Ruby Hill
Ruby Hill was first discovered
in 1869. By early 1870s, a small mining camp developed and in 1873 a
post office was opened. In 1875, the Ruby Hill Railroad began
operations, used primarily to deliver ore to smelters in nearby Eureka.
This railroad was in operation before the Eureka & Palisade reached
Eureka. By 1878, Ruby Hill had a population of 2500 and two newspapers.
During the 1880s, mine production began to falter and by 1885, only 700
residents remained. Population continued to decline and the post office
finally closed in 1901. Activity in the area continued
periodically after that time as outlined in the following articles.
History
of the Ruby Hill Area - Eureka Mining District
by Walter A Paroni
History of Eurek a
This brief history of the Ruby Hill area is
in two main parts. The
first part is a general
0verview
of the early history period from 1864 to the
early 1930s. Information
for the period is taken
from references, personal
notes and papers. The
second
part is a chronological history of the companies
and activities at Ruby Hill
from 1937 through the
1980s. Information for this
period is taken from
personal
notes, papers and reports.
Early History - Ruby Hill
Oxidized
gold-silver-lead
deposits were discovered in the Eureka Mining district in 1864, but
there was little activity until 1869, when the Ruby Hill deposits were
discovered in the Eldorado dolomite formation. In July 1869, Major W.W.
McCoy devised a furnace for recovering the metals in oxidized ores. The
following are excerpts from Eureka and its Resources by Lambert
Molinelli, published in 1879.
"... some Cornish
miners discovered
a very promising ferruginous outcrop about two and a half miles
west of the town of Eureka,
on a
northwesterly
spur of Prospect Mountain, which they
named Ruby Hill. From this discovery dates the beginning of the
prominence and prosperity of the district ....
There are now in Eureka sixteen furnaces, whose daily capacity
varied from forty to sixty tons ....
The main cause of the unexampled prosperity of the mining
interest of Eureka is to be found in the character of the ores. They
are self-fluxing. They carry from 15 to 60 percent of lead, and
sufficient iron and silica to obviate the necessity of importing
foreign material for smelting purposes. Eureka is the only known
mining district possessing this all-important advantage ....
All ores mined in Eureka District are taken to the town of Eureka
for metallurgical treatment. A branch of the Eureka and Palisade
Railroad furnishes a means of transportation for the mines of Ruby
Hill. Smelting in the lead blast furnaces has been found by far the
most profitable means of working Eureka ores. The method employed is
technically termed the Iron Reduction Process. Ruby Hill furnishes
99 percent of all ores treated."
Charcoal was essential for the smelting process, and by 1879 about
175,000 pounds per day were required by the smelters. The following is
taken from Eureka Nevada: A History of the town, Its Boom Years
1879-85 by Judith K Winzeler and Nancy Peppin, 1982.
The Fish Creek War
Italians made up over 15 percent of Eureka's population: over a thousand
were charcoal burners from the poverty-stricken Alpine area of Italy.
The dregs of the labor force in Eureka, they were exploited by the
system of contracting fuel for the smelters. Many were cheated because
they spoke no English. During a slow time in the summer of 1879, the
desperate burners stopped the supply of charcoal, asking for a two-cent
increase of pay to 30
cents
a bushel. At first the town was sympathetic, but fears grew that the
smelting furnaces, the lifeblood of the community, would be shut
down. As attitudes hardened on both sides, many who had been sympathetic stopped
supporting the charcoal burners.
The Charcoal
Burners' Protective Association formed in Celso Tolli's saloon. They
announced that no charcoal would be loaded for less than
30 cents a bushel.
Several teamsters were threatened and their wagons unloaded. The
refineries threatened to close down. Burners were arrested, but little
charcoal was loaded. Lawsuits were filed. The militia was sent for, in
case of violence, and everything seemed under control. But, on August
19, 1879, Fish Creek, an area twenty miles
south of Eureka, was the
site
of an ugly confrontation
between striking
charcoal burners and a local posse. After an exchange of words, shots
were fired. Six burners died and ten more were wounded. The Italian
embassy in San Francisco protested, but a coroner's inquest excused the
posse as acting "in the line of duty." The charcoal burners realized
that the companies had won and that they had no choice but to go back to
work. Then the companies lowered the price of charcoal to 26 cents a
bushel.


Remnants of several charcoal kilns still exist in the
Diamond Mountains north of Eureka.
Photos by Scott Raine.
