Chile Mill

Chile Mill. . Soon after gold was discovered in California, many experienced gold miners came to California from Chile in 1848 and 1849. They introduced the Chilean wheel, which crushed ore beneath heavy round stones., This mill was identical in design to mills used in Palestine during biblical times for crushing olives, and was familiar to European gold miners as early as the 16th century., Chilean wheels were used in Chile, Peru, Mexico, etc. This was part of the Mexican patio process for extracting silver and gold., Inset Images: , Gold Rush miners soon adapted the simple stone mill to process more ore, using waterpower and machinery in larger arrays with several stones., Stone mills were used widely at the Franciscan Missions or haciendas in early California to crush olives and grapes., The Chile Mill was no more efficient than the Arrastre and few were used., Old stone olive crushing mill: San Fernando Mission ruin, 1898, Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park