Paradise Valley District
Overview
Other Names: Spring City, Mount Rose, Poverty Creek, Montrose
County: Humboldt
Discovered: 1868
Organized: 1873
Commodities: silver, gold
Comments
Situated in the Red Hills, a southeast trending spur of mountains in the Santa Rosa Range that lies between Hinkey Summit and Martin Creek. The camp of Spring City served the district. The original name was Mount Rose district.
References
Whitehill, 1879, p. 67; Angel, 1881, p. 451; Hill, 1912, p. 213; Lincoln, 1923, p. 101; Stoddard, 1932, p. 46; Vanderburg, 1938a, p. 38; Gianella, 1945, p. 74-75; Willden, 1964, p. 118; Bonham, 1976
Patterson District
Overview
Other Names: Patterson Pass, Geyser, Cave, Cave Valley
County: Lincoln
Discovered: 1869
Organized: 1869
Commodities: silver, gold, lead, tungsten, zinc
Comments
Includes the summit and the eastern and western slopes of a section of the Schell Creek Mountains (Patterson Pass area). Occasionally includes part of the Geyser district to the north on the Lincoln-White Pine county line and the Cave Valley area, about 8 miles northwest of Patterson Pass. Both Cave Valley and Geyser are considered separate districts. Angel (1881) incorrectly placed the Patterson district in White Pine County.
References
White, 1871, p. 93; Hill, 1912, p. 218; Lincoln, 1923, p. 123; Stoddard, 1932, p. 54; Tschanz and Pampeyan, 1970, p. 165; Schilling, 1976; Wong 1982, table 1; Stager and Tingley, 1988, p. 107
Peavine District
Overview
Other Names: Reno, Crystal Peak, Granite Mountain
County: Washoe
Discovered: 1863
Organized: 1863
Commodities: silver, gold, copper, lead, tungsten, iron, coal
Comments
Centered around Peavine Peak, the district lies north of the Truckee River canyon. The Crystal Peak section near Verdi is in California.
References
Stretch, 1867, p. 21-22; Whitehill, 1877, p. 159; Hill, 1912, p. 225; Lincoln, 1923, p. 237; Stoddard, 1932, p. 83; Overton, 1947, p. 73; Shawe and others, 1962, p. 124; Bonham, 1969, p. 76; Bonham, 1976; Stager and Tingley, 1988, p. 203
Peavine Placer District Description
Location
Northeast slope of Peavine Peak, T. 20 N., Rs. 18 and 19 E.
Topographic Maps
Reno 15-minute quadrangle.
Geologic Maps
Bonham, PL, 1969, Geologic map of Washoe and Storey Counties, scale 1:250,000.
Access
From Reno, 8 miles north on U.S. Highway 395 to dirt road leading southwest to flank of Peavine Peak.
Extent
Small placer deposits occur in gulches and ravines on the northeast slope of Peavine Peak in the area where quartz monzonite is ex- posed. Only sporadic mining has been done on these deposits during this century, and it is impossible to locate all the placers. Before 1900, the Nevada Industrial Placer (SW1/4 sec. 16, T. 20 N., R. 19 E.) was actively mined. This placer, located in a small ravine, has been worked over an area 1,500 feet long and 2-3 feet wide.
Production History
The placers in the Peavine district were reportedly worked between 1876 and the 1890's, but no authentic records of production have been found. Several thousand dollars of placer gold were reported to have been recovered from the Nevada Industrial placer. During the 20th century, placer mining has been very sporadic, and the amount of gold recovered small. The largest amount of gold recovered in 1 year was in 1957, when prospectors and snipers recovered 21 ounces from stream deposits.
Source
The placer gold was derived from replacement deposits in quartz monzonite formed during the late Miocene and Pliocene. These deposits consist of narrow zones of magnetite and small stringers of pyrite that probably contain gold; erosion of these deposits is said to supply sufficient gold to account for the placers.
Literature
Bonham, 1969: Describes lode mines; dates age of mineralization.
Hill, 1915: Production estimate; locates Nevada Industrial placer property; length and width of placer area; source.
Overton, 1947: Describes lode deposits; describes type of lode deposit which probably was the source of placers, locates placers.
Vanderburg, 1936a: Extent of placers; states that records of placer mining exist for 1876-78 and for the 1890's.
White, 1871: Notes placer-mining activity when water was available (Peavine district, p. 4).
