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Area Description: For a more detailed description of the Goodsprings Mining District, go to my page titled, Goodsprings Mining District. As you can see from the map in (Fig. 01) there are literally dozens of prospects, mines, shafts and adits in the Goodsprings' Mining District in the southern end of the Spring Mountain Range south of the town. The majority of these are accessed from two 4WD roads that run off of Sandy Valley Road and Nevada 161. Table Mountain Road which runs south off of Sandy Valley Road provides access to, among others, the Surprise, Columbia, Argentena, Lookout and Mountain Top mines. An unnamed 4WD road opposite the Goodsprings Bypass Road on Nevada 161 runs south through the Goodsprings and Ivanpah valleys', and provides access to the Lincoln, Ireland, Houghton, Star, Monte Cristo, Portor, Accident, Bullion and Valentine mines, as well as dozens more prospects, adits and unnamed mines. The vast majority of the mines in this portion of the Goodsprings Mining District are in the mountains west of Porter Wash as seen in the (Fig. 03) cutout. Though this was our intended area of focus, exploring three mines before we got there only left us with enough time to explore one of these, the Bullion Mine. With nearly a half-dozen mines left to still explore, we will definitely have to make another visit here.
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| 09/06/2013 Trip Notes: Even though by mid-afternoon we were surrounded by a series of storm cells that deposited heavy rain and lightening all around us, we spent over 6 hours driving around this area locating, hiking and exploring a handful of the many mines located in this region. Fortunately, we didn't get rained upon until we got back to the truck and started loading up the Rhino. Towards the end of the day, we finally reached the area in (Fig. 03) and it's many mine sites, the majority of which requiring strenuous hikes 400-500 feet up mountainsides in order to reach them. Because our time appeared limited due to impending storms, we surveyed the landscape and picked out one of the largest, the Bullion Mine, and headed in its direction. Even if we spent another full day here, we still wouldn't have enough time to adequately explore all of the many mines located here. Even though we only drove and hiked around one of these mines, I have provided descriptions to the majority of them with the hopes of adding more pictures after a return trip to the area. |
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Unnamed Mine Near Crystal Pass (Map Fig. 02): About 2-1/2 miles in from NV-161 we made two right turns (Fig. 02) that led us up a wash (Fig. 05) towards a saddle known as Crystal Pass and a large mine site (Figs. 04 & 05) three-quarters of the way up the mountain on the east side of the wash. As it turned out, this unnamed mine, now a total of about 4 miles out, turned out to be the find of the day. From its lower opening (Fig. 06) (elv 3,754 feet), it tunneled upwards 125 feet along the ridgeline to a final elevation of about 3,875 feet. Shortly after entering the lower tunnel (Fig. 07), I observed sunlight coming from the roof of the tunnel up ahead (Fig. 08). Shortly, I was able to look skyward through an opening (Fig. 09) that appeared to have been the result of a cave in many years ago. As we worked our way through the various tunnels, we found no less than three side shafts that led to the outer edge of the ridge. It appeared that these may have been created to make it easier to get the ore and excess materials out of the tunneling operations. The last two tunnel sections still had the remains of some small gauge ore cart rails (Figs. 10, 11 & 12). When we reached the end of the longest tunnel it split into two separate tunnels (Fig. 13); The one to the right was rather short, so Harvey decided to venture a short distance into the one on the left. After scaring up a few bats that flew by us at amazing speed and out the opening (Fig. 14) behind us, we decided it was time to leave. Because this final opening was so high, we were unable to exit the mine here and had to backtrack until we were able to find another ground level opening (Figs. 15 & 16). The view in (Fig. 17) is looking south from the main entrance. Located to the southeast of Primm, notice the dry Ivanpah lakebed in the distance. Considering the extensive operation that went on here, I am surprised that I have been unable to find anything pertaining to its identification.
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Lincoln Mine (Map Fig. 02): The next mine that we visited was the Lincoln Mine (Fig. 18), located on a low ridge adjacent to Ivanpah Valley and before the Porter Wash. Because we didn't have a light, it was impossible to determine how far the adit (Fig. 19) went. To right of this mine we found a couple of level foundation areas (Fig. 20) that may have been used for platformed miner's tents. Along the sides of the large tailing pile we found the largest pile of Malacite* (Fig. 21) that we have ever seen anywhere. Five of the seven claims found here were located by E.W. Lincoln and others in 1905. Its total production has been estimated around 60 tons of ore. Most of the ore shipped has contained about 12 per cent of copper and 15 ounces of silver to the ton, but one lot of 2,700 pounds shipped by J.A. Egger in 1917, contained 97 ounces of silver to the ton. The principal working is an inclined shaft 350 feet long, which begins with a slope of 16 degrees, but attains a maximum of 35 degrees near the end.
