Contact, Cooper, Copper Kettle, Copper Valley, Cornucopia 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

Contact District

Overview

Other Names: Salmon, Salmon River, Kit Carson, Porter, Alabama, Portis

County: Elko

Discovered: 1870

Organized: 1871

Commodities: copper, silver, lead, gold, zinc, tungsten, molybdenum, uranium, thorium and rare earths

Comments

The Contact district is centered around the town of Contact and includes all or portions of T43-46N, R62-66E. The original Alabama district was located in the Knoll Mountain area; the Salmon River or Contact district was in the vicinity of town of Contact and Ellen D. Mountain; the Porter district included the area near China and Blanchard Mountains; and the Kit Carson district was near Middle Stack Mountain. By 1910, all of these were included in the large Contact district.

References

Whitehill, 1875, p. 32-33; Whitehill, 1877, p. 24; Angel, 1881, p. 392, 394-395; Stuart, 1909, p. 114; Hill, 1912, p. 204; Lincoln, 1923, p. 40; Stoddard, 1932, p. 29; Gianella, 1945, p. 38; Granger and others, 1957, p. 33; Garside, 1973, p. 43-44; Smith, 1976, p. 39; Stager and Tingley, 1988, p. 54; LaPointe and others, 1991, p. 61

Cooper District

Overview

Other Names: Rattlesnake Knoll

County: White Pine

Discovered: 1869

Organized: 1869

Commodities: lead, silver, fluorspar

Comments

This district is on the eastern slope of the Schell Creek Range north of Conners Pass in the vicinity of Majors Place. White (1871) placed this district on the eastern slope of the Schell Creek Mountains about 40 miles north of Patterson district, on the south side of Simpson’s Pass (Cooper Canyon?). Fluorspar occurs at Rattlesnake Knoll in Spring Valley, east of the main district.

References

White, 1871, p. 94; Angel, 1881, p. 653; Hose and others, 1976, p. 50; Wong, 1982, table 1

Copper Kettle District

Overview

Other Names: C.K. Copper Kettle, Silver Hill

County: Churchill

Discovered: 1908

Commodities: copper, iron

Comments

District includes the area of Grimes and Copper Kettle canyons and extends to the canyons west of Anderson Ranch along the west flank of the northwestern Stillwater Range. The area is within the large Silver Hill district of DeGroot (1863). The iron occurrence is northwest of Copper Kettle Canyon, and is sometimes considered to be included in the Mineral Basin district which lies to the north in Pershing County.

References

DeGroot, 1863; Lincoln, 1923, p. 2; Stoddard, 1932, p. 19; Gianella, 1945, p. 12; Schrader, 1947, p. 312; Willden and Speed, 1974, p. 64

Copper Valley District

Overview

Other Names: Ragged Top, Jessup

County: Pershing, Churchill

Discovered: 1908 (?)

Commodities: tungsten, copper, iron

Comments

District is located on the Pershing-Churchill county line along the eastern edge of Granite Springs Valley, in the western foothills of the southern Trinity Range. The northern part of district is sometimes included in the adjacent Ragged Top district, Pershing County (to the north). The southern part of the district is commonly included in Jessup district, Churchill County, which lies to the south.

References

Lincoln, 1923, p. 203; Stoddard, 1932, p. 75; Shawe and others, 1962, p. 116; Stager and Tingley, 1988, p. 31, 159

Cornucopia District

Overview

County: Elko

Discovered: 1872

Organized: 1872

Commodities: silver, gold, copper, lead, antimony

Comments

Located about 15 miles north of Tuscarora, north of the South Fork of the Owyhee River in low mountains bordering the southeast margin of the Owyhee Desert. The main mines are located in sections 18-19, T42N, R51E.

References

Whitehill, 1875, p. 33; Angel, 1881, p. 393; Hill, 1912, p. 204; Lincoln, 1923, p. 41; Stoddard, 1932, p. 29; Gianella, 1945, p. 38; Granger and others, 1957, p. 41; Lawrence, 1963, p. 60; Patterson and others, 1969, p. 607; Smith 1976, p. 45; LaPointe and others, 1991, p. 68

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