Description

Location: Zoom from Reno, NV

Contact: mikeressel@sbcglobal.net

The GSN 2022 Symposium Virtual Lecture Series

Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

Speaker:  Richard Reid

Title:  History of the Modern Gold Rush in Nevada

Join Zoom Meeting Here:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84931471052

Meeting ID: 849 3147 1052

Abstract:

It is early in the 1960s. The sun is rising on one of the greatest gold rushes in history. There are faint reddish clouds on the horizon foretelling of the amazing discoveries yet to come. The clouds represent nascent deposits such as Getchell in the Osgood Mountains, Gold Acres in the Cortez district, and upstarts like Blue Star and Bootstrap in the Lynn district of Eureka County. A few geologists seem to see the future. They include John Livermore and J. Alan Coope, with Newmont, who advance gold exploration based on the Ralph Roberts paper describing the alignment of mining districts in north-central Nevada, and therefore focus their efforts on an area north of Carlin, Nevada. The Carlin deposit is discovered in 1962, and this is considered the birth of the modern gold rush in Nevada. Yet, despite this momentous discovery, there is little additional activity until the Bretton Woods Monetary Agreement was terminated in the early 1970s essentially deregulating the price of gold and silver. Slowly, the Nevada exploration community reacts to rising precious metals prices in the 1970s with resumed activity at the established disseminated gold districts such as Cortez and Getchell, and more aggressive exploration on the developing Carlin area.

As the 1970s advance, the gold price rapidly rises, exploration activity increases, mainly in the known historic mining camps and around old producers such as Round Mountain and Battle Mountain, which are destined to become large producers in time. Many old districts prove to have further life with a higher commodity price and modern technology, leading to the development of important resources.

By the end of the 1970s, the gold price peaks, and there is an immediate reaction in the exploration industry to its increase. The Iranian hostage crisis, Arab oil embargo, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and Carter-era high inflation rates drive gold upward into unheard of prices as investors head to the yellow metal as a hedge against growing economic and political uncertainty. Gold hits a then all-time high of $850 per ounce in January 1980, and the race for more gold is on!

The industry, particularly Newmont, following up on research by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, pioneers bulk cyanide heap leaching, which allows lower-grade ores to be developed and processed. The timing could not be better as there exists a small army of well-trained, motivated and resilient exploration geologists, fresh off the uranium boom of the 1970s and the end of the porphyry copper boom of the late 1960s and 1970s. These geologists were trained and mentored by an amazing generation of individuals responsible for discovering and developing decades of resources that built the US into a world leader. In Nevada, a perfect storm was brewing that consisted of extraordinary mineral potential, committed explorers, financial backing, and new technology.

The modern Nevada gold rush took off in the late 1970s with the development of old districts and old mines but exploration rapidly headed into areas of cover including the pediment environment, post-mineral cover, and unmineralized or weakly anomalous pre-mineral cover; conceptual ideas for targeting were also pursued. Some of the largest and most significant discoveries were made by implementing these practices on the Cortez, Carlin, and Getchell Trends, as well as in other areas of Nevada. Drilling technologies (e.g., reverse-circulation) improved considerably over time and allowed for less contamination, faster and improved assessment, and deeper testing of areas previously considered uneconomic for development. New, commercially available geochemical techniques allowed for cheap, rapid, and accurate determination of not only metals of interest in hydrothermal systems, but associated, more dispersed elements useful as vectors to ores.

This paper chronicles, in decadal intervals, the Nevada gold rush, a time of unprecedented exploration discovery and mine development. As part of this study, the discovery histories of 355 precious-metal deposits were reviewed. The rush began slowly and unremarkably through the 1960s and 1970s, then grew into the wild ride of the 1980s propelled by the order-of-magnitude rise in the gold price, which was followed by the more disciplined but significant wave of discovery in the 1990s that led to peak production and reserves. The story continues today, although discoveries are fewer and production has eased as more and more mines transition to underground operations and also from oxide ore to more expensive processing of refractory ore. We examine some of the key factors that shaped the Nevada gold boom through time and offer ideas on where the boom may go.

Richard F. Reid Bio:
Richard was born and raised in New York state.  He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1980 and moved to Nevada in early 1981.  He worked initially for Houston Oil and Minerals (subsequently Tenneco Minerals) as a mine geologist at the Manhattan and Borealis mines for five years.  He then completed an additional five-year period with Western Gold Exploration and Mining Company (WestGold) doing reconnaissance gold exploration in the Walker Lane.  Following WestGold, Richard worked for the next seven years with Pegasus Gold Corporation.  Duties included generative gold exploration domestically and internationally as well as near mine exploration in Montana (Beal Mountain) and Nevada (Florida Canyon).  Richard went on to work at Newmont Mining Corporation.  During his twenty-one years with Newmont he was a Senior Geologist, Nevada Exploration Manager and Exploration Business Development Manager for North America.  Richard completed his Newmont career as the Chief Geologist of North America.  Richard is now semi-retired but is affiliated with several Canadian junior companies.

Details

03/25/2021 19:00:0003/25/2021 20:30:00America/Los_AngelesGSN 2022 Symposium Virtual Lecture Series – Thursday, March 25, 2021 @ 7:00 p.m.

