Little-known Santa Rosa mine, SILVER, Owens & Death Valley, Inyo Calif, RARE 1st

Description

Rare 1st ed. report and color maps describe
little-known Inyo mine near Owens Valley, CA
Santa Rosa mine was major high-desert money maker;
maps show more than 1,000 feet of underground workings
T
his rare first-edition report leads you to a mine that's almost unknown to Death Valley and Owens Valley outsiders — the Santa Rosa.
Panel of three-color map in pocket, showing mine buildings:
Geologic map and sections of the Santa Rosa Mine area, Inyo County, California.
Real map is about 14 by 18 inches.
Yes, the world-famous lead/silver lodes of Darwin and Cerro Gordo are nearby, but few know about this mine, described in the report for sale here:
Geology of the Santa Rosa
Lead Mine, Inyo County, California
.
The Santa Rosa was not some insignificant dinky pocket deposit, but the
sixth largest
lead producer in California history. Like many lead deposits, the Santa Rosa also gave silver and gold — 426,543 ounces in fine silver alone.
Untapped gold and silver?
Is there any gold and silver still left to be recovered? I would bet money on it. Refining techniques in the '50s were abyssmal, often only recovering 50% of available ore. Not to mention, silver and gold went for much less money back then. Miners routinely skipped over anything but the richest paydirt, leaving ore behind that today would be considered hugely economic.
Increasingly rare
Copies of this 62-year-old (1953) first edition are increasingly rare. I used to run into one or two a year. Not any more. I bought three as part of a collection in 2013; this is the last one I have left. So buy it now or forever hold your peace. Once it's gone; it's gone.
We have many MANY more rare mining books! Just visit our ebay store, Rare Mining Books:
http://stores.ebay.com/Rare-Mining-Books?_rdc=1
This is a first edition with both REAL maps (NOT copies) in the rear pocket and everything in very good condition. No serious collection of Death Valley historical source literature is complete without this report on a little-known but
major
high-desert money maker.
Some paper items from the Santa Rosa mine have sold recently on ebay. The items (bills, letters, etc.) give Keeler, California, as the mine location.
Wrong!
Keeler was only the mine's business office, which makes sense because much of the ore was shipped from Keeler via the now-defunct Carson and Colorado Railroad, the West's last narrow gauge.
Mine is in remote desert wilderness
The actual mine is miles away from Keeler, in remote Mojave Desert wilderness, just outside the border of Death Valley National Park. The road to the mine is easily accessed, even by passenger car — if you know where it is. And this book tells you where it is and more.
Small photo from report shows buildings at mine over 50 years ago.
This report, by Edward M. MacKevett, contains a wealth of information on mine locations (there are several in the area), subterranean workings, mine production, minerals mined, mine geology and geology of the Santa Rosa operation. Like other sought-after mining books about Inyo County and the Death Valley area, the maps from the pocket are arguably the real prize here, especially if you were the high bidder on those Santa Rosa paper items. These maps and the paper items would look
great
framed, all nicely grouped together.
The maps (see photos above and below) are handsome examples of geologic cartography with pleasing colors and nicely executed calligraphy. As would be expected for the state's sixth-largest lead producer, subterranean workings were extensive. The two three-color maps from the rear pocket document more than 1,000 feet of adits and shafts.
Where is it?
Well, obviously if I tell you where the mine is, there wouldn't be any reason for you to buy the report. But as I mentioned, the Santa Rosa is in the high desert above Owens Valley, a few miles from the western border of recently expanded Death Valley National Park. About 220 highway miles northeast of Los Angeles, California. Nearest town with services is Lone Pine in Owens Valley, about 48 miles away. (The tiny town of Keeler, on the northeast edge of Owens Dry Lake is closer, as is Darwin, but both lack any services.)
Lone Pine is about 16 miles from the Inyo county seat of Independence and 55 miles from Kern County. Nearest towns with supermarkets and chain stores are Ridgecrest and Bishop, CA, both about 80–90 highway miles away.
Small detail of three-color map in pocket:
Underground workings of the Santa Rosa Mine, Inyo County, California.
Real map is about 23 by 22 inches.
The book:
Geology of the Santa Rosa Lead Mine, Inyo County, California
, Special Report 34, May 1953, by Edward M. MacKevett, prepared in cooperation with the United States Geological Survey, State of California, Division of Mines, San Francisco, first edition, nine pages. Stapled binding, stiff paper covers, in very good condition, except for front and rear slightly sunned covers (common with these reports). Stamps and sticker on cover. Bumped corners. Inside pages are in very good to near fine condition as are the maps, one of the absolute best copies that I have seen. NICE condition.
As always, I am
extremely
conservative about rating book condition and very detailed in listing any potential flaw, no
matter how slight. You get what you pay for. If you want a trashed book — filled with scribbled notes, dog-eared pages and underlined passages that the seller just "somehow forgot" to tell you about in his ad — then look elsewhere on ebay.
Payment methods and domestic shipping
Paypal only. I pride myself on bulletproof packaging and ship in sturdy cardboard boxes or reinforced envelopes.
The fine print:
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the item or terms of sale.
I post feedback once a week. Not responsible for typographical errors.
Good luck and thanks for looking!
Where is Inyo County?
Inyo County is in eastern California, bordering Nevada, about halfway between the Mexican border and Oregon. Counties adjacent to Inyo are Mono, Fresno, Tulare, Kern and San Bernardino; nearby counties include: Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Tuolumne and Alpine.
Towns, population areas and interesting sites in Inyo County include Aberdeen, the Alabama Hills, Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, Badwater, Ballarat, Big Pine, Bishop, Cartago, Cerro Gordo, China Lake Naval Weapons Center, Coso Junction, Darwin, Death Valley Junction, Dolomite, Dunmovin, Eureka Sand Dunes, Fossil Falls, Furnace Creek, Haiwee Reservoir, Independence, Keeler, Laws, Lake Sabrina, Little Lake, Lone Pine, Mt. Whitney, Olancha, Owens Lake, Panamint Springs, Pearsonville, Saline Valley, Scotty's Castle, Shoshone, Stovepipe Wells, Swansea, Tecopa and Ubehebe Crater.
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