WASSUK COPPER GOLD MINE
The Wassuk Copper Gold mining claim consists of one (1) unpatented lode claim covering 20.66 acres on federal land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The claims cover a former producing gold-copper mine in the Wassuk Range (Yerington District) in Lyon County, Nevada.
The claim includes (2) two adits, multiple prospect pits, dumps and small ore piles. There is some amazing looking quartz veins on the property!
The Ann Mason deposit is located Around 12 miles to the SE from Wassuk Copper Gold mining claim. The deposit was discovered in the late 1990s and is considered to be one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the United States. The deposit is estimated to contain over 9 billion pounds of copper and 5 million ounces of gold. It is currently held by Hudbay Minerals.
Southwest Critical Minerals (fka Nevada Copper) has a large claim block approximately 2.2 miles west of the Mountain View North claim.
The Yerington District is one of the premier copper mining districts in Nevada. Anaconda’s Yerington Copper Mine produced approximately 1.7 billion pounds of copper from 1953 to 1978.
Location and Access: From Yerington follow Highway 95 East for 10.4 miles. At GPS coordinates: Lat: 39.0335584169, Long: -118.995927021 there is a road turnoff to the north. Drive .4 miles north directly to the claim.
GPS Coordinates: Lat: 39.040311° Long: 39.040311° (Main Adit – Timbered Shown in Pictures).
Mining and Exploration Potential: Wassuk Copper Gold Mine has excellent potential for additional high-grade gold and silver veins along with the potential for copper deposits (porphyry and replacement deposits).
There are multiple adits (horizontal openings) and pits to explore. Additional veins on the claim and in the surrounding mountain are also possible. The claims may have some good copper minerals and turquoise.
The claim is within a window of older limestones and shales that are excellent host rocks.
There is a quartz monzonite intrusive to the south about 2.5 miles. These intrusives are related to the mineralization.
I think the best way to explore this mine is to look at the structures around the historical workings and trace them on the surface and with subsurface methods like magnetometer surveys. Also, soil geochemistry might be useful and generate some interesting discoveries.
The Wassuk Copper Gold claim has both small production opportunities and a larger exploration play. Any discoveries would have plenty of buyers.
The claim is near the boundary of the Mountainview District and the Yerington District.
Mountainview District: The Mountain View or Granite district is located between two abandoned camps of the same name, about 1.5 miles apart, on the top of the Wassuk Range’s northern edge.
The District was originally called the Granite District and was probably active in the 1870’s. It was abandoned and later revived as the Mountain View. Some of the workings are from the earliest period and some from the 1905-1940 period and later.
William Wilson re-discovered gold at the Mountain View portion of the district in 1904 when the area was part of the Walker Lake Indian reservation. In 1906, a portion of the reservation was opened to prospectors, and William Wilson discovered many new prospects at Mountain View.
By 1908, the District had become more popular and 55 lessees were active. The leasing system was used when there were lots of smaller veins that would be attractive to individuals and small teams, but not justifying large capital investment. The high number of lessees indicates that there were many good high grade veins on the surface. Moreover, during this time period many famous camps were booming such as Goldfield and Tonopah – so competition was high for mining labor. I suspect that the lessee miners focused on the highest of the high grade ore and then moved on without much exploration effort.
Mountain View had a small 5-stamp mill. Also, ore was processed at the Nordyke Mill 15 miles away.
The Ann Mason mine, that is close by, is being developed by Hudbay Minerals (NYSE: HBM) and was expected to be in production by the mid-2020s.
The Ann Mason mine will utilize conventional open-pit mining methods, and the copper and gold will be processed using a combination of flotation and leaching techniques. The mine is expected to have a long life, with plans to extract copper and gold for over 20 years.
The famous Rawhide Mine is located 30 miles to the north and produced over 1M ounces of gold.
Yerington District: The first mine in the Yerington District was the Ludwig Mine which had rich copper-silver ore and started production in 1865. However, the copper rich ores were difficult to smelt and therefore the district never really took off. It wasn’t until around 1907 that the mines were consolidated and newer processing and milling techniques were put in place. The first flotation mill for sulphide ores was built in 1918. Up to 1940 the production value was $17M. However, with the opening of large open pit mines the production of the district increased to $272M. The value of this production in 2025 dollars is about $10B. The majority of the production comes from the Anaconda Copper Porphyry Mine. The largest undeveloped copper mine in North America is the Ann Mason Deposit nearby.
Regional Geology: The Wassuk Copper Gold mine is located in the Walker Lane mineral belt which is part of the Basin and Range physiographic province. The Basin and Range province covers most of Nevada and consists of narrow NE trending mountain ranges between flat, arid valleys and basins.
The Walker Lane mineral belt is an area with a high density of parallel strike-slip faults extending from Reno to Las Vegas roughly along the California- Nevada border. Faulting and volcanic activity make the Walker Lane favorable for hosting gold and silver deposits including some of the most famous precious metal mining districts in the US including the Comstock, Goldfield, Tonopah, Bullfrog, Mineral Ridge, and Round Mountain.
Local Geology: The Wassuk Copper Gold mine is located on the eastern edge of the Yerington District near the border with the Mountainview District. It is closer to the geology of the Mountainview District since is on the Wassuk Range.
The ore deposits are mostly replacement ore bodies or shear zone veins in limestone and shale host rocks.
