ORE DEPOSITS OF TONOPAH, NEVADA. 
By J. E. Spurr. 
LOCATION, CLIMATE, AND POPULATION. 
Tonopah is situated in Nye County, Nev. , near the Esmeralda County 
line. It lies south of Belmont, and about CO miles east of Sodaville, 
which is on the Carson and Colorado Railroad. The camp is reached 
by semidaily stage from the latter point. 
The climate is arid, with rare rains and occasional snows. The 
present water supply is pumped from wells in a water zone some 4 
miles north of the town. 
At the present writing the camp has an estimated population of 
5,000. It has electric lights, waterworks, two newspapers, and has 
attracted enterprising men from all parts of the country. 
DISCOVERY AND DEVELOPMENT. 
Tonopah was discovered in. 1900 by J. L. Butler, who was on a pros- 
pecting trip. He gave his samples to Mr. T. L. Oddie, of Belmont, 
who had them assayed for him. These samples showed values of from 
$50 to $600 to the ton. Mr. Butler gave T. L. Oddie, W. Brougher, 
and several others interests in the original eight claims which he 
located, now the property of the Tonopah Mining Company. 
In doing the location work 2 tons of ore was sorted out and shipped 
to Selby's Smelting Company. This netted about $600, and from that 
time the property has paid for its own development. 
In December, 1900, a few leases were let, and in the spring of 1901 
over a hundred more. Before the end of 1901 the lessees are said to 
have extracted ore to the value of about $4,000,000. In January, 1902, 
the leases having expired, the Tonopah Mining Company commenced 
development work, in which it is still engaged. 
a The writer has spent about five months in field work at Tonopah and four months at Wash- 
ington studying material collected at Tonopah. A satisfactory final report on the district calls 
for more detailed office study, microscopic examination of thin sections, chemical investigation, 
etc., which will now be carried on, and the completed report issued as soon as possible. Since, 
however, there is an urgent call by the mining public for some immediate information concern- 
ing the region, the Director has authorized the writer to issue a preliminary report containing 
an outline of the results to date. 
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