It has appeared in the Territorial Enterprise, in Virginia, the Reese River Reveille, in Austin, and the Humboldt Register. Up to the date of my writing this, (December 10th) nothing has been received in response to the call, though assistance has been promised. What the results will be it is impossible to say until the time approaches at which the donations should be sent in. I have also applied, personally, to a number of mining companies in Lander, Nye, and Humboldt Counties. When first appointed in the spring, I undertook, at the suggestion of His Excellency, Governor Blasdel, to devote some time in every district I visited to this object, but circumstances, already described, frustrated that intention. I would recommend that the attention of the Legislature be called to this subject immediately after their convention, and that the sum of $3,000, in gold coin, be appropriated to defray the expenses of a competent Commissioner; and that, if the contributions of the State do not furnish such a collection of minerals as it is desirable to send, he be authorized to use the State Cabinet to supply deficiencies as far as may be required. I would urge on your honorable Board the necessity of a careful selection of the Commissioner, as the information possessed by him will naturally be taken as the standard of our knowledge of mining matters in Nevada; and if a suitable person cannot be found, that the cabinet be placed in the hands of the Commissioner for California. If the collection sent in from the State is inferior in its character, I would recommend that the enterprise be abandoned altogether. But, should a Commissioner be sent to the Exposition, it would be well to authorize the printing of such portions of this Report as describe the resources of the mining districts of the State, for distribution at the said Exposition, to parties engaged in mining and metallurgical operations in Europe. It should also be made his duty, while in Europe, to procure for the State Cabinet a thorough series of European minerals, and everything which could be made available for the use of our Mining School, whenever such an institution may be organized in Nevada.

PRESENT PROSPECTS OF MINING IN NEVADA.

For the condition of mining enterprises in Nevada at the present time, I may refer to the Appendix to this Report, which embodies nearly all the information now in my possession. At no time have our prospects, as a State, rested on a more secure basis, or looked better for the future than they do to-day. The doubts which hung over the probabilities of successful deep mining on the Comstock Lode in Virginia and Gold Hill, are gradually but surely being dissipated by the result of explorations made during the past year. These have been of the most encouraging character, and give promise of a permanence and richness in depth of a really flattering nature. The gradual failure of some mines which have yielded largely in the past, in no way affects the general truth of this remark. By reference to the table of Virginia mines on the Comstock Lode, it will be seen that a number of shafts have attained a depth varying from 600 to 800 feet below the croppings of the vein, and that fine bodies of ore have been developed on the lowest levels which have been opened; and that too in ground which nearer the surface was entirely unproductive. This has been remarkably the case with the Hale and Norcross, and the southern portion of the Savage claims. The former company prosecuted their explorations almost uninterruptedly for five years without success, nor was it until they had attained a depth of seven hundred feet, that the mine ever paid a dividend. At two hundred feet below the surface the North Potosi ran many hundreds of feet of exploring drifts, through the southern half of the Savage mining ground, developing nothing of value; yet, in this same ground, at a depth of nearly seven hundred feet, two valuable deposits of ore have been

