DEVELOPMENTS  AT  TONOPAH,  NEV.,  DURING  1904. 
By  J.  E.  Spurr. 
ECONOMIC    CONDITIONS. 
A  preliminary  report  on  the  geology  and  ore  deposits  of  Tonopah 
by  the  writer  was  published  last  year  as  Bulletin  219  of  the  Geolog- 
ical Survey,  and  subsequently,  to  meet  the  great  demand,  as  a  part  of 
Bulletin  225.  During  the  past  autumn  the  writer  spent  several 
weeks  at  Tonopah  taking  note  of  developments,  and  he  has  very 
recently  finished  his  final  report  on  the  district/' 
The  information  contained  in  the  first  report  was  promptly  appre- 
ciated by  those  interested  in  mining  in  Tonopah,  and  since  that  time 
the  prospecting  of  the  district  has  been  carried  on  on  substantially 
the  lines  therein  laid  down.  Formations  and  portions  of  the  district 
which  were  pointed  out  as  unfavorable  or  hopeless  for  mining  enter- 
prise have  been  almost  absolutely  neglected,  and  development  has 
been  vigorously  prosecuted  only  in  those  portions  which  were  pointed 
out  as  most  favorable.  In  view  of  the  influence  thus  exerted  the 
writer  believes  that  the  mining  public  will  welcome  a  slight  summary* 
of  the  observations  made  on  the  underground  work  done  during  the* 
last  year  and  the  conclusions  derived  therefrom. 
To  leave  for  a  moment  the  question  of  the  geology  of  the  district1 
which  is  the  chief  factor  in  the  study  of  its  destiny  as  a  mining  camp,  j 
we  may  note  that  the  general  conditions  for  mining  and  profitable  j 
production  of  ores  are  decidedly  better  than  a  year  ago.  The  greatest 
advance  has  been  in  the  building  of  a  railroad  to  Tonopah  connecting  j 
with  the  Carson  and  Colorado  Railroad  at  Rhodes,  near  Sodaville  | 
This  has  lessened  the  cost  of  transportation,  so  that  supplies  hav( 
become  cheaper  and  ores  can  be  profitably  marketed  which  are  o' 
lower  grade  than  what  was  "shipping"  ore  during  the  period  whei 
;i  <>()-mile  haul  in  ore  wagons  was  necessary.  This  railroad,  and  alst 
the  connecting  Carson  and  Colorado,  have,  however,  only  a  singL 
narrow-gage  track  as  far  as  the  junction  of  the  latter  with  the  Vir 
ginia  and  Truckee  Railroad  at  Mound  House,  near  Virginia  City 
°  Spurr,  J.  E.,  Geology  of  the  Tonopah  mining  district :  Prof.  Paper  U.  S.  Geol.  Surve  H 
No.  42,  1905  (in  press). 
140 
