Mohawk Mine
Location In Esmeralda County, Southwest of town of Silver Peak, Take road south out of town to Oasis ( I don't think there is a road that goes to Oasis) and keep to the right where there is a fork in the road. It is on the Mohawk Mine Quad at 37 43.75n 117 48.76w
Mineral silver
History This is an isolated mine with a steel headframe and numerous cabins largely intact. Above 8000 feet road in is good.
The Mohawk Mine was first discovered in 1920 by E. J.
Shirley high in the mountains west of Silver Peak. While there was a relatively
large quantity of silver-bearing rock at the site, the ore was of a rather low
grade for extensive development. Because of the poor quality ore and remote
location, the property attracted little attention until the 1950s.
In 1951, attention on the mine surfaced after Avery Brundage of Chicago
purchased the claims and set to work improving the property. Under the
supervision of E. R. Hines of Tonopah, a respectable ore body of 40 oz./ton
silver was developed by tunnel 150 ft. below ground. This development brought
interest from large mining firms such as Anaconda, however many were put off by
the harsh purchase terms required by Brundage, due to his own $1,000,000
investment into the property.
In July 1952 Desert Magazine reported daily development was ongoing at the mine,
with 7 men employed and timber being hauled in to construct a camp for 20 more
miners. In July of next year it was reported that the Sunshine Mining Company
took over operations at the mine with an option to buy the property after
several months of exploratory work. In an April 1954 report geologist Ira B.
Jeralemon stated that the mine and camp were well equipped for operations at a
rate of 300 tons a day. A 200 ton flotation mill was built at Silver Peak but
the refractory ore caused poor milling returns. In 1956 the property was taken
over by U.S. Mining & Milling Corporation, previously active at the nearby
Nivloc mine, and they expanded operations and refurbished the mill to better
process the silver ore from the Mohawk and other local mines.
It was during this time until 1961 that the mine was most active in its life. At
its peak, the Mohawk Mine consisted of a power plant, hoist house, a cookhouse,
a bunkhouse, over half a dozen cabins, various other support structures, several
dozen miners employed, and a mile of underground workings on six levels.
Sometime during this period, 2 miners were killed when the section they were
working on caved. Due to the dangers of retrieving their bodies, they were left
in place and that section was abandoned.
After 1961 the mine became largely inactive, though it continued to have several
different owners. In a 1984 report the mine is stated as being guarded and
maintained by its owners Veta Grande, though not in production or development at
the time. Recently, Silver Reserve Corp. has shown an interest in developing the
property and as of June 2008 has been actively drilling samples, but it is
unknown at this point whether future operations will commence.
Total production from the mine as of 1982 has been 106,000 short tons of silver,
or 2,000,000 ounces, with the average grade being 20-25 oz/ton. The majority of
this production occurred between 1954 and 1961. info from
http://www.uer.ca/locations/show.asp?locid=26838