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Mine Description: As best as I can determine, what was once the Ingomar (and Milford No. 2) Mines. Discovered in the 1880's, it was active until around the 1920's, and then again until the late 1940's or early 1950's under a different name, the Milford 2. When it was in operation it was a lead-zinc mine. This extensive operation that had four separate mine shafts spaced several hundred feet apart up a steep hillside that still has the remains of a cable run that ran the full length of the mountain to carry the ore down. Most of the workings are on the crest, 800' to 1000' feet above the near-by valleys. They are accessible only by rugged trails, and on both sides of the ridge aerial tramways have been constructed from the principle tunnels to ore bins in the valleys.
The Ingomar claim was first located about 1884 by Jonas Taylor and was relocated several times before 1904, when D. W. Johnson undertook to mine ore. In 1915 it was sold to S. S. Arentz and W. A. Perkins for around $8,500. These owners worked the property until February 1919, and it was idle until May 1923. The principle workings of the Ingomar claim are three tunnels whose total length is about 1000 feet. Total production of the Ingomar mine was about 4,030 tons, largely zinc and mixed lead-zinc ore.
The Milford No. 2 claim was located in 1904 by Jesse Jones, but most of the present work was done after it was bought by Arentz. The principal tunnel on the Milford No. 2 claim is 450 feet long from which ore has been mined from three small stopes. During 1924 and 1925 G. L. McIntyre mined mixed lead and zinc ore from a tunnel 700 feet southeast of this 450 foot tunnel. Total production of the Milford No. 2 was about 450 tons, mostly lead ore.
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| 11/08/2012 Trip Notes: Leaving Route 161, Sandy Valley Rd heads west, following along an area that is known as the Columbia Pass, between the southern end of the Spring Mountain range and the Table Mountain range on its way towards the town of Sandy Valley. There are literally dozens of old mines scattered throughout the mountains in this area, many visible from the road, others buried deep with the ranges. On today’s trip half the group headed to this mine while the rest of us decided to hike further up the road to the Whale Mine. Both of these mines are located on the north side of the road (Fig. 02) about 6 miles west of Goodsprings, about half a mile north of Sandy Valley, in Clark County. Because I hiked this mine on our last trip, refer to the 02/16/2012 trip notes below for pictures and information. |
02/16/2012 Trip Notes: I really enjoyed my first hike to this area a year ago and have been looking forward to coming back ever since. The hills and mountains around Sandy Valley and Goodsprings are pock-marked with numerous old mines; some quite extensive while many others are just 10 foot prospect holes. Silver was discovered in the area in 1861. Between 1868 and 1882 lead and gold were also discovered in Goodsprings. Both Goodsprings and the Sandy Valley road area were very active in lead and zinc mining during WW1. However, due to falling demand and prices, by WW2 very few mines remained active.
Anchored at the bottom of the hill (Fig. 03), the cable ran up to the highest adit (mine entrance) at the top of the hill – top center of (Fig. 01). The ore from the mine was placed into an ore cart and then the cart was dumped into a "basket" and brought back down the mountain via the cable where it was then dropped into a truck and taken to be processed. A rough estimate of the distance from the base to the highest mine entrance is about 1,000 yards. (Fig. 04) is the first mine entrance we came to about one-third of the way up the mountain. I climbed in a short ways a took a picture looking out (Fig. 05) facing towards Sandy Valley. The view in the last picture above was taken looking southwest towards the valley – the mountains in the background are actually the Mesquite Mountains in California.
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| (Fig. 03) |
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| (Fig. 04) |
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| (Fig. 05) |
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