Nevada
Nevada toad could go extinct due to gold mining, petition says
Decades ago, a rural Nye County town rallied behind an unlikely environmental cause — the Amargosa toad.
The small, slimy toad became the unofficial mascot of Beatty when environmentalists sounded alarm bells over the species’ dwindling numbers. Ranchers, scientists and concerned residents formed a working group to find local solutions to preserve the groundwater and freshwater springs on which the toad relies.
But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wasn’t on board when it came to federal protections. Two petitions — one in 1994 and another in 2008 — to list the toad under the Endangered Species Act failed, though local efforts to monitor the toad’s numbers and preserve habitat have persisted.
It’s also considered “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
After Wednesday, the federal agency will get a chance to reconsider: The Center for Biological Diversity has filed an emergency petition to list the Amargosa toad as an endangered species. If that happens, the agency would use federal funds and resources to restore the amphibian’s population and preserve its habitat.
The petition claims an estimated 2,000 Amargosa toads are left in the wild.
“Despite [community-led] efforts, the Amargosa toad’s population continues to remain in a highly precarious state, and today faces a new existential threat, which did not exist when previous petitions were under evaluation,” the petition asserts.
The “existential threat” at the heart of the latest argument for federal protections? Seven proposed gold mines that an independent hydrologist has said would lower groundwater levels to an unsustainable level.
One of them is the North Bullfrog Mine, a massive project currently under federal environmental review that would disturb more than 3,000 acres of land in the area.
“Oasis Valley is set to become the epicenter of a vast new gold-mining district, putting huge stress on the delicate aquifer that sustains the Amargosa River and threatening rare species like Amargosa toads who don’t live anywhere else in the world,” Krista Kemppinen, a senior scientist at the center, said in a statement. “The Fish and Wildlife Service really has to act now.”
Why protect a toad?
Gold mining has long been a part of Nevada’s history. Along the delicate Amargosa River in towns like Beatty, biodiversity of species found nowhere else in the world has been, too.
Jaina Moan, of Nevada’s chapter of the global nonprofit The Nature Conservancy, said her organization has worked with Beatty residents since the 1990s to keep tabs on the population. The organization became the largest private landowner in the area after the purchase of two ranches to preserve water resources and species in Oasis Valley.
New mines, Moan said, could wreck decades of conservation work that represents millions of dollars.
“We’re really fearful that they could pose a threat to the toad, other at-risk species and all of this conservation work that’s taken a lot of work to do,” Moan said.
Whether the Fish and Wildlife Service will see a scientific argument for awarding protections remains to be seen.
Mining in general has the potential to affect not only species like the toad but homeowners who rely on groundwater for domestic use, said Mason Voehl, executive director of the Amargosa Conservancy, a nonprofit that closely tracks threats to the Amargosa River.
An endangered species listing would be like a reward for many years of Beatty residents’ hard work, he said.
“The community deserves a ton of praise,” Voehl said. “It’s, in some ways, a celebration of what the community has accomplished for what has always been an imperiled species.”
Contact Alan at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.
Nevada
NHP: ‘I will shoot,’ woman says before trooper fires round through her vehicle
The Nevada Highway Patrol on Wednesday released video footage from an early Sunday traffic stop that led to a trooper firing a round into a woman’s vehicle.
Col. Michael Edgell said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon that Barbara Lu, 51, was taken into custody during a traffic stop in Las Vegas early Sunday after she pulled out a handgun and pointed it at a trooper.
Trooper body camera footage showed Lu inside her vehicle after she was pulled over on an Interstate 15 on-ramp at St. Rose Parkway at around 1 a.m. on Sunday.
Dramatic video
As a trooper approached her vehicle and attempted to get Lu to exit, a dog came out of the vehicle and made an aggressive move at the trooper, the video footage showed.
Lu can be heard screaming and at one point said “I will shoot.”
Moments later, a trooper dash cam video showed two troopers outside Lu’s closed driver’s side door as one attempted to break the window.
In body camera footage from another trooper, that trooper can be heard saying “she’s got a gun” before he darted to the back area of the vehicle.
