  By W. H. Storms, Assistant in the Field. No portion of California has more diversified mineral wealth than the county of San Bernardino. Although its area is comprised largely of rugged mountains and desert waste, yet this county is a producer of gold, silver, copper, lead, and tin, and contains mines of zinc, iron, and manganese, besides deposits of borax, salt, soda, baryta, gypsum, sulphur, onyx, marble, asbestos, and structural material, granite, and sandstone of great beauty and value. Within its borders are found a wide range of geological formations from Paleozoic (if not ArchÆan) to Tertiary, and a great variety of rocks of igneous origin. The mines are scattered all over its thousands of square miles of territory, and have already added millions of dollars to the wealth of the State and the world. Many of its mines are of phenomenal richness, and were it not for the expense and extreme difficulty attending transportation in the desert, San Bernardino County would undoubtedly take first place in adding to the mineral wealth of California. The largest and most productive section in the county at present is THE CALICO MINING DISTRICT.No region affords better opportunities for the study of a certain class of ore deposits occurring in eruptive and fragmental rocks than may be found in the Calico District. The mines, condemned at first, came quickly to the front nevertheless, and have for the past twelve years been steady producers of silver bullion. The district is situated 6 miles north of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, the nearest station being Daggett. GENERAL GEOLOGY OF THE REGION.The geology of the Calico Mountains at first sight looks simple enough, but a more thorough investigation quickly convinced me that there were structural problems to be studied of more than passing importance, as they seemed to have a bearing upon the extent of the ore deposits. The most complex region is that immediately about the town of Calico, in the vicinity of the mines. The balance of the mountain area is more simple. In a general way the Calico uplift consists of a core of massive rhyolite, overlying which are heavy deposits of light-colored breccia and tufa. Along the flanks of the range, and in some places extending well up into the mountains, are accumulations of undoubted sedimentary origin, sandstone, sandy shales, and argillaceous rocks, which, with some local exceptions, dip away from the central mass on all sides toward the desert plain. While in the district I made some notes on the general geological features, but not having sufficient time at my Subsequent to the uplift of these mountains, erosion has carved deep caÑons and removed great mountain masses. The central area is now entirely denuded, whereas it was at one time covered with from 100 to 200 feet of tufa and upward of 1,000 feet of sedimentary strata. Not only have these more recent accumulations been removed, but a large amount of the hard, dense liparite has also been disintegrated and carried away by the violent storms which are characteristic of the desert. Faults are very numerous throughout that portion of the mountains lying along the south side of the range. They extend for at least 10 miles in an easterly and westerly direction. The mines occur along this faulted zone. The rocks of the region are a violet to brown rhyolite, often porphyritic; green, yellow, and white tufa; yellowish and greenish breccia; a greenish gray, fine-grained rock, which has been called hornblende andesite by Mr. Lindgren, and a yellowish or buff to light gray felsitic rock, which may be either rhyolite or an older felsite. It is extremely difficult to distinguish between these rocks, even with the aid of thin sections under the microscope. I think, however, upon structural grounds, that I may call the rock felsite. As this is one of the important questions upon which I have not thoroughly satisfied myself, it will be left until such time as I have opportunity to make the necessary investigation. THE ORE DEPOSITS.The formation of the ore deposits in the Calico District has been a subject of much discussion, and the question has received the closest study and thorough investigation. In my opinion, the ore deposits were formed through the agency of percolating waters carrying mineral solutions, which deposited their contents along fault planes and in certain zones of the country rock, where its brecciated and crushed state offered superior conditions for the deposit of the silver ores and the accompanying baryta. That all of these ore deposits have a common genesis I do not doubt, whether they occur in the liparite, in the tufa, or in the “mud” overhanging country rock, as is the case at the Bismarck, Humbug, Waterloo, and some other mines. The form of the deposits differ somewhat, it is true, for we find the reticulated veins in the King Mine; the segregated deposits in the Odessa and Waterloo; the fissures in the Langtry, in West Calico, and the impregnated deposit in the Humbug. However, all the deposits of the district, of whatever form, I believe are due to a common cause, having been deposited in their various forms from mineral-bearing solutions which derived their contents from the neighboring eruptive rocks (the liparites and tufas), part of the material doubtless arising from great depth, and a portion coming from the adjacent inclosing rocks by what is known as lateral secretion. It is almost an impossibility to find in the Calico region a piece of rock that does not contain more or less silver, from a fraction of an ounce per ton upward. The phenomena of ore deposition was very thoroughly investigated by Messrs. Louis Janin, E.M., John Hays Hammond, E.M., Ross E. Browne, E.M., and Wm. Irelan, Jr., State Mineralogist, at the time of SKETCH SHOWING In the Silver King Mine occurs a perfect network of veins, concerning which Mr. Hammond testified: “At the time of the uplifting of the liparite, or at some subsequent time, a fault occurred, which separated a wedge-like mass of liparite from the main mountain mass, and this fault plane was generally conceded to be what might be termed the foot wall of the mineral belt, or zone, or lode. Contemporaneously with this faulting a second fault occurred, which separated the overlying brown tufa from the liparite, which fissure forms the overhanging wall of the mineral deposits of the Silver King Mine. At the same time cross fissures were formed in the liparite mass between the two main fissures. Thus there was a main fissure or plane of contact between the brown tufa and the liparite, and a similar fault plane between the segment of liparite broken off and the main mass of the mountain. Between these two main fissures, and throughout the whole mass of this segment of liparite were innumerable fissures, some similar and equal in size to the main fissures, and others forming a finer system of fissures and cracks, extending through the rocks in all directions, leaving it in a broken and disintegrated, and in many places an almost pulverized condition. Although these finer fissures generally had a parallelism with the two main fissures bounding this segment of rock, yet, in many places, these finer seams or fissures run in every direction through the rock, forming a network, or reticulated mass. The mineral-bearing waters have deposited throughout this mass, from wall to wall, the minerals now found within this zone in the form of baryta, carrying silver. The finding of baryta in the shattered planes of the liparite, which is entirely foreign to the rock itself, is sufficient evidence that a crack or space must have existed prior to its deposition, from the solutions which penetrated this broken zone of a once massive rock formation.” CROSS SECTIONS OF REPORT STATE MINERALOGIST STATE MINERALOGIST’S REPORT The Odessa Mine offers good illustrations of impregnated masses, as does also the Waterloo. In each of these mines, as in many others, the ore bodies are found in bunches or pockets, varying from little deposits of nominal value to great ore chambers containing thousands of tons of pay rock. In these cases, as at the King Mine, a system of faulting planes marks the general strike of a mineral-bearing zone or lode, but the great rock masses of tufa, in which these ore bodies occur (and also of sandstone in the Waterloo), are quite loose and porous in texture, and undoubtedly the ore bodies in these mines resulted partially, at least, from the impregnation of the rock with the mineral solutions which found an easy passage along the fault planes that had cut the rocks in every direction. In the Waterloo Mine one of the fault planes exhibited a regularity seldom seen in any mine. It coursed through the light-colored, soft tufa in an easterly and westerly direction, was perfectly true, and as smooth as any hard-finished wall could be made by the most skillful artisan. The fracture was of knife-blade thinness, and its sides were coated with dark red iron oxide. It dipped to the southward at an angle of about 40°. At one time it was considered to be the hanging wall of the lode, but a miner broke through the wall to cut a hitch for a timber and it was found that the