich gravels were reached by drifts concentrated in the center of the al
luvial basin, where they apparently follow a channel to the south to
wards Olinghouse Canyon. In a flat part of the alluvial basin (ap
proximately north edge of sec. 29), a small dragline dredge worked the
gravels in 1965 by digging a square pit about 15 feet deep, then floating
the dredge in the water-filled pit and back-filling with tailings. The
operation was not successful because of difficulty in keeping water in
the pit. Another operation dredged gravels during the period 1963–64 in
the tributary ravine (east side of the road to the mining area, center
sec. 29).
Source: Small gold-bearing quartz and calcite veins in the andesites and
intrusive granodiorite porphyry (Miocene and Pliocene) at Green Hill
are the source of the placer gold. The gravels in which the gold is found
consist mostly of subangular andesite and basalt debris derived from the
adjacent hillsides.
Literature:
Bonham, 1969: History; placer-mining activity during the period 1963–

65; distribution of placers; describes details of lode mines.
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1897d: Reports production of $207 in
gold from 12 tons of placer gravel in Olinghouse Canyon.
Hill, 1911: Estimate of lode and placer production; describes lode
Inlines.
overton, 1947. Describes lode deposits; source of placer gold; placer

mining activity in 1937.
Southern Pacific Company, 1964: Locates area for future exploration;
value of gold per cubic yard in samples.
U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1963–64: Describes placer operations with drag
line dredge; names placer claims.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Early placer-mining history; placer-mining opera

tions in 1935; location of these operations; depth of placer gravel;
size of gravels; fineness and size of gold; source, methods of mining;
average value of gravel.
108. PEAVINE DISTRICT
Location: Northeast slope of Peavine Peak, T. 20 N., Rs. 18 and 19 E.

Topographic map: Reno 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Bonham, H., 1969, Geologic map of Washoe and Storey
Counties, scale 1:250,000.
Access: From Reno, 8 miles north on U.S. Highway 395 to dirt road lead
ing southwest to flank of Peavine Peak.
Extent: Small placer deposits occur in gulches and ravines on the north
east slope of Peavine Peak in the area where quartz monzonite is ex
posed. Only sporadic mining has been done on these deposits during
this century, and it is impossible to locate all the placers. Before 1900,
the Nevada Industrial Placer (SW}/4 sec. 16, T. 20 N., R. 19 E.) was
actively mined. This placer, located in a small ravine, has been worked
over an area 1,500 feet long and 2–3 feet wide.
Production history: The placers in the Peavine district were reportedly
worked between 1876 and the 1890's, but no authentic records of pro
duction have been found. Several thousand dollars of placer gold were
reported to have been recovered from the Nevada Industrial placer.
During the 20th century, placer mining has been very sporadic, and the
amount of gold recovered small. The largest amount of gold recovered
in 1 year was in 1957, when prospectors and snipers recovered 21 ounces
from stream deposits.
Source: The placer gold was derived from replacement deposits in quartz
monzonite formed during the late Miocene and Pliocene. These deposits
consist of narrow zones of magnetite and small stringers of pyrite that
probably contain gold; erosion of these deposits is said to supply suf
ficient gold to account for the placers.
Literature:
Bonham, 1969: Describes lode mines; dates age of mineralization.

Hill, 1915: Production estimate; locates Nevada Industrial placer prop
erty; length and width of placer area; source.
Overton, 1947: Describes lode deposits; describes type of lode deposit
which probably was the source of placers, locates placers.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Extent of placers; states that records of placer
mining exist for 1876–78 and for the 1890's.
White, 1871: Notes placer-mining activity when water was available
(Peavine district, p. 4).
WASHOE COUNTY 91
109. GALENA (WASHOE) DISTRICT

Location: East flank of the Carson Range, west of Pleasant Valley, T. 17
N., R. 19 E.
Topographic map: Mount Rose 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Thompson and White, 1964, Geologic map and sections of
the Mount Rose quadrangle, Washoe County, Nevada (Pl. 1), scale
1:62,500.
Access: From Reno, about 14 miles south on U.S. Highway 395 to Pleasant
Valley. Placers are in hills west of the highway.
Extent: Small placer deposits are located near the mouth of Galena Creek
(sec. 12, T. 17 N., R. 19 E.) and along Steamboat Creek, near Little
Washoe Lake (sec. 24).
Production history: The placer production intermittently credited to the
Galena district has been small.
Source: The gold recovered from Galena Creek was apparently derived
from old tailings, probably from the Union lead mine which contains
gold and silver associated with more abundant sulfides. The origin of the
gold recovered from Steamboat Creek is unknown.
Literature:
Bonham, 1969: Describes and locates lode mines.
Thompson and White, 1964: Describes ore deposits in Galena district.
110. LITTLE VALLEY DISTRICT
Location: East flank of the Carson Range in Little Valley, T. 16 N.,

R. 19 E.
Topographic maps: Carson City and Mount Rose 15-minute quadrangles.
Geologic map: Thompson, and White, 1964, Geologic map of the Mount
Rose quadrangle, Washoe County, Nevada (pl. 1), scale 1:62,500.
Access: From Reno, 18 miles south on U.S. Highway 395 to the site of
Franktown (4 miles south of Washoe City); jeep trails lead west from
Franktown up the flank of the mountain to Little Valley.
Extent: Gold-bearing gravels that underlie Tertiary volcanic rocks were
mined before 1900 in Little Valley. Most of the placers are in the
southern part of Little Valley (SW/4 T. 16 N., R. 19 E., Carson City
quadrangle). According to Reid (1908), the gold is found as well
rounded grains ranging in size from that of a mustard seed to coarse
nuggets.
Production history: No reliable production figures have been found. Reid
reports an estimated production of $100,000 in placer gold. Shallow
cuts in one area in Little Valley are said to have yielded $60,000 in
placer gold from a pocket in the gravel.
Source: The source of the gold is unknown.
474–407—72–7
Literature:
Bonham, 1969: Virtually repeats Vanderburg (1936a).
Reid, 1908: Describes extent of Tertiary river channel; placer-mining
history; size of gold in gravels; estimate of early production.
Thompson and White, 1964: Approximately locates placers.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Placer-mining history; extent and significance of
Tertiary gravels; estimates of production; placer-mining activity in
1935.
WHITE PINE COUNTY
111. BALD MOUNTAIN (JOY) DISTRICT