Seconds later, a trooper identified by Edgell as Kenneth Ducut fired one round that went through the driver’s side window and the vehicle’s windshield.
Video clearly showed the flash from Ducut’s shot. Lu then dropped what was in her hand and raised both empty hands.
Edgell said he was proud of how the troopers handled the situation.
“We never fire a warning shot whatsoever and I don’t think any police department will,” Edgell said. “We train our people that you only shoot to stop the threat. She had a gun in her hand and she pointed it at a trooper. She had a gun in her hand when he fired that shot.”
Edgell said Lu, who was taken to a local hospital before being taken into custody, was not seriously injured, though she did have some scratches on her neck.
“In a perfect world, she would have gotten out of the car and we would have conducted business on the side of the road,” Edgell said. “Unfortunately, she was in control of that situation and we have to be as safe as possible. We weren’t going to approach that vehicle without another cover unit and we didn’t know what to expect at that point.”
Multiple charges
According to Las Vegas Justice Court records, Lu was charged with assault on a protected person with use of a deadly weapon and resisting with a firearm, both felonies, along with misdemeanor counts of DUI, failing to obey a red light, and parking a vehicle on the highway.
A Clark County Detention Center online jail roster showed Lu listed as an inmate as of Wednesday afternoon. A Montana resident, Lu is scheduled for a preliminary court hearing over the felony charges on Feb. 25, according to online records.
When they searched Lu’s vehicle, troopers later found a Sig Sauer 9mm pistol with one round chambered in the vehicle, Edgell said.
Along with the dog that appeared to attack one of the troopers, Lu also had another dog in her vehicle. The Metropolitan Police Department investigated the incident and Edgell said the ongoing investigation into the matter would likely last several months.
Contact Bryan Horwath at bhorwath@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BryanHorwath on X.
Nevada
Globex Discovers Rare Earth Mineralisation in Nevada
TORONTO, Feb. 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — GLOBEX MINING ENTERPRISES INC. (GMX – Toronto Stock Exchange, G1MN – Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Berlin, Munich, Tradegate, Lang & Schwarz, LS Exchange, TTMzero, Düsseldorf and Quotrix Düsseldorf Stock Exch anges and GLBXF – OTCQX International in the US) is pleased to announce that it has acquired by staking through its wholly owned subsidiary Globex Nevada, a contiguous block of unpatented lode mining claims in Lincoln County, southeastern Nevada, linearly 170 km northeast of Las Vegas. Simultaneously with the acquisition of the Gem Hills Property rare earths property , Globex completed a prospecting and sampling program.
Highlights of Property Sampling/Prospecting (see Exhibit 1, for property location and Exhibit 2 for sample locations):
- Sampling returned significantly high-grade rare earth oxide (REO) values assaying between 0.28% and 5.26% TREO and averaging about 1.7% TREO containing up to 18.97% HREO and 35% Nd2O3 +Pr2O3.
- Sampling results were characterized by high grade TREO (total rare earth oxides) and local enrichment of the (more valuable) heavy rare earth elements (HREE). Gem Hill REE mineralisation identified in trenches and sampling shows an exposed strike length of at least 90 m along a NE-orientated segment, and potential 40 metre extent to the west. and REE mineralisation is open to the south and north but is concealed under overburden.
Exhibit 1. Location map of Globex’s Gem Hills Rare Earth Elements (REE) Property.
Exhibit 1 shows the location of the Gem Hills property and the location of MP Materials Mountain Pass REE mine and the Virgin Mountain REE project (optioned from Globex to Lodestar Minerals Ltd.). Mountain Pass accounted for approximately 12% to 14% of the world’s rare earth mined output (mainly LREE). The U.S. government, primarily through the Department of Defense (DoD), provides significant support to MP Materials’ Mountain Pass rare earth mine, including a major 2025 loan for heavy rare earth separation, grants for processing upgrades, and a price-floor agreement for Nd/Pr all aimed at securing a domestic supply chain for defense and high-tech industries, reducing REE reliance on China, and boosting U.S. industrial independence.
