Mining in Inyo County

Mining in Inyo County. . , Early prospectors found promising outcrops in Inyo County. In 1861 the Russ Mining District was formed on the west slope of the Inyo Mountains between Lone Pine and Independence. The most significant mine in the district is the Reward Mine, which was a major producer of gold and silver along with some lead and copper. Other major mines in Inyo County are Cerro Gordo, a silver-lead-copper and tungsten mine, and the Darwin Mine, a lead-copper-zinc mine, Pine Creek mine, a tungsten mine, as well as the Keane Wonder and Skidoo mines, major gold producers. Ore specimens from the Reward Mine and Cerro Gordo are on display here. , Inyo County has been a prolific producer of nonmetallic commodities, including talc, dolomite, borates, sulfur, soda products, and salt. Specimens of dolomite, talc and borate on display here. The dolomite is from mines at the south end of the Inyo Mountains, the talc is from the Talc City Hills near Darwin, and the borate is colemanite from the Lila C Mine in Death Valley National Park. , Among the picturesque remnants of mining in Inyo County are the tramways and other conveyances used to move ore from rugged mountainsides and remote valleys to processing plants or railheads. The Saline Valley Salt Tram transported salt over the Inyo Mountains to Tramway, near Swansea, intermittently from 1913 to the 1930s. A monorail was constructed in 1924 and transported magnesium sulfate (Epsom Salts) for two years from the Owlshead Mountains in what is now restricted military land, 28 miles to Magnesia near Trona. , All that glitters is not gold or silver. Two large blocks of rock composed of aragonite, calcite and clay minerals were donated to the museum by the Sunshine Mining Company which operated the Snow Caps Mine, six miles east of Independence. A letter from the mining company on file in the Museum states these are ore bearing rocks typical of the ore body at the mine. There is no evidence in these rocks indicating the presence of metallic mineralization. Not surprisingly, there is no record of production for the Snow Caps Mine.