Location: Western slope of the southern end of the Ruby Range, T. 24 N.,
Rs. 56 and 57 E. (projected).
Topographic map: Gold Creek Ranch 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Rigby, 1960, Preliminary geologic map of the Bald Moun
tain area, Nevada (fig. 5), scale = 1:125,000.
Access: From Ely, 59 miles west on U.S. Highway 50 to improved road
leading north 35 miles through the Newark Valley. At the north end of
the valley, dirt roads lead about 8 miles east and north to placer area at
flanks of Bald Mountain.
Extent: Placer gold occurs in gravels of Water Canyon on the south slope
of Big Bald Mountain. Apparently, most of the placers occur above the
7,000-foot elevation at the base of the mountain, although some reports
indicate that some gold has been found for 6 miles along the Canyon.
The gravels in the narrow canyon east of the 7,000-foot elevation are
about 10 feet thick. The pay streak on bedrock was 14–18 inches thick.
The gold reportedly was coarse, and nuggets ranging in value from $2.50
to $10 were found.
Production history: Although the Bald Mountain placers are mentioned in
a number of reports, production was probably small. One report states
that men working the area in 1933 recovered at least 1 ounce of gold
per shift, but no production was recorded by the U.S. Bureau of Mines
that year.
Source: The probable source of the placer gold is from gold veins in the
quartz monzonite of Bald Mountain, yet the placer gold is said to be
coarser than the gold in these veins.
Literature:
Blake, 1964: States that placer gold is coarser than remaining veins in
probable source—quartz monzonite (p. 29).
Hill, 1916: Thickness of gold-bearing gravels; size of nuggets recovered.
Mining Review, 1933: Reports developments at lode and placer prop
erties; names operators at different placers; gulches in which placers
are located; production from one claim.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Early mining history; depth and extent of placer
gravels; thickness of pay streak; size of nuggets found.
WHITE PINE COUNTY 93
112. CHERRY CREEK DISTRICT
Location: Northern Egan Range, T. 23 N., R. 62 E.

Topographic map: Ely 2-degree sheet, Army Map Service.
Geologic map: Hose and Blake, 1970, Geologic map of White Pine County,
Nevada, scale 1:250,000.
Access: From Ely, 44 miles north on U.S. Highway 93 to junction with
State Highway 35; Cherry Creek is at the terminus of State Highway
35, 8 miles west of U.S. Highway 93. From Cherry Creek, Egan Canyon
is reached by dirt roads leading 3 miles south.
Extent: Placer gold occurs in the gravels along Egan Canyon (center T.
23 N., R. 62 E.), but the exact location of the deposits is not known.
Production history: Placer gold was known in the canyon before 1916. A
small production was recorded for 1932.
Source: The sources of the placer gold are veins in the vicinity of Egan
Canyon. These veins are of two types—free gold in quartz veins and
silver-gold base-metal veins.
Literature:
Hill, 1916: Notes presence of placer gold in Egan Canyon; does not
describe occurrence.
113. OSCEOLA DISTRICT
Location: West flank of the central part of the Snake Range, south of
Sacramento Pass, T. 14 N., Rs. 67 and 68 E.
Topographic map: Sacramento Pass 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic map: Hose and Blake, 1970, Geologic map of White Pine County,
Nevada, scale 1:250,000.
Access: From Ely, 34 miles south and east on U.S. Highway 50 to dirt road
leading to Osceola, 4 miles east of the main highway.
Extent: Thick deposits of gold-bearing gravels are on the west slope of
the Snake Range in the vicinity of Dry Gulch and Mary Ann Canyon
(east half of T. 14 N., R. 67 E.). Less extensive placers are found in
gravels of Weaver Creek and the Summit diggings (WV. T. 14 N., R.
68 E.) on the east flank of the Snake Range. The most productive
placers of the Osceola district are concentrated in the two areas on the
west flank. The placers in Dry Gulch and Grub Gulch (formerly Wet
Gulch) in secs. 11 and 12, T. 14 N., R. 67 E., were first discovered in
1877. There the gravels range from a thin covering on quartzite bedrock
to more than 200 feet thick. The gold is found distributed throughout
the gravel thickness, but highest values are concentrated on bedrock; at
the Hampton placer in the upper part of Dry Gulch, gold values ranged
from 174 to $8.77 per cubic yard from surface to bedrock (Vanderburg,
1936a, p. 169).
The placers at Mary Ann Canyon are known as the Hogum placers.
These deposits are in the alluvial fan at the mouth of Mary Ann Can
yon, 3 miles south of Osceola (secs. 23, 24, 26, T. 14 N., R. 67 E.).
These deposits were discovered some years after the placers in Dry
Gulch (probably in 1879); the gold-bearing gravels occur in buried
channels under the gravels of the alluvial fan but overlying cemented
gravel layers which occur at different levels.
The placers at Summit diggings (sec. 8 or 9, T. 14 N., R. 68 E.) and
Weaver Creek (sec. 10 or 15, T. 14 N., R. 68 E.) were not so extensive
nor so profitable as those at Dry Gulch and Mary Ann Canyon.
Production history: Since the discovery of the Osceola placers in 1877,
placer mining has continued in the district with different methods and
intensity. In the decades following the discovery, hydraulic placer min
ing was successful at Dry Gulch. During the late 1930's, hydraulic min
ing at the Hampton placer in Dry Gulch that had been hydraulicked in
the early days produced the highest yearly total of placer gold recorded
for the district.
The placers in the Hogum area were usually mined by sinking shafts
and drifting through the gravels to reach the channels containing the
highest concentrations of gold. Although most of the placer gold recovered
from the Osceola district was fine in size, several very large nuggets
were recovered during the past century.
Source: The source of the placer gold is the lode deposits that occur in
Cambrian quartzites filling regular fractures, or as sheeted zones or ir
regular shattered masses. The most important lodes occur upstream from
the most productive placers—on the ridge west and south of Dry Gulch
(secs. 12 and 13, T. 14 N., R. 67 E., and sec. 18, T. 14 N., R. 68 E.) and
on the slopes of Mary Ann Canyon (secs. 25 and 26, T. 14 N., R. 67 E.,
and secs. 19 and 30, T. 14 N., R. 68 E.). Free gold is the only com
mercial metal in the ores.
Literature:
Burchard, 1884: States that a placer was discovered in 1883; size of
large nugget; extent of placer ground; yield per day per man.
1885: Placer-mining operations; developments by Osceola Gravel
Mining Co.; value of gold in deep bars; notes hydraulic operations.
Engineering and Mining Journal, 1887: News note abstracts profes
sional report by George Maynard; extent of placer ground in acres;
equipment on property; thickness of gravel; production from hy
draulic mine; value of gravel on bedrock; average value of gravel;
size of large nuggets recovered; potential developments discussed.
1891: Partial production; size of large nugget recovered (53 oz.).
1892a: Size of nugget found on November 29, 1892; weight of
gold in nugget (125 oz.); valued at $2,200.
1892b: Reports recovery of 35-ounce gold nugget with some
quartz attached; valued at $550.
Mining Review, 1910: Report of renewed large-scale operations at
Osceola by Gold Bar Co.
GOLD PRODUCTION FROM PLACER DEPOSITS 95
Paher, 1970: States that placers were discovered in 1872; brief history
of Osceola Placer Mining Co. operation; states that nugget valued at
$6,000 was found in 1886; photograph of hydraulic mining.
Stuart, 1909: History of placer discovery; size of large nugget (24 lb.)
recovered in 1878; production estimates; number of men working
gravels; principal placer areas; distribution of gold in Mary Ann
Canyon.
Vanderburg, 1936a: History; detailed descriptions of certain placer
mines; average value of gravels; thickness of gravels; methods of
working gravels; placer-mining operations during the period 1932–
35; problems associated with placer mining.
Weeks, 1908: History; early production estimates; distribution of plac
ers; thickness of gravels; size of gold; describes gold veins from which
placers were derived; summarizes placer-mining activity from 1877
to 1907.
Whitehill, 1879: Date and location of placer discovery; size of large nug
get recovered; placer-mining operations; number of claims located.
OTHER DISTRICTS
114. GRANITE DISTRICT
Placer gold is reported from the Granite district on the east side of the
southern Egan Range (T. 19 N., Rs. 62 and 63 E.). No information is
known about the placer occurrence; free gold reportedly occurs in the
veins in the district.
Literature:
Hill, 1916.
Hose and others, 1972.
115. ROBINSON DISTRICT
Placer gold was credited to the Robinson district in 1909, but U. S.

