38° 40' 03"N, 117° 48' 03"W - GOLDYKE quad

Pactolus was one of those places where there were high hopes and not much else. There was a smidgen of activity in the early 1900's before they gave up and went elsewhere. They applied for a post office in 1904 but never quite made it.

LOCATOR DISCUSSES A MINING STRIKE
Charles Mau, one of the original locators of the new strike knows as the Pactolus mines, 35 miles east of Luning, in Nye county, arrived from the south last night. He expressed himself as greatly pleased with the outlook for the new camp. Supplies are very expensive and water can not be obtained for $5 a barrel. Mr. Mau left some specimens with the Nevada mineral exhibit. The rock is said to assay $1000.
1902 June 30, Daily Nevada State Journal

Oops.

WAS OVER-ESTIMATED
Pactolus Find Pronounced to be Not So Good as First Believed.
The new find near Finger Rock and named "Pactolus" is not as promising as was first reported. While a number of rich stringers have been found, all dipping to a big porphyry dike, the main ledge, if there is one, remains to be found, but from several with whom we have talked, and who were on the ground, not much faith is had in the find.
1902 July 31 , Daily Nevada State Journal

J.D. Wood vice-president of the Daly-West and one of the prominent figures in the big DeLamar deal, has returned from Sodaville, Nev. where at Pactolus he has acquired most promising interests, says the Salt Lake Tribune. With him he brought samples of rock showing free gold in considerable quantities, and to open up the property three shifts are now employed on the ledge. Pactolus is about fifty-six miles north of Tonopah.
1902 Daily Nevada State Journal

A miner named Hendricks who was injured by a blast at Pactolus, Nye county, has been brought to Carson for treatment.
1902 November 20, Daily Nevada State Journal

ITS A CLOSE CORPORATION
But Pactolus Will Yet To Be Heard From
Louis K.Mau, principal owner of the famous Pactolus mine, says thirty men are now employed at the camp on development work. Col. Thomas Ewing, the well known mining man, has recently become interested in the mine. He will have charge of operations in the camp, which is 50 miles form Tonopah and not far from Luning, Cal. A post office will shortly be established at the mine.
1904 July 27, Reno Evening Gazette

At this point I would imagine the owners were trying to dump it for as much as they could.

The rumored sale of the Pactolus was not consummated. The engineers had made a favorable report on the property and the price fixed was said to be $125,000 [over 3,244,000.00 in 2014 dollars], but the owners refused to let go for less than $175,000.
1908 August 1, Reno Evening Gazette

The newspapers-- usually willing to pump up stories about a mining camp or strike-- seem reluctant to push Pactolus.

BIG RUSH INTO NEW CAMP OF PACTOLUS
The recent strike of gold at Pactolus in the vicinity of Gold Dyke gives evidence of making a winner. Bust as yet there has not been enough development work done to justify anyone in trying to start a stampede. In the first place the ore is not of the specimen order. Very little free gold is discernable to the naked eye. The ore assays from $10 to $60 per ton for the entire width of the original strike. A Mexican named Martinez and a freighter named Scott made the original discovery. There are about 100 people at the new camps which will be known as Athens. Pactolus was the name given the strike at first. Manhattan and Round Mountain are well represented and there are a number of Tonopah people there now.
1910 June 20, Reno Evening Gazette

OLD MINING CLAIMS SOLD
San Francisco capital has arranged to take over the Olympic Mines Company holdings in Mineral County, the Loo group of four claims on the Nye county line, and the old Pactolus group situated wholly in Nye county. It is nineteen yeas since the Pactolus was operated and the property is now held by the Tonopah Shawmut Mining Company controlled by Paul Rink and associates of San Francisco.
1919 September 24 Reno Evening Gazette

Seems like everything just petered out and aside from a little poking around in the rocks here and there, things pretty much came to an end for Pactolus.

George A. Thayer left Reno this week for Mina, where he will make his headquarters while directing work at the Garrett quicksilver property at Pactolus, which has been taken over by himself and associates.
1941 March 1, Reno Evening Gazette

There are a few mines in the area and the remains of what might have been a tiny mill. Evidence suggests some work took place in mid to late 1960's as well.