Item #585 Statement of the White Cloud Copper Mines. Situated in Churchill County, Nevada, 30 Miles South East of Lovelocke Station CPRR [manuscript title]. [with:] Discription [sic] of the White Cloud Copper Mines [manuscript title]. Nevada, Mining.

Statement of the White Cloud Copper Mines. Situated in Churchill County, Nevada, 30 Miles South East of Lovelocke Station CPRR [manuscript title]. [with:] Discription [sic] of the White Cloud Copper Mines [manuscript title]

[White Cloud City, Nv. ca. 1893]. [3]pp. on two sheets, joined with a nail, plus 6.75 x 12.5 inch manuscript map. Folded. Light oxidation around fastener. Light tanning and foxing to manuscript statement. A few small patches of staining at map edges. About very good. Item #585

A manuscript prospectus for a short-lived Nevada mining operation, accompanied by a hand-drawn map of their properties and mining claims. Copper was discovered in White Cloud Canyon, in Churchill County, Nevada, during 1869, but no commercial efforts were made to mine the area until 1893, when a smelter was built to handle larger amounts of ore, likely by the owners of this venture. The White Cloud Copper Mining Company formed and folded around the same time.

This prospectus, naturally, is optimistic about the wealth of the company's claims, and describes them in detail to potential investors: "The Red Oxide Copper mine has an elevation of 1500 feet above the Canyon. The vein is a large Iron vein of 150 to 200 feet wide intermixed with Copper. 14 to 16 feet on the hanging wall is good Copper which will assay from 15 to 20 %ct...." The tract goes on to describe four other claims in similar detail, the Carbonate Copper, the Nut Pine, the Stone Cabin, and the Blind Ledge mines, as well as their position to the furnace and outbuildings of the company, all of which is also delineated in the manuscript map that accompanies the description. The statement concludes, "I can guarantee to furnish from these, mines, daily, 50 to 60 tons of ore that run from 15 to 20%ct. Hoping that this brief description will meet your expectation...."

The names of the mines listed herein correspond to those in an 1897 General Land Office document that seeks to cancel the claims of the White Cloud Copper Mining Company for lack of sufficient investment in and improvement of their land. Good manuscript evidence of the brief attempts at commercial mining in White Cloud Canyon, Nevada, at the end of the 19th century.

Price: $500.00