overlying rock beyond the slip was ore-bearing also. Stopes in this mine were frequently over ten sets in width, or over 60 feet. At the eastern end of the claim some extremely rich ore was mined from a belt of jasper, a metamorphosed clay shale, which by heat and pressure had become an intensely hard, fine-grained, flinty rock, yet some of this jasper contained over 1,000 ounces of silver per ton. In West Calico, 2 miles west of the Waterloo, is the Langtry group of claims. The principal development is on the west end of the Langtry Mine. The Langtry may be called the anomaly of the camp, as it is a fissure vein pure and simple, or, more strictly speaking, two fissures. The strike of these two fissures, which are 60 feet apart, is nearly parallel, but they will undoubtedly meet in depth. That on the south side dips northerly, while the other pitches toward the south slightly. Both stand at a high angle, and it is doubtful if they will converge inside of 250 feet from the surface. The veins are composed principally of a coarsely crystallized baryta with quartz, containing brown iron oxides, lead carbonate, ochre, manganese oxide, and chloride of silver. The average value of the ore was about 22 ounces per ton. The veins vary from a thin seam to over 10 feet in width on the north vein, having an average width of 3 or 4 feet. These veins occur in the “outside” or “mud” country, which lies along the flank of the southern slope of the Calico Mountains. The mud shales and argillaceous sandstones here lie nearly horizontal, the veins cutting them at an angle closely approximating 90°. SUSPENDED MINING OPERATIONS.The low price of silver during the past two years has resulted disastrously to the mining industry in Calico District. The great Waterloo, for many years the largest producer, and employing not less than 150 men in mines and mills, was closed down, as it seemed foolhardy to exhaust the great ore bodies when the profit derived from the extraction and milling of the ores was merely nominal. For years these mines had kept the sixty-stamp Boss process mill and the fifteen-stamp pan mill at Daggett busy night and day, but in the spring of 1892 the stamps were hung up and the mines closed, awaiting better prices for silver. The Silver King Mining Company (limited), of London, has continued to operate, dropping twenty to thirty stamps night and day, under the superintendency of William S. Edwards. The King Company owns or controls three important groups of mines in this district, viz.: the Odessa, the Oriental, and the Occidental. The Odessa made a record during the early history of the camp by the production of ores of high grade. The policy which was pursued in those “palmy days”—to gouge out the rich ore whenever it could be found, without regard to future condition of the mine—left most of the mines in very bad shape. The Odessa is now recovering under the new management, and the property is being systematically opened, and it is thought all the ore can be extracted. In this mine are stopes from which thousands of tons of ore have been mined, and there is not a stick of timber of any kind in them. These old stopes are being cleaned out, new levels opened, and good results are expected in the future. What applies to the Odessa in this respect is true to a great extent of every other large mine in Calico. They were all worked in a hand-to-mouth sort of fashion, and although many of these mines paid handsome dividends, little of the money was ever put back in anything like permanent improvement. All seemed to share a common opinion—that the deposits were superficial, and would not go down, and as a result no one felt like laying out money in an extravagant and unwarranted manner. But the mines have gone down, and the men in charge of the mines to-day can see the result of the mistaken economy of the early operators, and see in Calico an era of recovery of low-grade ore bodies and development work which is calculated to give the mines greater apparent permanency than ever heretofore. December 1, 1891, the King mill was enlarged by the addition of ten stamps, making thirty in all. The Boss process of continuous amalgamation was also adopted. CHLORIDING THE MINES.A system of leasing portions of mining claims, called “chloriding” in Calico, was introduced in the early days, and is still in vogue. Many poor men have made moderate fortunes in the district, and in days gone by all did well. The mines are leased on a royalty of one fourth to one sixth of the ore to the claim owner, according to its value, the owner receiving more as the grade is higher. Chloriders were at work on the Loo, Little Waterman, Humbug, Bismarck, Blackfoot, and other mines, during the past year. The ore obtained in this manner is usually sacked and shipped to a custom mill, where it is crushed, the charges ranging from THE WATERLOO MINE.The Waterloo property consists of four claims. The principal workings are in the Waterloo Mine, where large stopes have been extracted, though considerable amounts of ore still remain in sight. An idea of the extent of some of these Calico mines may be gained from the fact that the great ore body of the Waterloo is 1,100 feet in length, and is known to extend from the surface down to the 525-foot level. At the east end the ore-bearing zone is from 4 to 7 feet in width, widening downward. Going westward it increases in width until it is 60 to 70 feet wide. This mine, like those immediately about Calico, was worked for rich pockets, and, as a natural consequence, the mine was left in bad condition. Jos. D. Kerbaugh, the last Superintendent of the mine, had inaugurated a systematic method of extracting ore and recovered much lost ground. The ore is usually low grade, and this, in connection with the low price of silver, has resulted in the closing up of the mines. A narrow gauge railroad has been in use for several years to transport the ore from the Waterloo group and the King and Red Jacket Mines, owned by the same company, to their mills at Daggett, timber and supplies being brought to the mines on the return trips. The transportation of ore, I was informed, cost 12 cents per ton. The railroad is about 7 miles in length, and runs on a pretty steep grade. THE BORAX MINE.In the upturned sedimentary beds which flank the Calico Hills, dipping outward toward the desert plain on all sides of the uplift, except where purely local disturbances have caused a reverse condition, are bedded deposits of calcium borate and gypsum (calcium sulphate). Five miles east of the town of Calico is the largest known deposit of calcium borate in the district. The bed, or vein, as it is called, was discovered some years since, and finally passed into the hands of the present owners, the Pacific Coast Borax Company, whose extensive works are located at Alameda, near San Francisco. GEOLOGY OF THE BORAX DISTRICT.The borax mine occurs as a bedded vein in the sedimentary strata, which in Tertiary times were uplifted in the Calico range. The sediments are composed of sandstones, sandy clays, and clayey sands, comprising a succession of heavy-bedded, deep-water deposits, and shallow-water, thin-bedded shales and sands. These variations in the character of the strata are numerous, and mark the many oscillations of the region, whose rising or sinking either submerged the strata beneath the waters of a deep lake, or lifted them until the water flowed over the mud flats only in thin sheets, which, exposed to the rays of the sun, sometimes evaporated entirely. Climatic conditions doubtless also were an important factor in the history of these strata, which are upwards of 1,000 feet in thickness. Underlying the sediments are the tufas of the Calico region, and The borax vein is traceable for several thousand feet, striking along the western and northern side of the largest sedimentary hill in the range, and finally passing down a caÑon to the eastward, where it becomes a well-defined vein. Toward the western end the borate of lime appears to be much mixed with the sandy sediments, gypsum, and clays, giving the appearance of having been formed near the shore line of the basin in which this great mass of material has been left as a residuary deposit, due to the evaporation of the water containing the calcium borate. To me it seems that what is now one of the most valuable deposits of mineral in the State was at one time the site of a Tertiary lake of considerable but as yet undetermined size. That although subjected to the same oscillations as the remainder of the region a basin formed, in which the waters collected, carrying with them the mineral salts derived from the rocks of the neighboring country. That finally the climatic conditions became such that the supply of water was less than the loss by absorption and evaporation, and the waters of the lake slowly diminished, it finally disappearing entirely, leaving on the floor of the lake a thick deposit of calcium borate of snowy whiteness. After the deposition of the borax bed a general subsidence of the region occurred, the waters of the great Tertiary lake once more covering the whole country. Again the sands and finer sedimentary material—the erosion of the