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All the United States Nevada Silver Peak
AO Edited

Silver Peak

The precious-metals strikes dating back to the 1860s are now mostly inactive, but this area has become the United States' only domestic source of lithium.

Silver Peak, Nevada

Added By
slgwv
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Old Post Office at Silver Peak.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Old Post Office at Silver Peak.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Looking back toward Silver Peak and across Clayton Valley from the west.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
View of Clayton Valley, with Silver Peak beyond and partly hidden by the ridge to the left in the middle distance. The ponds contain some of the lithium-bearing brines.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
The lithium processing facility in 2015.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Clayton Valley, with the brine ponds showing. The prominent cinder cone in the distance on the slope to the right is Silver Peak Crater (or just “The Crater”.)   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Another view of the lithium processing facility in 2015.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Ruin from the precious-metal mining days.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Looking southeasterly across an evaporation pond off the Silver Peak road.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
The lithium processing facility as of 2007.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Local corporate offices as of 2015.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Evaporation pond off the Silver Peak road.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Evaporation pond looking northwest off the Silver Peak road. The Crater cinder cone in the distance on the right.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Looking west to the Silver Peak range, behind the eponymous town, off the Silver Peak road.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Coming into Silver Peak from the east, on the Silver Peak road. The flats on either side are some of the evaporation ponds.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Ruin at Blair. The Crater cinder cone in the background.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Ruin at Blair.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
Contemporary business in Silver Peak.   slgwv / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Silver was struck in the Silver Peak area around 1860, not long after the discovery of the Comstock Lode. The next burst of activity was in the early 20th century, with a gold discovery at Red Mountain. Because of soaring land prices in Silver Peak itself, a new town, Blair, with a stamp mill was built about three miles north. Intermittent mining for precious metals continued for decades, with Silver Peak never quite becoming a ghost town. Indeed, the run-up in precious metals prices in recent years has encouraged desultory exploration activity to the present day.

Since the latter 20th century, however, Silver Peak has become famous for the production of a high-tech metal: lithium. Brines in Clayton Valley immediately to the east are enriched in lithium, and extraction began by the Foote Mineral Company in 1966. The corporate ownership has changed over the decades, but the lithium mining has continued, such that now (2022) the area is the only domestic U.S. source of lithium. The processing involves using solar evaporation to concentrate the brines.

The juxtaposition of active industrial infrastructure with "ghost town" ambiance is a surreal feature of Silver Peak.

Related Tags

Minerals Metal Mining

Know Before You Go

Silver Peak is reached by paved Nevada State Route 265 at Blair Junction, about 34 miles west of Tonopah on US 6-95. It can also be reached from the Silver Peak road, which intersects US-95 about 5 miles north of Goldfield. It's about 25 miles west on this road, of which the first seven miles (to Alkali Spring) are paved and the rest graded.

Even the dilapidated ruins remain private property, however; please respect them accordingly. Only ruins remain at Blair, but the site also remains privately owned. Please take only pictures and leave only footprints.

Community Contributors

Added By

slgwv

Published

June 30, 2022

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Sources
  •  Shamberger, Hugh A. Silver Peak: Early History, Development, Water Supply, Nevada Historical Press, 1976.
  • Albers, John P; Stewart, John J. _Geology and mineral deposits of Esmeralda County, Nevada_, Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 78, 1972.
Silver Peak
10 Montezuma Dr
Silver Peak, Nevada, 89047
United States
37.754158, -117.634392
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Gemfield

Goldfield, Nevada

miles away

Paste Eater's Grave

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miles away

Goldfield Hotel

Goldfield, Nevada

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Nevada

Nevada

United States

Places 265
Stories 24

Nearby Places

Gemfield

Goldfield, Nevada

miles away

Paste Eater's Grave

Goldfield, Nevada

miles away

Goldfield Hotel

Goldfield, Nevada

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Nevada

Nevada

United States

Places 265
Stories 24

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