Bald Mountain Mining District lies in extreme northwestern White Pine County approximately 70 miles Southeast of Elko and 90 miles Northwest of Ely. Bald Mountain’s name is descriptive of the mountains in the region that appear to be absent of vegetation at their higher elevations. Bald Mountain Mining District occupies about ten miles square around the former town of Joy, in Water Canyon, near the southern end of the Ruby Mountains.
During the 1860s, Austin and Eureka were experiencing economic troubles and, with eternal optimism, hundreds of people from these areas spread throughout what is now White Pine County in search of the elusive metals. With high hopes they believed that somewhere just around the bend, hidden in a canyon or under a rock another Comstock existed.
G. H. Foreman and others discovered the district in 1869 and sporadic mining occurred for about fifteen years. The earliest recorded discoveries were silver deposits about four miles southeast of Joy where claims in the “Free Metal Belt” were staked. West of Joy, in Water Canyon, placer gold deposits contaminated by scheelite were worked first in the early days and again in 1936. Production of placer gold was very small. Lode claims in 1870 yielded a little silver ore. Two groups of claims, the Copper Basin and Carbonate groups, were probably mined in the late 1870’s or early 1880’s.
Wherever people gather, there will be disagreements and the Bald Mountain area was not exempt. With only a few persons living in tents within the District in the latter part of 1870, a disagreement August 6, 1870 over mining claims led to the death of one prospector, James Wilson, a native of Scotland, aged about 60 years and the wounding of another - Alexander McDonald.
Coroner Henley in Hamilton was telegraphed, and in company with Dr. McMeans, started for Bald Mountain to hold an inquest - using three teams to get there. There were only a few persons living in this isolated area approximately 65 miles from Hamilton and Coroner Henley could only get four jurymen to hold the inquest. White Pine News, August 11, 1870 reported the incident as the “Bald Mountain Affray.”
In testimony at the inquest, Michael Hennessy said that James Wilson came to his cabin, about a mile from the cabin occupied by Wilson and Mr. McDonald, on Friday evening, August 5th, about 8 o’clock. Wilson stayed at Hennessy’s all night, leaving on the morning of the sixth at about seven o’clock. While staying with Hennessy, Wilson spoke in harsh terms about Mr. McDonald’s treatment of him concerning claims that they were interested in together in the Bald Mountain District. Wilson also stated that Mr. Thornburg was in with him, and would stand by him and put up the money for Wilson to work and hold his ground. After eating breakfast at Hennessy’s, Wilson showed him a knife that he said he found on the road, and that it would answer his purpose to cut his food with.
Three weeks later, Hennessy met Wilson about half way between their camps. Wilson appeared weary and worn out, and told Hennessy that if he was in need he would be able to assist him with a half a dollar or such a matter in a very short time. At the same time, Wilson spoke of his mining arrangements. He appeared to think very hard of Mr. Baily and Mr. Scott for (as he expressed it) "putting Mr. McDonald up to being contrary" with him, and not helping him as he thought he ought to. Wilson also remarked that he would not “scruple in getting conveniences to civilize them.” Hennessy told Wilson he was too old to be making such threats, and that cutting and shooting were played out at his age. Wilson answered that he did not care - if he was old, no one should run over him.
Alexander McDonald testified that Wilson was his partner in some mining claims in Bald Mountain District. On the evening of August 6, about six o’clock, McDonald went to their camp and found Wilson there. When McDonald heard a hammering and pounding inside the tent he at first supposed was Hennessy, and spoke to him. While McDonald was talking, Wilson put his head out of the doorway, but drew it back again. In a moment after he came out with McDonald’s double-barreled shot gun, cocked, and leveled at him, saying: ‘You s— of a b—, I’ve got you now!’
McDonald was three feet away at the time, and seeing Wilson have some difficulty in pulling the trigger, and that his life was in danger, McDonald closed in with him. While struggling for the possession of the gun, McDonald asked Wilson what he meant to do; he answered: ‘To kill you.’ McDonald told him there was no necessity for that; the matter could be settled without bloodshed. Wilson did not reply, but attempted to get the gun away from McDonald. McDonald had the best of him in the struggle, and Wilson struck him on the left side with something. At the time, McDonald could not tell what it was. As Wilson pulled his hand away, McDonald saw that it was a knife and felt the blood trickling down his side. McDonald immediately grabbed the hand that held the knife, with Wilson still trying to stab him again. After struggling five or six minutes to get the knife away, McDonald got Wilson down, wrenched the knife from him, and chucked it away. In the meantime, McDonald became faint and weak from loss of blood, and fearing Wilson would get up and best him, remained on top of Wilson and hit him several blows on the head with his fist. Then McDonald picked up a rock and hit Wilson on the head twice with it, which stunned him for a moment. Wilson then raised on his elbow and asked McDonald “Do you mean to kill me?” McDonald replied, ‘I do, for, Wilson, you have killed me already.’ McDonald then got the shotgun and shot Wilson with both barrels in the head.
