Its primary economic base is gold mining and, to a lesser extent, legalized gambling.

[5] In 1874, the Nevada Legislature overrode the governor's veto and approved a railroad from Austin to Battle Mountain.

[citation needed] President Woodrow Wilson established Battle Mountain Indian Colony by executive order in 1918.

[9] In 1919, Nevada's Red Scare Miners held a ten-day strike at the Battle Mountain Copper Mines.

These Paleozoic rocks were intruded in the Tertiary by a granodiorite porphyry which generated the ore bodies as zones of disseminated sulfide minerals.

Due to aridity and high elevation, the area commonly experiences large diurnal temperature variation, particularly in summer, when it averages almost 45 °F or 25 °C.

The mean seasonal snowfall of 19.1 inches or 0.49 metres on average occurs from November 25 to April 2, with half the annual snow falling during December and January alone.

As of the census[19] of 2000, there were 2,871 people, 1,053 households, and 731 families residing in the census-designated place (CDP) of Battle Mountain.

[20] Battle Mountain hosts an annual bike race on a long, straight, flat stretch of Highway 305 just outside town.

The event draws teams from all over the world as they attempt to build and pedal the fastest bicycles on earth.

[21] On September 16, 2016, Todd Reichert became "the fastest man alive" by pedaling a streamlined bicycle at 89.59 mph (144.18 km/h) over a 200-metre (660 ft) distance at the end of a 5-mile (8.0 km) run.

Previously, Sam Whittingham's record run in 2009 won the decimach prize for going one tenth the speed of sound (with adjustments for slope and elevation).

Battle Mountain is located along Interstate 80, approximately halfway between Reno, and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Battle Mountain is the starting point of Nevada State Route 305, which heads southward to Austin.

The historic narrow-gauge Nevada Central Railroad line ran from Battle Mountain to Austin, but has long been defunct.

[26] The town used the unofficial title as a publicity opportunity, and hosted an annual "Armpit Festival" from 2002–2005, which was sponsored by Old Spice and awarded deodorant-themed prizes to participants.

[27] On January 2, 2009, The New York Times released an article titled "A Nevada Town Escapes the Slump, Thanks to Gold".