MINES OF BATTLE MOUNTAIN, EAST GROUP. 
453 
confusion of nomenclature, owing partly to the fact that when ore leaves one fis¬ 
sure zone and follows a branch or intersecting lode the original name of the lode is 
frequently retained in spite of the significant change in strike and dip. So far as 
observed, the intersections of the different fissure zones in the Independence mine 
are not associated with any perceptible faulting. 
An idea of the relation of the lodes in a horizontal plane may be had from fig. 
59, which is a plan of level 4. The No. 6, East, and No. 1 veins, however, have no 
development on this level. The Independence lode has a general course of N. 15° 
W., but it is far from straight. Near the Independence shaft it strikes nearly north 
and south. Farther north, however, after entering the breccia, it gradually assumes 
a nearly northwest course and then curves gently eastward until, near the Portland 
line, it again runs north and south. This curve may be seen on all the levels except 
the first. The northern part of this level follows a fissure with southwest dip, which, 
while known locally as the Independence, is probably not that lode, but a different 
one, formerly called the Black Diamond vein. The general dip of the Independence 
lode is easterly, at angles ranging from 70° to vertical. 
The Emerson lode, which lies for the most part northeast of the Independence, 
strikes N. 58° W., and dips southwest at angles ranging from about 50° near level 1 
to about 68° near level 5. The relation between the Independence and Emerson 
lodes is not clear on level 1. The Emerson turns north as it comes into the Port¬ 
land and has not been identified in that mine. The Independence or No. 2 lode is 
also very indistinct on the 350-foot Portland level (which is about 12 feet below 
level 1 of the Independence), though there is a fissure with southwest dip known as 
the Diamond vein which may be the same as the fissure called the Independence in 
the northern part of level 1 of the Independence mine. It is by no means clear, 
however, that the Diamond lode of the 350-foot Portland level is the same as the 
nearly vertical Diamond lode which proved so productive in that mine below level 5. 
On levels 2 and 3 the Independence, Emerson, and Bobtail lodes all meet close 
to the Portland line, near the No. 2 shaft of the Independence mine. On level 4 
the Emerson and Independence cross about 75 feet south of the No. 2 shaft. On 
level 5 the crossing occurs still farther south, but the indistinct portion of the 
Emerson west of the Independence is here in the granite and contains practically 
no ore. On the levels below the fifth the Emerson lode is unknown. 
The Bobtail lode lies southwest of the Emerson and strikes in general northwest. 
The two lodes thus gradually come together and both may be represented in part 
by the Bobtail in the Portland. Some of the Assuring known as the Emerson in 
the Independence mine seems, however, to turn northward in the Portland and may 
join with what are there known as the Diamond and No. 2 veins. Cross and branch 
fissures are so numerous in this vicinity and individual fissures so often nonper- 
sistent and indistinct that definite correlation is in most cases impossible. The 
Bobtail, like the Emerson, dips southwest, and at about the same angle. Its general 
relations to the Independence and Emerson are well shown in PI. Y (p. 26). Like 
the Emerson, also, the Bobtail is of no importance below level 5, though obscure 
traces of the lode may be detected in the granite on some of the lower levels. 
