Consolidated Virginia Mining Company Records

The Consolidated Virginia Mining Company (Con Virginia) in Virginia City, Nevada, was once the richest source of ore in the Comstock Lode. Its original locations were discovered by Sides, Murphy, White, and Kinney in 1863. Their claims, the California, and Central #1 and #2, were consolidated into the Con Virginia in 1868. John W. Mackay, James G. Fair, James C. Flood, and William S. O’Brien acquired the company in January 1872 for $50,000 hoping that rich ore would be found in a section of the lode between the Gould and Curry Mine and in the original Ophir holdings. The California Mining Company was formed in January 1874 by the Con Virginia out of the northern 600’ of the company’s ground in order to speed up exploration. Their gamble paid off with the discovery of the “Big Bonanza.” In nine years, from 1873-1882, the mines of the Con Virginia produced $105,157,490 and paid dividends of $74,250,000.

The owners of the Con Virginia used their profits to dominate the Comstock. They established a milling monopoly with the Pacific Mill and Mining Company; organized the Nevada Bank of San Francisco to assure financing; controlled water resources with the Virginia and Gold Hill Water Company; and formed the Pacific Wood, Lumber, and Fluming Company to ensure adequate wood supplies. These acquisitions gave the owners control of the whole mining process, excluding transportation via the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. This dominance lasted until 1895 when Mackay sold his interests to San Francisco stockbrokers. O’Brien died in 1878, Fair withdrew in 1881, and Flood died in 1889. In 1895 it became part of the Brunswick Exploration Company.



Sources: Elliott, Russell R. History of Nevada. 2nd ed. revised, 1976. “Individual Histories of the Mines of the Comstock” A joint project of the W. P. A. Nevada State Writer’s Project and the Nevada State Bureau of Mines, 1842.