mountains—were carried down and found a resting place on the floor of the lake, the borax bed being finally covered with several hundred feet of this detritus. Now, as the same formation in which the borax mine is found, and even the lower members of the rocks of that age, are seen resting upon the high ridges and on some of the peaks of the Calico hills, it would seem highly improbable, to say the least, that these sediments were built up from the ruins of the Calico Mountains themselves, but their source was in more distant ranges. Besides the regular vein-like deposit of calcium borate found at the borax mine, there are numerous small veinlets in other parts of the district in which calcium borate and gypsum are found filling cracks and cavities, probably as the result of infiltration. So common are these small fissures and beds of borax and gypsum that that portion of the sedimentary strata lying east of the town of Calico is usually spoken of as the borax formation by the miners of the district. To thoroughly investigate all the phenomena connected with these wonderful deposits and their mode of formation would require more time than was at my disposal. As has been previously stated, remnants of the sediments are still found lying high up on the flanks of the mountains, and even far into the interior of the hills, and there is every probability that the entire region included in the Calico District, as well as the country for many miles around, was at one time buried a thousand feet beneath these stratified rocks. With the uplift, the strata inclosing the borax mine were tilted and folded, and now the sheet of white calcium borate which once lay glistening in the sun on the bed of a desert dry lake stands like a great vein To the southward of the mine is seen a large mass of liparite, which has been pushed up from below. I had not the time necessary to trace out the line of fracture, but I am of the opinion that it occurs on the line of the great fault shown on the map of the fault system of the region. The borax vein is from 7 to 10 feet in thickness Where it has been exposed in the underground workings. The mineral is the variety of calcium borate called colemanite, named in honor of Wm. T. Coleman. It occurs in glassy crystals, some of them having large faces. Many handsome specimens of this mineral are on exhibition in the Mining Bureau museum. The mineral is mined in the same manner as ores of gold or silver. Inclined shafts are sunk on the vein, drifts and levels run, and the stopes carried up as in any other mine. LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF BORAX MINE The material, when hoisted to the surface, is loaded in great wagons hauled by twenty animals and taken to Daggett, where it is shipped to the works in Alameda. The process of extracting the boracic acid from the rock as practiced in these works is not given to the public. It is known that the mineral is crushed and bolted like flour, after grinding with burrs, but the subsequent treatment is not known outside the works. To the Superintendent, J. W. S. Perry, I am indebted for a sketch of the underground working of this remarkable mine, which is reproduced above. AGE OF THE UPLIFT.The geological age of the Calico uplift has not been accurately determined, though there is little doubt that it occurred during the Tertiary age, probably the Oligocene. THE IRON MINES.In this county, about 16 miles in a southeasterly direction from Newberry Station, on the A. & P. R. R., and 28 miles easterly from Daggett, are the greatest deposits of iron ore on this coast. They consist of immense beds or masses of hematite and magnetite ore, containing a high percentage of iron, with traces only of sulphur and phosphorus. These mines have been known for many years, and they have had numerous owners by relocation and purchase, but nothing has yet been done with them. Iron men from Pittsburg and Cleveland and elsewhere have visited these mines and secured samples, and all reported favorably on the excellent quality of the ores, but there the matter was dropped. Located 16 miles from the railroad, and probably 20 miles by any possible line of railway survey, as the grades are heavy, with neither fuel nor water, the problem of their reduction was so formidable that none dared face it, and for years this magnificent property has been waiting for some one with capital and a “process” to come and make the vast wealth available. THE LAVA BEDS DISTRICT.This interesting region has come quite prominently into public notice within the past two years. The district is located in a small range of mountains about 35 miles east of the Calico range. The nearest station to the mines is Lavic, on the line of the A. & P. R. R., from which point the mines are 9 miles distant by a good wagon road. Like most other desert mining regions it is destitute of timber, and water is not abundant, though obtainable in the dry lake basin 3½ miles from the mines. The district was discovered about nine years since, and numerous claims have been located. The work of development has been confined to a few of the most promising claims. GENERAL GEOLOGY.The mountain range in which the mines of this district occur is isolated from all others, although evidently a part of a chain extending in a northwest and southeast direction for many miles. This particular group of hills is about 4 miles in length by 1½ in width, and consists of rocks, which are all of plutonic origin. They are mostly quartz porphyry of the normal type, consisting of a fine-grained felsitic ground mass, with macroscopical crystals of quartz and feldspar. Of several thin sections made for the purpose of microscopic study of these rocks, their behavior under the microscope is so similar that general description will suffice for all. The section is characterized by a micro-crystalline to micro-granular ground mass, sometimes to globulitic. The feldspars are so completely clouded as to leave little clue to their Dark-green basic dikes, which seem to be greatly altered diabase, occur in the district, but have no connection with any of the ore deposits as far as observed. Numerous dikes, large and small, of a red felsitic rock, occur throughout the district, and seem to bear an important relation to some of the ore deposits. All of the rock is much decomposed, and its identification is not an easy matter. It appears under the microscope to be a finely porphyritic rock, having a somewhat fluidal structure, as shown in the arrangement of the numerous small, lath-like crystals of feldspar. Small blebs of quartz occur quite abundantly. In a general way the rock resembles some rhyolites. On the northern flank of the range immense masses of red and brown tufa occur, besides great flows of black basaltic lava. These rocks form a terrace-like ridge that extends for several miles along the base of the mountains. Two large cinder cones, one on the northeast end of the range, the other about 4 miles distant in the desert valley to the northward, form prominent landmarks. The basalt is coarse to fine grained, usually black or dark gray, and is often scoriaceous. It contains plagioclase, augite, and olivine, and abundant magnetite in a micro-crystalline or granular base. Near the foot of the range the basalt has overflowed the beds of tufa, which latter, it is said, contains from a trace to as high as four ounces of silver per ton. As far as I have any knowledge of it, no prospecting has been done in these tufa beds, but the fact that silver exists there at all would lead one to believe that under proper conditions ore bodies of great value may occur. At the base of the mountains, at an altitude of 1,800 feet, is a dry lake, which drains a large area of country. In this basin water has been obtained by sinking a well 80 feet in depth. Though the well is located The principal vein in the district lies along the north side of the main range, and is known as THE IMPERIAL LODE.This great vein, the outcrop of which may be seen for 20 miles, is a “fissure” in every sense of the word, though not a simple one, for it has numerous divergent branches of considerable size. The main fissure, however, is strong and constant, and outcrops boldly for nearly 8,000 feet. It varies in width from 4 to 18 feet. It is everywhere well defined and often shows a banded structure. The great fissure strikes north 70° west, and dips 65° to 70° to the south. It occurs in the quartz porphyry, which at contact with the vein is usually much decomposed and often shattered and crushed, probably owing partly to the intrusion of a large dike of the red felsitic rock, a tongue of which has cut across the vein about 3,500 feet from its west end. This dike follows the vein for some distance on the hanging wall side coming from the east, gradually nearing the vein until it finally reaches the fissure, cutting the vein in two. Farther westward it again appears on the hanging wall side, showing itself at intervals to the extreme western end of the vein, which comes to an abrupt termination. This felsitic dike is but one of a number that occur in the immediate vicinity. THE IMPERIAL LODE LAVA BEDS DISTRICT Since the formation of the