McDonald then went into his tent to get breath and rest, but finding he was getting very weak, struggled for a mile down to Mr. Hennessy’s cabin. He arrived there about eight o’clock at night, completely exhausted and not expecting to live until morning. McDonald had a chest in his tent in which he kept his pistol and ammunition. The chest had been locked when I left it and the shotgun was on the bed. When McDonald went into the tent, after the struggle, he saw the pistol and ammunition and his sack of money – $640 – lying out on the ground. McDonald remembered that the lid of the chest was down when he went in. He remembered that he had left it locked. McDonald was very weak, and felt that he was dying so he left everything as he found it, without examination.News reported that Dr. McMeans informed them that McDonald was convalescing and likely to recover.
The district was first known as the Joy or Ruby Mountain district but during the 1880’s, the name changed to Bald Mountain. Lack of water for mining and domestic purposes hampered development of the district. Although the District was located only eight miles from the Overland Stage route, high freight rates well into the twentieth century also hindered development.
For more than one hundred years sporadic mining occurred on a small scale in the Bald Mountain Mining District. Early producing claims in the District included the Nevada Mine located in the saddle between Big and Little Bald Mountains, and the Copper Basin Group or Skaggs Property. This group included twenty-five claims about 3.5 miles southeast of Joy, at the head of the south fork of Water Canyon. Bald City was founded and the promoters of these claims set about to develop the mines as well as the Townsite. Although the mines and claims are in close proximity to a potentially productive fault zone, the mines and Bald City failed to prosper1 Joy became the leading community of the District.
No mention of Bald City is found in newspaper or historical accounts. The description of Bald City has been derived from archaeology reports provided by Mark Henderson, Bureau of Land Management, Ely. It appears from the archaeologist report that Bald City was inhabited sporadically from about 1880 to 1940. Although many of the sites were dated between 1880 and 1910, later occupation has destroyed the integrity of earlier features. One dugout, that is assumed used for domestic occupation, was probably occupied during the 1930s. Another, based on the artifacts, was estimated to have been in use from 1930 to 1940. This appeared to be industrial in nature. There are no standing or partially standing mines, mills or other features at Bald City. The scattered historic features of Bald City are all but lost in the natural forests and vegetation. Mother Nature has her own method of reclamation.
The housing in Bald City may have included boarding houses, dugouts, houses and other dwellings in various forms. The structures tended to be small and were made of soil, stone, wood or log. The buildings were primitive, built to meet specific needs. Many of the archaeological characteristics were building remains. Others are no more than the remains of a tent platform. There are other, more intricate, building remains.
Barely discernable roads in the area were assigned a date range from 1880 to 1910. A rectangular building platform partially dug into a hillside and terraced into two levels indicated a boarding house or small hotel. Artifacts and trash scatter indicate the dates of occupation for this to be during the early twentieth century.
Placer deposits are found in Water Canyon and tributary ravines. Scarcity of water and a short mining season made placer mining difficult. Apparently, most of the placers occurred above the 7,000-foot elevation at the base of the mountain, but some reports indicate that some gold was found along the Canyon. As with all of the mining districts, it is naïve to assume all production was reported.
The small camp of Joy was formed about 1875 in Water Canyon between Bald Mountain and South Bald Mountain where the mining activity was centered. Principle minerals of the district are silver, copper, gold and tungsten. The most important mine of the district at that time was the Nevada, which is credited with a production of approximately $20,000 worth of silver chloride ore. The Copper Basin and Carbonate groups were opened in the late 1870’s or early 1880’s. A post office was designated at Joy from May 6, 1897 to June 21, 1899 when their mail was routed to Cold Creek.