History, Geology, Sampling by Globex
The property herein called the Gem Hills Project was staked to cover rare earth elements (REE) mineralisation that had been discovered in 2024 by Globex during a regional prospecting campaign. The project is located outside any known mining district. Several small historic prospects and two shallow shafts date probably back to the 1930’s to early 1940’s. These old workings explored and mined at small scale massive limonite (iron-oxide) and manganese oxides not rare earths.
In 2024 Globex had collected already 13 surface rock samples within and in the vicinity of the Gem Hills property. In late 2025 a total of 39 rock samples (34 within the property), including 17 channel samples, had been collected from seven hand dug trenches, from prospect dumps and rock outcrops.
The Gem Hills property lies at the southeastern margin of the Caliente Caldera Complex, situated in the extreme southeast of the Great Basin geological province. Felsic and intermediate calc-alkaline volcanic rocks erupted between 24 and 18 Ma from the caldera complex during the Late Oligocene until Early Miocene. In the district around the Gem Hills project appear numerous isolated (some several km across) geological windows of Lower Paleozoic carbonate-rocks surrounded by mostly extrusive volcanic rocks erupted from the Caliente Caldera. Isolated small intrusive stocks or plutons of mostly Tertiary age appear locally at the margin of the Caliente Caldera Complex.
Oldest rocks in the property area are generally thick bedded massive limestone and dolomite, probably of Devonian age. These rocks appear in an isolated irregular-shaped domain of carbonate rock measuring about 2.5 km E-W and 2 km N-S. It is surrounded by mid Tertiary volcanic rocks erupted from the Caliente Caldera. Those comprise lava flows, breccias, tuff and subvolcanic stocks/dikes of andesite & dacite, latite, quartz-latite and rhyolite. Part of the southern portion of the property is dominated by an almost rectangular-shaped SW-NE orientated intrusive stock of subvolcanic mostly porphyritic alkaline monzonite and syenite with dimensions of about 500 x 800 m.
REE mineralisation occurs along the east side of a north trending limestone/dolomite “nose” in faulted contact to felsic volcanic rocks (mainly latite). The contact dips steeply W and E and is not linear, but undulated with several indentations. Larger mineralized zones developed in these indentations or deeper embayments. Locally near the contact appear also massive limonite bodies, limonite replaces here latite breccias. These limonite pockets are short, but can approach width of up to 3-5 m. However limonite bodies do not carry any rare earth mineralization. The REE mineralisation developed directly at the brecciated/faulted contact to the Devonian limestone/dolomite, extending further away as mixed clayey breccia zone of carbonate rock and volcanic rock with lower grades, locally extending also into argillic-phyllic altered volcanic rocks. Apparently especially the carbonate fragments had been replaced by REE minerals and mostly, but not always, also by more or less abundant black manganese oxide minerals.
Highest grades with highest HREE (heavy rare earth elements) contents came from a mine dump derived from an about 8-10 m deep shaft and from a smaller prospect dump. Total mineralisation width could not always be exposed by the trenching due to deeper overburden, but varies between about 1.0 m and up to at least 5.0 m. Sampling & trenching indicated that mineralisation extends at least along a 90 m long NE-orientated segment, whereas mineralisation in indented zones may extend to the west into the limestone domain for up to 40 m away from this NE trending contact line limestone/dolomite to volcanic rocks. REE mineralisation is open to the south and north but is concealed under deeper overburden.
Exhibit 2. Geology of Globex Gem Hills Property REE zone that has been mapped and defined by sampling (including 17 channel samples) of historic mine dumps and 7 hand-dug trenches.
The Gem Hills REE project is characterized by high TREO (total rare earth oxides) and local enrichment of the (more valuable) heavy rare earth elements (HREE). Gem Hills mineralisation contains considerable amounts of the high-value REE from the light rare earth group (LREE) praseodymium, neodymium and from the HREE group gadolinium , terbium, dysprosium , holmium and erbium.
