Nevada – The Biggest Gold Producer In The United State
By: Marlene Affeld
If you are a recreational gold seeker, bitten by the gold bug, you couldn’t find a better place than Nevada to pursue your prospecting passion. Since the initial discovery in 1849, gold mining in the “Silver State” has been a “big deal” with Nevada ranked third as the largest sources of gold in the entire world. As recently as 2014, Nevada produced more than 4,940,540 troy ounces of gold. That is 153,668 metric tons worth as much as $250 billion dollars at today’s prices. Nevada also sets records, producing approximately 76 percent of all the gold unearthed annually in the United States while second place Alaska produces only 11 percent. The search for gleaming gold began in Nevada as a group of Mormons, headed for the California Rush scoured the high country borders, between the two states. Abner Blackburn, a seasoned frontiersman, joined up with a group of emigrants migrating from Salt Lake City to the gold fields of California. The group, with grub, gear and a pack train, followed the Carson River, setting up camp at the mouth of Gold Canyon – the site of the present-day Old Town Dayton, to wait for high-pass snow accumulations to melt and the opening of the Sierras. Armed with only a butter knife and a rusty frying pan, Blackburn passed the time by “sniping” the bedrock of the creek. Much to his delight and surprise, he had a “Eureka” moment that led to the discovery of gold in multiple locations. Blackburn is credited with the first documented discovery of valuable minerals in the Silver State. Just a year later, Mormon settlers again made camp at Gold Canyon. One of the emigrants by the name of John Orr made the impressive discovery of a nugget weighing 19.4 grams. The golden orb is now a featured item in the Nevada State Museum Collection on display at the Oakland Museum. The biggest mineral discovery in history, The Comstock Lode, occurred a decade later in 1859 spawning the boomtowns of Unionville, Aurora, Virginia City, and Austin. Over the next two decades, Nevada produced in excess of $1 billion in gold and silver. Currently, the majority of Nevada’s gold production comes from massive open pit mines using cyanide heap leaching recovery techniques to harvest the elusive golden yellow metal. In the 1890s, gold production in Nevada slowed, with little activity that made the history books. All that changed dramatically around the turn of the century. The changing time recorded several new significant gold and silver strikes, primarily silver at Tonopah, gold at Goldfield, and an impressive copper discovery in White Pine County. During World War II, Nevada’s mining industry became of integral importance, with Nevada’s mines producing millions of dollars worth of lead, silver, and copper designated for weapons production. Tonopah Springs, one of the richest boom towns in the American West, was an Native American Indian campground for decades, long before Jim Butler spent a lonesome cold night in the desert on May 19, 1900. Butler’s mule wandered off. When he located the wayward critter, he found the mule munching on a stand of grass adjacent to an outcropping heavily laced with silver. The mines around the new discovery produced in excess of $750,000 in gold and silver in 1901. Production from the mines for the period of 1900 to 1921 was greater than $121 million. The record-breaking year of 1913 produced more than $10 million in gold, copper, and silver. To date, total production from the Tonopah Mining District exceeds $150 million. Despite a reputation built on the impressive production of the early silver-mining districts, the “Silver State” has also produced significant quantities of gold. The famous Comstock Lode produced 8,600,000 troy ounces or more than 270 tons of gold through 1959. The vast Eureka Mining District has produced more than 1,200,000 troy ounces, and the commanding Robinson Copper Mine has yielded over 2,700,000 troy ounces or 84 metric tons as a by-product of mining operations that have recovered more than 4 billion pounds or 1,500,000 tons of copper. Nevada is somewhat unique in that all gold production on public land is subject to a net royalty payable to the State of Nevada. This is an ad valorem property tax on gold produced from commercial mining operations with an excess of $4 million dollars of mineral production annually. Productive mines pay at a rate of 5 percent. Less productive mines can apply for a reduction of 2 percent. Mineral net royalties on commercial mining operations in the State of Nevada in 2013 raised more than $163 million from gold and silver production for the state’s coffers. During the early days of Nevada’s development, the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1862, bring need supplies and mining gear, Las Vegas was founded in 1905 and women’s suffrage moment forever changed the course of history. Bread was ten cents a loaf; gas was $25 cents a gallon, with the life expectancy of a miner less than 40 years. Over the past century, much has changed, but mining remains the “life blood” of Nevada. Humboldt Mining District - A Late Bloomer Encompassing the north end and western flank of the magnificent Humboldt Mountain Range, the Humboldt Mining District, which includes Pershing County was organized in 1888. Placer gold deposits were discovered in 1881 in Pershing County near Dry Gulch, Spring Valley, and Dry Gulch and worked successfully for more than a decade. Production records are unavailable for the region before 1919, when Pershing County, the youngest of Nevada’s 17 counties was created. However, from 1919 through 1959, Pershing County produced 16,233 ounces of placer gold and greater than 162,109 ounces of lode gold. Discover Public Lands Open To Mineral Entry Extreme outdoor adventure shows and the rising price of gold motivate today’s prospectors to get out and enjoy nature while perhaps making a bit of extra pocket cash. If you are lucky, you may strike it rich. As a worst-case scenario, if you are patient and preserve, you will be rewarded with a few gold nuggets. Without access to today’s modern mining technology, maps, and metal detectors, the old-timers didn’t get it all. The deserts and mountains of Nevada are without a doubt, one of the best places to search for gold. Recreational gold panning, a low impact activity, is permissible in appropriate areas. A special permit for gold panning is not required in Nevada. The United States Forest Service (USFS) requests recreational gold prospectors provide contact