Town
of Ruby Hill
Molinelli (1879) states the following:
Ruby Hill, the principal town of importance
outside of Eureka,
is situated about two and a half miles westerly from Eureka, on a
hill bearing the same name, and is the seat of the great lode of the
district. There are situated the famous Richmond and Eureka
Consolidated Mines, Jackson, Phoenix, K.K., and others, of which
we
speak
hereafter. The population consists of about 900 thrifty miners, with
their families. The streets are well laid out; many handsome
buildings adorn the same, among which can be mentioned the Miners'
Union Hall and Theater, a neat and cozy building, Roman Catholic and
Protestant Episcopal churches, many neat stores and saloons, and the
immense
hoisting works of the several mining companies. The Miners' Union, a
body of miners 600 strong, organized for the purpose of pecuniarily
protecting themselves and families from the many disasters which
usually occur in mines, is
in a flourishing and thrifty condition, and the scientific and
successful manner of deep mining in Nevada. The Ruby Hill Mining
Report, a weekly newspaper published at that place, is strictly
devoted to the mining interests of the district and has proven
itself a valuable informer to strangers in that respect.

Early Day Ruby Hill
Eather House
Many people have asked me about the "Eather House" that is located at
Ruby Hill. Prior to when Eureka Corporation obtained the property, Harry
Eather was the watchman for the Richmond Eureka property, and he and his
wife lived in the house. At some period in time, Richmond-Eureka Mining
Company gave the house to Harry and his wife. I would estimate that the
house was built in the late 1880s as a residence for the mine manager.
George and Pauline Mitchell renovated the Eather house in the 1940s and
lived there with their son and daughter until the late 1950s. Vern and
Bev Manz and their family lived there until the early 1960s, when they
moved to the old Swick House at the end of Clark street in Eureka. My
wife, Genevieve, daughter, Andrea, and I lived in the house until we
left Ruby Hill in November 1966. We were the last family to live in the
house.

Henry & Jane Eather Home at Ruby Hill
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Old Eather home on right and
other early day homes. This trail was used for walking
and sleigh riding. If someone was walking on the
trail, they were alerted to a sleigh rider coming behind
them by the yell "Ti Yi" and they got to the side of the
trail. Connie Hicks photo 2000 |
Production
Most of the Eureka District's production was during the period of
1879 to 1890. The two largest producers during this period were the
Richmond Mining company, financed by British capital, which ceased
smelting in 1890, and the Eureka Consolidated Mining company, financed
by investors in San Francisco, which ceased smelting in 1891. Tom Nolan,
in The Eureka Mining District, U.S. Geological Paper 406,
gives the following estimated production figures, with mine name, dates
of production, tons mined and gross yield:
Richmond Mining Company,
1873-1905, 488,081 tons,
$15,209,012.
Eureka Consolidated Mining Company,
1873-1916, 550,455 tons,
$19,242,012.
Richmond-Eureka Mining Company,
1871-1939, 88,081 tons,
$4,021,674.
Other producers were the Jackson, Phoenix, KK and Albion. From about
1885 on, most of the mining was done by lessees due to the exhaustion of
the high-grade ores. After the smelters closed down, the ores were sent
to the Selby Smelter in California and to smelters in the Salt Lake City
area. The ores were shipped via the Eureka Palisade Railroad to Palisade
and then via the Southern Pacific or Western Pacific Railroads to
California or Utah.

Eureka Palisade Railroad train at Ruby Hill
A number of ore bodies mined at Ruby Hill were terminated by the Ruby
Hill fault, and it was recognized that extensions of the upper ore
bodies might exist in the hanging wall of the fault. Thus, the Ruby Hill
fault was penetrated in numerous places in the search for a possible
extension. During the 1880s, the Eureka Consolidated Mining Company sank
the Locan shaft to search for the down-faulted northeast extension of
the Eldorado dolomite formation, and the hoped-for extension of the ore
bodies. The Locan was sunk to the 1200 level without encountering much
water, probably because the shaft was in the Secret Canyon shale
formation at about the normal ground water level. The 1884 U.S.
Geological Survey Monograph Seven states: "A crosscut was driven southwest from the 1200
station toward an ore-bearing wedge of Eldorado dolomite, and
water was encountered ... The crosscut and
the lower part of the shaft filled with
water so suddenly that the men had barely time
to escape."
The water then rose in the Locan shaft to the
normal ground level of about 1,035 feet below the shaft collar.
