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Tule Canyon is located in southern Esmeralda county in Nevada near Lida. The entrance to the canyon from Hwy. 266 is marked by the ruins of an old stamp mill which can be seen just down the graded dirt road. |
| Tule Canyon drains into the north end of Death Valley. The earliest recorded gold placer mining was in 1876 but apparently Mexican miners worked the area as early as 1848 when Nevada was still part of Mexico.
Chinese placer miners worked the area in the early days. Most of the mining took place at the most southern end of the canyon but evidence of placer mining can be seen throughout the canyon. |
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Many large gold nuggets have been found over a 10 square mile area. Most of the gold has been found at bedrock or within the last several feet above. Nuggets have been found that were worth $50 in the late 1800's. Most of the gold is coarse and rounded with
a fineness of around 650 to 800. Many small operators have worked the area using dry washers and gold pans. |
| The canyon has been mined for other minerals such as talc (soapstone). We camped below one such mine located above the canyon floor. At 6800 feet, the temperature was still warm (in July) during the day and cool at night. |
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| There is quite a bit of mining still being done near there including at the northern side of the Sylvania range near highway 266. |
| Reference: Placer Mining in Nevada, Bulletin 27 (1936), Vanderburg and Nevada Ghost Towns and Mining Camps, Vol.2 by Stanley Paher |
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