Bureau of Mines records state that the district of origin is unknown. The
Robinson district, west of Ely in the Egan Range (T. 16 N., R. 62 E.), is
noted for copper ores containing gold, silver, and other metals. The placer
gold may have been mined in outlying districts, such as the Granite district
located 20 miles north, and sold to buyers in the Robinson district.
GOLD PRODUCTION FROM PLACER DEPOSITS

Nevada ranks sixth in the United States and fifth in the western conti
nental States in placer-gold production. The U.S. Bureau of Mines (1967,
p. 15) cites 1,900,000 troy ounces of placer gold produced in Nevada
from 1792 to 1964. I estimate a total production of 1,700,000 ounces of
placer gold for the State from the first placer discovery to the present
(table 1). The U.S. Bureau of Mines estimate includes some unauthenti
cated reports of very high placer gold production from some districts
worked before 1900.
$:
discovery
production
for
source
Reference
estimated 1)
(pl.
localityCounty
districts
placer
and
estimated
production
1943–68
1934–42
1902–33
1901
to
1902–68
City)---
(Mountain
Cope
<200
O<250
included
Production
16-------
0
Vanaynod-er-b-u-rg
470
(1936a).
C300
Eldorado
4--------
173
4.
18
151 Duzer
Van
with
district.
S23
Mount
5,000
9iege36
6,000
910 l- - - - - -
11-------
3
Do.
pMap
roduction,
Total
recorded
Mines
Bur.
U.S. D1
Boulder
am- - - - - - O
8--------
0l
O Bunkervil e- - - - -
9--------
0
from
data
production
Recorded
Estimated
Total J1
O
0el
s up- - - - - -
2--------
5 B10
Gold
ul
t e- - -.0- - - -
5--------
O
production,
gold
placer
1.-Nevada
TABLE
ounces
in
VO
Las
egas- -3- - - - -
6--------
40
43 RO
Muddy
iver- - - - - -
10-------
6 l
0
House
Mountain
13-------
4
O
34. . CO
14-------
en30
5
1 ten ial- 16- - - - 47
15-------
3C1h500
s
O
94 arlest00
o41
n- - - - -
C75
Holy
1
Or!--------
6 os - -23- - - - -
100 G0
e100
noa- 00
-----
112-------
O
S10
Sand
Oprings-0- - - - -
3--------
1
0
S2
e50
archligh4t6- - - - -
7--------
2
0
O
Nut).
(Pine
Churchil :
Douglas:
Clark:
Elko:
Ş
V834
10,000
(1936a):
a2,500
Dunzerd- e- -r-b-u- r- g
289
1,
21-------
325
2,
4,448
Van
(1936b).
Nolan
36,000
20-------
67
8776
35,000
0
Tuscar43
o a- - - - -
(1957).
Murbarger
41,000
740
19-------
40,000
37
4.18
Mount15
Island
ain- - - -
750
3,
307
244
500
4,
Do.
20
43
Flat- - - - - - -
Dutch
35-------
O
UUnknown
0Alnknown
22-------
der- - - - - - 0B23-------
Gold
asnknown
in- - - - - - -
UUnknown K30-------
U0
Olnknown
ondyke- - - - - Cnknown
Maggie
UO
0re k- - - - - -
33------- 7
Unknown
and
Creek
Rebel
37-------
1
2
0 3
0
(O
Circle
Gold
51
O
58Mida87s)- - -
17------- 2
O
Eureka- - - - - -
32------- (Leonard
1Varyville
200
38-------
O
3
129689
16
1
O
0
H29-------
ornsilver6
----- O
Dun ashe - 0- - - -
40-------
6
1
6
0JaO
15 rbidge0- - - - - -
18-------
1 C211
(Tule
Lida
377
31,a0nyo0n–)5.,-0- 0- 197
1,678
,24-------
Unknown
90 Sylva98
nia- - - - - -
25-------
2500
893
Unknown Unknown
(Tokop)--
Mountain
Gold
2
028------- 872
1,
289
2,000
275
R36-------
Gold
un- - - - - - -
308
Unknown Awakeni g3-2- - - -
39-------
O
1
0
1
25
National.
Goldfield-5- - - -
27-------
4.
123
10
1 1,000
783
45
941
10
34-------
Sawto13
th- - - - -
Creek).
2
0
29
Des rt- -9- - - -
26------- Humboldt:
Esmeralda: 53,696
10,000
9,943
Lyn,684
-------
31-------
563
0
Eureka:
$2
production
locality
fo
sour
Reference
estimated
districts
placer
and
County
estimated
production
discoveryto1)
(pl.
1943–68
1934–42
1902–33
1901
1902–63
H48-------
il to05
2231
O
026
Do. p31
------ D53-------
O
3
River-o.
Reese ------
production,
Map
Total
recorded
Mines
Bur.
U.S. CO
Birch
050------- C5!-------
Iowa
re k- - - - - - - O
0anyon- - - - - -
production
Recorded
Estimated
from
data
Total
C
O
0
243-------
Pot si- - 5- - - -
purnocedsu–Ccotnionue,d
gold
placer
1.-Nevada
oTABLE
in
0
4
Ore k-.- - - - - Kings
C4!-------
Jackson
4. (0
River
D42-------
O
5isaster)- - OSprings1- - - - - -
Warm
225
44-------
0 711,000
OB328
47-------
258
10,
1ul ion- 0,
-0- - - - C54-------
Steiner
0
Oanyon- - - - - VO
Eagle
al ey- - - - - - O
55-------
2
0 F13
reiburg-3- - - - -
56-------
0
1
W45-------
19
0
Oin emu30
33
130 c a7- - - - 4106,005
O
>52,730
8,983
292
156,000
ountai4,
M46-------
Battle n- - - - - M49-------
cCoy- 1-.- - - -
37
O
4
0
41 K52-------
3
0
Oingston- - - - -
3
Humboldt—Continued
Yering20
25
0
250
166 ton4- - - - -
58-------
7
57-------
970
Bucks in- 15- - - -
9
100
Lander: Lincoln:
Lyon:
3
(1883):
Lord
100,000 Unknown 3 3 4. 235 204 10,000