Furthermore, mineralisation contains abundant yttrium with up to 0.435% Y2O3 (low value in China, but at times very high prices in Europe, USA and Canada due to sanctions and restrictions).
From 34 rock samples collected within the property in autumn 2025, 18 samples returned significantly high rare earth oxide (REO) values (plus one sample collected in 2024) assaying between 0.28% and 5.26% TREO and averaging about 1.7% TREO. The share of HREO from TREO varies greatly between about 2% and up to 19% , averaging about 8%. Highest HREO share was found in prospect dump samples. The share of high-value REO (these include highly priced HREO and LREO) varies greatly between 1.5% and 39.7%, averaging about 17%. The share of the LREO Nd2O3 + Pr2O3 from TREO varies greatly between 1.0 and up to 35% averaging 13.7% and approaching a maximum combined grade of 1.14% (11.4 kg/t Nd2O3 + Pr2O3). (Note : surface rock and grab samples, by their nature, are selective samples and may not represent true underlying mineralisation.)
Locally some of the most expensive HREE are strongly enriched, those include Dysprosium and Terbium. Highest Dy2O3 grade was 0.09% (0.9 kg/t) and highest Tb2O3 grade was 0.016% (0.16 kg/t).
It is worth noting that the Gem Hills REE mineralisation is not associated with any radiation anomaly (essentially absence of uranium and thorium). High-grade, low-radioactivity REE deposits offer a “cleaner,” cheaper, and safer path to supplying essential REE for modern technology, making them highly valuable. However, most of these low-radioactivity REE deposits (mostly carbonatite-tied deposit type) cannot cover the required industrial demand in HREE. Gem Hills with its extremely low radiation levels (actually background levels) and relatively high share of HREE offers a unique opportunity for recovery of LREE and HREE without the environmental impact of high radioactivity REE ore.
Major mineral phases had been identified by X-ray diffraction (XRD) testing of four high-grade samples through SGS TEC Services, Lawrenceville, Georgia. The principal mineral assemblage of high-grade ore is dolomite/calcite-nacrite-gibbsite-Mn-oxides-fluorite-monazite. The REE-rich mineral paragenesis at the faulted/brecciated contact between Tertiary felsic volcanics and Paleozoic sedimentary carbonate rocks formed by hydrothermal-metasomatic carbonate replacement, probably through a complex multi-stage magmatic-hydrothermal evolution with a transition from high-temperature, near-neutral fluid transport to a low-temperature, acidic, and highly oxidative environment. Less than 10% of REE are contained in monazite, the bulk of REE might be contained in fluorite, in yet unidentified minor mineral phases (below the 2-3% detection limit of the XRD testing) or is adsorbed to nacrite and gibbsite. Gem Hills REE mineralization with its unusual mineral assemblage stands alone and appears to represent a new hydrothermal-metasomatic REE deposit type.
The Gem Hills REE property is currently being studied for future exploration programs or option.
Table 1. Selected Sample List with REO Assay Results from Gem Hills REE property
Analytical Methods
Samples were placed in labelled plastic bags, sealed with a plastic zip and shipped to American Assay Laboratories (AAL) in Sparks, Nevada, USA for preparation and geochemical analysis. AAL is an ISO 17025 certified laboratory. Samples are crushed and a 300 g subsample pulverized to >85% to -75 micron. All samples had been assayed with the IO-4AB51 method for 51 elements including all REE with 4 acid digestion (HNO3, HF, HClO4, HCl and H3BO3). 4AB is a near total digest (resistant phases e.g. corundum, ilmenite, rutile et al., are not digested). With this 4AB digest rare earth >10000 ppm will cause double fluoride precipitation (causing lower readings than real REE grades). Digest is then analyzed with ICP-OES in ppm. Typical internal standards and checks were completed by AAL during analysis. All those samples that returned >1000 ppm in any REE with the IO-4AB51 method had been re-assayed for 27 elements with method IO-NF27. In total 17 samples had been re-assayed. Samples are fused with sodium peroxide flux for total digestion. Fused sample is then dissolved and analyzed via ICP-OES in ppm.
