Resource World Magazine

18 www.resourceworld.com J U N E / J U L Y 2 0 1 6 i n s i g h t s & i n v e s t m e n t s B a r r y M u i r N evada is the fourth largest gold pro- ducer in the world and the number one gold producing state in the United States, but its rich history in silver mining is what coined its nick-name, "The Silver State". A decade after the California gold rush began in 1849 a silver rush began in Nevada with the discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859. Would be min- ers, could shovel this "horn silver" right off the ground from heavy grey crusts that had been polished by dust and wind to the dull luster of a cow horn. It had formed on the surface after millions of years of desert conditions and rain water slowly weathered the silver sulfides out of their volcanic host rocks. In any one place, these large silver beds could have been tens of metres wide and more than a kilometre long. Thanks to the silver rush, the population of Nevada surged. The trans- continental railway came through in 1862 and in 1864 during the ongoing American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln declared Nevada the 36th state in the Union, giv- ing the state its second nick-name "Battle Born" still proudly sewn into the state flag. The Comstock Lode supported mining until 1890 after Nevada's "surface bonan- zas" were picked clean. By the mid-1890s, one in three Nevadans left the new state in search of jobs. However, this lull in Nevada mining would prove to be short lived. At the turn of the century, silver was once again discovered at Tonopah, gold at Goldfield and copper at White Pine. By 1912, the Nevada Mine Operators Association was established as the collec- tive body for the state mining industry; just in time for Nevada mines to begin selling millions of dollars-worth of cop- per, silver, and lead for weapons and equipment used in World War I. This pro- duction peak in base metals was followed by a post-war crash in 1919. From 1924 to the early 1960s, the industrial expansion provided incentive for Nevada to pro- duce significant amounts of copper, lead, zinc, iron and tungsten. At the same time, Nevada's precious metals industry slowly sank to a near low in 1961, only 1894 recorded less gold and silver production since the start of the Comstock boom. During the 1930s, exploration brought about the discovery of "invis- ible gold" in historic claims including the Standard Mine in Pershing County, the Getchell Mine in Humboldt County, Northumberland Mine in Nye County and Gold Acres Mine in Lander County. These mines were the first of their kind, and stretched across an area later to be known as the Carlin Trend. It was along this trend in 1962, that the most important discovery in Nevada's mining history since Comstock was made. Today, there are more than 20 mines along the Carlin Trend making it one of the largest gold-producing regions in the world. In 1964, copper made up 60% of the total mineral production in Nevada. In May 1965, Newmont Mining [NEM-NYSE] poured their first gold bar at the Carlin Mine signaling a start to a new era of precious metals production. By the end of the year, the Carlin Mine was the largest producer of gold in Nevada and the second largest in the nation. By the end of 1992, copper and base metal min- ing slowed considerably as more industrial minerals were in demand. The state pro- duced a variety of products including barite, gypsum, lithium carbonate, magne- site, perlite, building stone, limestone for cement production, sand and gravel. Today, almost all the gold mined in mining in nevada: prospective for gold and lithium Mike Ressel, Economic Geologist with the Nevada Bureau of Mines, and David Freedman from the University of Nevada, check out Viscount Mining's Cherry Creek gold prospect 90 km north of Ely, Nevada. Photo courtesy Viscount Mining Corp.

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