copyright (c) 2004 by Ana Minerva Bonilla                                                                        Posted 1/31/2005 14:54

 

The Weekendminer.com

 

California

Santa Barbara County

Surf - Point Sal

(Surf – 34.41.04N by 120.36.09W – USGS Surf map and Point Sal – 34.54.11N by 120.40.10W – USGS Point Sal map)

Bulletin 193, California Division of Mines and Geology, 1998, p181 : “At one time appreciable quantities of Gold were recovered from the ocean beaches in western Santa Barbara County. The most productive year for which there is a record is 1889, when the county's gold output was valued at $41,000 (at $35/Toz or less), much of which may have come from these beaches. Gold and very small amounts of Platinum occur as fine grains in thin layers of black sands. These deposits are more or less continuous between Point Arguello (34.34.38N by 120.38.59 – USGS Point Arguello map) on the south and the mouth of the Santa Maria River (34.58.15N by 120.38.57W – USGS Point Sal map) on the north. The most productive ones have been at Surf and Point Sal (shown as a “cape” by the USGS). Much of this area is now part of Vandenberg Air Force Base.”