GEOLOGY OF THE TONOPAH MINING DISTRICT, 



NEVADA. 



By JOSIAH EDWARD SPURR. 



INTEODUOTIOK 



Location. Tonopah (see PI. I) is situated in Nye County, Nev., near the 

 Esmeralda County line. It lies south of Belmont and about 60 miles east of 

 Sodaville, on the Carson and Colorado Railway. During the last year a railroad 

 has been constructed to connect it with the Carson and Colorado Railway at 

 Rhodes, a short distance south of Sodaville. 



Topography. Tonopah is situated in the western part of what has l>een called 

 the Great Basin region. In this region parallel north-south mountain ranges and 

 low, irregular hills and mesas, having also in general a north-south alignment, 

 alternate with broad, flat, or gently sloping valleys. On account of the ariditj' of 

 the climate the valleys and low hills are bare, save for scattering desert shrubs, 

 chiefly sagebrush, while higher up, on the mountains, there is a more abundant 

 vegetation. 



At Tonopah the topography is typical of volcanic areas. Numerous isolated 

 or connected irregular hills denuded volcanic necks rise from a rolling plain. 

 The town lies about 6,000 feet above sea level, and the top of Butler Mountain, 

 the highest point near the town, has an altitude of 7,160 feet (PI. II). 



Discovery. In April, 1900, James L. Butler, a resident of Belmont, left that 

 place, with a camping outfit packed on burros, to travel toward the mining camp 

 called the "Southern Klondike"" and to prospect the neighboring countn*. The 

 Southern Klondike lies about 10 miles south of the present Tonopah, and Butler's 

 trail lay over the site of the present camp. Observing the ledges of white quartz 

 cropping on Mizpah Hill, he broke off specimens, which he gave to the assayer at the 

 Southern Klondike camp to be examined. So little did these samples indicate the 

 values that the assayer let them lie a while in his shop, and then, not seeing any 



A camp which attracted some attention at the time referred to, but which is now practically deserted. 



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