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Cuprite Hills, Esmeralda County

Jack Hamm

• 5 min read
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The Cuprite Hills are a low rolling range that runs southwest to northeast and is bisected by highway 95
The Cuprite Hills are a low rolling range that runs southwest to northeast and is bisected by highway 95

The Cuprite Hills are a low, northeast-trending desert range in southern Esmeralda County, about 12 miles south of Goldfield. They lie immediately west of U.S. 95, northwest of Lida Junction, and along the northern side of Lida Valley. Mount Jackson Ridge continues southwest from the hills; Ralston Valley and the Esmeralda–Nye county line lie to the east.

The USGS/GNIS reference point is approximately 37.52493° N, 117.23424° W, at about 6,027 feet elevation. It appears on the Ralston, Nevada, 7.5-minute quadrangle. The local high point is approximately 6,100 feet.

Location of the Cuprite Hills. The Cuprite townsite was east of Highway 95 which bisects the easternmost part of the range.
Location of the Cuprite Hills. The Cuprite townsite was east of Highway 95 which bisects the easternmost part of the range.

The Cuprite Hills are one of those deceptively quiet Nevada landscapes with several histories layered together: Indigenous homeland, mining boom, railroad stop, and, unexpectedly, a globally important remote-sensing laboratory.

The human history begins long before mining. The hills lie within the traditional homeland of the Newe, or Western Shoshone, whose country covered much of the central Great Basin. Published sources specific to Indigenous use of the Cuprite Hills are scarce, so it would be misleading to claim particular camps or trails without archaeological or tribal documentation.

The modern name comes from cuprite, the red copper-oxide mineral. Copper ore was reportedly found nearby around 1902, and Nevada mining records date the formal Cuprite district’s discovery to 1905, amid the Goldfield and Bullfrog rushes. The district extended northeast from Mount Jackson through Mount Jackson Ridge and the Cuprite Hills. Prospectors pursued copper, gold, silver, and lead; later records also mention mercury, sulfur, silica, clay, barite, and manganese. Actual production appears to have been modest and scattered rather than the basis of a major sustained mine.

The Copper Bell Shaft
The Copper Bell Shaft

A small settlement called Cuprite developed near the present highway 95 corridor. A saloon and travelers’ inn appeared around 1904, serving traffic headed toward the Bullfrog boom. After the Bullfrog Goldfield Railroad arrived in 1906, Cuprite became a station and shipping point for Lida, Palmetto, Hornsilver, and surrounding camps. Its post office operated from April 1907 through July 1909. By about 1910, after the neighboring booms subsided, little remained beyond a roadhouse, garage, and saloon.

The colorful geology predates all of that. Around 7.6–6.2 million years ago, hot, acidic fluids circulated through faults associated with the nearby Stonewall Mountain volcanic complex. They altered the rocks into conspicuous zones rich in silica, alunite, kaolinite, dickite, jarosite, and iron oxides. Cambrian sedimentary rocks dominate much of the western alteration center, while younger volcanic rocks occur to the east. This is why the hills can show such striking white, cream, yellow, red, and orange exposures.

Looking south from the Copper Bell into Lida Valley
Looking south from the Copper Bell into Lida Valley

That exceptional exposure, and the almost complete lack of vegetation, made Cuprite one of the world’s classic test grounds for imaging spectroscopy. Since roughly the early 1980s, NASA and USGS researchers have repeatedly flown instruments over the hills to test whether aircraft and satellites can identify minerals from reflected light. Cuprite helped validate AVIRIS and later satellite mineral-mapping techniques now used in planetary science and mineral exploration worldwide.

Looking southwest into the Cuprite Hills
Looking southwest into the Cuprite Hills
Looking northwest into the Cuprite Hills
Looking northwest into the Cuprite Hills
Unnamed mine interior of the Cuprite Hills
Unnamed mine interior of the Cuprite Hills
Collapsed shaft collar of above unnamed mine
Collapsed shaft collar of above unnamed mine
Volcanic cap
Volcanic cap
A Panamint rattlesnake (Crotalus stephensi) resting under a creosote. It never even moved despite our movement.
A Panamint rattlesnake (Crotalus stephensi) resting under a creosote. It never even moved despite our movement.
Looking from the ridge line of the Cuprite Hills. The only thing this view is missing are 100' transmission towers, but don't worry, the Nevada Greenlink is about to fix that. The road to the right is the new pad construction road.
Looking from the ridge line of the Cuprite Hills. The only thing this view is missing are 100' transmission towers, but don't worry, the Nevada Greenlink is about to fix that. The road to the right is the new pad construction road.
Looking west towards some of the other mines in the area. These were unnamed on the maps I had but may have been associated with the nearby Tri-Metallic Mine property.
Looking west towards some of the other mines in the area. These were unnamed on the maps I had but may have been associated with the nearby Tri-Metallic Mine property.
M arch
M arch
Future location of Nevada Greenlink
Future location of Nevada Greenlink
The Tri-Metallic Mine property. It was comprised of several shafts and adits, some with some depth.
The Tri-Metallic Mine property. It was comprised of several shafts and adits, some with some depth.
An unlucky rabbit.
An unlucky rabbit.
The largest workings at the Tri-Metallic Mine. There was a shaft directly in front of the mouth of an adit which was an interesting layout.
The largest workings at the Tri-Metallic Mine. There was a shaft directly in front of the mouth of an adit which was an interesting layout.
Looking down a shaft at the Tri-Metallic Mine. A rock drop put it around 250-300 feet deep.
Looking down a shaft at the Tri-Metallic Mine. A rock drop put it around 250-300 feet deep.

References

Nevada Division of Water Resources. 2020. “BLM Public Land Survey System.” ArcGIS Map Service, using data provided by the Bureau of Land Management and FGDC Cadastral Subcommittee. Accessed August 29, 2026. PLSS map service.

Tingley, Joseph V. 1998. Mining Districts of Nevada. 2nd ed. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Report 47. Reno: University of Nevada, Reno. Publication record and download.

U.S. Geological Survey. 2011. Ralston Quadrangle, Nevada—Esmeralda and Nye Counties. US Topo 7.5-Minute Series, scale 1:24,000. Reston, VA: U.S. Geological Survey. Geospatial PDF.

U.S. Geological Survey, National Geospatial Program. n.d. “Cuprite Hills, Esmeralda County, Nevada.” Geographic Names Information System. Coordinates referenced to NAD 83. Accessed August 29, 2026. GNIS database.

Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology. “Cuprite District.” Digital Mining District Files. University of Nevada, Reno. Accessed August 29, 2026. Digital collection.

Nevada Expeditions. “Cuprite, Esmeralda County.” Accessed August 29, 2026. Cuprite history. This is a secondary compilation citing Paher, Carlson, and Gamett and Paher.

Swayze, Gregg A., et al. 2014. “Mapping Advanced Argillic Alteration at Cuprite, Nevada, Using Imaging Spectroscopy.” Economic Geology 109. USGS publication record.

U.S. Geological Survey and NASA. 1994. “Integrating Remote Sensing Techniques at Cuprite, Nevada: AVIRIS, Thematic Mapper, and Field Spectroscopy.” NASA Technical Reports Server. Publication record.