Ash cones in Nevada what were the old timers mining for?

[gunshow70]

Hi! While predator hunting in Nevada I came across an area with large white ash cones 30 to 45 feet high. Someone had dug a hole maybe 8 feet by 8 feet straight down for 25 feet at it's base. I don't know what they were looking for and it has always been a mystery to me. There is a lot of old volcanic activity up there, with black rock and then this bright white area is such a stark contrast. There also a few walls of this white ash or whatever it is, with hundreds of holes carved into it 1 foot to 3 feet wide and 2 to 3 feet deep. I have little geological knowledge but love treasure hunts, can anyone give me a heads up as to what prizes might still be there.

 

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[Red-Coat]

Nevada's a big place, but if you use the 'mindat' database, you can check any specific locality for what minerals are notably found there and also whether there is or was industrial mining to exploit them. Here's the link for Nevada:

https://www.mindat.org/loc-14194.html

You can keep zooming in on the map via the '+' icon and/or by clicking on the numbered locality areas to expand them. Ultimately you will see mines marked with a 'hammer and pick' symbol and if you click on those icons there is then a hotlink for the name of the mine that takes you to the mineral resources. If you click on the 'Key' button on the map, the symbols are explained.

Because Nevada has so many entries, you may find that the pages take a little while to load in full.

 

[DDancer]

Dont know what they were digging for but as to the description of the other smaller hole, animal burrows. It's not uncommon to see the burrows in soft rocks, or high stream banks with a lot of clay.

 

[gunshow70]

Thank you Red-coat. Lots of information there, I couldn't find any mine listed there it might be a test hole, but to dig 25 feet they must have found something along the way, that's why I keep on wondering. I will keep up my search. The cones are very large looking like an upside down ice creme cone, 40 foot diameter and around the same height, almost pure white, sure looks like some kind of gem stones would be in it. I will go up there in the summer and explore. Again thank you for Mindat info.

 

[gunshow70]

Thanks for the response DDancer, Along with the Ash cones there are several walls maybe 20 feet tall and 45 feet long with a ton of these holes they are not boroughs they all go in roughly the same distance and are up the vertical surface to 10 to 15 feet, no birds nesting in them and impossible for wind or rain to have carved them, they look man made. . There is no clay just this white granular type rock. When I go up there in the summer I will take pictures and maybe You guys can help me identify what kind of rock material I'm talking about.

 

[DDancer]

Sure, be interesting to see what your seeing gunshow70.

 

[galenrog]

If you haven’t yet, take several pics of the formation next time you are there. Post them here. There may be someone who can then answer your question. There are many types of ash and other materials that could match your general description that occur in Nevada.

Time for more coffee.

 

[gunshow70]

Hi! Galenrog I don't no how to upload pictures yet. Could you tell me how or send me to the right place for the information? I have one picture of one of the cones.

 

[tokameel]

Welcome to T-Net, gunshow! Don't feel bad. I'm a former Operations Annalist of 13 years at Metavante, in Milwaukee, and I can't do the pictures either.

 

[freeman]

Might have been looking for diamonds as they are mined in volcanic vents/material.

 

[Red-Coat]

Were you anywhere near Panaca, Lincoln County?

 

[gunshow70]

Diamonds?

In one of the ash flows I saw a little plant growing out of a small pocket crack, Sometimes if the ground is mineralized, a plant can gain a foothold in rather sterile ground. I pulled up the plant and dug out the 6-8- inches of dirt and I found a clear piece of rock about the size of a large pea, rough shape not like a crystal, roundish,it wasn't milky it was very clear.
I thought that it might be a diamond or a piece of quartz, I carried that little rock for the most part of that hunting trip and then I lost it. So I will never know!









some plants

 

[gunshow70]

Were you anywhere near Panaca, Lincoln County?

No I think it was Washoe county

 

[gunshow70]

A picture from 1999 with my son

I got a a picture of one of the cones from 1999, my son is pointing to some hieroglyphs in the white rock.