90,000–
421 75 51 23 206,
898 187,517
944
5,
38,085
:
:
i
:
235 292 6 249 52 17 O 169 11,
100, 834 :
990
14, : 145 737 0
1, 0 46 12 21 0 33 81 22 34 23 62,710 65,
382 :
500
>26, Unknown
Canyon- - - -
Telephone
Canyon- - - -
Eldorado Mountain- - - -
Round
Walker- - - - - -
East (Union).- - - - - -
Ione
City- - - - - - -
Silver Grove- - - - - - -
Pine Hawthorne- - - - - Candelaria- - - - - Star- - - - - - -
Silver Manhat an- - - - - Cre k- - - - - - -
Eden
Tal po sa- - - - - Cloverdale- - - - -
Rawhide- - - - -
Auro a- - - - - -
Fe- - - - - - - -
Santa
Bul frog- - - - - - John ie- - - - - - Mil et - - - - - -
Belmont- - - - - - Cur ant- - - - - - El endale- - - - - Fairplay- - - - - - c1
Qouantity
nfidential.
Com - - - - - -
Mineral: Bel - - - - - - -
E
production
discovery
estimated
for
source
Reference 1)
(pl.
localityproduction
estimated
districts
placer
and
County
1943–68
1934–42
1902–33
1901
to
1902–68 production.
County
Toncludes
IO
2 n pah- - - - - -
Esmeralda
0
87------- (1936a)
Vanderburg
2,500
1,500
267
153
554
134
P89-------
lacerites- - - - -
(1909b).
Ransome
511,000
2,710
1,617
6,655
500,000
Spring
and
Rochester
10,982
96----
95,
(1923).
Lincoln
500
200,
200,000
67
97-------
205
262
534
Sier a- - - - - -
production,
Map
Total
recorded
Mines
Bur.
U.S.
from
data
production
Recorded
Estimated
Total
purnocedsu–Ccotnionune,d
gold
placer
1.-Nevada
oTABLE
in
(M33
Lodi
am oth3)- - - - O
85-------
0
3
O L86-------
5
0ongstre t- - - - -
14,000
10
×
155
823
>2,
r,668
e k- -,
C98-------
Willow
O ----
Go99-------
O
5 ldbanks- - - - -
6A88-------
ntelo25
700
O
0
644
19 pe- - - - - T100
8
Orin ty- 4- - - - -
97
13
92------- 7
3
O
4
U94-------
100
200
nionvil e-69- - - -
T91-------
1Seven
roug43hs- - - - -
203
O
26
34
250 K100------
0
3
Oen edy-4- - - -
34
7,913
930
6,
R8,000
317
and
6Rosebud
0ab 66
ithole-
90-------
(<756
Imlay
H93-------
umb10oldt)- - - -
21,000
545
<1,
<579
0
Nye-Continued
Valley.
Pershing:
*
r
i
v
-i
-
=
(1908).
Weeks
(1908).
Reid
7
0 <25
14.
1
0
5 9 6,593
125
253
3,
500
85,
95,000
215
2
200
as
32
2
9
150
1
2,000
as
Unknown
836
334
248
254
1,700,000
s
630,646
153
222,
195,763
212,730
850
905, 1,700,000
as
738,843
729
321,
776
198,
338
218,
850
905,
55,000
O0,000 -5,
197
108,
99,576
3,013
608
----- --------
550
0
O 0 6
4
O
50
0
3 04 <10
40
O . 2O
27
7
0
1Unknown
<
43
O57 00
4 9
0
O
1124
8
0
O16 1,000
Unknown
583
538
0
45 10
<
4O.0
Ormsby:
and
Storey Mountain- - - - -
Bald
------
!!! (115------
Robinson
Ely)- - - -
105------
River- - - - - -
Carson Val ey- - - - - -
Little
110------ Cre k- - - - - -
Cherry
112------
Olinghouse- - - - -
107------
City- - - - - - - -
Mill
101------ 104------
Comstock- - - - - dUinstdricts-tr-i-bu-t-ed-
to
108------
Peavine- - - - - - 109------
Galena- - - - - - 113------
Osceola- - - - - - 114------
Granite- - - - - -
Stag s- - - - - -
103------ Jumbo- - - - - -
106------ Pine:
White
102------
Star- - - - - - -
Washoe:
to als- - - - - - - -
State
Total- - - - - - -
The most productive placer districts in Nevada are the Battle Mountain
district, Lander County; Silver City district, Lyon County; Manhattan and
Round Mountain districts, Nye County; Spring Valley and Sierra dis
tricts, Pershing County; and Osceola district, White Pine County.
The available figures for placer gold production for all placer districts
are given in table 1. For comparison, I have included in table 2 figures
for the 24 gold districts in Nevada that have produced more than 100,000
ounces in lode gold (from Koschmann and Bergendahl, 1968).
Most of the gold recovered before 1900, an estimated 905,850 ounces,
was recovered by many individuals using drywashers or small sluices to
work gravels brought to the surface from shafts or pits. In the major dis
tricts (Silver City, Spring Valley, Sierra, and Osceola) worked intensely
between 1849 and 1890, the miners dug numerous shafts, tunnels, and
adits in the gravels. At Osceola, large banks of gravel were hydraulicked,
leaving sheer cliffs of unworked gravels exposed today.
TABLE 2.-Major gold districts in Nevada