In 1905, the last smelter was shut down following
the exhaustion of the rich Ruby Hill ores, and the Richmond Mining
Company and the Eureka Consolidated Mining Company properties were
consolidated into the Richmond-Eureka Mining Company. The United States
Smelting and Refining Company held controlling interest in the new
company. Between 1905 and 1910 the Richmond Eureka Mining Company
rehabilitated the Richmond and the Eureka consolidated mines and shipped
stope casing and old stope fills to outside smelters.

Old ore bins at Ruby Hill - Connie Hicks Photo
The following is taken from an article that I
wrote and was published in the Eureka Sentinel issue of May 16,
1964.
Steam Pump
In the 1880s, while developing the Locan 1200
level, a sudden flow of water was encountered, which filled the 1200
level and rose 250 feet in the shaft. Dewatering operations were started
but ceased shortly thereafter because the mine was shut down. During the
period of 1905 to 1906, a Prescott Steam Pump was installed
on the 900 level
of the Locan shaft. This pump was manufactured by the Fred M. Prescott
Steam The Holl Pump Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and it is 26.5 feet
long, 8.5 feet wide and 5.5 feet high. The capacity of the pump was
somewhere between 500 and 800 gallons per minute.
Four 350-horse power . Sterling Water Tube Boilers were located on the
surface, and they generated the steam to run the underground pumps. A
Nordberg firstmotion hoist and Nordberg air compressors were also used
and they heated the offices, bunkhouse, mess, superintendent's house,
and assay office.
In 1919, the Ruby Hill Development Company, financed mainly by Mr.
Thayer Lindsley, took a lease on the property and started to unwater the
Locan shaft. The water level was then at about 100 feet below the Locan
900 level station and it was necessary to retimber the shaft below the
depth of 600 feet. The company encountered many difficulties in the
pumping operations and by the time the Locan 1200 level station was
reached the money had been exhausted and the project was abandoned.
In 1923, the Richmond-Eureka Mining Company unwatered the Locan shaft to
the 1200 level by placing two Prescott steam sinker pumps in the shaft,
which pumped to the 900 level. The water was then pumped to the Locan
100 level, a distance of 762 feet, where it flowed to the surface via a
tunnel. In addition to the steam pumps in the shaft and on the station,
two large bailers were used. These bailers were reported to be 16 feet
long, to have a capacity of 1,600 gallons and put out about the same
amount of water as the pumps.
When the 1200 level was reached, the company found the original crosscut
badly caved and therefore drove a parallel crosscut southeast to the
Ruby Hill fault. They also drove a drift to the southwest about 180
feet, where additional water was encountered, which was more than the
pumps and bailers could handle, and work was stopped. An attempt was
then made to drill a vertical exploration drill hole from the 900 level,
but the hole caved at 760 feet, and the project was abandoned.
The Prescott station pump has never been used since, and it is in
remarkably good condition. When visitors first see this pump, the
immediate reaction is one of amazement. It is a tribute to the
determination and skill of the early day operators and workmen that such
a large piece of machinery was lowered underground part by part, and
reassembled.
To the best of my knowledge, this pump is still on the Locan 900 level.
The mines in Ruby Hill were mainly worked out prior to 1900, and
consequently there was sporadic production during the 1920s and the
1930s.




Remnants of Ruby - Hill Photos by Lee Raine
Early History - Adams Hill Area
The Adams Hill area is a series of low hills that start a Ruby Hill
and trend northward to Diamond Valley. Ore was mined from 1875 to
1922 and about 91,786 tons were produced at a value of approximately
$2091,000. The Adams Hill, Bowman, Silver Lick and the Wide West
produced ore from the Hamburg dolomite formation which usually contains
low gold, high silver and low lead values. The Holly, Bullwhacker,
Silver West and the Williamsburg produced ore from the Windfall
limestone, which usually contains low gold, high silver and high lead
values. The largest producer was the Holly mine, which produced 67,271
tons valued at about $1,157,000.
In 1937, Thayer Lindsley formed Eureka Corporation, Ltd., a Canadian
company, and obtained a lease on the Ruby Hill Property from
Richmond-Eureka Mining Company. A diamond drill hole was drilled from
the surface but no lead-zinc mineralization was found. They then drilled
a hole from the Locan 900 level, and 40 feet of gold-silver-Iead-zinc
ore were intercepted, and also deepened the old RichmondEureka hole on
the same level, and intersected 309 feet of ore.