Imperial lode there has been considerable movement within the vein itself. Slips are numerous, the slickensides showing plainly. The fault planes, as far as observed, are confined within the limits of the vein; however, at no place, excepting where the dike intersects it, did I notice any lateral displacement. Usually the vein is distinctly separated from the inclosing rock, a Occasionally, in the narrower portions of the vein, a banded structure indicates the probability that the ore now fills what was at one time an open crevice, which slowly filled with ore by precipitation from the mineral waters passing along the fault plane. At one point on the course of the vein, where it is joined by one of the branching spurs, the felsitic dike has intersected the smaller vein. The occurrence is plainly seen in a cut made at this place, where rich ore was found. THE FELSITE DYKE It will be noticed that both the main vein and the spur occur in the quartz porphyry, and that the red felsite cuts the smaller vein. The displacement on the surface along the strike of the vein is nearly 40 feet. This does not show in the cross-section. Since the formation of the Imperial vein the mountains have suffered great erosion; the highest point along the croppings rises fully 800 feet above the neighboring caÑons. THE ORE.Although the Imperial vein is a fissure of great length and depth, all the material that is included between the porphyritic walls is not pay ore. The ore occurs in shoots of greater or less extent, the same as in any other vein. The gangue is chiefly quartz, having a pearly luster resembling in appearance some light grayish lead carbonate at a casual glance. Accompanying the quartz, though in minor quantities, are baryta, calcite, and black manganese oxide. The value of the ore lies almost wholly in its silver contents, which occur as chloride and sulphide (argentite) accompanying pyrites, chalcopyrite, and iron oxides. The silver sometimes occurs with copper glance in small bunches in solid masses of lead carbonate. Such ores are very high grade. In one of the branches gold is found with only a small percentage of silver, the reverse condition, however, usually obtains. The silver frequently is found in the same shoots with the base ores and in quartz without any intimate association with either lead, copper, or iron. The galena is sometimes very low grade, carrying only 4 ounces per ton in silver. In one shoot the lead carbonate contains over 200 ounces. It is a notable fact that no good ore is found in quantity without copper in some form, either as sulphide (glance) or carbonate. Chloride of silver is also found associated with iron and manganese, without copper or lead. THE CLAIMS ON THE VEIN.There are six lode claims located on the Imperial vein, on all of which considerable work has been done. Beginning at the east end, the vein shows itself on the mountain side close down to the desert wash and not far distant from the basalt flow on this side of the range. The most easterly claim is called the Sampson, and from it has been shipped some rich ore, the claim producing the highest grade ore, I am told, of any mine on the vein. This claim is joined on the westward by the Morning Star, a deep caÑon separating them. From the bottom of this caÑon it is 800 feet to the summit of the mine, 1,500 feet farther west. The Morning Star Mine has been quite extensively opened by tunnels and shafts, but for several years past assessment work only has been done, as the ore which was found was too low grade to make shipping profitable. The Meteor, Mammoth Chief, and Desert Queen succeed each other, respectively, going west. On the Mammoth Chief and Meteor, a great deal of work has been done; and it is claimed ore was shipped approximating $40,000 gross value. At any rate the owners have developed their claims and made a good living at the expense of the ore thus shipped from the vein. On the Meteor a shaft has been sunk a depth of 100 feet, at the bottom of which a drift 40 feet in length has been cut along the vein on an ore shoot which was followed down from the surface. At another point on this claim a shaft of 65 feet in depth has been sunk in ore. A drift at the bottom of this shaft is also in ore, 8 feet of which is exposed and the foot wall not yet reached. The ore at this point is said to average 30 ounces. I was told that the average of the ore throughout the mine was about 25 ounces, ranging from 12 to 75 ounces, and occasionally much more. Numerous cuts, shafts, and drifts, some of them of considerable size, have been made The Imperial lode is one of the most promising veins of which I have any knowledge, but it requires considerable capital to properly and systematically open it. The rock is extremely hard, and the lack of wood and water are drawbacks which prevent the owners from working the mine as it should be worked. It would be difficult to find a vein offering greater natural advantages than are found here, excepting as to wood and water, both of which are obtainable under the usual conditions attending that problem on the desert. Water can be found in the dry lake 3½ miles distant by road, and 1,160 feet below the level of the caÑons which cut the vein. Coal may be delivered at Lavic Station, 5 miles from the lake, for about $9 or $10 a ton. The difficulties are no greater than at Calico, where they seem to have been overcome quite easily. Tunnels may be run in on the vein, getting average backs of about 350 feet above the bottom of the caÑons. Should ever this great vein be worked on a larger scale with abundant capital, a tunnel started at the lake will cut the vein at an average depth of 1,500 feet. Such a tunnel would probably be about 12,000 feet in length. The ore shoots seem to have an average width of about 5 feet as far as exposed, and none of the workings in ore have ever reached the bottom of a shoot. It is one of the most imposing looking veins I ever saw. On the Desert Queen the soft hanging wall has been eroded, leaving the vein standing exposed for fully 80 feet in height. THE TIPTOP MINE.About 4,000 feet south from the Imperial lode there is a mine of unusual character and interest, called the Tiptop. Originally a silver mine, it is now producing a high-grade copper ore, which is being shipped to Swansea, Wales. The Tiptop was discovered in 1890, by the strong outcrop of an ore shoot. The country rock on both sides of the vein is quartz porphyry, similar to that inclosing the Imperial lode. The ore occurs along a fault plane, or rather a series of parallel faults, as the result of substitution of ore for the original rock. The faulting of the rocks has resulted in an extensive crushing and breaking up of the porphyry along the line of fracture, exposing large surfaces of rock, thus facilitating the deposition of mineral. As mentioned above, the faulting seems to have consisted of several fractures, nearly or quite parallel, between which the rock was crushed or ground to powder. In places this ore body would seem to possess well-defined walls, but moving in either direction along the strike of this zone the “wall” proves to be CROSS SECTION Doubtless this faulting extends to great depth, though the mineralization is not continuous along the surface for more than 150 feet. At some distance, however, and in line with the strike of the displacement, other ore bodies appear. The ore body where the discovery was made is heavily mineralized with iron oxides, of red, yellow, and black colors. Much of the original rock has become silicified and bleached to snowy whiteness in the lower part of the deposit, but such masses contain only finely disseminated iron pyrites, low grade in silver. The once sulphuretted ores are so thoroughly oxidized in this surface deposit that they are very porous. The ores carry on an average about 30 ounces of silver, and for the most part are very free-milling. At the time of my visit an estimate of this silver ore on the dump and in the mine placed its value at, approximately, $20,000. In one portion of this rather remarkable ore deposit considerable quantities of native sulphur occur, associated with a brownish iron oxide and silicious gangue material. As depth is attained the oxidation is less marked, and at 80 feet has apparently given place entirely to sulphuretted ores and silicious rock, low in silver. The strike of this shoot of ore is north 50° west, dipping northeast at an angle of 70°. At the depth of 65 feet below the croppings, in sinking a winze, which in its downward course follows a slip northward but is vertical as compared with the dip of the vein, a bunch of high-grade, partly oxidized copper ore was discovered. Further development discovered other pockets or bunches of copper ore carrying usually By means of these workings the peculiarities of the mine have been exposed. The series of faults which have resulted in the deposit of a considerable quantity of silver ore have been accompanied by another series of fractures which, while independent of the former, were, perhaps, contemporaneous. The second series exhibit no parallelism, but strike in various directions. Along these fault planes occur bunches of copper