[From Koschmann and Bergendahl (1968)]
Lode Placer
production production
County and district (ounces) (ounces)
Clark County:
Eldorado--------------------------------------- 101, 729 1 168
Searchlight-------------------------------------- 246, 997 26
Elko County:
Gold Circle.------------------------------------- 109, 765 1 45
Jarbidge---------------------------------------- 217, 800 (2)
Tuscarora--------------------------------------- 100,000 (2)
Esmeralda County:
Goldfield--------------------------------------- 4, 194,800 (2)
Silver Peak-------------------------------------- 568,000
Eureka County:
Eureka----------------------------------------- 1, 230,000 (2)
Lynn------------------------------------------- 3390,000 19,000
Humboldt County:
National---------------------------------------- 177,000 (2)
Potosi------------------------------------------ 485,700 (2)
Lander County:
Bullion----------------------------------------- * 146, 154 1 10, 373
Lincoln County:
Delamar--------------------------------------- 217, 240
Pioche------------------------------------------ 104, 583
Lyon County:
Silver City-------------------------------------- 5 143,500 546, 500
Pine Grove (Wilson).----------------------------- 408,000 (2)
See footnotes at end of table.
GOLD PRODUCTION FROM PLACER DEPOSITS 103
TABLE 2.-Major gold districts in Nevada—Continued

Lode Placer
production production
County and district (ounces) (ounces)
Mineral County:
Aurora----------------------------------------- 93, 600 (2)
Nye County:
Bullfrog---------------------------------------- 120, 401 (2)
Manhattan------------------------------------- 280,022 1206, 340
Round Mountain-------------------------------- 329,000 1208, 200
Tonopah--------------------------------------- 1,880, 000 (2)
Pershing County:
Seven Troughs---------------------------------- 160, 182 (2)
Storey County:
Comstock--------------------------------------- 8, 560,000 (2)
White Pine County:
Ely (Robinson)---------------------------------- 1, 959, 659 (2)
! See table 1 for different estimate of placer gold production.

* See table 1 for placer gold production; Koschmann and Bergendahl do not list
placer production separately.
3 Carlin Mine.
* Most from Gold Acres mine.
* Production data from Bergendahl (1964); see table 1 for different estimate of placer
gold production.
After 1900, drywashers, small sluices, and small concentrating machines

continued to be used in placers throughout the State, but, except for the
very productive first few years of drywashing at Manhattan, Round Moun
tain, and Battle Mountain (1906–15), the greatest part of the placer gold
was recovered by large dredging operations. Figure 1 is a graphic repre
sentation of the total amount of placer gold recovered yearly in Nevada
(1900–68) and the contributors to the major production peaks.
Dredge mining in Nevada started in 1911, when the Federal Mining
Co. used a small wooden dredge to work gravels in Spring Valley Canyon
(Pershing County). The operation was only moderately successful, but it
encouraged other companies to consider desert dredge mining. During the
periods 1920–23, 1940–42, and 1946–47, dredges worked in the relatively
well-watered Carson River at Gold Canyon (Dayton, Lyon County). Small
dredges worked gravels in a number of districts throughout the State (such
as the Bullion district, Lander County; the Willow Creek district, Pershing
County; and the Olinghouse district, Washoe County), but in many of
these operations, the water was not sufficient for the use of floating dredges,
and other conveyances were used to transport the gravels to the dredge,
which acted as a central washing plant. The era of major large-scale desert
dredge operations began in 1939, when a floating bucketline dredge was
50,000 I — I I I
Manhattan and Silver, 66,999 oz.
City dredges & |
,-> —o E |
35 |
45,000 H. to c -
5 §
E E
c -
o
5 § #>
40,000 H. : 5. To # -
-> to E ºf
# =
--
3 d5
o:
# = Oi a----,
35,000 – 3 & 2 -
on †: 3 c
Lil §: .
% .E &
- -,
E
-,
- 30,000 H. É —
O un § 2 3 * * *
z 5 to co º ---.
- § à & # -
# 25,000 -
O # ,
c - ;§ ;3 ;º' -
F 5 § tº c Q
O # = F *
->
O #5 3E g .:~~
to 5
3
d-
20,000 – 3E #2
3
ºf R -
O * > &
3 #
+
*
+,
3
*
E ºn to -
CD 15,000 3 m E
> 5 :
t; >
5 § 3
§ 3 >
10,000 º: ; to -
3> # 5
o
5 ar.
5000
§
ºn -
| || | I ! l TV\–s
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1968
YEAR
FIGURE 1.—Graph showing Nevada placer gold production, in ounces.
brought to Manhattan Gulch (Nye County). When operations ceased in

