Please remember to exercise caution when exploring Nevada's Ghost Towns & Mining Camps. Open shafts, drifts going into mountainsides, and old buildings, are all DANGEROUS. Be aware of your surroundings, and let someone know where you are, especially if your plans change.

Mineral Hill

DIRECTIONS: From Alpha, head north on Nevada 278 for 11.5 miles. Exit right and follow poor, sandy road for 4 miles to Mineral Hill.

"Two disgruntled prospectors, John Spencer and Amos Plummer, after leaving the Reese River District, discovered some rich silver float here in June 1869. They staked claims and formed the Mineral Hill Mining District. A test load of ore sent to Austin yielded $200 per ton and showed values in gold, silver, copper, zinc, and lead. Several mines were started, with the most valuable being the Austin, Mary Ann, Rim Rock, Grant, Star of the West, Vallejo, and Pogonip. The pair sold their holdings in 1870 to George Roberts and William Lent of San Francisco for $400,000. Roberts and Lent immediately organized the Mineral Hill Mining Company and constructed a 10-stamp mill, built by Huber and Curtis. The mill contained six Wheeler amalgamating pans, three settlers, and a Stetefeldt furnace. The mill was started in September 1870 and soon enlarged to 15 stamps. Besides the Mineral Hill Mining Company, many other companies formed and were working in the district by 1870. The Austin Mining Company owned the Austin and Western Slope mines. Its ore was sent to the Auburn Mill (Reno) and the Manhattan Mill (Austin). The Robinson, May, and Company (Big Sandy Mine) and the Grass Valley Tunnel Company were also active.

Interest in the Mineral Hill District grew rapidly, and the area experienced a small rush during the summer and fall of 1870. By fall, more than 400 people called Mineral Hill home. The town boasted four saloons, two hotels, a Wells-Fargo station, and ten other business establishments. The year 1871 brought about many changes. Early in the year, A Colonel Hyman completed the three-story Grand Hotel, and soon after that, the Mineral Hill schoolhouse was also completed. On May 9, a post office opened up, with Thomas J. Isabell as postmaster. Most of the mining action in Mineral Hill during 1871 concerned English interests. In May, an English corporation bought the holdings of the Mineral Hill Mining Company for $1.2 million. A month later, the corporation, headed by Albert Grant, resold the holdings to another English Company, also headed by Grant, for $2.5 million! The company organized as the Mineral Hill Silver Mining Company, Limited. The company had a working capital of $1.5 million and owned 41 mines. The richest of these mines were the Giant, the Star of the West, and the Troy. Besides running the 15-stamp mill (the Atwood), the company quickly built another mill, the 20-stamp Taylor, at a cost of $135,000. The latter mill was built by H. W. Bordwell, who also built the International Mill in Eberhardt (White Pine County). The Taylor was first fired on December 28, 1871. Unfortunately the new mill was not very successful and remained in operation for only about four months before it was sold to the Leopard Mining Company of Cornucopia for $17,500. Both mills had originally been fitted with Stetefeldt furnaces, but given the value of the ore, they were too expensive to operate, and the mills were changed to dry crushing and raw amalgamation facilities in 1872.

During 1871 and 1872, the company mined the area at an accelerated rate, and more than $1 million were produced. This included one single ore shipment in 1871, via Well-Fargo, of $701,000. By summer of 1872 the company had mined out all the ore. It folded before the end of the year, thus terminating the employment of almost 100 men and leading to an exodus from Mineral Hill. A large fire also helped to chase people out of the town. On June 17, 1872, a fire started in King's Hotel and Thomas J. Isabell's store. While no lives were lost, only five businesses survived. Little more than a week later, on June 26, the Woodruff and Ennor stage was robbed of $5,000, the entire payroll for the mine workers. By spring 1873, only a handful of people remained. The company tried for two years to discover new deposits, but all efforts were in vain. The Mineral Hill Silver Mining Company went bankrupt in 1874, leaving many disgruntled investors who never received a dividend. Mining in the district was virtually nonexistent until 1880. All Mineral Hill Company holdings were sold at a sheriff's sale, and the Austin and Spencer Company bought the properties and began to rehabilitate the mines. At the time only 18 miners remained in Mineral Hill. A year later, however, 150 people were back in town. Production was quite slow: Only 113 tons of ore were produced from 1880 to 1882. But in 1883 the company had a breakthrough and discovered a new ore deposit. The old Atwood Mill was restarted, and the Austin and Spencer Company experienced a small boom until 1887. Then the ore ran out and the company quietly folded. While the mines were leased occasionally, the district was essentially dead for the next fifteen years. The post office closed on July 19, 1890, and didn't reopen until February 6, 1902.

In 1902 a couple of small companies began leasing the claims on Mineral Hill. While activity in the district increased, real production didn't begin until 1910. In 1906 the Mineral Hill Consolidated Mines Company was incorporated in Arizona. The company, headed by S. C. Pratt, gained control of eleven claims, reopened several old mines, and did 2,000 feet of underground development before beginning production. A small cyanide mill was built in 1911 to treat new ore and to reprocess ore on the old dumps. The company experienced a small surge of profits until 1915, when ore values declined. The post office closed for good on April 15, 1914, and Mineral Hill began to drift toward ghostliness. Mineral Hill Consolidated continued to do some very limited work in the district. By the time it folded in 1920, only 10 people were left in Mineral Hill. Total production from 1905 to 1920 was only $360,000. The production from the district as a whole was just under $7 million. The district remained dormant, except for minor activity in the 1930s, until the 1980s, when a new company began to conduct cyanide leaching operations on the extensive ore dumps near the town. Very little remains of the town itself. Some stone ruins are still there, along with rubble from several wood structures. The most impressive ruins are the extensive mill remains. The road to Mineral Hill is very sandy and treacherous. Use extreme caution. Remember, sometimes a hike is better than a drive."

 

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