ore, principally variegated pyrites (bornite), chalcopyrite, and a black “earthy” sulphide, having a shining streak, not sectile, probably a variety of copper glance. These ores are sometimes associated with iron sulphide, but most of this class may be easily sorted. One class of ores occurs intermingled with the gangue containing about 15 per cent copper. This ore can be separated on any concentrating machine such as a jig, the resulting product being high grade. The ore shipped to Swansea has averaged over 33 per cent copper and 15 ounces silver per ton. LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF TIPTOP MINE The Tiptop consists of two claims. The easterly one, the Kenton, has little or no development, though copper carbonates have been discovered on the ground. All of the workings of the Tiptop that are in copper ore, it should be remembered, are in the country rock on the foot wall side of the series of faults in which the silver ore occurs, and no drift or crosscut had been run into that zone below 80 feet from the surface. The face of the drift on the third level had exposed about 6 feet of good ore at the time of my examination. The drift at that point was 160 feet from the surface. It is not likely, should a crosscut be THE GLADSTONE GOLD MINE.Less than a mile from the Tiptop, in a northwestern direction, is another property, the Gladstone, locally known as Halberg’s Gold Mine. It was located several years ago, and after some development was practically abandoned, but afterwards came into the hands of the present owners, who have developed the ground quite extensively, built a long tramway and ore bins, and established a camp. Nothing was being done at the time of my visit. The mine is something of a curiosity geologically and mineralogically. The ore body, for there is only one of any consequence developed, occurs in the gray quartz porphyry common to the region. A fault has also occurred here, fracturing the country rock in a manner similar to that in the Tiptop, excepting that here there is but a single, simple fault. The ore body consists of a mass of crushed and broken country rock, portions of which still show distinctly the original porphyritic structure. Generally speaking, however, the original rock has undergone an extreme metamorphosis, resulting, in most cases, in more or less complete mineralogical and physical changes. The porphyry has, by gradual replacement, been changed to solid ore, or been silicified to a dense quartzose, sometimes jaspery, rock. Kaolinization of the feldspars has also taken place. As to the origin of these deposits there seems to be little reason to doubt that the ore was deposited by percolating waters, which derived their contents from the neighboring eruptive rocks. These solutions were carried into the fault plane, and reaching the great chamber or crushed mass, found conditions of a superior nature for the precipitation of the minerals they contained. In the pulverized or finely crushed portions the ore deposition has been most complete, entirely replacing the original rock, while in the brecciated portions the ore occurs as incrustations, filling the smaller interstices, but sometimes penetrating the rock fragments themselves. The ore body is something over 200 feet in length and 30 feet or more in width at the Widest part, but thinning out rather irregularly toward the ends and also downward. Doubtless it at one time extended some distance upward, but that portion has been eroded. Along the plane of the fault the line of demarkation between ore and porphyry is very distinct, as the two bear not the slightest resemblance, but at the outer edges of the deposit no such line can be discovered. The mineral gradually disappears, leaving only a brecciated mass of whitish rock, which graduates into the normal porphyry. The brecciated condition of the mass is made more plain by the variety of color assumed by the angular fragments. They are various shades of green, red, white, and brown, or yellow, caused by copper carbonates and iron oxides. Though the original condition of the ore was doubtless sulphide, it now contains, as the result of oxidation, hematite, limonite, magnetite, malachite, azurite, chrysocolla, cerussite, wulfenite, chloride of silver, manganese oxide, and metallic gold. The value of the ore lies principally in the gold contained, though in one portion of the ore body, near its eastern end, rich chloride of silver ore is found, with but little gold. The physical appearance of the ore is no criterion of its gold contents, as two pieces, with identically the same characteristics, will differ widely in value. One may contain $2 or $3 in gold, the other several hundred. Should ever a mill be erected in the district, this ore can be worked to a profit, though this single ore body will alone scarcely justify the construction of a mill. On the south side of this fissure or slip is a vein which runs nearly parallel with the chambered vein above described. This vein can be traced for several thousand feet. In character the ore is similar to that found in the Imperial lode. Assays running over $200 in gold have been obtained from this ore, and $50 assays are not uncommon. The vein is quite small, ranging from a mere seam to 2 feet. Scarcely any development has been done on this vein, though it promises better results than the large “vein chamber.” The developments on the Gladstone consist of a shaft 60 feet deep. The first level is cut at a depth of 30 feet from the surface, where drifts have been run for a distance of 30 feet each way from the shaft, on the course of the vein, and a crosscut, 28 feet north. East of this, a 15-foot shaft has been sunk in a good sized cut. A large open cut, 100 feet long, has exposed the upper portion of the ore deposit perfectly. Other superficial work has been done at various points along the vein. A tramway of 1,700 feet has been constructed from the mine to the bottom of an adjacent caÑon. OTHER CLAIMS.In the vicinity of the mines described in this district are numerous other claims, some of them having considerable development, but all lying idle at the time of my visit. One claim has an 80-foot tunnel, and shows some lead and silver ore of good grade. This claim is patented. THE ALVORD MINES.Twenty-three miles northeast from Daggett are the Alvord Mines. The property has changed hands several times, but is now owned by a party of Pasadena capitalists, who have under consideration the reconstruction of their mill, which was burned in September, 1891. The property consists of six full claims located on one mineral-bearing zone. The strike of the belt is a few degrees south of west. The mine is well equipped. The company also owns a millsite at Camp Cady, on the Mojave River, 9 miles distant from the mines, and valuable water rights at Paradise Springs, 11 miles northwest from the mines, and a spring about 1½ miles east of the camp, which is used for camp purposes only. The mines lie along a broad zone or belt of crystallized carbonate of lime (calcite), which may be seen for many miles traversing the dark-colored inclosing rocks. A huge dike of porphyritic rock cuts across The country rock is described by F. R. Burnham, E.M., formerly the Superintendent, in his report on the property to the company, as rock more or less schistose in character, through which, at frequent intervals, are intruded eruptive dikes. At the east end of the belt is an accumulation of tufa and basalt. The belt dips south at an angle of 75°. The mineralized portion of this lode extends from the porphyry dike east through three full claims, disappearing finally beneath the eruptive rock and desert wash. The dominant point on the lode is 550 feet above the base of the hill. The entire lode is gold-bearing, some of the iron rock being extremely rich; gold also occurs in the calcite, though it is usually of a lower grade than where accompanied by the iron. Iron sulphide containing gold has been discovered, indicating plainly the origin of the slag-like iron ores and limonite found on the surface. To Mr. Burnham’s report I am also indebted for information concerning the value of the rock, tonnage, and bullion output to date. He has given arbitrary figures for shipments aggregating $37,000, and an estimate on $13,000 more, making a total of $50,000. This ore was milled mostly at the Camp Cady mill and at Hawley’s mill. An arrastra was used in the early history of the mine. The average assays made on a ten days’ mill run just prior to the burning of the mill returned $1275 per ton. Tailings, during the same period, averaged $125. Bullion produced, $1,430. It was found very difficult to sort the ore, though it varied constantly in value from $2 to $20 per ton. About 90 per cent of the assay value, it is claimed, was saved in the mill. In looking through a daily record of assays made in July and August, 1891, I find them to range from a trace to as high as $1,750, most of them running from $6 to $18. Mr. Burnham figures 184,000 tons of mill rock in sight, including all grades, besides large amounts presumed to be available, but not blocked out for stoping. The value of the ore is placed at $5 to $6 throughout. The