Potosi Mining District

Last updated

The current Potosi Mining District in Humboldt County, Nevada is a major world-class producer of gold and includes the Pinson, Twin Creeks, Turquoise Creek and Getchell mines. [1] There was a Potosi mine in Lincoln County, Nevada. [2]
Potosi
Potosi Spring 3.jpg
Ruins near Potosi Spring
Potosi Mining District
LocationS of Las Vegas off I-15 near Potosi Pass
Nearest city Las Vegas, Nevada
Area9,600 acres (3,900 ha)
MPS Site
NRHP reference No. 74001144
Added to NRHPNovember 13, 1974

The Potosi mining district, or Potosi, was an area in Clark County of southern Nevada, U.S. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and includes three structures. [3] The town was named after the famous silver-mining city of Potosi, Bolivia. [4]

Contents

History

The mines in the area produced gold, silver, zinc, platinum, copper, palladium, cobalt, nickel, and antimony. [5] [6] A small amount of carnotite (a vanadium-uranium mineral) was also discovered, but not mined. [7]

Geography

The site of Potosi or Potosi Camp is at an elevation of 5,705 feet (1,739 m) above sea level. [8]

Included mines

Potosi mining district was a part of the Goodsprings Mining District and included the following mines: [5] [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodsprings, Nevada</span> Unincorporated community in Nevada, United States

Goodsprings is an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada, United States. The population was 229 at the 2010 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eureka, Nevada</span> Unincorporated town in the State of Nevada, United States

Eureka is an unincorporated town and census-designated places in and the county seat of Eureka County, Nevada, United States. With a population of 480 as of the 2018 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, it is by far the largest community in Eureka County. Attractions include the Eureka Opera House, Raine’s Market and Wildlife Museum, the Jackson House Hotel, and the Eureka Sentinel Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virginia City, Nevada</span> Census-designated place in Nevada, United States

Virginia City is a census-designated place (CDP) that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada, and the largest community in the county. The city is a part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comstock Lode</span> Lode of silver ore in Virginia City, Nevada

The Comstock Lode is a lode of silver ore located under the eastern slope of Mount Davidson, a peak in the Virginia Range in Virginia City, Nevada, which was the first major discovery of silver ore in the United States and named after American miner Henry Comstock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillsboro, New Mexico</span> Unincorporated community & CDP in New Mexico, United States

Hillsboro is an unincorporated community in Sierra County, New Mexico, United States, located in the southwestern part of the state. It was founded in 1877, following the discovery of gold. The community was the county seat of Sierra County from 1884 until 1936, when Hot Springs became the county seat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Empire Mine State Historic Park</span> State-protected site in California

Empire Mine State Historic Park is a state-protected mine and park in the Sierra Nevada mountains in Grass Valley, California, U.S. The Empire Mine is on the National Register of Historic Places, a federal Historic District, and a California Historical Landmark. Since 1975 California State Parks has administered and maintained the mine as a historic site. The Empire Mine is "one of the oldest, largest, deepest, longest and richest gold mines in California". Between 1850 and its closure in 1956, the Empire Mine produced 5.8 million ounces of gold, extracted from 367 miles (591 km) of underground passages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver Peak, Nevada</span> Census-designated place in Nevada, United States

Silver Peak is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Esmeralda County, Nevada, United States. It lies along State Route 265, 20 miles (32 km) south of U.S. Route 6 and 30 miles (48 km) west of Goldfield, the county seat of Esmeralda County. It has a post office, with the ZIP code of 89047. The population of Silver Peak was 142 as of 2019.

Cactus Springs is a ghost town in Nye County, Nevada. It is currently within the boundaries of the Nellis Air Force Range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arden, Nevada</span> Unincorporated community located in Nevada, United States

Arden, Nevada was an unincorporated community in Clark County, Nevada. The area is now part of the town of Enterprise. Located about 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Las Vegas, the area is experiencing rapid growth in housing development on land formerly owned by the Bureau of Land Management.

The Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering is a specialized school within the University of Nevada, Reno. It is named after John Mackay, father of Clarence Mackay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silver mining in the United States</span>

Silver mining in the United States began on a major scale with the discovery of the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1858. The industry suffered greatly from the demonetization of silver in 1873 by the Coinage Act of 1873, known pejoratively as the "Crime of 73", but silver mining continues today.

Silver mining in Nevada, a state of the United States, began in 1858 with the discovery of the Comstock Lode, the first major silver-mining district in the United States. Nevada calls itself the "Silver State." Nevada is the nation's second-largest producer of silver, after Alaska. In 2014 Nevada produced 10.93 million troy ounces of silver, of which 6.74 million ounces were as a byproduct of the mining of gold. The largest byproducers were the Hycroft Mine, the Phoenix Mine, the Midas Mine and Round Mountain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Getchell Mine</span> Mine in Nevada, USA

The Getchell Mine is an underground gold mine in the Potosi Mining District of Humboldt County, Nevada, on the east flank of the Osgood Mountains, 35 miles northeast of Winnemucca. Prospectors Edward Knight and Emmet Chase discovered gold in 1933 and located the first claims in 1934. With the financial backing of Noble Getchell and George Wingfield, the Getchell Mine, Inc. was organized in 1936 and the mine was brought into production in 1938.