Due to these two favorable ore intercepts, Eureka Corporation started
sinking the four-compartment, rectangular Fad shaft in late 1940. The
shaft was named for the Fad claim on which it is located. A 30-foot
wooden headframe, a small diesel-powered hoist and a compressor that had
been used at the Locan shaft were used initially because the company was
unable to obtain equipment or materials for building on a permanent
basis. The sinking operations were curtailed in October 1943, at a depth
of 556 feet, because pumping equipment could not be obtained due to
wartime controls. The U.S. Bureau of Mines then drilled three additional
drill holes from the Locan 900 level, and all intersected ore.

Locan Headframe and bins at Ruby Hill. The train route ran through
the area shown in the foreground. This headframe fell due to age
and weather in the winter of 2008-2009. Connie Hicks photo.
In the fall of 1944, the hoist and compressor
house, with all of the equipment, was destroyed by fire. In February
1945. construction and equipping of permanent buildings was started, and
a 60foot steel headframe was erected. The following were built and
equipped: dry house, hoist and compressor house, machine and blacksmith
shop, power house, water treatment plant, substation, powder magazine,
automotive storage and an emergency first-aid station. Also built or
erected in 1946, or at a later date, were a 50,000 gallon water storage
tank on 50-foot legs, eight 15,000 gallon diesel storage tanks, a metal
Quonset building warehouse, a combination electric shop and engineering
office and a combination framing shed and carpenter shop.
The hoist and compressor house contained a Nordberg double-drum main
hoist, a J. George Leyner single drum chippy hoist and four air
compressors with a total capacity of 2,050 cubic feet per minute at 100
pounds per square inch pressure. Shaft sinking was resumed in 1945, and
completed to a depth of 2,415 feet in 1947. Stations were cut on the
800, 1700, 2000 and 2250 foot levels. Also, the Fad 800 level and the
Locan 900 level were connected by a drift.
A haulage drift towards the ore body was started on the 2250 level, and
in March 1948, the drift crossed the Martin fault and penetrated the
water bearing Eldorado dolomite formation. At that point, the haulage
drift was stopped and a service drift was continued to the Martin fault,
where again the water-bearing dolomite was intersected. At this period
in time, the installed pumping capacity in the Fad shaft was about 2,500
gpm (gallons per minute), and 1,500 gpm were being pumped. The drift
operation was stopped and a water door installed in the service drift.
The service drift was then advanced 25 feet in the dolomite, and on
March 25, 1948, a drill hole in the face of the drift encountered
high-pressure water. The water door was closed, but control of the water
was lost when a steel plate that was bolted to a flange on an 18-inch
diameter ventilation pipe line failed. Within a few hours the water flow
increased to more than 2,000 gallons per minute, which necessitated the
abandonment of the 2250 level, and subsequent flooding of the shaft.
They then installed diesel power generation and pumping capacity that
would adequately remove 5,000 gpm from the shaft. This proved inadequate
and more generation and pumping capacity was added.
There were no electric power lines in central
Nevada until the early 1970s and all of the towns had locally owned
power plants. The power plant at Ruby Hill at this time consisted of
three Worthington 1,432-horsepower diesel engines, each with a 1,000
kilowatt, 2,300 volt generator; three McIntosh & Seymore 460 horsepower
diesel engines, each with a 300 kilowatt, 480 volt generator; three
12-cylinder Detroit diesel engines, each with a I,000- kilowatt 2,400
volt generator; and six or seven small International and
Caterpillar diesel engines with a 480-volt generator. (Note, the
480-volt power was stepped up to 2,300 volts at the substation). As high
as 9,000 gpm were being pumped in November 1948. The water in the shaft
was lowered to within 54 feet of the 2250 level station, when a sudden
in-rush of muddy water occurred, and the shaft was again flooded.
Although the problem was studied in detail, no further effort was made
to unwater the shaft. In 1950, 1952, 1957 and 1958, twenty-two rotary
drill holes were drilled using oil-field type drill rigs. Fourteen holes
penetrated the Eldorado formation, and substantial additions were made
to the ore reserves.