cost of milling this ore is placed at $250, and mining at 50 cents in large stopes. Should the company now controlling the Alvord Mines determine to rebuild their mill it will doubtless again become a bullion producer. ORO GRANDE DISTRICT.The Oro Grande Mining District is located immediately east of the Southern California Railroad, at the town of Oro Grande. It is commonly supposed to embrace all the mines for some miles around, though, in fact each group of mines or hills has been given a separate name, but as these so-called districts are mostly without organization, all the claims and mines will be considered under one head. The geology of the district about Oro Grande is complex, the formations being uplifted, greatly faulted, and broken, besides the intrusion of dikes of felsitic rock, diorite, and quartz porphyry. I had not sufficient time at my disposal when at Oro Grande to study out the somewhat intricate geological problem, and will describe the region in general terms. Commencing at the town of Oro Grande, which stands on the bank of the Mojave River, the country rises in a gentle slope toward the hill half a mile distant; gently rolling hills are reached, which in turn give THE EMBODY MINE.Within half a mile of the town, and on a lower spur or ridge that makes down from the hills, is located the Embody Mine, which, during the excitement at this locality in 1890, attracted considerable attention. The gold-bearing material is quartzose, micaceous rock of somewhat friable character. The deposit, as I may term it, has the appearance of being an impregnation without definite form. Were it not for the fact that the shoot of gold rock makes across the strike of the schists, it would resemble some bedded deposits found at the Homestake, Black Hills, South Dakota, where micaceous schists have been silicified and hornblende schists metamorphosed to chloritic schists, the whole carrying gold across a broad zone 1,600 feet in width and 6,000 feet in length. The gold occurs in shoots or vein-like zones, without defining lines of any character. At the Embody Mine, too, little development has been done to make any positive prediction as to the future of the mine. The formation strikes northeast and southwest, and dips 70° southeast. The country is somewhat broken up, but no considerable masses of shattered rock were observed. The croppings are quite heavily stained with iron oxides of brown and red shades, and this mineralization can be traced some distance. Two shafts, one nearly 100 feet deep, the other about 30 feet, have been sunk on the deposit, exposing rocks of uniform character, all carrying some gold. The width of the gold-bearing zone is undetermined, but it is thought to be from 6 to 20 feet. As far as I learned, a “mill-run” had never been made on the rock from this mine. Mining operations had been stopped and the property involved in some sort of dispute. The value of the rock was given to me as $8 or $10 per ton. THE CARBONATE MINE.The principal mine of this district, and the one which gave the camp its fame, is the Carbonate Mine. It was discovered by a man named Collins, who was working in a lime quarry near by. Collins found croppings of ore—limonite and manganese—containing silver. He developed the property somewhat, but it finally passed into other hands, and is now owned by a Los Angeles company, which has opened the mine quite extensively. The formation which incloses the vein has a general trend northeast and southwest, the dip at the main workings being not over 20°. Here an inclined shaft has been sunk to a depth of 225 feet on the vein. At the bottom the shaft has attained a vertical depth of about 100 feet. The value lies in the lead carbonate and silver which accompany the gangue minerals. The two veins are curiously formed at contact with massive blue limestone and mica schist. The schist is from 1 to 4 feet in width, the ore lying both above and below it, the whole being inclosed between hanging and foot walls of crystalline limestone. At various points in the workings is a light-colored, much decomposed rock, resembling felsite, which has the appearance of having been injected between the strata in a thin sheet. It is a notable fact that where this buff-colored, granular appearing rock occurs in contact with the vein an enrichment of the ore is noticeable, and its absence is marked by the low value of the ore or no ore at all. In this incline, at a depth of 40 feet, a short drift has been run in on ore of good grade. At 180 feet from the collar of the shaft the discovery was made that caused this mine, and, in fact, the entire camp, to become at once the scene of excitement. At this place a small wedge of crystalline, granular quartz and calcite appeared, and with it flakes of free gold. Just below the point of this discovery the wedge widened to several inches, and the rock was a mass of glittering sheets and shot-like pieces of gold. Assays of the material gave fabulous returns. The ore was broken down on canvas, and every ounce of it sacked on the spot. This was followed down some distance, but gradually thinned out below the 200-foot level, where drifts were run, one 50 feet northeast, the other 40 feet southwest. From these drifts considerable rich quartz was obtained. In the southwest drift the formation is badly displaced and broken and the vein is lost, a fault having thrown it, but whether up or down could not be determined, as the adjacent rock was so badly fractured. Ore was found at the face and along the sides of some of the cuttings, and some free gold was found on the 200-foot level in the southwest drift. All work on this part of the mine had been suspended some time prior to my visit, the mine having been enjoined. ORIGIN OF THE VEINS.This question is one which finds its answer, it would seem, in the fact that the sheet of mica schist included between the heavy masses of limestone represents what at one time was possibly a bed of sandy clay or mud, which with the metamorphosis of the region has become a crystalline schist. The planes separating this schist and the limestone above and that below it were evidently planes of weakness, and when the forces which uplifted and fractured the strata exerted themselves these rocks slipped and ground upon each other, causing considerable crushing along these planes; possibly open crevices resulted in some portions. Ore was subsequently deposited in these interstitial spaces, partly by substitution of ore for limestone, no doubt, and partly by precipitation in the crushed mass of lime and schist. The injection of a sheet of felsite into the same plane of weakness can easily be conceived, as such intrusive bodies always follow the lines of least resistance. The extreme richness of the rock, together with its somewhat unusual A FISSURE VEIN.Southwestward from the deposit just described is a vertical shaft 125 feet deep. This shaft has followed down what seems to be a fissure in the limestone, in which lead carbonate, some galena, limonite quartz, calcite, and manganese oxide occur. This ore was worth at Socorro, New Mexico, $50 per ton for the gold, silver, and lead it contained, and it was shipped there in quite large quantities. A large stope commences on the northeast side of the shaft at a depth of 30 feet from the top and extends down to the 114-foot level. Considerable ore was standing in sight in the mine at the time of my visit, but nothing was being done. The company have had to stop work, as the owners of the lime quarry claim to have this property included in their patent. OTHER CLAIMS.There are scores of other claims in this interesting district, but little development has been done on them. Here and there are encouraging prospects, where carbonate of lead and oxide of iron have been found; but on the most promising of these only 10-foot holes have been sunk. The mineral zones are not well defined, and the prospectors have not the capital necessary to systematically prospect the hills. THE SILVER MOUNTAIN DISTRICTIs 5 miles south of Oro Grande. There are a number of claims, the principal one being the Amazon. The formation is similar to that about Oro Grande. In a large dike of diorite occur the ore bodies of the Amazon Mine, which produces copper ores of a fair grade. Several holes were sunk to various depths, ranging from 15 to 30 feet, by the Mormons who settled on the Mojave River years ago. Recently a shaft has been sunk to the depth of 61 feet, and a drift run north 40 feet. The ore is principally copper-iron sulphide (chalcopyrite). The ore in this mine occurs along slips or fault planes. This peculiar class of deposits has been described under the head of the Tiptop Mine, Lava Beds District, in this county, and as the essential features of this mine are similar to those of the Tiptop, repetition here will be unnecessary. I found a greater mineralization of the limestone in this district than about the Oro Grande, though no prospecting has been done here for lead ores. GEM MARBLE QUARRIES.Twelve miles northeast from Victor are the Gem quarries, that produce variegated marbles of great beauty. Shades of yellow, chocolate, black, pale blue, crimson and gray, cream-colored, rose, and