Known Placers Of Nevada

 

Posted By Michael Webster

Nevada is well known as the top U.S. producer of lode gold, but did you know Nevada also has placer gold deposits?

Some of Nevada’s largest placer districts have produced hundreds of thousands of ounces of gold and silver, including some very large nuggets. In Osceola, one of the worlds largest gold nuggets, said to have weighed 23 pounds, was found using a pick and shovel. The Osceola district has been continuously mined since 1877 and is still in production by several small operators today. Other smaller districts have long been forgotten and others are waiting to be rediscovered and worked using modern methods.

The placer gold districts of Nevada vary widely in the amount of recorded historical production. Some districts are well known early producers, others recorded only a few ounces and were quickly abandoned for better ground elsewhere. Several of these districts had good showings of gold, but were uneconomical to work due to the lack of water in the area to use for processing. Out of all the placer gold districts of Nevada, very few of them have been worked to their full potential. What opportunities lie quietly today in the gravels of the Silver State?

Placer gold districts of Nevada

Churchill County: Eagleville

Clark County: Eldorado, Moapa

Douglas County: Buckskin, Genoa, Mount Siegel

Elko County: Alder, Aura, Charleston, Gold Basin, Island Mountain, Mountain City, Van Duzer, Tuscarora

Esmeralda County: Klondyke, Tule Canyon, Pigeon Springs, Tokop

Eureka County: Lynn, Maggie Creek

Humboldt County: Gold Run, Paradise Valley, Rebel Creek, Kings River, Varyville, Dutch Flat

Lander County: Battle Mountain, Steiner Canyon, Tenabo, Iowa Canyon, Mud Springs

Lyon County: Gold Canyon, Yerington

Mineral County: Hawthorne, Pine Grove, Rawhide

Nye County: Beatty, Carrara, Cloverdale, Johnie, Manhattan, Round Mountain, Union

Pershing County: Placerites, Rabbit Hole, Rochester, Rosebud, Sacramento Canyon, Sawtooth, Sierra, South American Canyon, Spring Valley, Unionville, Weaver Canyon

Washoe County: Little Valley, Peavine, Olinghouse

White Pine County: Bald Mountain, Osceola