The History

Antimony ore was discovered in Nevada in the early 1860s and has since been mined sporadically in 12 of the state's 17 counties. Although numerous shipments were made in the 1870s and 1880s, most subsequent production has come during wartime, when prices have risen because of reduced imports. Only small amounts of antimony have been produced from Nevada mines in recent years. Each war boom has brought to Nevada a sudden influx of prospectors looking for antimony deposits. As a result of the increased demand for antimony during World War II and the Korean War and because of the critical shortage after the Korean War of selenium, which occurs with antimony, it became apparent that, in order to be better able to meet similar emergencies in the future, it was necessary to determine the antimony resources of the state.

Bernice was a mining district located in Churchill County, Nevada, that was also known as Alamo, Casket, Salina, and Salinas. Supposedly, it was named for a miner’s sweetheart. Silver mining started as early as 1863 on the west flank of the Clain Alpine Range, but a camp was not established until 1882, after the mining district was discovered by Wallace Goodell and named Bernice in 1881. W. W. Van Reed was the first to ship antimony ore from the district, his product going to the old Star & Mathews smelter in San Francisco, according to a letter from J. T. Reid, while the last important shipments were made by Sanders & Young from 1893 to 1896. W. W. Williams worked in a group of silver mines in the eighties and nineties, erecting a 10-stamp mill and roaster to treat the ore. A little antimony ore containing silver was shipped from the district in 1906.