white. The markings are such as to produce beautiful effects. The croppings are strong, and the surface material is apparently not at all injured by the exposure of centuries to the elements in a region where nearly all rocks decay and disintegrate rapidly. The outcrop stands boldly above the adjacent country rock from 10 to 20 feet. The entire ledge or belt is made up of bands or beds ranging from 3 to 6 feet in thickness. These The quantity is large, the variety abundant, and the beauty approaches that of rare onyx. With these unusual conditions surrounding the deposit, its marketing should become an industry of no small importance. The difficulties of transportation are not insurmountable. LIME AND GRANITE QUARRIES.Near Oro Grande and Victor several lime quarries are in operation, constantly giving employment to quite a large number of men. Lime is burned in large kilns, which finds a ready market in Southern California. Granite is also extensively quarried near each of these places, and used for building material, curbing, and paving blocks in Southern California cities. This industry employs, all told, about one hundred men. THE KENT MINE.Three miles from Hinkley Station, on the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, between Barstow and Mojave, is located the Kent Mine, a vein covered by two claims. A shaft 80 feet deep and some superficial development have exposed the ore, which varies from 3 to 10 feet in width. The gangue is a rather fine-grained, granular quartz, containing galena and lead carbonate. Assays in gold and silver are obtainable anywhere in the vein. The highest grade carries lead 70 per cent, gold $25, silver 24 ounces. Some of the ore assaying low in lead contains gold and silver in paying quantities. The property is in a prospective stage only, but is promising. Water can be obtained near the mine, and fuel is but 8 miles distant. The owner bonded the property in May, 1892, and it is at this writing being developed by the prospective purchasers. The ore is of such character that by sorting a milling ore may be obtained, the high-grade lead ore making a very good smelting material. THE BLACK HAWK DISTRICT.Three years ago the Black Hawk District, 40 miles east of Victor, on the north side of the San Bernardino range, attracted considerable attention through the extensive operations of an English syndicate at those mines. Development was in progress at that time, and it was planned to build a sixty-stamp mill. The quantity of gold rock, however, proved to be smaller than had been anticipated, and a small experimental mill was built; but from a short time after the completion of this mill to date all operations have been suspended, and the probability of the resumption of work is not bright. The gold occurred in a reddish oxide of iron in bunches and stringers scattered through a crushed zone of limestone, lying along the flank of the mountains. A party, who for a time was in charge of the property, informed the writer that he had worked the rock without sorting, had endeavored to sort it, and had tried screening it, but that notwithstanding every precaution was taken, he had concluded that it could not be SILVER REEF DISTRICT.Four miles northeast of the Black Hawk Mines, lying down on the desert, is a formation of limestone and quartzite, resting on a massive crystalline rock, containing quartz, feldspar, biotite-mica, and hornblende. This reef extends from the mouth of Texas CaÑon out upon the plain, sloping downward at an angle of approximately 5° for a distance of 4 miles, where it terminates in a bluff 40 to 100 feet in height. Along the entire eastern edge of this deposit it drops off abruptly as though sharply eroded. At the northern end the reef is faced by a low range of hills composed of the above-mentioned hornblende rock. From this point it swings west and with irregular outline extends for 5 or 6 miles toward Rabbit Springs. The entire area, fully 25 square miles, is cut by gulches varying from 20 to 150 feet or more in depth, that have been eroded through the strata and down into the underlying crystalline rocks. These caÑons seem to have resulted from natural drainage, being started by slight depressions in the rolling plateau of limestone. On the extreme northern edge at one point, hills of considerable size have been formed by the folding and tilting of the strata. The limestone has been subjected to violent compression, as the whole area is faulted and broken into millions of fragments. I have examined not less than twenty mining claims on the reef and traveled over the greater part of its area, and am sure I never saw a single piece of limestone that would weigh 300 pounds, most of the pieces measuring under 6 or 8 inches. Considerable masses along certain zones have been granulated, and even pulverized. This fractured rock has all since been loosely cemented by the infiltration of carbonate of lime into the seams. Geologists who have examined this peculiar deposit do not agree entirely upon its mode of formation. Some believe it to be the result of chemical precipitation of carbonate of lime from calcareous springs, similar to the Formation Springs in the Yellowstone Park. There are many things about Silver Reef which would at once suggest the probability of this mode of deposit, but I am very doubtful that such a theory will stand a thorough investigation. It was asserted that at one time a shaft sunk in the reef passed through the lime deposit and into the “wash” of the desert beneath. On investigation I found that the lime had indeed been cut through, but the underlying rock proved to be crystalline hornblende rock in place, though somewhat decomposed. At any rate it was not desert “wash.” Over considerable areas the lime is underlaid by a stratum of quartzite of variable thickness, less than a foot in some places, and again in others 10 or 12 feet. Over certain limited areas quartzite is wanting altogether. The lime is mostly crystalline, varying in color. A small portion is as white as snow, the greater part is gray or bluish, and some of it black. THE ORE DEPOSITS.For fully 8 miles along the irregular front of the reef silver ores are found. The ore deposits are usually discovered by the cherty masses of silicious rock, which, being harder than the limestone, stand out from its weathered surface in bunches and small, vein-like masses. Often in The ore occurs usually as bunches, sheets, or stringers, which “roll” more or less, but in a general way follow the stratification of the limestone downward. These stringers are from 4 inches to 2 feet in thickness, pinching and swelling both longitudinally and on their extension downward. The average of the ores thus far found is probably about $50 per ton. The mines have all been opened by the discoverers, who are men of limited means, and no systematic exploration for larger ore bodies has ever been made. They may exist, though there is no surface indication that such is the case. At one claim, No. 9, I took a large sample for 20 feet across the mineralized zone and found it to assay 11 ounces silver with $2 in gold. This rock was taken from a shallow cut 4 feet in width and 5 feet deep, 20 feet long. The ore deposits occur without exception in zones of limestone that have been crushed into small fragments, together with much very fine material. In a few places I found in contact or close to the ores what appeared to be a thin intrusive sheet of rock of undoubted igneous origin. The original nature of this rock could not be determined, as it was very much decomposed and bleached. It looked like the white porphyry of Leadville more than anything else I could liken it to, and to a great extent has, doubtless, been the source from which the minerals of the ore deposits were derived. In many places the quartzite which underlies the lime rock contains galena, lead carbonate, wulfenite, zinc-blende, iron sulphide, copper, gold, and silver. Some of this rock contains sufficient lead to be classed as a smelting ore. The ores of the limestone deposits are chiefly chloride of silver and embolite (chloro-bromide of silver), which is usually accompanied by copper carbonate, sometimes a copper-silver sulphide, wulfenite, lead, and iron in various forms, in a gangue of calcite and quartz, with occasionally manganese oxide. Hornsilver in crystals has been found in the fracture joints and in small cavities of a pure blue limestone, taken from a shaft on one of the claims at the east edge of the district. Pasadena, Riverside, Daggett, and Victor people are the principal owners of claims. Timber can be obtained in the main range 5 or 6 miles back of the mines, and abundance of water can be had from the caÑons in the neighboring mountains or from Old Woman’s Springs, 2½ miles east of the principal claims on the reef. Altogether the district is a most interesting one geologically and also financially, as the high grade of some of the ore had induced the claim owners to sink considerable money in the development of their mines. THE GAVILAN MINES.On the San Jacinto estate, which is owned by an English syndicate, are located the old Gavilan Mines, which years ago produced from quartz