The GSN 2022 Symposium Virtual Lecture Series

Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 7:00 p.m.

Speaker:  Richard Reid

Title:  History of the Modern Gold Rush in Nevada

Join Zoom Meeting Here:  https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84931471052

Meeting ID: 849 3147 1052

Abstract: It is early in the 1960s. The sun is rising on one of the greatest gold rushes in history. There are faint reddish clouds on the horizon foretelling of the amazing discoveries yet to come. The clouds represent nascent deposits such as Getchell in the Osgood Mountains, Gold Acres in the Cortez district, and upstarts like Blue Star and Bootstrap in the Lynn district of Eureka County. A few geologists seem to see the future. They include John Livermore and J. Alan Coope, with Newmont, who advance gold exploration based on the Ralph Roberts paper describing the alignment of mining districts in north-central Nevada, and therefore focus their efforts on an area north of Carlin, Nevada. The Carlin deposit is discovered in 1962, and this is considered the birth of the modern gold rush in Nevada. Yet, despite this momentous discovery, there is little additional activity until the Bretton Woods Monetary Agreement was terminated in the early 1970s essentially deregulating the price of gold and silver. Slowly, the Nevada exploration community reacts to rising precious metals prices in the 1970s with resumed activity at the established disseminated gold districts such as Cortez and Getchell, and more aggressive exploration on the developing Carlin area. As the 1970s advance, the gold price rapidly rises, exploration activity increases, mainly in the known historic mining camps and around old producers such as Round Mountain and Battle Mountain, which are destined to become large producers in time. Many old districts prove to have further life with a higher commodity price and modern technology, leading to the development of important resources. By the end of the 1970s, the gold price peaks, and there is an immediate reaction in the exploration industry to its increase. The Iranian hostage crisis, Arab oil embargo, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and Carter-era high inflation rates drive gold upward into unheard of prices as investors head to the yellow metal as a hedge against growing economic and political uncertainty. Gold hits a then all-time high of $850 per ounce in January 1980, and the race for more gold is on! The industry, particularly Newmont, following up on research by the U.S. Bureau of Mines, pioneers bulk cyanide heap leaching, which allows lower-grade ores to be developed and processed. The timing could not be better as there exists a small army of well-trained, motivated and resilient exploration geologists, fresh off the uranium boom of the 1970s and the end of the porphyry copper boom of the late 1960s and 1970s. These geologists were trained and mentored by an amazing generation of individuals responsible for discovering and developing decades of resources that built the US into a world leader. In Nevada, a perfect storm was brewing that consisted of extraordinary mineral potential, committed explorers, financial backing, and new technology. The modern Nevada gold rush took off in the late 1970s with the development of old districts and old mines but exploration rapidly headed into areas of cover including the pediment environment, post-mineral cover, and unmineralized or weakly anomalous pre-mineral cover; conceptual ideas for targeting were also pursued. Some of the largest and most significant discoveries were made by implementing these practices on the Cortez, Carlin, and Getchell Trends, as well as in other areas of Nevada. Drilling technologies (e.g., reverse-circulation) improved considerably over time and allowed for less contamination, faster and improved assessment, and deeper testing of areas previously considered uneconomic for development. New, commercially available geochemical techniques allowed for cheap, rapid, and accurate determination of not only metals of interest in hydrothermal systems, but associated, more dispersed elements useful as vectors to ores. This paper chronicles, in decadal intervals, the Nevada gold rush, a time of unprecedented exploration discovery and mine development. As part of this study, the discovery histories of 355 precious-metal deposits were reviewed. The rush began slowly and unremarkably through the 1960s and 1970s, then grew into the wild ride of the 1980s propelled by the order-of-magnitude rise in the gold price, which was followed by the more disciplined but significant wave of discovery in the 1990s that led to peak production and reserves. The story continues today, although discoveries are fewer and production has eased as more and more mines transition to underground operations and also from oxide ore to more expensive processing of refractory ore. We examine some of the key factors that shaped the Nevada gold boom through time and offer ideas on where the boom may go.
Richard F. Reid Bio:
Richard was born and raised in New York state.  He completed a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wesleyan University in Connecticut in 1980 and moved to Nevada in early 1981.  He worked initially for Houston Oil and Minerals (subsequently Tenneco Minerals) as a mine geologist at the Manhattan and Borealis mines for five years.  He then completed an additional five-year period with Western Gold Exploration and Mining Company (WestGold) doing reconnaissance gold exploration in the Walker Lane.  Following WestGold, Richard worked for the next seven years with Pegasus Gold Corporation.  Duties included generative gold exploration domestically and internationally as well as near mine exploration in Montana (Beal Mountain) and Nevada (Florida Canyon).  Richard went on to work at Newmont Mining Corporation.  During his twenty-one years with Newmont he was a Senior Geologist, Nevada Exploration Manager and Exploration Business Development Manager for North America.  Richard completed his Newmont career as the Chief Geologist of North America.  Richard is now semi-retired but is affiliated with several Canadian junior companies.
Reno, NV
Event StartsEvent Ends
03/25/202103/25/2021
All Day Event
7:00pm8:30pm