I recently visited the ruins of an industrial mill complex constructed in 1922 to process local gold and silver ore. The site, named American Flat is located on land within the Virginia City Historic Landmark and the Virginia City Historic District near Gold Hill, Nevada. The mill utilized cyanide vat leaching in what was then described as the largest concrete mill in the United States. During the short life of the mill, approximately $7.5 million worth of silver and gold was produced. That number would be approximately $1 billion in today's dollars!
Since the mill was permanently closed in 1926, this seven-acre site has been used as a place to hold parties, post graffiti, and conduct paintball wars despite physical safety hazards from falling concrete, underground mill sumps filled with water, and holes in the concrete flooring. The current owners of the property have voiced their desire to allow controlled (and safe) visitor access to the mill due to its historic significance in the mining industry.
Company administrative buildings and worker tent village during the consruction in 1922.
View of the multi-story mill building under construction and today.
The completed mill building was covered with a sloped roof. All weather protection had been removed when the mill closed and only the skeletal remains of the deteriorating concrete structures remain.
The cavernous interior of the structure resembles an ancient roman ruin with stairways and tunnels throughout the massive building. The walls and crumbling columns are covered with graffiti which creates a sense of awe, danger, beauty and sadness. Notice the large holes in the ceiling where the conrete has caved in.
The circular cyanide vats were constructed with lumber held in place with steel bands. I can only speculate that the vats were built upon ribbed concrete pads to allow access beneath them for maintenance.
All that remains of the cyanide vats are the crumbling foundation structures, The western landscape is slowly reclaiming the mill site and the combination of plants and circular graphic patterns create an abstract collage of natural and manmade objects.
Wooden cyanide vats under construction.
The entire mill building and cyanide vats were covered with a steel roof structure (as seen in the bottom photograph). The mill closed in 1926 due to a severe drop in the price of gold and silver. All of the wood, steel frame and exterior skin was eventually removed and recycled to build other mills in the region. As I walked silently around the enormous property, I could almost imagine the incredible noise and smells of the mill when it was in full operation!
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