This press release was prepared by Matthias Jurgeit, Eurogeologist under the supervision of Jack Stoch, P.Geo., CEO & Executive Chairman of Globex in his capacity as a Qualified Person (Q.P.) under NI 43-101.
| We Seek Safe Harbour. | Foreign Private Issuer 12g3 – 2(b) |
| CUSIP Number 379900 50 9 LEI 529900XYUKGG3LF9PY95 |
|
| For further information, contact: | |
| Jack Stoch, P.Geo., Acc.Dir. CEO & Executive Chairman Globex Mining Enterprises Inc. Suite 219, 120 Carlton Street Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5A 4K2 |
Tel.: 819.797.5242 Fax: 819.797.1470 info@globexmining.com www.globexmining.com |
Forward-Looking Statements: Except for historical information, this news release may contain certain “forward-looking statements”. These statements may involve a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity and performance to be materially different from the expectations and projections of Globex Mining Enterprises Inc. (“Globex”). No assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits Globex will derive therefrom. A more detailed discussion of the risks is available in the “Annual Information Form” filed by Globex on SEDARplus.ca
Photos accompanying this announcement are available at
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cf9a242f-f678-404c-a96e-64459073472a
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cb34f784-bf75-4a1b-82eb-8f5a17285045
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3d03367c-3a8c-4a09-9cfd-1ffb94e6ba1d
Nevada
These were the biggest cities in Nevada 150 years ago
After the completion of the 1860 census and the election of President Abraham Lincoln, America imploded. Eleven southern states seceded from the Union in 1861, instigating four bloody years of the Civil War and fundamentally altering the social history of the U.S. The estimates of deaths caused by the Civil War begin around 600,000, but some claim as many as 750,000 individuals died throughout the conflict.
With so many families looking for a new start after combat finally ended and approximately 4 million Black Americans emancipated from slavery, it was time for many Americans to look for a new home to put down roots. The obvious choice for many was to move west, where there was more land to buy, settle, and cultivate. Many traveled by covered wagon, spending months on the dusty trail. Others who could afford better accommodations took a 25-day ride by stagecoach. All of them picked new cities and towns to make their homes, spreading the U.S. population more evenly across different states and territories.
On May 10, 1869, the first transcontinental railroad route across the United States was completed, ushering in a new era of transportation. The project was completed ahead of schedule and under budget, though with the loss of many lives, including those of the many Irish and Chinese immigrants hired to work 12-hour days in the hot western sun. Riding by steam engine, passengers could cross the entire country in four days, enabling waves of Americans and immigrants to quickly occupy land that would otherwise take months to settle.
The years of Civil War reconstruction, coupled with wagon, stagecoach, and railroad passengers finding new lives across the U.S., made the urban development reflected in the 1870 census incredibly interesting. Stacker compiled a list of the biggest cities in Nevada from 150 years ago using data from the U.S. Census Bureau. By transcribing Table XXV of the Ninth Census of the U.S. it’s easy to explore what the urban landscape looked like less than a decade after the end of the Civil War as America healed and grew.
The largest city in Nevada ranked #297 among all cities nationwide in 1870. Keep reading to find out more about the historic metropolitan landscape in your home state or check out the data on your own on our site, GitHub, or data.world.
#4. Carson City, Ormsby County
– Total population: 3,042 (#1,434 nationwide)
—- Male population: 2,313
—- Female population: 729
—- Child population, ages 5-18: 408
#3. Hamilton, White Pine County
– Total population: 3,913 (#845 nationwide)
—- Male population: 3,339
—- Female population: 574
—- Child population, ages 5-18: 296
#2. Gold Hill, Storey County
– Total population: 4,311 (#705 nationwide)
—- Male population: 3,139
—- Female population: 1,172
—- Child population, ages 5-18: 541
#1. Virginia, Storey County
– Total population: 7,048 (#297 nationwide)
—- Male population: 4,725
—- Female population: 2,323
—- Child population, ages 5-18: 1,054
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