*Malachite, a.k.a. Molochites, Green Copper, Mountain and Green Malachite, is the most common secondary mineral found in the oxidized zones of copper deposits. Its color is Bright green, with crystals deeper shades of green, even vary dark to nearly black; green to yellowish green in transmitted light. Not a hard ore, it has a tenacity to be brittle. It is closely related to Azurite, another secondary copper mineral frequently found in the oxidized zones of Copper-bearing ore deposits. Azurite is typically found as tabular to prismatic crystals of a deep "azure blue" color with resplendent vitreous faces.
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Ireland Mine (Map Fig. 03): Driving about two miles south along the western edge of Ivanpah Valley (Fig. 03), the third site that we explored was that of the Ireland Mine, a grouping of small prospects, pits, adits, and incline shafts that sit on top of a small, rocky knoll. This large knoll (Fig. 22) is home to nearly a half-dozen mine sites, though we only took the time to look at one of them (Fig. 23). All of its mines here appear to have long ago been scoured of any signs of equipment & materials. As with many of the mines in this area, there is little information available that I've been able to find. However, I did find a site that listed the primary metal being mined here as Lead, Copper, and Zinc.
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Accident Mine (Map Fig. 03): As the road began to head west, crossing Porter Wash, we were presented with views of no less than three large tailing sites, each located high up on the mountain sides in front of us. Located a quarter mile north-northwest, behind the Bullion Mine and out of our view, is the Accident Mine, probably the largest mine in the area, The main mine was located in 1901, though little work was done until 1911. The mine has several openings, but most of the ore was produced by the main tunnel. The minerals extracted were gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. Lead and zinc were the primarily minerals removed, and the others were beneficial byproducts of the zinc & lead extractions. By all accounts it appears to have been active around the same time as all the other mines in the area; it may have also been active in the 1930s (Great Depression), as it appears to have been operated on a very tight budget (light 10-pound mining rails, nails instead of rail spikes, and many other shortcuts). It definitely operated in the 1920s or 1930s, since welded joints are prevalent in some of the structural metals found on site. It is located in an extremely rugged and remote location, on the face of a cliff, roughly 400 feet above the floor of the wash. Reaching the mine itself would require a a very long & strenuous hike. |
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Bullion Mine (Map Fig. 03): The Bullion Mine is located less than a quarter mile southeast of the Accident Mine near the top of a prominent spur that extends eastward from the range, 500 feet above Porter Wash (Fig. 24). The mine was located in 1900 by W.H. Smith, and was sold to S.E. Yount and George Fayle in 1912 for $3,000. They built a mill here in 1913 and sold it in 1916 to the Bullion Mining Company in Salt Lake City UT. The workings include north and south tunnels, which lead directly into a maze of stopes that may be followed downward and westward to their lower termination along the second level. From the north tunnel a winze inclined at an average of 27 degrees and bearing north-northwest connects with a level about 100 feet lower than the tunnel. Below the second level the main shaft, which was largely destroyed in the course of mining at higher levels, steepens and continues westward at an inclination near 68 degrees. It connects with three short levels, the lowest of which is 60 feet below the second level and about 115 feet below the portal of the north tunnel. Most of the production was from 1913 to 1927. During its operation, it produced 3,870 tons of crude ore containing gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. (Fig. 25) is a close-up of the hoist structure at the top of the mountain. Though we spent considerable time exploring its lower areas, which included the foundation remains of the mill (Fig. 26), and the discovery of another mine shaft (Fig. 27) on the backside of the mountain, we didn't have enough time to hike to the top. Of the six mines that boarder the west side of Porter Wash along this mountain range (Fig. 03), this is the only one that we actually got to hike around on today's trip.
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Valentine Mine (Fig. 03): The Valentine mine is a quarter of a mile south of the Anchor mill near the top of a steep slope overlooking Porter Wash. A foot trail leads to the portal of the main working, about 500 feet above the wash. From what I have learned, it has several stopes, some 50-foot deep, and shafts, some inclined at 39-degrees and up to 310 feet long. Obviously, the mining here was quite extensive. Though we were able to see this mine and its tailing's high up on the mountain cliffs, the ever approaching storm (Fig. 28) prevented us from going there on today’s trip.
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