The Goldfield news and weekly tribune. [volume] (Goldfield, Nev.) 1911-1947, 1914-10-03
Better Prospects For Prospectors

Prospecting in southern Nevada for minerals other than gold and
silver may be greatly stimulated by reason of the increased value of
certain products of which there is a limited available supply in this
country and for which, in the past, we have depended largely upon
Europe. At present there is an unprecedented demand for platinum,
which is worth about 500 a ounce, and there is encouraging evidence
of the presence in Esneralda county of this rarest and most costly of
the metals of commerce, in paying quantity. Prospecting for platinum
or determining its presence in ore is difficult for the reason that it
rarely shows in recognizable metallic form in the ore or in panning
and few assayers are equipped for the tests necessary to identify it.
By far the greater part of prospecting efforts in southern Nevada
in recent years has been devoted to the search for gold and nearly all
the rest for silver. This work, for the most part, has been haphazard
in character and almost entirely lacking in scientific methods. Geol
ogsts and mining engineers often declare that southern Nevada, even
including the territory close to the principal mining camps, has not
been really scratched and that this region offers the best opportunities
Of any in the world for finding valuable mineral deposits. The so-caIed
new discovery north of Tonopah, on a goldJbearing belt, is by no
means new, but was visited, inspected end prospected in a superficial
manner some years ago, but at a time when only discoveries of high
grade ore were considered worthy of attention.
In all long established mining regions of the world by-products
claim a large share of the attention of mining men and biologists. The
evolution of Butte from a gold camp, through the various stages Of
baser metals production, has been due in a measure to systems of what
may be termed intensive mining, in seeking to recover and develop
everything of value contained in the district and to prevent the waste
of byproducts. Gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc have been pro-
duced and all, in greater or less quantity, are still being produced and
the output of Butte has surpassed that Of any mining district in the
world. Eventually similar methods will be introduced in southern Ne
vada, where it is said that there has been greater waste in mining than
in any other region.
The search for potash salts has not been abandoned by the geo.
logical survey in this field and some prospecting for this mineral is still
being done by individuals, although one company suspended operations
in northern Nye county after boring to considerable depth. The an
nouncement is made that the Searles Lake fields, in San Bernardino
county, Cal, will begin producing potash early next year, but that field
cannot supply the growing demand and its successful development is
likely to stimulate the search for potash in the many dry lake beds OF
southern Nevada.
Many other minerals of commercial value may be found in this
territory, but to find them will require a more comprehensive system Of
prospecting than has been conducted in the past. The oldhne pros
pecor, with his sipshod, unscenhfc methods, may still find groupings
of gold, silver or copper ore, but in the wider field of exploration, in
the quest for the many commercial minerals that abound in this coun
try, he a be OF little use and must make way for a e system that
will be thorough and an-enbracing in its scope.
Quicksilver, zinc, manganese iron ores, sodium nhrates, barytes
and a number of other mineral products ar in greatly increased de-
mand owing to the partial or complete Curtalment of the supply from
abroad. The five minerals mentioned have been found in southern
Nevada. Quicksilver is being produced in Nye county and ore con
tanning mercury in commercial quantity has been found at a large num-
Der of points. An important production of zinc is being made by one
company and systematic prospecting for this mineral will doubtless re-
suit in finding other commercial deposits that will be worked success
fully. Owing to the distance from smelling points and the high trans
portaton rates no attention has been paid by prospectors to deposits OF
iron ore that may be found to contain the forms of metal that are
sought by the smelters and which will yield a profit in extraction. The
government engineers have reported the presence in this territory OF
sodium nirates and tests have demonstrated the existence of large de
posts of baryteS.
The prospector of the future will go into the field equipped and
prepared for a careful, analytical search, not only for the precious
metals, but for the many mineral substances that are needed and that
can be produced profaby. The field is a wide one, with opportunities
for success that are practically without limit, and the rewards offered
surpass those of any other calling or industry. To attain the creates
degree of success, however, prospecting must be conducted in such a
thorough, comprehensive and scientific manner that nothing of value
shall be permitted to escape the seacher for minerals.