The Wassuk Mountain Range extends for 50 miles in a north-south direction on the west side of Walker Lake. The Wassuk Range is composed of Triassic metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks and intruded by Cretaceous and Tertiary quartz monzonite. In some cases, the older metasediments are completely surrounded by the later intrusions forming ‘pendants’.
Most of the workings and veins occur in shear zones and along the contacts at the margins of the intrusives (and near the pendant structures). The shear zones are iron-stained and contain copper oxide minerals.
The pendant structures can form impervious caps on mineralized sections of the quartz monzonite. Robert Holt, a geologist who studied the area in 1965, speculated that the shear zone veins were indicative of a bigger mineralized area underneath the metavolcanic cap pendants.
If so, this would mean that the veins could lead to much larger deposits that are hidden beneath shallow caps of unmineralized rocks.
The shear zones were breaks in these impervious rocks allowing mineralization to leak to the surface. This is what the old-timers found. The real prize might be underneath these shear zones.
The veins can vary from mostly copper to silver-lead-zinc to gold. Some of the veins were reported as 8 to 25 feet in width with crushed granidiorite – indicating a shear zone. These types of veins can have good thickness and grades which make for excellent targets.
As mentioned earlier, values of $25 per ton in 1908 dollars were recorded.
Available Reports:
Ross, D.C., ‘Geology and Mineral Deposits of Mineral County’, Nevada, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, 1961.
Gilbert, J.R., “East Mason Valley and Northern Wassuk”, Inventory and Analysis of Walker Planning Group, 1976.
Holt, Robert, ‘Geological Reconnaissance of the Gillis and Wassuk Ranges, Walker River Reservation, Schurz, Nevada’, Private Report for Walker-Martel Mining Company, 1965.
Lincoln, Francis Church, ‘Mining Districts and Mineral Resources of Nevada’, Nevada Publications. 1923. Pages 146-147.
Moore, James, G., ‘Geology and Mineral Deposits of Lyon, Douglas, and Ormsby Counties, Nevada’, Bulletin 75, Nevada Bureau of Mines, 1969.
FAQ
Why Nevada?
Nevada is consistently ranked as one of the top mining jurisdictions in the world for being mining-friendly and continuing to produce major discoveries. If Nevada was a country it would be the 5th largest gold producer in the world (after Australia, Canada, China, and Russia). Nevada is home to the Carlin Trend, the Cortez Trend, the Walker Lane Trend, the Getchell Trend and many other prolific gold producing regions. In addition to gold Nevada also has major mines producing silver, copper, lithium, iron ore, magnesium, gems and many other minerals. Nevada is 85% owned by the federal government and most of this land is available for claim staking. This means some of the best mining ground in the world is open to small prospectors – a very unique situation. There are many mining companies active in Nevada and therefore, multiple potential buyers for any discovery you make. Canadian and Australian based junior exploration companies are particularly active in Nevada and always looking for new projects.
Why Buy a Claim?
Buying a claim is a great way to get started in mining and prospecting. Buying a claim that is professionally staked reduces your upfront work and the risk of making a mistake on your paperwork or in the field. Our claims are in areas with historical mining activity and most have numerous pits, shafts, and adits to explore. Finding these claims takes lots of research that is already done for you. The best place to find gold is where people have already found it!
Why Us?
I have been working in mineral exploration in the southwestern United States and Alaska for 22 years. I have co-founded four junior mining companies and managed numerous drilling and exploration projects. I have worked with large and small mining companies and know what types of projects they are looking for that can be advanced by small prospectors. I have also worked on small hardrock production projects. I usually try to find claims that have known high grade veins that can be produced and that also have some exploration upside. We stand by our claims and fix any problems that come up. We can also help you with your annual filings. All our claims have a BLM serial number and can be found on the U.S. BLM MLRS website database. All our maps are professionally drafted.
How is ownership of the claim transferred?
Ownership of mining claims is transferred with a Quitclaim Deed which we prepare. We pay all claim transfer fees and file the claim transfer paperwork with the BLM and Lyon County. The BLM takes about 2-3 weeks to process the claim transfer and register the claim in your name. The Lyon County Recorder usually records the Quitclaim Deed within 24 hours if filed electronically. Once the transfer is complete we will send you all the original documents including the file-stamped Quitclaim Deed, the original location notices, claim maps, direction maps, and selected historical reports.
How Much are the Annual Claim Fees?
The BLM charges a $200 per claim annual maintenance fee which is due on September 1st each year. The BLM fees can be paid online through their claim management portal. Lyon County requires that a Notice of Intent to Hold form is filed the first year by Nov 1st along with payment of the recording fee of $18 plus $12 per claim.
If you own less than 10 mining claims you can qualify for a waiver of the annual maintenance fee by filing a Small Miner’s Waiver. However, the Small Miner’s Waiver requires that you perform $100 in labor or improvements on the claim each year.
Can I Learn How to Do This Myself?
Sure! I teach an 8-Week Prospector’s Training Program for New Prospectors. I will teach you everything you need to know to find gold mines, stake your own mines and sell them at a profit. The United States has vast tracts of land available for claim staking. I can only cover a small portion of them myself. And I love teaching new prospectors. Many of the old-timers have retired or gone off to the goldfields in the sky. There are many discoveries waiting to be made and the smaller deposits are mostly ignored by big mining companies. America needs more prospectors. If interested send me a message!
International Buyers
International buyers must either have dual US citizenship and US address or have a US entity or company to own the claim.