Strategic metals were in such short supply during World War II, that processing plants for these metals sprang up in unlikely places. This is one of them. Winnemucca Mountain had gold mines from the 1860s, several of them, but no tungsten deposits. Winnemucca Mines Co. had a tungsten mine near Imlay, the Star Mine, and a mill site on Winnemucca Mountain. They built their mill and concentrating plant on Winnemucca Mountain and hauled ore the thirty plus miles from the Star mine to the mill. Only during the extreme demands of the war years was the plant able to work tungsten profitably. They ceased tungsten production there by the mid forties. After the war the mill operated for a few more years milling gold ore until increasing production costs and gold's federally regulated price closed it down.
Compiled by Barabara Powell, nevadasdesertlegends.com, nevadaphotoarchive.com.[[In-content Ad]]
