Aurora, Awakening Districts

Publication Info:
Nevada Mining Districts (Compiled Reports)
The Districts Described in This Section are from the following publications:

Mining Districts of Nevada - Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Report 47 (updated 1998); Placer Gold Deposits of Nevada - USGS Bulletin 1356 (1973)

Table of Contents

Aurora District

Overview

Other Names: Esmeralda, Cambridge, New Esmeralda, Wassuk

County: Mineral

Discovered: 1860

Organized: 1860

Commodities: gold, silver

Comments

Located along the California border, in the vicinity of the camp of Aurora. The district was originally named Esmeralda. New Esmeralda was located to the east, between the Esmeralda district and the historic Van Horn district to the east. Both Esmeralda and New Esmeralda are included in the present Aurora district. The Wassuk area, active about 1909, is described as being located in the Wassuk Range, 12 miles southwest of Lucky Boy almost within sight of Aurora.

References

General Land Office map, 1866; Stretch, 1867, p. 30; White, 1869, p. 92; Angel, 1881, p. 414; Stuart, 1909, p. 69; Hill, 1912, p. 205; Lincoln, 1923, p. 137; Stoddard, 1932, p. 58; Vanderburg, 1937a, p. 13; Ross, 1961, p. 78; Osborne, 1987, p. 245

Aurora District Placer Description

A few ounces of placer gold (408 fine) was recovered from gravels in Jodie Creek (T. 5 N., R. 28 E.) in southwestern Mineral County during he 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,

Awakening District

Overview

Other Names: Amos, Slumbering Hills

County: Humboldt

Discovered: 1912

Period Active: 1912-1918; 1936-1940

Commodities: gold, silver, lead, copper, tungsten

Comments

The original Amos district, which included the mining camp of Awakening, was located on the eastern slope of the Slumbering Hills about 7 miles southwest of the old Amos stage station and about 30 miles north of Winnemucca. Discoveries were made on the crest and western slope of the Slumbering Hills in 1936 and, since that time, the district has been sometimes referred to as Slumbering Hills. By 1938, however, the name Awakening was in use.

The district is now defined to include most of the northern Slumbering Hills and the Sleeper Mine area on the western slope of the hills.

References

Lincoln, 1923, p. 97; Stoddard, 1932, p. 44; Calkins, 1938, p. 7-9; Vanderburg, 1938a, p. 16; Willden, 1964, p. 130-131; Bonham, 1976; Bonham, 1980; Wood, 1988, p. 293; Stager and Tingley, 1988, p. 72

Awakening District Placer Description

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.

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