 

[Red-Coat]

How sure are you about the location being Washoe County? What you pictured does indeed look like a volcanic ash cone but those are more usually seen in the south of the state and especially in Lincoln County as I said. They’re natural formations though, and nothing to do with mining.

They’re typically steeply conical and formed from loose pyroclastic fragments explosively ejected from a cylindrical volcanic vent. There are gleaming white ones formed from fine ash (like these in Barnes Canyon):



And some more spectacularly large ones around Panaca, including dirty white to brown ones formed from coarser cinder material (like these at Weepah Spring):



Note however that they wouldn’t usually yield much of geological value if you went digging in them, apart perhaps from obsidian fragments and opal as at least a theoretical possibility. Often they’re only composed of loosely welded fragments and can be dug into quite readily such that in some walking trail areas they have been vandalised and have modern ‘graffiti’.

If the ‘hieroglyphs’ you refer to were of a Native American character then I suppose it’s possible that they may have been dug into in past times in the hope of finding obsidian for blade making.

I’m not aware of these kinds of structures being commonly found as far north as Washoe County but some Googling may tell you. The pictures above are from Lincoln County.

 

[gunshow70]

Thanks Red-Coat!

How sure are you about the location being Washoe County? What you pictured does indeed look like a volcanic ash cone but those are more usually seen in the south of the state and especially in Lincoln County as I said. They’re natural formations though, and nothing to do with mining.

They’re typically steeply conical and formed from loose pyroclastic fragments explosively ejected from a cylindrical volcanic vent. There are gleaming white ones formed from fine ash (like these in Barnes Canyon):

View attachment 1804763

And some more spectacularly large ones around Panaca, including dirty white to brown ones formed from coarser cinder material (like these at Weepah Spring):

View attachment 1804764

Note however that they wouldn’t usually yield much of geological value if you went digging in them, apart perhaps from obsidian fragments and opal as at least a theoretical possibility. Often they’re only composed of loosely welded fragments and can be dug into quite readily such that in some walking trail areas they have been vandalised and have modern ‘graffiti’.

If the ‘hieroglyphs’ you refer to were of a Native American character then I suppose it’s possible that they may have been dug into in past times in the hope of finding obsidian for blade making.

I’m not aware of these kinds of structures being commonly found as far north as Washoe County but some Googling may tell you. The pictures above are from Lincoln County.

Hi Red-Coat! The Cones really are in Washoe county and the area was being mined like a coyote hole or test mine. I think there is a lot of gravel in the walls of the mine shaft and in the many holes in the walls nearby. They were finding something the question is what.

 

[Red-Coat]

Hi Red-Coat! The Cones really are in Washoe county and the area was being mined like a coyote hole or test mine. I think there is a lot of gravel in the walls of the mine shaft and in the many holes in the walls nearby. They were finding something the question is what.

Then I don't know, but the only other thing I can offer is this extract from "Pumice, Pumicite, and Volcanic Cinders" [R.C. Horton, Nevada Bureau of Mines, Reno, Nev.] published in 1964 by USGS in ‘Mineral and Water Resources of Nevada’; Issues 63-65]

Pumice, pumicite, and volcanic cinders are products of volcanic avtivity, generally of an explosive nature. Pumice and pumicite are formed by rhyolitic and andesitic volcanism. The terms “pumice” and “pumicite” are often used for the same material, but “pumice” should be restricted to rocks that are light-colored ejecta from rhyolitic or andesitic volcanism, that consist of cellular pumiceous glasses, and that have grains larger than 4mm in diameter. “Pumicite” is the fine-grained equivalent of pumice and should be restricted to material with grains smaller than 4mm. “Volcanic Ash” and “pumicite” are often used interchangeably as the terms refer to the same grain size, but “volcanic ash” may be rhyolitic, andesitic, or basaltic composition. “Tuff”, or “volcanic tuff”, is the name given to rocks formed of consolidated volcanic ash.