In 1953, eight rotary drill holes were drilled in
an Adams Hill area about one mile north of the Fad shaft, and five of
these holes encountered ore in the Hamburg dolomite formation. In late
December 1953, preparation work for a fourcompartment square shaft was
started in this area. and the shaft was completed to a depth of 1,127
feet in August 1955. The surface plant consisted of a 46-foot wood
headframe, a hoist building containing a Joshua Hendy double-drum main
hoist and two air compressors with a total capacity of 700 cu. ft. per
minute at 100-pounds pressure, a chippy hoist house with a J. George
Leyner single drum hoist. substation, water tanks, and 6,000-foot-Iong
power and pipe lines from the Fad surface plant. The shaft was named the
"T.L." shaft in honor of Thayer Lindsley. A pump station and sump was
cut at 600 feet, and main levels were cut at 850, 950 and 1050 feet.
Additional underground diamond drilling and surface churn, rotary and
diamond drilling was done in 1956, but little additional ore was found.
Mining operations were started in 1956, and additional ore was
delineated by long-hole drilling and drifting. Water was encountered at
a depth of 634 feet in the shaft, and a maximum of 230 gpm was pumped in
the early stages of development. As the extent of the workings
increased, the quantity of water decreased, and when the mine was shut
down in 1958, about 1400 gpm were being pumped. Approximately 31,374
tons of ore were mined from the TL. at a value of about $1,688,500. The
overall average grade of the ore was 0.44 oz. of gold per ton, 11.6 oz.
of silver per ton, and 17.5% (350 lbs.) of lead per ton. There was no
mill on the property. The raw ore was trucked 82 miles to Palisade,
where it was stockpiled and eventually shipped via Southern Pacific or
Western Pacific Railroads to smelters at Selby, California, and Salt
Lake City for processing and smelting.
In 1960, the Ruby Hill Mining Company was formed
with RichmondEureka owning 75% and Eureka Corporation 25%. In June
1960, RichmondEureka, Eureka Corporation, Newmont Mining Company,
Cyprus Mines Corporation and Hecla Mining Company agreed to finance
additional rotary drilling from the surface,
and make a feasibility study. Fourteen holes were drilled in the Fad
area and the quantity and value of the ore reserves were increased by
ore intercepts encountered in some of these holes. Ten holes were
drilled north of the TL. area and the area between the Fad and TL.
shafts. Both the upper Hamburg dolomite and lower Eldorado dolomite
formation were explored. Mineralization was found in some of the drill
holes, but none was of commercial value. The drilling program was
completed in 1961.
In January 1962, an underwater TV camera was lowered from the Fad 800
level in order to determine if there was an appreciable amount of muck
on the 2250 level. The results were excellent in the shaft where light
was reflected back to the camera lens. The light rays at the stations
were absorbed by the large expanse of water and a very poor picture was
received.
A decision was made to attempt to seal off the
large quantity of water encountered by the 2250 level drift. On April 1,
1963, Ruby Hill Mining Company leased the property to Newmont, Cyprus,
Hecla, Richmond- Eureka and Eureka Corp. Hecla was named operator, and
started work on April 16, 1963. A decision was made to drill a
directional hole from the surface which would intersect the 2250 level
haulage drift between the water door and the face of the drift. The hole
was completed on July 28, 1963, at depth of 2261 feet and it intersected
the center of the haulage drift about 16 feet back from the face. A
concrete plug was placed in the Fad shaft just above the water table,
and the 10-inch and 12-inch diameter pipe columns were extended through
the plug to the surface. A Bryyson Jackson submersible pump was
installed in the T.L. shaft, and a 24-inch diameter pipe line laid from
the T.L. shaft to the Fad shaft. Water was pumped through the 10-inch
pipe column into the shaft and the 12-inch column was used for
instrumentation to continuously record the shaft water level. The object
was to reverse the flow in the Fad shaft water by pumping water into the
shaft while cement slurry was being pumped to the 2250 level through the
drill hole. Cement slurry injection was started on July 28, 1963, and
completed on August 16, 1963. A total of 24,350 sacks of cement were
pumped to the 2250 level.
Following the injection of the cement, a decision
was made to attempt to unwater the Fad shaft. Pumping began on September
8, 1963, and the 1700 level station was unwatered on November 28, 1963.
On March 1,1964, approximately 2,040 gpm were being pumped from the
shaft, of which 150 to 200 gpm were from the 2250 level.
When the 2250 level was reached, it was found that
the haulage drift and access drift were completely filled with muck. At
the shaft, muck covered with cement was found to a depth of four feet.