information to the local USFS district office when panning or prospecting in the case of an emergency. The United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) administers more than 189,000 mining claims in the state of Nevada, accounting for up to 48 percent of all mining claims operating on public lands within the U. S. In Nevada, sluicing and dredging require a permit or Plan of Operations (POP) dependent on the extent of proposed activities. Metal detector use is allowed on Nevada public lands. Gold, silver or copper nuggets, jewelry, items without historical significance, mineral and rock samples, and modern money may be harvested. Artifacts and coinage older than 100 years are not to be removed from public lands. Recreational prospecting with a metal detector is allowed under the General Mining Laws, administered under USFS 36 CFR 228A regulations for locatable minerals on lands open to mineral entry. The BLM and USFS remind miners that it is the individual prospector’s personal responsibility not to impact historical and archaeological resources. Within Nevada, the Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) issues sluicing and dredging permits. NDOW permits define timing restrictions on specific streams based on fish spawning. When planning to sluice or dredge, after acquiring the required permits, prospectors are requested to visit the local USFS office in the area and report your intention to commence mining operations. The USFS Ranger District will consult a local geologist to determine if your mining activities are likely to have a negative impact on the environment. Activities beyond digging a small hole (6-inches deep or less) may require a Plan of Operations (POP). The use of a non-mechanized rocker box or dry washer is permitted. With Nevada’s long mining history, there are hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines located on public lands across the American West that were excavated without today’s environmental protection legislation. A good many of these abandoned mining sites, both placer and lode mines present danger and a public risk. The BLM, working under the Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) reclamation program, endeavors to remove dangerous debris and remediate physical and environmental hazards. Recreational prospectors are urged to use caution and respect the danger inherent in exploring old mining sites. With its rich historical heritage and extensive mining activity, much of the mineralized lands located on BLM or USFS are previously claimed. The BLM administers the registration and records of claims, including those located on United States Forest Service USFS. Recreational prospectors are reminded that it is their personal responsibility to determine if the land is previously claimed and to respect the rights claim owners and private property. The Central Sierra Nevada Mountains, the best gold producing region of the Silver State, presents limitless opportunities for recreational gold prospectors. More than three miles of the South Fork of the Yuba River channel, near Nevada City, also offers exceptional opportunities for today’s prospectors to try their luck in the same historical “hunting grounds” where the “forty-niners” used to scour and scrape the hills for the elusive yellow metal. El Dorado Canyon, another favorite haunt of the 49ers, located near Las Vegas City is a productive place to look for placer gold deposits. Helpful Hints For Prospecting In Nevada When searching for gold in Nevada, look for the metallic mineral in locations where minerals have been found before. It pays to do the research of promising areas during the off-season to increase your odds of finding gold. Successful Nevada prospectors, willing to share their knowledge and experience strongly suggest working the high benches. When a stream cuts deep crevices into a canyon, patches of mineralized gravels are deposited high up the canyon walls. These mineral reserves are known as “benches”. To identify a potentially productive bench, keep eyes open for rounded or rounded rocks that show erosional activity above the present water level. If the rocks are worn and round, it is a sure sign that they were once part of river or streambed. When classifying streambed materials, check sifters and screens carefully before tossing, there may be a beautiful turquoise nuggets hiding in the debris. In Nevada, as in other location with similar terrain, streams most likely to contain significant amounts of gold typically have four basic characteristics. The water flow should not be dammed or regulated. The stream should be in an area known for mineralization and descend with substantial churning during spring floods. Creeks and streams with rock formations facilitate the deposition of gold and heavy metals such as lead, platinum, copper and silver. Streambeds with quartz outcropping hold good potential. One of the most useful skills a recreational prospector can develop is an understanding of what bedrock is and its correlation with finding gold. Bedrock is the established mining term for solid or consolidated rock formations that underlie all soils, regardless if it is sand, clay, gravels and other loose debris that covers the earth’s crust. Gold, extremely heavy, weighs in up to 7-times heavier than rock. Consequently, it settles down through to the bottom. “Down” is the operative word to remember as gold’s weight encourages its downward course down stream, down into streambed sands and gravels, and downward into crevices and crack of bedrock just as it weight causes it to settle in the sluice box or gold pan. No matter how high on the mountain or deep in the stream it is located, exposed bedrock is a prime prospect for finding gold. Gold accumulates in areas where water pressure decreases, moving along at a brisk pace when water pressure is high. Learning to “read the bank” is a skill learned from experience. It helps to imagine where the water would flow during its highest flood stage. Look for staining and debris concentrations that show the last flood stage. Search areas around the inside of stream bank curves, around large boulders, gravel bars, and bank sands. Ferret out potholes and cracks in bedrock where moss accumulates. Wash out the roots of the moss clump and release it back it to the stream, panning out the residual concentrates. Wishing you happy hunting and color in your pan.
References:
United States Bureau Of Land Management – Nevada http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/res/public_room_.html