Chollar Mine

Chollar Mine

With its riches first located in 1859, Virginia City’s Chollar Mine (later the Chollar-Potosi) was one of the leading producers on the Comstock. Over the next 80 years, miners blasted and carted out some $17 million in gold and silver. The Nevada Mill was erected here in 1887 to process the Chollar ore. Today the mine is open for visitors.

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Click and drag to explore the Chollar Mine.

Here are some of the details you may find after you click to go inside the mine:

Ore Bucket. The ore bucket was lowered into the vertical tunnel (shaft) to lift up the rock from below. The bucket could also be used to raise or lower the miners. A “head frame” with its wheels-and-cables mechanism controlled the travel of the bucket.

Ore Bucket. The ore bucket was lowered into the vertical tunnel (shaft) to lift up the rock from below. The bucket could also be used to raise or lower the miners. A “head frame” with its wheels-and-cables mechanism controlled the travel of the bucket.

Philip Deidesheimer  devised square sets of timber bracing, cubes that would provide support in the wide veins of the Comstock mines. Whole mountainsides along the Sierra were sacrificed to shore up the Comstock mines under Virginia City, which is even now supported by the long dead trees of a subterranean forest.

Philip Deidesheimer devised "square sets" of timber bracing, cubes that would provide support in the wide veins of the Comstock mines. Whole mountainsides along the Sierra were sacrificed to shore up the Comstock mines under Virginia City, which is even now supported by the long dead trees of a subterranean forest.

 

 

4 Comments
  • Woodrow and Melinda Pollock
    Posted at 22:17h, 11 September Reply

    Had a great educational experience today at the chollar mine tour Andre the current owner and his tour guide were very knowledgeable and friendly. This was not your run of the mill tour. You need a hard hat ( provided) and you need to duck your head. It gave us a real sense of what being a miner was like on the Comstock in the 1800s I would highly recommend this tour to anyone interested in the history of mining in Nevada.

  • jean karvelis
    Posted at 17:04h, 10 August Reply

    i have to be 100% honest here, i visited the chollar mine about 10 years ago and the owners then wouldnt let me in with my service dog. well,, the new owners not only let me in with my service dog but Andre the owner gave a fantastic talk before our guide (rick) took us in the mine and he was incredibly knowledgeable and made the tour a great experience. i totally would recommend the chollar mine tour to anyone!

    yes this is a formal retraction to my previous comment

  • Brenda Findley
    Posted at 09:02h, 12 May Reply

    We’re sorry you had a bad experience with the prior operators of the Chollar mine. The mine has been under new management since 2017, and we have been pet friendly since that date. We are glad to welcome anyone’s service or emotional support animal. We hope you are able to come back and give us another try.

  • jean karvelis
    Posted at 02:56h, 14 April Reply

    i would never recommend this place to anyone! I’m a combat veteran and former US Marine and they refused to allow my service dog in. this is a clear violation of the 1993 ADA act article III.

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