Looking West toward Ruby range from on the MountainDirections- Take 93 south of Wells for 25 miles. Turn left onto a dirt road heading east towards Spruce Mountain. You will get to a kiosk with maps for the area. If a visitor has an ATV, Pick-up truck or SUV a visitor can drive to almost all the sites. Remember to not go into any mine shafts which are not closed off!!!! The area is one of the best preserved mining sites in Elko County.
History-The Spruce Mountain mining site is a group of mines which mainly produced silver, lead, zinc, and copper evry year from 1899-1952. In the 1920s, mine production stood at $100,000 every two years. The most productive of the mines was the Spruce-monarch mine on the western side of the mountain. Other mines included Blackforest, Bullshead, Jasper, and Ada. The area boomed during World War II, when in 1945, $300,000 worth of ore were shipped out of the area. By 1947 the price of ore decreased in value and the mines of the area slowly became less profitable. Major mining activities ended in 1952 but a few companies still explored the site until 1961. Total production: one million ounces of silver, 22 million pounds of lead, 3.2 million pounds of zinc and 780,000 pounds of copper. (For more information consult: Old Heart of Nevada: Ghost towns and mining camps of Elko County)
Monarch mine ruins
Monarch mine
Old entrance into mine
Neat photo from inside cabin- Monarch mine
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