Nevada produces about 60% of all gold produced in the United States and about 9% of all gold produced in the world. Our gold production makes the United States the second leading gold producer in the world. In 1992 Nevada produced 6.5 million troy ounces of gold worth $2.24 billion, a 13% increase in amount and a 5% increase in value from 1991. Newmont Gold was the largest producer at 1.6 million ounces of gold, followed by American Barrick Resources at 1.1 million ounces. Published gold resources, including mineable reserves and perhaps subeconomic deposits, totaled about 138 million ounces at the end of 1992, about 3 million ounces more than at the beginning of the year; exploration found more new reserves than mining removed.
Nevada, the "Silver State," produces more silver than any other state in the Union. Although only one mine in Nevada is currently being operated primarily for silver, most Nevada gold mining operations produce silver as well. These mines produced 20 million troy ounces of silver worth $79 million in 1992, a 5% increase in amount and a 4% increase in value from 1991.
Similarly, no mines are currently being operated for mercury but several gold mining operations produce enough mercury as a by-product to make Nevada the leading mercury-producing state.
During most of the 1960s and 1970s, copper was Nevada"s most important mineral but copper production virtually ceased in 1979 as a result of increasing extraction costs, foreign competition, low demand, and more restrictive environmental regulations. During 1969-74 Nevada"s annual copper production averaged about 200 million pounds, but it has averaged less than 8 million pounds since 1978 and was only 7 million pounds worth $7.3 million in 1992. However, Nevada copper mining appears to be on the verge of a comeback. Arimetco Inc. has brought the Yerington mine back into production and expects to produce more than 20 million pounds of cathode copper per year beginning in 1993; reserves are about 284 million pounds of recoverable oxide copper.
Magma Copper Company is preparing to start mining at Ruth. Construction of a 35,000-ton-per-day mill at Reipetown is scheduled to begin in 1993 and mining is scheduled to begin in 1994. The concentrates will be shipped by rail or truck to the smelter at San Manuel, Arizona. The project is expected to produce 2.5 billion pounds of copper and 1.2 million ounces of gold over a 16-year mining life. If successful, these two projects plus some other possible new copper producers will return Nevada's copper production to the levels of the early 1970s.
The most important industrial minerals in Nevada in 1992, in order of estimated value produced, were aggregate, diatomite, lime, cement, gypsum, lithium carbonate, barite, clay, silica, and magnesia. Production of aggregate (sand, gravel, and crushed stone) was 25 million short tons in 1992, a slight increase over 1991 production. Gypsum production decreased from 1.4 million short tons in 1991 to 1.3 million tons in 1992. Nevada continues to lead the nation in total barite production, shipping 344,000 short tons in 1992 . Nevada produced 3.7 million barrels of oil worth $46 million in 1992, 9% more in quantity but 13% less in value than in 1991. Although no new fields were found in 1992, five new wells became producers in established fields in Nye and Eureka Counties. Many areas in Nevada remain untested for oil and gas.
Nevada's geothermal electric power sales reached an all-time high of 1,035,000 megawatt-hours worth $85 million in 1992, a 16% increase in amount and an 11% increase in value from 1991. The completion of a 21-megawatt plant at Bradys Hot Springs in Churchill County and two 12-megawatt plants at Steamboat near Reno increased Nevada"s geothermal power generating capacity from 147 megawatts to 192 megawatts. A 12.5-megawatt binary generating plant at Rye Patch Reservoir is scheduled to be completed in 1993.
Most of the 1991 and 1992 production data reported here were collected by the Nevada Department of Minerals and the U.S Bureau of Mines. Many of the 1992 figures are still preliminary. For updated and more complete information on Nevada's 1992 mineral production as well as other aspects of the Nevada mineral industry, see NBMG Special Publication MI-1992, The Nevada Mineral Industry 1992, scheduled to be published in August 1993.
---Dick Meeuwig, Editor