Belmont District
Overview
Other Names: Philadelphia, Silver Bend, Superior, Monarch
County: Nye
Discovered: 1865
Organized: 1865
Commodities: silver, gold, lead, copper, mercury, tungsten, turquoise, titanium
Comments
The Belmont district is located north and south of the town of Belmont. The district extends along a north-trending range of low hills that lies between the Toquima and Monitor Ranges and forms the division between Ralston and Monitor Valleys. The Hillen Canyon area (northwest of Belmont), the Silver Creek area (west of Belmont), and the Monarch area (south of Belmont) are included in this district.
The district was organized as the Philadelphia district in 1865 and originally included the adjacent Barcelona (Spanish Belt) district. The portion now called Belmont was reorganized as the Silver Bend district in 1866. The Superior district of Hill (1912), described as being 35 miles north-northeast of Tonopah, is thought to be the Monarch area of the present Belmont district.
References
Stretch, 1867, p. 62; White, 1869, p. 70; Wheeler, 1872, p. 41; Hill, 1912, p. 220, 224; Lincoln, 1923, p. 160; Stoddard, 1932, p. 64; Kral, 1951, p. 19; Beal, 1963, p. 11, 20; Kleinhampl and Ziony, 1984, p. 56; Stager and Tingley, 1988, p. 138
Belmont Placer District Description
Krai (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 derived from a base-metal deposit containing gold and silver in metamorphosed shales and limestones as at the War Eagle Group of claims in Antone Canyon.
Literature: Krai, 1951 : Locates placer claims; average value of gold per cubic yard.
Benway District
Overview
Active: 1916, 1950s through early 1970s
Commodities: gold, silver, copper, antimony
Comments
Located 10 miles north Schurz in T14N, R28-29E on the south end of Painted Mesa, a 2 mile-wide, southwest-trending lobe of the Desert Mountains.
References
Stoddard, 1932, p. 55; Schrader, 1947, p. 292; Lawrence, 1963, p. 124
Beowawe District
Overview
Other Names: Whirlwind
County: Eureka
Commodities: mercury, gold, barite
Comments
Extends southwest from Beowawe, at the north end of Crescent Valley, into Whirlwind Valley. The 1880 map shows Whirlwind district to possibly extend as far south as the Fire Creek area.
References
1880 map; Stoddard, 1932, p. 42; Vanderburg, 1938b, p. 19; Roberts and others, 1967, p. 65; Struhsacker, 1986, p. 108-116; Papke, 1984, table 3
Bernice District
Overview
Other Names: Salina, Salinas, Alamo
County: Churchill
Discovered: 1865
Commodities: antimony, silver, gold, tungsten
Comments
This district is centered about Bernice Canyon in the west slope of the Clan Alpine Mountains and extends from Shoshone Canyon on the north to Dyer Canyon on the south. The Territorial Enterprise (1863) described a Salina district bordered on the south by Tower Canyon, on the north by Shoshone Springs, on the east by the summit of the Clan Alpine Mountains, on the west by the great salt field Humboldt or Dixie salt marsh which covered the area of the present Bernice and Dixie Marsh districts.
Carlson (1974) described the Salina district as located at a Churchill County salt flat, and Gamett and Paher (1983) placed Salina some 20 miles northeast of Stillwater, on the west side of the Stillwater Range. Todd and Welton (1866) locate a Salinas district at the present site of Bernice. The Territorial Enterprise (1866) described an Alamo district 25 miles east of Silver Hill, which would have been in this area.
References
Virginia Evening Bulletin, August 11, 1863 2:4; Territorial Enterprise, June 1, 1866; Todd and Welton, 1866; Stretch, 1867, p. 28; Bancroft, 1890, p. 261-262; Hill, 1912, p. 199; Lincoln, 1923,p.1;Stoddard,1932, p.19;Gianella,1945,p.11;Vanderburg,1940,p.16;Schrader,1947, p.319;Willden and Speed,1974,p.60;Carlson,1974, p.208;Gamett and Paher,1983,p.114; Stager and Tingley, 1988, p. 31