From the shaft, the top of the cement sloped upward gradually to a point
about 20 feet from the shaft and from that point on the station was
completely filled. A portion of the station was cleaned out, and a
series of holes were drilled and cement grout injected to form a water
seal. The rest of the main station, service drift to the water door,
haulage drift and pump station and sumps were then cleaned out and
repaired where necessary.
A new crosscut to the ore zone was started. A series of 100-feet-deep
holes were drilled and pressure grouted, and the crosscut was advanced
about 75 feet. A water door with a 14-foot-long bulkhead was installed
adjacent to the Martin fault. The crosscut was advanced by drilling and
pressure grouting a ring of 31 drill holes, each 124-foot deep. The ring
of holes was drilled as a truncated cone with the face of the crosscut
being eight feet wide by nine feet high, and at 124 feet the diameter of
the ring was about 35 feet. It took about 23 days to pressure grout the
holes, and nearly 10 days to advance the crosscut 92 feet. (Note: It was
necessary to advance the crosscut under full group cover because the
water pressure is 520 psi (pounds per square inch) on the 2250 level.
Then 1,028 feet of crosscut were driven using this procedure and it was
completed on September 1, 1964. Numerous percussion and diamond-drill
exploration holes were drilled from the crosscut, and the drilling
program was completed on January 10, 1966.
Mining equipment, station pumps and electrical
equipment were removed from the 2250 level, and the water door was
closed on February 1, 1966. Station pumps and electrical equipment on
the 2000 and 1700 levels were then removed. The mine was placed on an
inactive status near the end of February 1966. Hecla prepared an
extensive feasibility study for this project in 1966, which lead to the
conclusion that it was not economically attractive to place the Ruby
Hill Mine into production at that time. By 1974. Newmont had dropped out
of the lease, and Hecla. Cyprus, RichmondEureka and Silver Eureka
(Eureka Corp.) held the lease and operating agreement with Ruby Hill
Mining Company. Hecla updated the 1966 feasibility study in 1974. The
project still did not meet all the criteria to be profitable. No further
work was done and the property reverted back to the successor of U.S.
Smelting and Refining Company. who reworked some of the dumps during the
1980s.

The author, Walter Paroni, received a
degree in mining engineering at U.C. Berkeley in 1950.
He worked at the Ruby Hill area, for Eureka Corporation, Ruby Hill
Mining Company and Hecla Mining Company from 1953 through 1966. He
also worked as a mining engineer in Alaska; Bingham Canyon, Utah;
Star-Morning Mine, Burke, Idaho and served as a senior mining
engineer at Hecla mining properties in Idaho, Washington, Montana,
Nevada and Colorado. In 1950-1952 he assisted with the design of the
foundations for the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge in California.
Paroni and his wife Genevieve, a native Eurekan, live in Post Falls,
Idaho.
Ruby Hill Today
After the 1980s, The Ruby Hill mining area sat
dormant for a number of years. In 1997, Homestake Mining Company sought
and received a permit to establish on open-pit mine at the old mine
site. Plans called for the mine to be in production by 1998, employing
more than 100 workers. The mine life was initially estimated at seven
and one-half years.
Homestake built 29 single-family dwellings and apartments for the
company's employees on the northwest end of town.
Homestake hired a number of contractors to assist with the mining
operations. Ledcor Company, The Industrial Company (TIC), AMI
Construction of Winnemucca, Travco Industries and United Steel
Structures were all involved at Ruby Hill.
Ruby Hill produced 28,284 ounces of gold in the first quarter of 2000
and reported the lowest cost per ounce of all the mines in operation by
Homestake. The mine also received the best safety-performance awards in
the company.
Barrick Gold Corporation acquired the Homestake Mining Company in 2001.
They continued to mine at Ruby Hill and also began reclamation work,
while still mining. Barrick Gold stopped mining at Ruby Hill in 2002, as
low gold prices and other factors forced a slowdown in mining throughout
Nevada.
As the gold market improved, Barrick resumed mining at Ruby Hill in
2006, and the first gold was poured in 2007. Today, open-pit mining
continues on the East Archimedes deposit, near the edge .of the town of
Eureka. The mine poured its one-millionth ounce of gold in July 2009.
This total includes only the gold produced from 1997 to 2009, with the
mine closed for a few years during this time.
This makes Ruby HIll Mine, started in 1860, one of the longest-lived
mines in the state of Nevada.
Courtesy of Northeastern Nevada Historical
Society Quarterly

click on photo for larger view

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