1946, this same dredge was transported to Battle Mountain (Lander
County) to work the placers in the Copper Canyon fan from 1947 to
1955. In the 1950's, a nonfloating dredge was used at Round Mountain
(Nye County) to recover large amounts of placer gold from a deep pit.
Since cessation of dredge operations at Round Mountain in 1959, placer
gold production in Nevada has returned to small-scale sporadic or part
time operations by individuals.
SUMMARY 105
SUMMARY
Placer gold has been found in 115 mining districts in Nevada. Many of
these districts have produced, or are said to have produced, only a few
ounces of placer gold. Thirteen districts have produced more than 10,000
ounces. Although placer gold has been recovered from each of the 17
counties in Nevada, most of the placers are in the western part of the
State (see pl. 1) in the area termed the “Western Metallogenic Province,”
which is characterized by the dominance of precious metal ores (Roberts,
1946a). A few placers (all of minor importance except the Osceola dis
trict) are found in the eastern part of the State in the area termed the
“Eastern Metallogenic Province,” which is characterized by the dominance
of base-metal ores.
Most of the placer gold found in Nevada has been derived from veins
and replacement deposits that have been successfully worked for the gold
and silver content of the ores. In the few districts where source of the gold
is unknown, it is presumed to be small scattered veins in the adjacent bed
rock. In most of the very productive lode mining districts, only small
amounts of placer gold have been recovered, whereas in the very produc
tive placer districts, lode-gold production is close to, and sometimes less
than, placer gold production. An exception is the Silver City district (Lyon
County), which has yielded a high production of placer gold derived from
ores of the Comstock lode (Lyon and Storey Counties), the largest silver
producing district in the State.
AGE OF LODE MINERALIZATION
The lode deposits that are the source of the placer gold range in age
from ores of probable Precambrian age to ores dated as late Tertiary age.
Most of the placer deposits in Nevada were derived from ore deposits
formed during the Tertiary. Unfortunately the only information available
about the age of the ore deposits of many districts is that they are geneti
cally related to intrusive and extrusive rocks of known Tertiary age. Im
portant placer districts where the age of mineralization has been estab
lished by radiometric dating of ores or associated intrusive rocks are the
Tuscarora district, Elko County, and Battle Mountain and Tenabo dis
tricts, Lander County (intrusion and subsequent mineralization occurred
about 38 m.y. ago), and the Comstock-Silver City district, Storey and
Lyon Counties (intrusion and subsequent mineralization occurred about
12–14 m.y. ago). The ores in the Round Mountain and Manhattan dis
tricts, Nye County, and Rawhide district, Mineral County, also formed
during the Tertiary, but the exact age of mineralization is unknown.
Pre-Tertiary mineralization has formed ores that are the source of placer
deposits in some districts in Nevada. Most of these districts contain rela
tively minor deposits of placer gold, but a few—Spring Valley, Sierra,
Island Mountain, Lida, and Mount Siegel—have produced more than

1,000 ounces.
AGE AND DISTRIBUTION OF PLACERS
Most of the placers in Nevada are in gravel accumulations in gullies,

drywashes, and hillsides. The gold is found mixed with debris from the ad
jacent bedrock and lode deposits and is typically concentrated at or near
bedrock or false bedrock. In areas where only minor amounts of placer
gold have been found, either the amount of erosion of the mineralized
bedrock has been minor or the gravel accumulations are a thin covering
over bedrock. In areas where extensive placers have been found and worked,
the placer gravels characteristically are thick accumulations of debris
eroded from the mineralized bedrock and deposited in well-defined stream
or gully channels, in alluvial fans at the edges of the range fronts, or in
thick residual hillside debris. With very few exceptions, the placer gold
recovered from gravels in Nevada has been transported only a very short
distance from the source. The gold occurs as angular grains typically
coarser nearer to the source than short distances downslope. For the three
districts in the State where the placer gold is thought to have been trans
ported for considerable distances—Little Valley, Washoe County; Genoa
district, Douglas County; and Yerington district, Lyon County—there is
very little accurate information about the source of the placers.
Most of the placers formed during erosional cycles of Quaternary age.
The placer gravels in Manhattan Gulch (Manhattan district, Nye County)
are Pleistocene in age and are buried under thick barren deposits of later
Quaternary age. So far as can be determined, most of the placers formed
during the later part of the Quaternary during recent erosional cycles and
earlier cycles subsequent to the end of the comparatively well-watered
Pleistocene. A few minor placers occur in gravels considered to be Ter
tiary in age (Little Valley, Genoa, Yerington, and Mount Siegel).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
LITERATURE REFERENCES
Albers, J. A., and Stewart, J. H., 1920, Geology and mineral deposits of Esmeralda
County, Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines Bull. (in press). Describes geology of
mining districts in county.
Archbold, N. L., and Paul, R. R., 1970, Geology and mineral deposits of the
Pamlico mining district, Mineral County, Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines Bull.
74, 12 p.
Beal, L. H., 1965, Geology and mineral deposits of the Bunkerville mining dis
trict, Clark County, Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines Bull. 63, 96 p.
Bergendahl, M. H., 1964, Gold, in Mineral and water resources of Nevada: Nevada
Bur. Mines Bull. 65, p. 87–100.
Blake, J. W., 1964, Geology of the Bald Mountain intrusive, Ruby Mountain,
Nevada: Brigham Young Univ. Geology Studies, v. 11, p. 3–35.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 107
Bonham, H. F., 1969, Geology and mineral deposits of Washoe and Storey Counties,
Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines Bull. 70, 140 p.
Browne, J. R., 1868, Report on the mineral resources of the States and Territories
west of the Rocky Mountains (for the year 1867): Washington [U.S. Treasury
Dept.], 674 p. [Nevada, p. 299–442].
Buckley, E. R., 1911, Geology of the Jarbidge mining district, Nevada: Mining
and Eng. World, v. 35, p. 1209–1212.
Burchard, H. C., 1883, Report of the Director of the Mint upon the statistics of
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*
1884, Report of the Director of the Mint upon the production of the
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474–407—72—8
1897b, General mining news—Nevada [Island Mountain district]: Eng. and

1897c, General mining news—Nevada [Island Mountain district]: Eng. and
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1940a, Nuggets from the Western States—Nevada [Rabbit Hole district]:
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1908, Late news from the World's mining camps—Nevada [Round Moun
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BIBLIOGRAPHY 111
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1941a, Dayton, Nevada—dragline dredging hits all-time high : Mining
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Describes geology of mining districts in Churchill County; does not describe
small placers in county.
Wolcott, G. E., 1909, Mining and milling at Rawhide, Nevada: Eng. and Mining
Jour., v. 87, p. 345–348.
Wrucke, C. T., Armbrustmacher, T. J., and Hessin, T. D., 1968, Distribution of
gold, silver, and other metals near Gold Acres and Tenabo, Lander County,
Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey Circ. 589, 19 p.
York, Bernard, 1944, Geology of Nevada ore deposits: Nevada Bur. Mines Bull.
Mº. 40, p. 1–76.
Formation of placer deposits are discussed on pages 22–24. Gold placers in
Nevada are found on hillside alluvium or in channels of intermittent streams. Few
gold placers are found in well-defined channels of permanent streams.
Young, G. J., 1920, Gold, dredging started at Dayton, Nevada: Eng. and Mining
Jour., v. 110, p. 640.
1921, Dredge construction at Dayton, Nevada: Eng. and Mining Jour.,
v. 112, p. 91–96.
GEOLOGIC MAP REFERENCES
[References keyed by number to districts given in text]