veins considerable gold, the rock being first crushed in numerous arrastras, the beds of which, to the number of fifty or more, are still The veins of the Gavilan Mines are not large, but of good grade, occurring in a granitoid rock. Black tourmaline in a feldspathic and quartz gangue frequently accompanies the gold-bearing rock. The Mexicans worked a large shoot down to the water-line, and judging from the size and number of the dumps these old workings must have been of great extent. The Riverside people had sunk a new shaft at the extreme south end of the mine 180 feet in depth. The entire region is cut by large feldspathic and granitic veins, which course in every direction. These veins are doubtless intrusive dikes of the variety of granite called pegmatite. White scales of muscovite occur sparingly, but tourmaline is abundant. Forty-five miles from Fenner, on the line of the A. & P. R. R., in the eastern part of the county, near the Nevada State line, is the Vanderbilt District. It lies between Palm District and Ivanpah, at an elevation of 6,000 feet above the sea. Numerous claims have been located on the veins of the district and considerable development done. Messrs. Patton, Taggert & Hall own eight promising claims, which it is their purpose to develop extensively. A shaft 4½ by 6½ feet has been sunk on the vein to a depth of 60 feet, besides which a number of shafts of lesser depth and numerous open cuts have been made, all exposing ore of good grade. The vein is of the branching kind. The veins vary from 5 to 30 feet in width, striking east and west, with a dip to the north of 60°. The gangue is quartz, honey-combed at the surface from the oxidation of the sulphurets it originally contained, small disseminated crystals of which (iron, lead, and copper) begin to show in the rock from the deepest parts of the workings. Some of the rock contains a high percentage of lead in the form of galena and carbonate, but it occurs mostly in bunches and is not evenly distributed through the rock. A shipment of 6,963 pounds to the sampling works at Kingman, Arizona, returned an average assay value of $17350 per ton, most of which was gold. Another lot averaged $44. Near the above described property Messrs. Simmons & Roberts have sunk three shafts to a depth of 40 feet each, and Campbell & Beatty put down a shaft 100 feet, all in ore of a character and value similar to that found in the other mines. Both wood and water are obtainable in the district, pine timber growing on the hills, and a good stream of water is flowing down into the desert only 1¼ miles distant from these mines. With the character and grade of the ores found in these veins, and the advantages of wood and water, it would seem that these mines THE IBEX MINE.Among the mines that have attracted unusual attention in this county during the past year, the Ibex Mine stands prominently in the front rank. It is located 3½ miles from Ibex Station, on the line of the A. & P. R. R., and not over 11 miles north from The Needles. The Ibex property is in the Ibex Mining District, and consists of seven claims, which were located in 1888, now owned by residents of Riverside and San Bernardino. The principal claim is called the Ibex. The vein strikes east and west, dipping at an angle of 45°. Two shafts, one 60 feet and one 52 feet, had been sunk at the time this information was obtained. At the bottom of the 52-foot shaft a drift 38 feet in length has been run on the vein. Surface cuts and trenches are quite numerous on the several claims, and a large amount of quartz containing gold had been exposed. Free gold could be seen in considerable quantity in some of the porous quartz. The quartz is thoroughly crystalline, showing many cavities as a result of the decomposition and leaching out of the sulphuretted minerals it originally contained. These cavities are all lined with minute quartz crystals, which have been deposited evidently since the removal of the sulphides. Rock of this description is full of gold, seemingly. It is so loose in texture that careless handling shakes out the golden grains. John Anderson, of San Bernardino, one of the owners, volunteered the information that from 2 to 4 feet of this rock sampled $100 to $150 per ton. The owners had determined the latter part of April to ship this free-milling ore to The Needles, where a mill was being constructed. Some of the quartz from the lowest workings contains small crystals of pyrite and chalcopyrite, but it would still be classed as an ore susceptible of free amalgamation. The Ibex property had a promising look in the spring of 1892. Its further development will be looked to with great interest by all interested in desert mines. MONTE NEGRAS DISTRICT.Near the south boundary of San Bernardino County, and about 75 miles directly east of Mount San Bernardino, a new mining district has been organized within the past two years, and considerable development work accomplished by the claim owners, who, as usual, are men of limited means. This district is 22 miles northeast of Cottonwood Springs, 16 miles north of Eagle Mountain, and about 6 miles south from Virginia Dale. The belt is about 1½ miles in width and 5 miles in length. The veins trend north and south. This new district, which has been named the Monte Negras, or Black Mountain District, has attracted considerable attention by the discovery in one of the claims of nuggets of gold and quartz of extreme richness. At the time of this discovery some newspapers in this county published the report that the mythical “Pegleg Smith” Mine had actually been found, which only added to the excitement produced by the bringing into San Bernardino of several hundred dollars worth of specimens. I visited this new district in the month of May, 1892, and spent several days in making an examination of the claims and adjacent country. The Monte Negras camp is on the south side of the range of hills 45 miles northeast of Walters Station, on the line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, being reached by a fair desert road. By fair I mean a heavy, but not rough or hilly road. Walters Station is nearly 200 feet below the level of the sea. From that point every foot of the way is up hill, till a divide near Cottonwood Springs is reached, at an altitude of 3,157 feet, the distance being 27 miles; from there to the foot of the wash, which extends 2 or 3 miles from the base of the mountains, down hill 19 miles, where the altitude is 1,300 feet. The altitude of the camp is 1,520 feet. All the mines lying back in the mountains are at higher, though varying, altitudes, the greatest elevation being 3,500 feet, at the Ramona. The neighboring peaks rise from 200 to 800 feet higher. This district is distant about 35 miles from Cadiz, on the line of the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. I have never traveled the road, and know nothing of it, although I am told it is a good desert road. Wood is not obtainable at all in the vicinity of the mines, and water is scarce, but has been obtained by sinking a well in a basin at Virginia Dale, a few miles north of these mines. A shaft was sunk 140 feet in the wash 3 miles south of the most southerly Monte Negras mines, but no water was obtained. Bedrock was not reached at the depth mentioned, but it is not unlikely water may be secured by continuing this shaft downward. I mention all these drawbacks to what I otherwise believe to be promising property, because I think the difficulties may be offset by the fact that the ore is high grade. The Monte Negras uplift consists, as far as my observation extended, entirely of eruptive rocks, diorite, quartz porphyry, and fine-grained more or less porphyritic rocks, cut by later dikes of felsite and dark-green or black diorite. Epidote occurs in great quantity throughout the region, usually associated with micaceous iron ore, which is found in the form of veins and bunches everywhere. The iron ores contain no precious metals, and are of no economic importance. The region, although entirely eruptive, and in part volcanic (large fields of basalt occurring on the western slopes) is in the immediate vicinity of a large hill called Pinto, or Painted Mountain, which is made up of metamorphic strata, chloritic and hornblende rocks, quartzite and mica schist predominating. The mineral-bearing veins of the Monte Negras District are all of the fissure type, and are mostly quite simple in form. The gangue is quartz, carrying iron and copper sulphurets, and the secondary products of those minerals, iron oxide and copper carbonate, with gold and silver. No lead or zinc was observed. The economic value of the ore lies almost, evidently, in its gold contents, the silver occurring so sparingly as to amount to very little. The bullion obtained from these ores is worth about $17 per ounce. The ore ranges in value from $20 to over $100 per ton. Observations on the principal mines of this district, viz.: Great Eastern, Venus, Columbus, Summit, Porcupine, Schiller, Hillerman, Annie Rooney, Ethel, Republican, Ramona, McKinley Bill, and Revenue, have to be omitted in order to condense the report. |
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