Rawhide District

Rawhide District

Overview

Other Names: Regent, Leonard, Eagleville

County: Mineral

Discovered: 1906

Active: 1908-20

Commodities: gold, silver, copper, lead, antimony, mercury

Comments

The original Regent district was situated about 2 miles northwest of the town of Rawhide. The district became known as Rawhide when it was expanded to include discoveries made at Rawhide in 1906. The Rawhide or Regent district sometimes includes both the Leonard and Eagleville districts to the east. The district is now defined to include Rawhide camp, the original Regent area to the northwest of Rawhide, and the Koegel Hills area northwest of Deadhorse Wells.

References

Stuart, 1909, p. 63, 68; Hill, 1912, p. 209; Lincoln, 1923, p. 151; Stoddard, 1932, p. 61; Vanderburg, 1937a, p. 58; Bailey and Phoenix, 1944, p. 130; Schrader, 1947, p. 140; Ross, 1961, p. 83; Lawrence, 1963, p. 125; Stager and Tingley, 1988, p. 121

Placer District Description

Location

At Hooligan and Balloon Hills, south of the Sand Springs Range and north of Alkali Flat, T. 13 N., R. 32 E.

Topographic Maps

Reno 2-degree sheet, Army Map Service.

Geologic Maps

Ross, 1961, Geologic map of Mineral County, Nevada (pi.2), scale 1:250,000.

Access

From Fallon 22 miles south on U.S. Highway 95 to dirt roads leading east about 22 miles to Rawhide through Rawhide Flat.

Extent

Placers in the Rawhide district are found in Rawhide Wash and tributaries extending about 4 miles southeastward from the townsite of Rawhide to the alluvial fan at the base of the hills. Most of the placer-mining activity was confined to the main wash and side gulches between Hooligan Hill on the west and Balloon Hill on the east. The gravels average about 15 feet deep on the southeast slope of Hooligan Hill but attain depths of 40-90 feet in the alluvial fan.

The gold is erratically distributed in pay streaks that differ in thickness and depth throughout the lower part of the gravels. Within individual pay streaks, which are interpreted to be former creek channels, the gold is scattered or is locally concentrated. The erratic distribution of the gold is considered to be the result of erratic deposition during torrential floods of short duration.

Production History

Production history: The placer deposits at Rawhide were discovered and first worked at the time of the lode mining boom during the period 1907-8. Production to 1930 is estimated at about $200,000 to $250,000, although recorded production during this time amounts to only $34,800. Reports of high values of gold recovered from the placers in the early days support the high estimate of placer gold recovery.

The placer deposits of the Eagleville district northeast of Rawhide and 2.5 miles east of State Highway 31 are probably part of this district. Vanderburg (1936a) states that a small amount of placer gold was recovered in 1906 and some placer gold was discovered in the canyon south of the Eagleville mine in 1931. These small deposits may be in either Churchill or Mineral County.

Source

The placer gold is derived from gold-silver quartz veins in altered Tertiary volcanic rocks that occur at Balloon, Murray, and Hooligan Hills.

Literature

Mining and Scientific Press, 1908b: Notes presence of placer gold; mentions limited erosion and many cloudbursts, which should prevent finding large amounts of placer gold; size of gold recovered. 1908c: Depth to bedrock in lower part of Rawhide Gulch.

Nevada Mining Press, 1930a: Placer-mining developments; reviews past placer-mining activity and production; reports value of gravel in 85-foot-deep shaft to bedrock; size of nuggets recovered; extent of placer ground; average depth of gravel. 1930b: Average value of gravel at Hart shaft (see Nevada Mining Press, 1930a) ; reports sampling activity to determine possible dredgeable ground; extent of placer ground; methods of mining by early placer miners. 1931a: Reports unexplained cessation of sampling by Idaho Gold Dredging Corp.; begun on March 29, 1931.

Paher, 1970: Locates Eagleville; small production during the period 1905-8.

Schrader, 1947: A comprehensive description of geology, lode, and placer deposits of Rawhide district; lithology of placer gravels; extent and distribution of gravels; thickness of gravels; distribution of gold in gravels; placer-mining history and operations; early production; methods of working gravels; problems in placer mining; bibliography of mining in district; describes individual placer claims.

Vanderburg, 1936a: Early history; estimate of production and yield per day per man; extent of profitable placer ground; depth of gravels on slope of Hooligan Hill and in alluvial fan; distribution of gold; size of large nugget; reason for discontinuing sampling operations in 1930. 1937b: Extent of placers; location of most profitable placer diggings; depth of these richer gravels; location of deep gravels; concentration of gold placer-mining history.

Wolcott, 1909: Extent of placer ground; details of drywashing machine used in placer mining; depth to bedrock in the lower part of Rawhide.