Archbold, N. L., and Paul, R. R., 1970, Geology and mineral deposits of the
Pamlico Mining district, Mineral County, Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines, Bull.
74, 12 p. pls. 1, 2, scale 1:24,000.
No. 65.
Bonham, H. F., 1969, Geology and mineral deposits of Washoe and Storey Coun
ties, Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines Bull. 70, 140 p., map scale 1:250,000.
Nos. 107, 108.
Coash, J. R., 1967, Geology of the Mount Velma quadrangle, Elko County,
Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines Bull. 68, pl. 1, horizontal scale 1:62,500.
Nos. 15, 19.
Coats, R. R., 1964, Geology of the Jarbidge quadrangle, Nevada-Idaho: U.S. Geol.
Survey Bull. 1141—M, pl. 1, scale 1:62,500.
No. 18.
1968a, Preliminary geologic map of the southwestern part of the Mountain
City quadrangle, Elko County, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey open-file map,
scale 1:20,000.
No. 16.
1968b, Preliminary geologic maps of the Owyhee quadrangle, Nevada: U.S.
Geol. Survey open-file map, scale 1:31,680.
No. 21.
Cornwall, H. R., 1967, Preliminary geologic map of southern Nye County, Nevada:
U.S. Geol. Survey open-file map, scale 1:250,000, 6 p.; Nevada Bur. Mines
Bull. (in press).
No. 74.
Cornwall, H. R., and Kleinhampl, F. J., 1961, Geology of the Bare Mountain
1:62,500.
No. 73.
1964, Geology of Bullfrog quadrangle and ore deposits related to Bull
frog Hills caldera, Nye County, Nevada, and Inyo County, California: U.S.
Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 454–J, pl. 1, scale 1:48,000.
No. 73.
Decker, R. W., 1962, Geology of the Bull Run quadrangle, Elko County, Nevada:
Nevada Bur. Mines Bull. 60, pl. 1, scale 1:62,500.
No. 14.
Ferguson, H. G., 1917, Placer deposits of the Manhattan district, Nevada: U.S.
Geol. Survey Bull. 640, pl. 6, scale 1:48,000.
No. 78.
Ferguson, H. G., and Cathcart, S. H., 1954, Geology of the Round Mountain
1:125,000.
Nos. 77, 79.
Ferguson, H. G., Muller, S. W., and Roberts, R. J., 1951a, Geologic map of the
Mount Moses quadrangle, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Quad. Map GQ
12, scale 1:125,000.
No. 49.
1951b, Geology of the Winnemucca quadrangle, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey
Geol. Quad. Map GQ–11, scale 1:125,000.
Nos. 97, 98.
Gilluly, James, 1967, Geologic map of the Winnemucca quadrangle, Pershing and
Humboldt Counties, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Quad. Map GQ–656,
scale 1:62,500.
No. 36.
Gilluly, James, and Gates, Olcutt, 1965, Tectonic and igneous geology of the
northern Shoshone Range, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 465, pl. 1,
scale 1:31,680.
Nos. 47, 48.
Granger, A. E., Bell, M. M., Simmons, G. C., and Lee, F., 1957, Geology and
mineral resources of Elko County, Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines Bull. 54, pl.
1, scale - 1:250,000.
Nos. 15, 20, 21.
Hose, R. K., and Blake, M. C., Jr., 1970, Geologic map of White Pine County,
Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey open-file map, scale 1:250,000.
Nos. 112, 113.
Hotz, P. E., and Willden, Ronald, 1964, Geology and mineral resources of the
Osgood Mountains quadrangle, Humboldt County, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey
Prof. Paper 431, pl. 1, scale 1:62,500; fig. 15.
No. 35.
Kleinhampl, F. J., and Ziony, J. I., 1967, Preliminary geologic map of northern
Nye County, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey open-file map, scale 1:200,000.
No. 75.
Knopf, Adolph, 1918, Geology and ore deposits of the Yerington district, Nevada:
U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 114, pl. 1, scale 1:24,000.
No. 58.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 117
Lipman, P. W., Quinlivan, W. D., Carr, W. J., and Anderson, R. E., 1966,
Geologic map of the Thirsty Canyon SE quadrangle, Nye County, Nevada:
U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Quad. Map GQ–489, scale 1:24,000.
No. 73.
Longwell, C. R., 1963, Reconnaissance geology between Lake Mead and Davis
Dam, Arizona-Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 374–E, pl. 1, scale
1:125,000.
Nos. 4, 7.
Longwell, C. R., Pampeyan, E. H., Bowyer, Ben, and Roberts, R. J., 1965, Geology
and mineral deposits of Clark County, Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines Bull. 62,
pl. 12, scale 1:250,000.
Nos. 5, 6.
McKee, E. H., 1968, Geology of the Magruder Mountain area, Nevada-California:
U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 1251–H, pl. 1, scale 1:62,500.
Nos. 24, 25.
Moore, J. G., 1969, Geology and mineral resources of Lyon, Douglas, and Ormsby
Counties, Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines Bull. 75, pl. 1, scale 1:250,000.
Nos. 11, 12, 57, 58, 59, 105.
Nevada Bureau of Mines, 1962, Geological, geophysical, and hydrological investi
gations of the Sand Springs Range, Fairview Valley, and Fourmile Flat,
Churchill County, Nevada, for Shoal Event Project Shade, Vela Uniform
Program, Atomic Energy Commission: Nevada Univ., Reno, Nev., pl. 4, scale
1:31,680.
No. 3.
Nolan, T. B., 1936, The Tuscarora mining district, Elko County, Nevada: Nevada
Bur. Mines Bull. 25, pl. 1, scale 1% in.-2,000 feet.
No. 20.
Rigby, J. K., 1960, Geology of the Buck Mountain-Bald Mountain area, southern
Ruby Mountain, White Pine County, Nevada, in Boettcher, J. W., and Slian,
W. W., Jr., eds., Guidebook to the geology of east-central Nevada: Inter
mountain Assoc. Petroleum Geologists and Eastern Nevada Geol. Soc., 11th
Ann. Field Conf., Salt Lake City, Utah, 1960, p. 173–180; (fig. 5) scale
~ 1:125,000.
No. 111.
Roberts, R. J., and Arnold, D. C., 1965, Ore deposits of the Antler Peak quad
rangle, Humboldt and Lander Counties, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof.
Paper 459–B, pl. 1, scale 1:62,500; pl. 3, scale 1:31,680; pl. 19.
No. 46.
Roberts, R. J., Montgomery, K. M., and Lehner, R. E., 1967, Geology and
mineral resources of Eureka County, Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines Bull. 64,
pls. 3 and 7, scale 1:250,000, scale 1 in.-200 ft.
No. 31.
Ross, D. C., 1961, Geology and mineral deposits of Mineral County, Nevada:
Nos. 64, 66.
Rott, E. H., Jr., 1931, Ore deposits of the Gold Circle mining district, Elko
County, Nevada: Nevada Bur. Mines Bull. 12, pl. 1, scale 1 in.-1,000 feet.
No. 17.
Silberling, N. J., 1959, Pre-Tertiary stratigraphy and upper Triassic paleontology
of the Union district, Shoshone Mountains, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof.
Paper 322, pl. 10, scale 1:24,000.
No. 76.
Silberling, N. J., and Wallace, R. E., 1967, Geologic map of the Imlay quad
rangle, Pershing County, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Quad. Map GQ
666, scale 1:62,500.
No. 93.
Smith, J. G., 1972, Geologic map of the Duffer Peak quadrangle, Humboldt
County, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey Misc. Geol. Inv. Map I-606 (in press.)
scale 1:48,000.
No. 38.
Tatlock, D. B., 1969, Geologic map of Pershing County, Nevada: U.S. Geol.
Survey open-file map, scale 1:200,000.
Nos. 34, 88–92.
Thompson, G. A., 1956, Geology of the Virginia City quadrangle, Nevada: U.S.
Geol. Survey Bull. 1042–C, pl. 3, scale 1:62,500.
Nos. 59, 104, 106.
Thompson, G. A., and White, D. E., 1964, Regional geology of the Steamboat
Springs area, Washoe County, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 458—A,
pl. 1.
Nos. 109, 110.
Vitaliano, C. J., 1963, Cenozoic geology and sections of the Ione quadrangle, Nye
County, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey Mineral Inv. Field Studies Map MF-255,
scale 1:62,500.
No. 76.
Wallace, R. E., Tatlock, D. B., Silberling, N. J., and Irwin, W. P., 1969, Geologic
map of the Unionville quadrangle, Pershing County, Nevada: U.S. Geol.
Survey Geol. Quad. Map GQ–820, scale 1:62,500.
Nos. 94–96.
Willden, Ronald, 1964, Geology and mineral deposits of Humboldt County, Nevada:
Nos. 34, 37, 38.
Willden, C. R., and Speed, R. C., 1968, Geology and mineral deposits of Church
ill County, Nevada: U.S. Geol. Survey open-file report, pl. 1, scale 1:200,000;
1972, Nevada Bur. Mines Bull. (in press).
Nos. 1, 2.
T0 RENELIJ CRLL
292–3900
CTOLOGY LIBRARYATE DUE
MAR 2 O 1936
HIGHSMITH 45–220
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Placer Gold Deposits of Nevada