Gold mining in Alaska, a state of the United States, has been a major industry and impetus for exploration and settlement since a few years after the United States acquired the territory in 1867 from the Russian Empire. Russian explorers discovered placer gold in the Kenai River in 1848, but no gold was produced. Gold mining started in 1870 from placers southeast of Juneau, Alaska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold mining in Nevada</span> Overview of gold mining in Nevada

Gold mining in Nevada, a state of the United States, is a major industry, and one of the largest sources of gold in the world. In 2018 Nevada produced 5,581,160 troy ounces, representing 78% of US gold and 5.0% of the world's production. Total gold production recorded from Nevada from 1835 to 2017 totals 205,931,000 troy ounces (6,405.2 t), worth US$322.6 billion at 2020 values. Much of Nevada's gold production comes from large open pit mining using heap leaching recovery.

Hunt's Hill is a former mining camp in Nevada County, California, United States. Hunt's Hill was located in the Sierra Nevada foothills about 6 miles in a straight line southeast of Nevada City and about 2 miles northwest of You Bet, on the north side of Greenhorn Creek, not far from the present intersection of Red Dog and Buckeye Roads. Hunt's Hill was founded in 1852 by a miner named Hunt. It was located on one of the deepest parts of the rich Blue Lead channel of gold-bearing gravel. In 1855, one of the mining claims established by some French miners, was “jumped". During the fight, one of the French miners lost an eye. Thereafter, that mine, and sometimes the town, were called Gouge Eye. By 1857, the town boasted two saloons, a hotel, a blacksmith and stable, a butcher shop, a boot and shoe store, and several grocery stores. In 1858, a stage line from Nevada City arrived. In 1866, seven cement mills for extracting gold from the “blue cement” were operating in the area. By 1880, the town was reduced to a combined store and saloon and a few houses. In 1895, one directory summed up the state of the community thus: "At the present time there is not much doing there." Since that same directory identified the town's justice of the peace and constable, what little happened must have been interesting. Today, it is just a historic site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">El Dorado Canyon (Nevada)</span> Historic site in U.S. Highway near Nelson, Nevada

El Dorado Canyon is a canyon in southern Clark County, Nevada famed for its rich silver and gold mines. The canyon was named in 1857 by steamboat entrepreneur Captain George Alonzo Johnson when gold and silver was discovered here. It drains into the Colorado River at the former site of Nelson's Landing.

Potosi or Potosi Camp, was called Crystal City in the 1870s, a mining ghost town in Clark County, Nevada. It lies at an elevation of 5705 feet.

Eagleville is a former populated place in Mineral County, Nevada that is now a ghost town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Groom Mine</span> Defunct mine in Lincoln County, Nevada

Groom Mine, located in Lincoln County, Nevada, first opened in the 1870s. Most mining in the area, mostly of silver chloride ores, had finished by 1874. Groom Mine continued to operate, finally ceasing operations in 1954. By 1956, official recordings of products of the Groom Mining District, which includes Groom Mine, shows that lead was the bulk of minerals harvested, which also included 145,000 troy ounces (4,500 kg) of silver and about 45 troy ounces (1.4 kg) of gold. During World War II, Groom Mine became surrounded by military activity, which continued into the 21st century. In the 1950s, the mine was exposed to fallout from nuclear testing that was being carried out at the Nevada Test Site. During the late 20th century, military activities, including the destruction of a mill and the restriction of access to the mine, continued to affect work there. The United States Government seized the mine under eminent domain from its previous owners in 2015. Just compensation was set at $1.204 million by the United States District Court, District of Nevada, Judge Miranda Du presiding.

References

  1. Tingley, Joseph V. (1998). Mining Districts of Nevada (PDF). Vol. Bulletin 47 (2 ed.). Reno, NV: Nevada Bureau of Mine and Geology. p. 177. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 21, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  2. History of the Potosi mine Retrieved 7 December 2008.
  3. "Nevada -- Clark County -- Historic districts". National Register of Historic Places. Retrieved July 31, 2011.
  4. Helen S. Carlson (1974) Nevada Place Names, Reno: University of Nevada Press, ISBN   9780874170948, p.194. Retrieved 7 December 2008
  5. 1 2 "Mines of Clark County, Nevada". ancestry.com. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  6. 1 2 "Re: Collecting near Las Vegas (lost wages) nevada". Archived from the original on June 26, 2008. Retrieved October 12, 2008.
  7. Lincoln, Francis Church (1923). Mining districts and mineral resources of Nevada. pp. 29–32. hdl:2027/mdp.39015011432807 . Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  8. Geographic Names Information System: Potosi (historical) Retrieved 8 December 2008.

35°58′15″N115°32′27″W / 35.97083°N 115.54083°W / 35.97083; -115.54083