Overview
Other Names: Cedar; Majuba Hill
County: Pershing
Commodities: silver, lead, copper, tin, gold, zinc, mercury, tungsten, molybdenum, arsenic, antimony, uranium
Comments
Located in the area of Antelope Spring and Cedar Spring at the north end of the Antelope Range, the district extends from Poker Brown Gap on the south to Willow Spring area on the north, and from Rye Patch Reservoir to the west flank of the range. The original district name was Antelope. The district sometimes includes parts of the adjacent Scossa, Placerites, and San Jacinto districts.
References
General Land Office, 1866; Hill, 1912, p. 212; Lincoln, 1923, p. 201; Stoddard, 1932, p. 75; Vanderburg, 1936b, p. 8; Lawrence, 1963, p. 156; Bonham, 1976; Johnson, 1977, p. 44; Schilling, 1980; Stager and Tingley, 1988, p. 157
Antelope (Scossa) Placer District Description
Location
Along the alluvial fan east and southeast of Majuba Hill and west of the Rye Patch Reservoir, T. 32 N., R. 32 E.
Topographic Map
Lovelock 2-degree sheet, Army Map Service.
Geologic Maps
Tatlock, 1969, Preliminary geologic map of Pershing County, Nevada, scale 1:200,000.
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 distance 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 surface, 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 (Majuba 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 conditions 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.