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This is a reproduction of a library book that was digitized

by Google as part of an ongoing effort to preserve the

A catalog of location, geology, and

º UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1973

ROGERS C. B. MORTON, Secretary

Library of Congress catalog-card No. 72–600324.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

31. Lynn district---------------------------------------------------- 26

41. Jackson Creek district------------------------------------------- 35

42. Kings River (Disaster) district------------------------------------ 35

46. Battle Mountain district------------------------------------------ 36

PLATE 1. Map showing reported location of placer gold deposits in

FIGURE 1. Graph showing Nevada placer gold production----------------- 104.

HISTORY OF PLACER MINING IN NEVADA

The first authenticated discovery of placer gold in Nevada was made

lode far overshadowed the importance of placer production and new

The present paper is a compilation of published information relating

of Land Management land plats of surveyed township and ranges were

Topographic map: Allen Springs 15-minute quadrangle.

Location: North end of the Sand Springs Range, T. 16 N., R. 32 E.

4. ELDORADO CANYON DISTRICT

Location: Along Eldorado Canyon, between Nelson and the Colorado

Access: From Las Vegas, 31 miles southeast on U.S. Highway 95 to junc

Riverside. From Riverside, light-duty roads lead south about 37 miles

Longwell and others, 1965: Locates placer-mining operations; source

Henderson; from Henderson, about 8 miles northeast on State High

The ores in the Searchlight lode-mining district, which might have

11. MOUNT SIEGEL DISTRICT

Source: The placer gold is a reconcentration of material derived from

Engineering and Mining Journal, 1896b: Reports developments at

Moore, 1969: Locates Slaters placer mine; distribution of gold; produc

Overton, 1947: History; location; placer-mining operations in 1890's;

13. MOUNTAIN HOUSE (PINE NUT) DISTRICT

14. CENTENNIAL (AURA, BULL RUN) DISTRICT

15. CHARLESTON (CORNWALL) DISTRICT

Location: Along the Jarbidge River, north of the Jarbidge Mountains.

Nevada-Idaho (pl. 1), scale 1:62,500.

A dirt road crosses the mountains east of Charleston to Jarbidge, a dis

in the shallow gravels of the alluvial basin, which extends about 1%

Lincoln, 1923: History.

Whitehill [1875]: History of placer discovery and early operations; pro

Location: Southeast slope of Mount Blitzen in the Tuscarora Range, Tps.

21. WAN DUZER DISTRICT

Location: On the southwest side of the Owyhee River, south of Mountain

Emmons, 1910: Location; extent of placer; width and depth of placer

22. ALDER (TENNESSEE GULCH) DISTRICT

24. LIDA DISTRICT (TULE CANYON PLACERS)

Geologic map: McKee, 1968, Geologic map of the Magruder Mountain

Whitehill [1875]: Placer-mining activity; size of nuggets (chispas)

25. SYLVANIA DISTRICT (PALMETTO WASH, PIGEON

Vanderburg, 1936a: Virtually repeats Smith and Valderburg (1932).

26. DESERT (GILBERT) DISTRICT

Ferguson, 1927: Describes lode mines.

Although no placer gold production has been credited to this district,

31. LYNN DISTRICT

32. EUREKA DISTRICT

34. SAWTOOTH DISTRICT

Smith and Vanderburg, 1932: Discovery of placer gold; placer-mining

Vanderburg, 1936a: Discovery and resulting placer-mining operations

in 1931; extent of placer area; distribution of gold in gravels; size