Recent Travel Continued

I recently traveled to Yerington, Nevada, in order to participate in a geological short course on mapping porphyry copper deposits and alteration types related to the deposits. The mining district in question is the huge area of the Yerington porphyry copper deposits, related skarn deposits, and related possible IOCG deposits (Iron-Oxide Copper Gold). This short course was put on by a group called MDRU, and was led by geologists John Dilles and Richard Tosdal. The course was excellent.

I traveled to the course by way of some back roads or side trips. I drove these side roads so I could take some photos for future use. I turned south from Highway 50 at Middlegate Junction (the location of Middlegate Station, a great place to get burgers and fries), then took Nevada Route 361 down to Gabbs.

Gabbs is the site of a long-standing magnesite mine, now operated by Premier Chemicals, LLC, and formerly, for a long time, operated by an outfit called Basic.

I drove through Gabbs - north Gabbs and south Gabbs - and took a few photos: of the grocery store, the gas station, the old cafe, which appears to be closed, and a few the houses and signs.

I then drove southward to the Poleline Road, a main dirt road from Gabbs to Tonopah, stopping first at what used to be an old bar and pool hall next to the old Keystone Mini Mart. It was long ago a favorite hangout of many geologists, especially those at Former Mining Company.

Then onward I went, turning south onto Pole Line Road. I drove down it a ways, taking various pictures, before I turned around and continued on my journey to Yerington.

The Pole Line Road to Tonopah is the site of one of my early geology stories, one about looking for my thesis area, so I needed some photos. These photos, or ones like them, may appear later in stories that I call exploration stories, Highway 8A stories, or Mojave Exploration stories. The stories don't all occur in the Mojave Desert, in fact, many occur in Nevada and some occur in non-desert areas. It was the uniqueness of the Mojave Desert, however, that inspired me to start writing the stories.