PRELIMINARY  REPORT  ON 'THE  ORE  DEPOSITS  OE  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  GO  miles  east  of  Sodaville, 
which  is  on  the  Carson  and  Colorado  Railroad.  The  camp  is  readied 
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, 
Bte.,  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 
m  outline  of  the  results  to  date. 
