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Property Overview

The Orizaba is a documented producing gold and silver mine located just north of Tonopah, Nevada. The Mine is located in the Republic District, sometimes known as the Cloverdale District or the Orizaba District. The property is located on the eastern slope of the Royston Hills, an area that has a very short and spotty history. The mine produces high quality silver at a volume of 40 ounces per ton. It also has high grade epithermal gold that forms as cubes. The mine was last operated by Norman Coombs as late as 1984. Mr. Coombs produced over $1 million dollars in gold (gold priced at $174 per ounce) while working the Orizaba. This gold was sold to the US Mint .

The mine consists of a series of shafts and declines cut on a defined ore body. The workings are in fair to poor condition and will need rehabilitation before any serious mining can be done. There is a processing and mill side of the operation on the north end of the claim. This was a small mill that generally just broke the ores down and shipped out only the highest value ores for smelting. Similar to processing concentrates today.

A largely intact mining camp exists on the property in a series of three developments. To the north is the milling operation including several buildings. South of the mill is the actual primary portal into the main workings. A grouping of boilers and machinery including a hoist and headframe mark this spot. To the west is a smaller offshoot of the mine with a few small shafts, working down onto a vein that was defined, but never really developed. The remnants of a processing shack are all that is left.

This was a very large and profitable mining operation which ran up into the early 1980s. The mine produced substantial gold in high quality samples. The US Mint purchased at least $1 million in gold from the Orizaba from Mr. Norman Coombs who worked the gold by hand in or around 1977 .

There are a number of workings that are contained on the claims and lumped into the Orizaba name. There are some workings west of the Orizaba shaft that have been known as the Cloverdale Ranch Mines, other prospects in the area are lumped in with the Orizaba. The mine was optioned and drilled in 1985-86 by INCO, a small JV Mining operation. There are no public reports available of the findings. INCO was bankrupt by 1990 and never stated any values.

The mine is located in a relatively dry region that will rarely see snow or heavy rains. Despite this fact, there is abundant water on the property in the subsurface workings. Pumps will be needed to address this fact in working the mine and that same water should be captured and re-used.

The Mine has consistently reported values of at least 50 oz/T AG and .5 oz/T AU. Blocked reserves were reported at the 83’ level in sulphide ores.

Gold Rush Expeditions, Inc. does offer mining consultation services and assistance with permits for a small fee.

Training courses for underground work and exploration can be found here: https://stayoutstayalive.com/training/