At the dawn of the electrical age in the last years of the nineteenth century, mining men began to take interest in White Pine County's copper ores. Although the Robison District near Ely became a nationally recognized leader of the copper industry, the copper excitement spread to the rest of White Pine County. The Copper Basin groups were among the claims mined for their copper during the early 1900s. A little copper carbonate ore was shipped in 1905-06. Additional properties opened in 1905 and Joy was reactivated as a post office in March 22, 1906. Antimony was mined on the Copper Basin claims during World War I (1914-1919). The high wartime prices for all minerals undoubtedly made this a profitable venture.
Insufficient capital, great distances to mills and high transportation costs prevented earnest exploitation of the mines. Like many other Nevada mining areas, the district was too distant and the ore grade too poor to be economically viable during the late nineteenth or early twentieth centuries. The post-office again closed on October 15, 1918 and the mail routed to Simonsen.
Tungsten ore was discovered in the district sometime before 1917 but was not mined until World War II when small quantities were shipped from the Bald Mountain District. Small underground prospects were mined intermittently for silver and copper until 1940. The largest producer of record was the Pioneer mine. Copper ore containing gold and silver was mined in 1940, 1941 and 1942. Further tungsten mining took place during the mid-1950s.
Although there are only ruins to show the location of the early towns of Joy and Bald City, Bald Mountain Mining District is active with approximately 150 employees from Elko, Ely, Eureka and Spring Creek communities.
Mining and exploration are ongoing, with gold the major mineral sought. Approximately 1.2 million ounces of gold have been produced since 1983. 1.3 million ounces are remaining in reserve and will be mined and processed over the next six years. There are also 1.4 million ounces in reserve that it is not economically feasible to mine at the date of this writing (February 2000).
In 1976, Placer Dome U. S., Inc. acquired an option on claims within the district and exploration was initiated. In 1983, a pilot scale project was initiated at the Bald Mountain Mine. The plant was upgraded in 1985. All the mining done at Bald Mountain is open pit. The ore is leached using a diluted cyanide solution to extract gold from the ore. There are several offices, shops, and other ancillary facilities located at the mine site in addition to the pits, waste rock dumps, and process facilities.
Alligator Ridge Mine was started in 1980 with various operators. Placer Dome U. S., Inc. acquired the Alligator Ridge, Yankee, Casino/Winrock and Little Bald Mountain Mines in 1993. Bald Mountain Mine Properties operated these mines as satellite operations with each of them having mining areas and heap leach processing facilities. Alligator Ridge was the central place for equipment, manpower, and other support systems. There were offices, shops, a tailings impoundment, milling and crushing facilities, plus other ancillary facilities necessary for a mining operation. These are no longer in existence at Alligator Ridge. Mining was initiated at the Yankee Mine in 1989, but soon suspended. In 1991, a heap leach facility was constructed to process ores and mining resumed.
Casino/Winrock Mine started in 1990 with the construction of a leach pad and processing facility for ore from the Casino area. One open pit is associated with the Casino area and three pits are present at the Winrock area. There is also a waste dump at all sites. A heap leach pad and processing facility were located between the two mining areas. An office trailer, process ponds and other ancillary facilities were located at the process site. The leach pad was expanded in 1991 to leach ore from the Winrock area.
Unlike the early miners who abandoned mines and communities, the modern mining company does a complete reclamation. Whenever possible, reclamation activities are performed concurrently with mining. Bald Mountain Mine’s philosophy on environmental protection is one of prevention and employee awareness. Bald Mountain Mine also has an excellent safety record. As of December 31, 1999, Bald Mountain employees had worked twenty-nine months without a lost time injury. This equates to 648,000 man-hours worked; the national industry average is 2.46 lost time injuries for every 200,000 man-hours worked.2
1. Bald City. The author has been unable to find any documentation on Bald City. All information has been derived from Bureau of Land Management and Placer Dome environmental statements. Historical evaluations were contracted by Placer Dome U.S. Bald Mountain Mine. Western Cultural Resources Management (WCRM) performed the work. Avoidance stipulations have been placed on the historical sites for several years but this may soon change. WCRM concluded after extensive recordation, mapping and probing of the historic features that there is not sufficient data and integrity to be considered eligible to be included in the National Register of Historic Places, either on a site specific basis or as an historic district. Documentation and evaluation at the site were done between September 28 and October 12, 1992. The site is located within the Bureau of Land Management-Ely District.
2. Bald Mountain Statistics. Mike Creek, Director of Environmental Affairs, Bald Mountain Mine provided these statistics February 18, 2000.
