University of Nevada
Oral History Program
Mail Stop 324
Reno, NV 89557-0099
775/784-6932
Fax: 775/784-1365
E-mail: ohp@unr.nevada.edu
Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Room 109 of the Mack Social Science Building on the University of Nevada, Reno campus
Mining and Economics Mining in Nevada has changed greatly over the last 150 years, due primarily to advances in technology and in prospecting techniques. During the nineteenth century mining boom on the Comstock, large veins of ore—mainly gold and silver—were being mined. While company mines were perhaps more highly visible, small, individually owned mines were also common in Nevada, and it was not unusual for a family to own a small claim and mine it themselves. One large change Nevada mining witnessed was the shift in the mid-twentieth century from underground mining, useful for mining large veins, to open pit-mining. Though the amount of a desired mineral was less in the ore mined from open pits, refining processes were developed that could get a profitable amount of minerals out of an ore with a lower yield. The development of larger earthmoving equipment allowed ore to be excavated more quickly, and this, coupled with better refining techniques, allowed mining to remain as a profitable endeavor in Nevada. For the people who actually labored in Nevada mines, working conditions were often difficult. In the late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth century, miners worked six or seven days a week, depending on their task within the mine and the mine they worked at, with some miners receiving higher pay based on their skills. There was also less of a division of labor in the early days, with workers having a better grasp of a wide range of tasks and processes. While miners in the early to mid-1900s could perform many of the tasks needed to mine and mill ore, miners by the end of the twentieth century were more specialized, and generally performed only one job throughout their shifts, even if they knew other parts of the process. |