opened out. This circumstance is sufficient to dispel any discouragement which may be temporarily felt, at the apparent failure of some mines which in the upper works produced fine bodies of ore, but in the lower levels look less favorable. In mines like those on the Comstock Lode, where the Bonanzas are isolated in immense masses of vein matter, it must always happen, that they will vary in their productiveness from time to time, as bodies of ore are worked out or fresh ones encountered. Just as in the instances given above, ground which to-day is barren, may, at a lower level, again become productive. In other portions of the State, the prospects are equally encouraging. This is especially the case in Lander and Nye Counties, which promise ultimately to produce as much bullion as the mines of Storey County. The southeastern section of Nevada, until the spring of the present year, was almost a terra incognita, and had the reputation of being a perfect desert. Several unsuccessful attempts had been made to explore it and to reach the Colorado River by a direct southern route; but during the months of April and May, a company organized, and, accompanied by the Governor of Nevada, crossed it from west to east a little south of the Arizona line, returning in a very direct line from Pahranagat to Indian Springs, about eighty miles south of Austin. Since that time it has been traversed in every direction by prospectors, who have used the settlements at Pahranagat and the mining districts of the Toiyabe Mountains as bases of supplies, and found it to be for the most part as well supplied with wood, water, and grass, in all the portion north of a line drawn from Indian Springs to the intersection of the 37th parallel of north latitude with the 115th meridian of west longitude, as most portions of the State. South of such a line the whole region is excessively barren. The lofty mountain ranges dwindle down to low broken hills, alternating with wide desolate valleys; water becomes scarce even in the few places where it is found; wood disappears almost entirely, consisting chiefly of small mesquite bushes; and even the sparse Indian population must find it difficult to procure a living. (For details of this portion of Nevada, see Journal of Governor Blasdel's exploring party, in the Appendix.) In the eastern section of Nye County, some of the most wonderful discoveries ever made in the State have been opened up during the present summer. The reports which come in from the Reveille, Hot Creek, Silver Bend, Danville, and Northumberland Mining Districts, were they not confirmed in so many ways, would be almost beyond belief. The mines in these localities are of great extent. The veins are large, and contain a large amount of silver in combinations which are easily reduced, and have already commenced their yield of bullion, (see notices of these districts in the Appendix) and promise to become some of the most valuable property in the State.

Discoveries which promise also to be of value have been made in other portions of the State, among which may be mentioned those in Black Rock, in Humboldt County, and in Wilson's District, Esmeralda County. In every section of the State prospectors have been actively at work, with such success as to bring to light more mines than we have the means to develop, unless previous discoveries are neglected. The field for mining in Nevada is practically inexhaustible, and must be so for many centuries to come. When we look at the limited areas covered by the mines of Cornwall, in England, and those of the Hartz Mountains in Germany, and compare them with the almost unlimited extent of our own, we may realize to some degree the position in which we stand.

STATE MAP.

The materials for a good Map of Nevada are rapidly accumulating; and, considering that no successful attempt can be made to delineate the geology of the country without such appliances, I would recommend that some one be author

ized to take the work in hand. There are now the following data, which, in the hands of a skillful draughtsman, would furnish a map sufficiently reliable and complete in its details to serve as a basis for a preliminary reconnoissance:

First. Maps of surveys made under the direction of the Secretary of War, by Lieut. Beckwith, in 1855.

Second. Survey of the Overland Route, made by Captain Simpson, in 1859.

Third. Survey of the California boundary, from Oregon to within a few miles of the Arizona line, by Ives and Lawson.

Fourth. United States land surveys in Washoe, Douglas, Lyon, Ormsby, and Humboldt Counties, on file in the United States Land Office at Carson.

Fifth. Survey of the Fourth Standard Parallel, from the California line to east of Austin.

Sixth. Epler and Parkinson's map of the Humboldt mining region.

Seventh. Notes of the Route from Pahranagat to the Arizona line, (thirty miles) Egan Cañon on the Overland Route, (200 miles) and Indian Springs in San Antonio mining district, (150 miles) by R. H. Stretch, in 1866.

Eighth. Surveys in Esmeralda County, by -McBride, County Surveyor, 1865-6.

Ninth. Surveys made for the Central Pacific Railroad, during the present year, from the western to the eastern boundaries of the State.

Tenth. Private surveys and notes of the County Surveyors.

The importance of such a map will be understood by all who have carefully examined the maps of the State hitherto published, and noted their deficiencies. Instead of being compiled from the original sources, the majority of these bear evidence that they have been copied from each other, until they have lost almost all resemblance to the surveys from which they were in the first instance derived. Such a map ought not to be a rough lithograph, but a fine copper-plate production, on which minute details could be wrought out when they were known; and should be on a scale not smaller than six miles to the inch. The plates, when engraved, should become the property of the State, so that as more information accumulated, it could be added from time to time.

RAILROADS.

