Copyright © 2005 by Ana Minerva Bonilla August 28, 2006 21:28
Reprinted by permission at http://theweekendminer.com
THE WEEKEND MINER
Rediscovering American Mineral Resources
THOUGHTS FROM THE "OLD MINER"
Strategic Metals - Gold, Tungsten & Molybdenum
The last three columns (No. 10) Strategic Metals, (No. 11) Molybdenum and (No. 12) Tungsten, have generated a surprising amount of feedback. Much of this feedback has inquired as to examples of mines where combinations of Gold and Molybdenum and/or Gold and Tungsten or of all three metals were mined or were present. Since most of our readers are in Southern California, and since that is what we are in the process of loading, I will limit this column to California, even though the greatest abundance of such occurrences lie in other states in the region. We can get to these as data for more areas is loaded.
Let's start with Kern County, where both Gold and Tungsten were extensively mined. While gold was found pretty much throughout the county, Tungsten tended to be concentrated around the towns of Isabella and Randsburg. Clusters of Tungsten mines were found northwest, southeast and directly south of Isabella. The Randsburg District, in the far eastern part of the county, on the border with San Bernardino County, was both a Tungsten Mining and Gold Mining center. Many of the mines in this area contained both elements, although most were mined for either just Gold or for Tungsten with as a Gold by-product. Very few, if any, were Gold mines with a Tungsten by-product.
A number of mines concentrated on Tungsten, but had Gold by-products, such as the Prosperity Mine, Black Mountain King Mine ($.35 per ton Gold as by-product) and the Bluebird Group or the Capitola Mine. Some mines shifted back and forth between Gold and Tungsten as the economics of the ore body and Markets dictated. The Magnolia Mine produced Gold in the 1938 to 1939 timeframe, but was reopened in 1952 as a Tungsten Mine. The Barbara-Diana Group also started as a Gold Mine but switched to Tungsten and produced up until 1951. The Pine Tree Mine was an early Gold mine, but later switched to Tungsten, probably for the war effort in WWI. The Jersey Lily Group, was run by the Monarch Rand Group (Gold Mining) and focused on the production of Gold and Silver, however a small production of Tungsten was recorded, again for the war effort. Also in this category I would place the Locarno or Locarno & Gwynne Mine.
One group of mines, owned by the Summit Lime Company, including the BCM and BC Mines, produced Limestone. The ore body also contained Gold and Tungsten but I have not been able to find any record of their production. Their tailings or gangue piles might be of interest.
The Minnehaha, or Claude or Mayflower, Mine; and the Big Blue Mine, a major Gold mine of the region, were primary Gold Mines with Tungsten (scheelite) present. Neither shows production of Tungsten in any record I have found to date. Here also, tailings may be of interest.
Some of the Gold/Tungsten properties, like the Baltic Mine, the Nixon Mine or the Wildcat Mine were just prospects and were never put into production. Other potential joint production locations would be places like the Clear Creek Mining District, which was both a Tungsten and a Gold Mining District. Details on the production of Tungsten from many of these areas have been lost or never existed. Since the Gold production occurred in the mid to late 1800's recordkeeping may have been minimal.
There were also a couple of placer operations that had significant Tungsten in their ore. These were the Stringer District Placer Mines, which went after Tungsten as the primary product with a "Gold pay"; and, the Baltic Gulch Placers, which never went into large-scale production.
A final Kern County example was the Tungsten Mountain Mines, which extended into San Bernardino County, where they were known as the Royal Bohee or Royal Bohn Group.
In San Bernardino County, the Atolia Mining District, was a Tungsten mining district, across the county border from the Randsburg Gold Mining District, in Kern County. This district produced Tungsten, Gold, Antimony and Mercury. The Blackhawk Mine, in this district, on the San Bernardino side of the county line was a primary Gold mine, producing 35,000 ounces of Gold. No recorded Tungsten production has been found. The Riley Mine, in the Ord Gold Mining District, about 20 miles southeast of Barstow, contained Tungsten, Copper and Gold. This was a consolidation of a number of small operations including the Blue Grass, Excelsior and Standard Mines. The Roy Ex was a placer mining operation, recovering both Gold and Tungsten, although it appears to have had a "Gold focus".
In Inyo County, in the Tungsten Hills Mining Region, you have the Pine Creek Mine, also called " The Mine in the Sky ". (There is a good book, by this title, about Tungsten mining in the area. You can access the Amazon listing for this book and related books by clicking on the book's name.) This was one of the last, if not the last producing Tungsten mine in the US. It had a secondary "Gold pay" and also contained Molybdenum and Copper, although production statistics for these are sketchy. The Shorty Harris and Yaney mines in Inyo County are other Tungsten-Gold ore bodies that would fit the model.
In Tulare County, the Redwood Canyon (or Barton) Mine is a Copper, Tungsten, Gold, Silver mine, while the Homer Ranch Mine is a Tungsten-Gold ore body. Also in the county are the White River Claims, a Copper, Molybdenum, Silver ore body.
Moving to the south coast area, in San Diego County are the Live Oak Group of mines, a Gold-Tungsten ore body; and the Metal Mountain Mine, a Tungsten, Gold, Silver, Lead ore body. In Los Angeles County, the Winter Creek Mine is a Molybdenum, Gold, Silver ore body. Not far away is the pure Molybdenum (with a little Rhenium) Cogswell Mine.
In the middle-to-southern Sierra Nevada Range there are a number of others. In Mono County the Scheelore Mine is a Tungsten-Gold ore body, as is the Sivori & Lucky Strike Mine in Tuolumne County. The Garnet Dike Mine in Fresno County contains not only Gold and Tungsten but Molybdenum as well. In Calaveras County the Garnet Hill or Rheona Claim, contains Tungsten, Copper, Gold and Molybdenum. To the northeast, in Alpine County, the Zaca Mine and the Valpine or Calpie Mine both are Tungsten, Gold, Silver ore bodies. In El Dorado County the Bear Creek or Comeback Consolidated Mine was a Tungsten-Gold ore body.
In the Nevada County-Yuba County area we find the Molybdenum-Gold Fern Leaf Mine in Yuba County and the Gold-Molybdenum Excelsior Mine in Nevada County. Nevada County also has the Grass Valley Mining District, which was by far the largest Gold-producing district in the State of California. What is not as well known, is that Tungsten, as coarse-grained scheelite, was present, in substantial quantities in a number of veins, notably at the Union Hill and New Brunswick mines. It does not appear that the tungsten was recovered.
The association of Gold with Tungsten and Molybdenum is not limited to the central and south parts of California. In the north of California, for example, in Trinity County, the Monarch Mine had a Molybdenum, Gold, Silver ore body and the Clerbus Mine a Tungsten-Gold ore body.
Each of these, and many others, warrants a second look at today's prices for both Molybdenum and Tungsten and the US reliance upon imports. The most immediate difficulty, if large supplies of these ores are discovered in the US, may be getting them processed. I do believe, however, in Capitalism. If we find the ore and can produce an acceptable concentrate, I am sure that new or old, restarted, production facilities will appear.
As more and more data is loaded to the mine database I will add additional data on this mineral relationship and many more examples. Until then, good hunting.
We must all realize what happens when a country allows its own industry to die and has to rely on imports for its needs. Its only choices are to produce its own or to pay and continue to pay higher prices. Unless some of America's small miners can find additional domestic supplies, we will all continue to suffer higher prices and the loss of American Wealth and technology.