Pumice and pumicite are commonly used as abrasives, although this use has declined in recent years. At present, large amounts of pumice are used in the United States as concrete aggregate. Pumicite is widely used in products where fillers are needed, particularly as a dilutent in paints and rubber goods, as an insecticide carrier, and s an additive in the manufacture of cement. Volcanic cinders are used as aggregate in concrete blocks, in monolithic concrete construction, and in roadbuilding; as roofing granules and ground cover; and as drain rock where a porous permeable medium is required.

Pumice and pumicite deposits occur as stratified layers deposited by air-fall or in bodies of water, and as unstratified deposits around volcanic vents. Pumice also occurs as a frothy or vesicular covering on extrusive rhyolite domes. In these deposits the pumice grades downward into obsidian or rhyolite. Volcanic cinders occur as deposits forming volcanic cinder cones and as semi-layered deposits around these cones.

There are many deposits of pumicite in Nevada but they have not been systematically studied or described. The principal deposits of pumice in the state are those associated with intrusive rhyolite domes in Storey and Washoe Counties…
… Attempts have been made to mine many of the cinder cones in Nevada but because of transportation costs only two of the operations have been successful... [neither of them in Washoe Co.]

Note that the “cinder cones” referred to above are not the cute dinky ones I showed in Lincoln County, but large mountainous ones up to hundreds of feet high. It wouldn’t be surprising if Washoe County has at least some smaller ones in the tens feet around the perimeters of those cones, but it’s not renowned for them (and, as Horton said, the pumicite deposits “have not been systematically studied or described”).

 

[galenrog]

I have never seen such formations in Washoe County, but most of my wanderings across rural Nevada have been elsewhere in the state. Thus far, I have seen ash cones and ash mounds in Esmeralda, Mineral, Nye, Churchill, Lander, and Pershing counties. I have not wandered Washoe County much, so I can not comment on that. I know a few people who have included ash mounds near Panaca, which Red-Coat mentioned, in their YouTube videos. Because most of the state has seen a lot of volcanic activity in the past, I would expect ash mounds in most areas of the state.

As to what any miners or prospectors were looking for, I will not speculate. I did find a few mounds about 20 miles off the pavement somewhere near the intersection of Nye, Mineral, and Esmeralda counties that had evidence of native knapping of the rather poor quality obsidian found rather sparingly in the mounds. Rather, obsidian is lightly sprinkled in the ash mounds, and a knapping station is near a seasonal spring a few miles away.

If I ever get back to that part of the country, I will be sure to take a few pics.

Time for more coffee.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Perlite and Vermiculite have been mined in Washoe County. Pozzolan, Gypsum and Barite have also been mined there in the past. All of those can form white deposits. Sounds like that might be what the OP is seeing?

Pozzolan in particular is a mineral of recent interest so the digs you see may be sampling shafts to determine the quality of a pozzolan deposit.

A better description of the mineral material might help figure out what the "cones" are composed of.

Heavy Pans

 

[gunshow70]

Thanks for replying Galenrog

I have never seen such formations in Washoe County, but most of my wanderings across rural Nevada have been elsewhere in the state. Thus far, I have seen ash cones and ash mounds in Esmeralda, Mineral, Nye, Churchill, Lander, and Pershing counties. I have not wandered Washoe County much, so I can not comment on that. I know a few people who have included ash mounds near Panaca, which Red-Coat mentioned, in their YouTube videos. Because most of the state has seen a lot of volcanic activity in the past, I would expect ash mounds in most areas of the state.

As to what any miners or prospectors were looking for, I will not speculate. I did find a few mounds about 20 miles off the pavement somewhere near the intersection of Nye, Mineral, and Esmeralda counties that had evidence of native knapping of the rather poor quality obsidian found rather sparingly in the mounds. Rather, obsidian is lightly sprinkled in the ash mounds, and a knapping station is near a seasonal spring a few miles away.

If I ever get back to that part of the country, I will be sure to take a few pics.

Time for more coffee.

I don't remember any obsidian in or near the mounds but lots of gravel of different colors, I will be back up there in June and will take more pictures and do some prospecting myself.