CENTEAL AND EASTERN NEVADA. 297 



or eight in the same direction from Reno, on the railroad, in which some 

 veins of copper ore have been opened in metamorphic rocks, and prospected 

 to a depth of 40 or 50 feet. The surface ore consists chiefly of oxides and 

 carbonates, with some sulphurets of copper. It is slightly argentiferous. 

 The region has been lying neglected for several years, but its proximity to 

 the railroad may make it an available source of copper should future explora- 

 tion encourage further development. 



Montezuma Mine. — Passing over these localities, that are yet of minor 

 importance, we come to the Trinity Mountains, which have been the scene 

 of some extensive and interesting mining and metallurgical operations. This 

 range of mountains is on the west bank of the Humboldt River, which here 

 runs in a southerly direction. The principal mine is the Montezuma, the 

 owners of which have expended a large sum of money in the development 

 of their property, and in the construction of metallurgical works for the treat- 

 ment of their ores. 



These operations v/ere chiefly conducted under the direction of Mr. A. 

 W. Nason, to whom the writer is indebted for much of the information here 

 given concerning them. 



The Montezuma ledge, chiefly owned and for some time worked by the 

 Trinity and Sacramento Mining Company, is situated in the eastern foot- 

 hills of the Trinity range. The mine is about three miles west, a little north- 

 erly, from Oreana, a station on the Central Pacific Railroad, 262 miles from 

 Sacramento, and the location of the company's smelting works. The ledge 

 is in a low hill, the ridge of which is nearly parallel to the trend of the main 

 range and separated from it by a shallow longitudinal valley, having nearly a 

 north-northeasterly and south-southwesterly course. The course of the ledge 

 crosses the trend of the hill diagonally, being north 88° east, true. It dips to 

 the northward with an inclination of 40 or 45 degrees. 



The inclosing rock of the vein may be generally described as porphyry, 

 though it is probably closely related to, if not identical with, the granitic rocks 

 that occur higher up in the range. This granite is overlaid by limestones 

 and slates, which sedimentary beds are found also not very remote from the 

 Montezuma, The vein was discovered by means of an outcrop of the ore on 

 the western slope of the hill referred to, and a pit or excavation was sunk on 

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