Rochester Canyon Placers

The Rochester Canyon Placers is a gold mine located in Pershing county, Nevada at an elevation of 5,217 feet.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Rochester Canyon Placers

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Silver

Location

State: Nevada
County: Pershing
District: Rochester District

Land Status

Land ownership: BLM Administrative Area
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.
Administrative Organization: WInnnemucca BLM Administrative District

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: Rhyolite Placers Co.
Info Year: 1937

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: placer
Operation Type: Surface
Year First Production: 1860
Year Last Production: 1930
Discovery Year: 1870
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

Orebody

Form: blanket, channels

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Gravel
Role: Host
Description: stream
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Quaternary

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold
Gangue: Gravel

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Placer deposits were developed prior to the discovery of the lode deposits in Rochester Canyon from gravels 50 to several hundred feet thick. The gravels in adjacent Limerick Canyon were even more productive.

Comment (Development): Placer gold was discovered in the 1800s prior to the discovery of the rich silver deposits on Nenzel Hill and in Rochester Canyon in 1905-1912; the placer deposits were never as productive as the later silver mines. Most of the work was done by hand on a small scale with one small mechanized operation in the 1930s utilizing 5/8-cubic yard shovels and 2.5 cubic yard trucks to transport material to a stationary washing plant. A dredge operation worked the Limerick Canyon placers in the 1930s under the name Rhyolite Placers Co.

Comment (Economic Factors): Total production is unknown but estimated to have exceeded 50,000 ounces of gold. 1936: "considerable placer gold" was recovered; In 1937: 523 ounces of gold was produced by dredging in Limerick Canyon..

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: free gold

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: gravel

Comment (Identification): This is an updated version of record M060372 incorporating all information in the earlier MRDS record plus additional updated material. The Rochester Canyon placers are NOT the same as the Spring Valley placers and lode project, which are located about six miles to the the northeast on the opposite side of the Humboldt Range and which are described in separate records, M060380, and a new record.

Comment (Location): The placer mine area is located primarily in Rochester Canyon below the historic Rochester mine workings. Placers were worked in several canyons on the west side of the Humboldt Range: Sacramento, Weaver, and Limerick Canyons as well as Rochester Canyon.

References

Reference (Deposit): Long, K.R., DeYoung, J.H., Jr., and Ludington, S.D., 1998, Database of significant deposits of gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc in the United States; Part A, Database description and analysis; part B, Digital database: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-206, 33 p., one 3.5 inch diskette.

Nevada Gold

Nevada has a total of 368 distinct gold districts. Of the of those, just 36 are major producers with production and/or reserves of over 1,000,000 ounces, 49 have production and/or reserves of over 100,000 ounces, with the rest having less than 100,000 ounces. Read more: Gold Districts of Nevada.