Carson River District
Overview
Other Names: Carson City, Lyon
County: Carson City, Lyon
Commodities: silver, gold, mercury, thorium and rare earths
Comments
Located along the Carson River about 9 miles east of Carson City. The only production was from cleanup of old Carson River mills; there are no mines in the district.
References
Stoddard, 1932, p, 74
Carson River Placer District Description
Location
Along the Carson River, in the vicinity of Empire, T. 15 N., Rs. 20 and 21 E.
Topographic Maps
Dayton 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic Maps
Moore, 1969, Geologic map of Lyon, Douglas, and Ormsby Counties, Nevada (pi. 1), scale 1:250,000.
Access
From Carson City, 3 miles northeast on State Highway 50 to vicinity of Carson River at Empire.
Extent
Gravels along the Carson River have been mined sporadically for placer gold that in part came from old mill tailings from treatment of the Comstock ores. The gold recovered during the 20th century ap- parently came from the part of the river in the vicinity of Empire (sees. 11—14, T. 15 N., R. 20 E.) and near Santiago Canyon (sec. 5, T. 15 N., R. 21 E.). In 1923, an old 60-foot-wide channel of the Carson River was reportedly discovered to contain coarse gold.
Production History
Production from the Carson River placers has been minor. The many attempts to recover gold from old mill tailings along the Carson River before 1900 met with failure, and placer mining dur- ing the 20th century has been sporadic.
Source
The probable source of the placer gold is the Comstock lode.
Literature
Mining Review, 1923: Reports discovery of old river channel of Carson River on the old Mexican Mill property at Empire; channel gravels reportedly contain coarse gold; width of channel bed is 60 feet.
U.S. Geological Survey, 1911: Notes placer production from Carson River; states that gold is presumed to have been recovered from old tailings.
Vanderburg, 1936a: History of operations along Carson River to re- cover gold in mill tailings from Comstock lode.
Castle Peak District
Overview
Other Names: Aqua Frio, Castle, Red Mountain, Washington, Alum Canyon
Discovered: 1859
Commodities: mercury
Comments
Located in the Virginia Range, south of the Truckee River about 12 miles from Virginia City. Red Mountain, north of Castle Peak, was formerly considered to be a separate district. The Territorial Enterprise (1859) described an Aqua Frio district, organized in December 1859 in this general area. The Washington district, according to Gold Hill News (1865), was located in the Washington Hill area. The Alum Canyon district (1863) included the foot of Geiger Grade. All of these areas are now included in the Castle Peak district.
References
Territorial Enterprise, December 31, 1859; Gold Hill News, October 19, 1863 and October 20, 1865; Stretch, 1867, p. 68; King, 1885, p. 541; Stoddard, 1932, p. 82; Stoddard and Carpenter, 1950, p. 51; Bonham, 1969, p. 99
Cave Creek District
Overview
Other Names: Ruby Range
County: Elko
Discovered: 1869
Organized: 1869
Commodities: silver, lead, copper, barite
Comments
Located 12 miles north of Fort Ruby on the eastern slope of the Ruby Mountains, near the summit. Hill (1916) included Cave Creek in his large Ruby Range area.
References
White, 1871, p. 62; Angel, 1881, p. 392, Hill, 1916, p. 59; LaPointe and others, 1991, p. 55
Cave Valley District
Overview
Other Names: Cave, Patterson
County: Lincoln
Discovered: 1869
Organized: 1869
Commodities: lead, silver, copper, gold, vanadium
Comments
This district is in the northern part of Cave Valley at Cave Spring. The district includes a low hill that runs southwest from the Schell Creek Range about 8 miles northwest from Patterson Pass. Originally organized as the Cave district in 1869, the district is commonly included in the adjacent Patterson district.
References
White, 1871, p. 92-93; Angel, 1881, p. 652; Schrader, 1931, p. 1; Stoddard, 1932, p. 54; Tschanz and Pampeyan, 1970, p. 165; Wong, 1982, table 1