The present winter has seen the active commencement of railroad enterprises in Nevada. The Central Pacific Railroad has brought a force of several thousand men to this side of the Sierra Nevadas, who are busily at work grading the road in the vicinity of Crystal Peak, on the Truckee River. For notices of local roads, see Washoe and Storey Counties in the "Mining Districts of the State," in the Appendix.

In presenting this Report, I do so with the full knowledge of its many imperfections, and possible inaccuracies. The manner in which I have been compelled to prepare it, has rendered this inevitable. use only such information as I had reason to believe was reliable; yet it is not I have studiously endeavored to always possible to judge certainly of its value. The Report is presented more to show what may be accomplished, if the right means are adopted, and in the hope that every one who is possessed of information relative to any of the multitudinous branches of mining industry, will communicate it to this office, that it may find a place in the Report for 1867. It is also hoped that persons who may notice inaccuracies in any portion of it, will make them known, in order that they be corrected in future notices of the facts. Nor must the residents of trict feel that it has been slightingly passed over, if the notice of it is meagre and imperfect. All information at my command has been impartially used, and any disanything additional will be thankfully received. It is my earnest wish to see such measures taken, during the coming year, as will enable the incumbent of the office I at present hold, to prepare such a Report as shall be a complete record of everything connected with mining in the State, and to make these annual reports the medium of communicating to the world our present status and yearly progress.

The unexampled rapidity of the developments within our boundaries make such a report almost an imperative necessity, if we would not suffer in the future from misrepresentation, as we have in the past. It is true, that most of these items find their way into the daily papers, (often, unfortunately, colored by the wishes of the writers) but they ought to be concentrated in such a manner as to make them conveniently and readily accessible. With this object in view, I would solicit from the Superintendents of mines and mills, papers on the cost of mining operations, of all kinds, and any information on the points enumerated in the first pages of this Report.

All of which is respectfully submitted,

By your obedient servant,

RICHARD H. STRETCH.

ORMSBY COUNTY.

Ormsby County can scarcely be considered one of the mining counties of the State, though it contributes its quota to the general welfare of the mining interests. Several districts were laid out within its limits during the early days of mining in Washoe, but since 1863, very little has been done towards their development. The greater portion of the county is mountainous land, the Sierras, with their low foothills and spurs, occupying the western section, while the Pine Nut Range covers the greater portion of the eastern. In this latter range,

was located in the summer of 1860, and large numbers of locations were made; but little work has ever been done in the district. It lies in the mountains east of the Carson River, and west of El Dorado Cañon. Iron and copper ores are abundant. About two years ago, there was considerable excitement about reported discoveries of coal on El Dorado Cañon. Considerable work was done on the Newcastle Co.'s location, and a depot established in Virginia for the sale of the coal, which was of a dull, black color, and shaly in its appearance, being an inferior lignite, probably of Triassic age; but work has been suspended for many months. The deposit is not likely to be of permanent value. An attempt is now being made to utilize the copper ores of this section, in the manufacture of sulphate of copper, an article of great importance in the milling operations of our State. The absence of any large per centage of iron in the copper ores of some of the deposits near Carson River makes them suitable for this purpose; but greatly superior ores exist in the Peavine District, in Washoe County.

ARGENTINE DISTRICT

is located in the range of mountains to the east of Washoe Valley, and west of Virginia, and immediately north of Eagle Valley, in which Carson City is situated. The formation is principally coarse-grained granite and metamorphic state. The mines are not likely to prove of much value. They lie chiefly in the granite, the gangue being a glassy quartz, in some instances carrying iron pyrites, and stained black with other compounds of iron, assaying small quantities of gold.

Much prospecting has been done in other sections of the county. In the foothills of the Sierra, near Clear Creek, considerable work was done in 1859 and 1860, and many locations were made west of Carson, and in the foothills immediately west of the Carson River, but none of these held out sufficient inducement to warrant any extensive outlay of capital. Much of the quartz, in both these last localities, contains considerable copper and some free gold. Probably, the only active operations at present going on are the efforts being made to find the origin of the gold which exists in the neighborhood of the