Silver Canyon Mining District, White Pine County, Nevada, USA.

The Silver Creek Claim is historically named for its location on Silver Creek. The creek at the base of the valley runs down to Silver Creek Reservoir, a very underrated spot for a swim on a hot summer day. The Claim is tucked up on the south west side of the valley. Out of site for the most part until you are up in the canyon and then its the monster mine that dominates the view in the valley. The claim is located 9.75 Miles from Baker, Nevada, and only 4.5 miles from Highway 6-50. Don’t let that proximity fool you. 4 miles away from pavement doesnt seem far, but with no sound of cars, no light pollution and the majestic Mountains of Great Basin National Park rising up to the west, its like being in an oasis of solitude. Its only a short drive from Highway 6-50 up a very well maintained country road, past the reservoir and up into the canyon. The seasons are temperate here and the roads are excellent. You can make it up to the claim and the mine entrance with a 2WD vehicle. As usual, we recommend a 4WD on the “just in case” factor. The claim is situated out up on the hillside and encompasses the major mine workings and the mine camp that used to be a bustling center of activity up until 1896 when the silver crash all but killed mining in this area. There were reportedly up to 38 people working this area at one point. The focus was on fissures and narrow, but rich veins of gold and silver running through conglomerate. From 1874 to 1896 there were 312 cars of ore shipped. Values of 37 ounces AG(silver), 4 ounces AG(gold) and 8lbs zinc per ST were common. The claim runs generally north and south, following the trend of the veins and lodes seen on the claim. There are substantial tailings on multiple levels on the claim. The prospects and mines are separated out on 3 distinct levels. Tailings show evidence of some processing on site, very fine bits in some sections, while other piles and sections are still in a rock/conglomerate mass. Zinc is instantly visible as it has a great reflective character in the sunlight. Closer inspection shows some black sands, minute bits of gold flake and what appears to be low grade silver ore. There are some other remnants in here, but nothing that really lends itself to interest. Around the claim is a lot of good flat spots and easy roads in. Its great for staging vehicles and gear and the potential is limitless. The water in the valley appears to be year round from a stream up the canyon. The entire claim site is beautiful and serene. Great for family campouts or weekends of washing gold and silver out. This is a standard lode mining claim, running 1500? x 600? or 20.66 acres total. Set at 6100ft the claim sees relatively mild weather with the exception of the big storms that make it over the mountain. We have seen winters with no snow all year on the claim, and other winters where there is 4 feet of snow at the base of the reservoir. Plan to do the majority of your work from March to November. The days will rarely ever get over 85 degrees, but the winter nights will dip below zero consistently. There is only one real mine on this claim. Its a massive adit of well over 200 feet with multiple drifts and stopes. The entrance is easy to pick out and just as easy to walk into. The mine seems cut to intercept more than a few lodes. When the rich deposits show up, a drift is cut on the fissure, chasing it down. There is one massive stope inside the mine that appears to be a large deposit of silver and lead. The ore is beautiful and there is still a lot left. An old ore chute still sits inside the mine waiting for more of this silver ore to be pushed out of it.

In 1949~ silver ore was produced from Cambrian limestone at the Tilford Mine. According to Hose, Blake, and Smith (1976, p. 47), “a narrow calcite vein shows iron and copper stain, and a stope and winze on a narrow fracture may have yielded the 16 tons of ore reported to contain 1 oz gold and 532 oz silver.” This narrow vein was not found during the present investigation; however, several small north- to northeast-striking faults were mapped in the mine (fig. 4), and analyses showed zinc, silver, and a trace of gold in samples from this mine (table 5). These faults could not be traced into the roadless area; however, similar, faulted Cambrian limestone host rock was mapped by Hose (1981) in the area. Total production, all from workings outside the roadless area, for the district through 1954 was 4,655 oz gold, 4,535 oz silver, 179 lb copper, 38,948 lb lead, 44 lb zinc, and 337 short-ton units of tungsten. Pods of lead silver ore in along a north striking, west dipping fault in tertiary conglomerate.

Total production, all from workings outside the roadless area, for the district through 1954 was 4,655 oz gold, 4,535 oz silver, 179 lb copper, 38,948 lb lead, 44 lb zinc, and 337 short-ton units of tungsten.

The Silver Canyon and Black Horse districts are often intertwined, although they should not be. The Black Horse district is a bit farther south. It encomapsses most of Sacramento Pass and the Black Horse townsite and mines. The Tilford, Silver Creek and possibley the Mary Ann were the primary mines for the Silver Canyon District. Past production in or near the roadless area included; building stone, lead, silver, zinc, copper, gold, tungsten, and garnet (table 1). Small amounts of quartzite building stone are produced, on an intermittent basis, from various quarries south of Hendrys Creek and between Hendrys Creek and Hampton Creek. The quarry north of Silver Peak Mine also showed recent (1981) signs of building stone production. Signs of recent prospecting activity and claim staking for metallic minerals were observed near Old Man’s Canyon just outside the southern border of the roadless area.

General District Information:
The Black Horse/Silver Creek district is located in the northern Snake Range, east of Sacramento Pass. The district extends from U.S. Highway 50 in Sacramento Pass northeast to the drainage of Silver Creek on the southwestern slope of Mount Moriah. The Silver Canyon district, mentioned in the Territorial Enterprise (1870), and described as being located on the east slope of the Snake Range 10 miles due east of the Warren district, was probably in this area.