Mariposa County gold, Calif, NO BETTER BOOK, 220 mines, OLD rare, BIG sep. maps

Description

NEW RAIN = NEW GOLD
Rare old 1st-edition report pinpoints all
gold mines in Mariposa County, California
Lists more than 220 gold mines; pinpoints most with exact
coordinates; also discusses mining history, mine output!
First one of these listed in YEARS; buy it before it's gone
All gold mines
— Almost every one of these numbers is a gold mine, over 220 mines in all. And this is just a small portion of the big separate map that comes with this book. Plus, these numbers are keyed to descriptions in the book, descriptions that tell you everything you need to know about each one of these mines.
Y
ou could visit one mine a day for SEVEN MONTHS, and you still wouldn't see all the Mariposa County gold mines in this rare first-edition book
.
And whether you're prospecting, nugget hunting, panning, sluicing or whatever — all the spring rains mean NEW GOLD. That's right, gold that hasn't been seen in milleniums is now on the surface. You can let someone else have all the gold and all the fun, or you can buy this book and find out where to look. Or don't buy the book, and wander around aimlessly for days, finding nothing.
Besides the Inyo and San Diego County mining reports, this is our most sought-after California mining report — and we haven't found one to relist in years. So buy it now, or forever hold your peace!
Want to know what's at the end of this adit leading into the Horseshoe mine? This book has that — and detailed info on over 220 other mines as well.
This 63-year-old report locates
every known gold mine
— over 220 of them — in 1957 Mariposa County, California. And it's in FABULOUS near-fine condition. You will NOT find a better copy ever at any price.
MANY of these mines are on public lands and are open to prospecting and exploration. If the mine is on public lands, you do NOT need permission to metal detect, pan for gold or pull samples for gold content.
This is not some tourist piece of junk available in every Mariposa gift shop. This is a hard-to-find first edition, totally out of print. It is an official report originally put out and put together by the State of California. What's more: It's in GORGEOUS condition. Just some minor crumpling along the bottom rear back cover (see condition details later in ad).
Still a shipload of gold left
By the time of this report, Mariposa had produced over million dollars of gold. And remember ... That's at 1957 prices. At today's prices, that's 4 million of gold.
And the county is still not mined out. As the book says: "A majority of the mines has not been exhausted of ore ..."
Read that sentence again, kids
: The state is saying that there's more than 0 million in gold still lying around, just waiting for you to come and dig it up or pan it out.
So what are you waiting for? Buy this book for a few measly bucks and go out and make millions!
Most detailed Mariposa report ever published
And it is probably the largest, most-detailed report on Mariposa gold mining ever published by the state division of mines. This book is considered primary source material; much of this info is available
nowhere else
. And the book itself is in very good condition, one of the best copies that I have seen of this rare fragile title. So buy it now or forever hold your peace. Once it's gone, it's gone.
Heart of the Mother Lode
We're not talking descriptions of a few dinky little prospect pits here. Many of the mines are located in the Mother Lode, which directly crosses Mariposa County. Besides the Mother Lode, there are "numerous other gold- and copper-bearing ledges" in Hunter Valley, near Hornitos, and south toward Ramon in Madera County.
Gold mines described
Here are just a few of the gold mines described in the text:
Adelaide and Anderson mines
, four miles south of Coulterville — Most of the important workings are at the north end of the claim near the main ore shoot. Massive milky quartz is prominently exposed on the surface. Other vein matter includes "a banded or ribbon structure of alternating quartz and slate or quartz and talcose serpentine layers." So now you know exactly what type of rock historically has been gold-bearing at this site. No need to waste time crushing the barren worthless stuff.
Bondurant mine
, 12 miles northeast of Coulterville — Second oldest patented mine in the county; one of the major mines of the Coulterville district,
has two tunnel locations and one mill site. Original claims were located in 1855; several quartz ledges, up to 15 feet wide, all with slate walls. Currently inactive (1957 data).
William Brothers mine
(photo at right), one mile west of El Portal — The five-stamp mill has a capacity of one ton per hour. Ore is crushed in an eight-inch jaw crusher. Sulfide concentrates will be saved for future smelter shipment.
Colorado mine
, near Saxon Creek, north of Mariposa — Mine is on the well-known Colorado fissure vein; ore is banded quartz and a little pyrite; 2500 tons of ore were mined in the 1920s.
Early Group
(aka Revel, Louisa, Felix, George Placer), 1.5 miles northwest of Jerseydale — Most of the high-grade scheelite ore is in stringers two–four inches wide. "In September 1954, exploration was progressing by use of bulldozer cuts which had uncovered several veins ... Some of the mantle material may prove rich enough to process."
Louisiana mine
, 12 miles east of Coulterville — Probably discovered in January 1866, producing ore worth to a ton. "There are two tunnels on the northwest part of the property which could easily be cleaned out and an undetermined number of other adits on the southeastern part of the claim."
Live Oak mine
, near Kittridge station on the Yosemite Valley Railroad, near Bagby — "The Carrolls estimated in 1932 that there were 14,000 tons of ore between the 68-foot and 225-foot levels from the main shaft ... There is no record of any of this having been removed."
Mariposa mine
, near the edge of the town of Mariposa — Produced .5 million from 1849 to 1870. One of the five most productive mines in the whole county, producing a total of .3 million. "The mine is equipped with a 100-150-ton-per-day mill including jaw crusher, bank of five stamps, ball mill, jig, Knudsen bowl, amalgamating barrel and rake classifier ... Mills heads run from to per ton, mostly in free gold. Pyrite concentrate runs per ton."
Mount Gaines mine
, 4.5 miles from Hornitos — Wall rocks are chiefly massive pyroxene-andesite greenstone belonging to the Presto Chango member of the Upper Jurassic Amador group, but there are some slaty and hofelsic metasediments in the section.
And many more mines
, large and small, active and abandoned, famous and forgotten.
Tiny part of oversize separate map from book pocket: "Plan and Longitudinal section of Succedo, Queen Specimen, Pine Tree and Josephine Mines."
Lists mines and
prospects in two ways
One of the real values of this report is that it lists mines in two ways:
First, it alphabetically summarizes the more important or interesting gold mines and prospects in the count. These descriptions can run from a few lines to several pages, depending on the importance of the mine. This section includes maps and photos (see samples throughout this ad).
Second, it also alphabetically lists in a table
every known
unpatented gold mine and prospect in the county. Each entry in this huge table — which runs for almost 100 pages— includes the owner's name and address. But more importantly, the exact location of almost every prospect is given in
infallible range-and-township coordinates
! Just plug them into your GPS or look them up on the appropriate topo, and you're there. (There are several web sites on the internet that have ways to convert range-and-township coordinates
into GPS coordinates.)
Treasure trove
of information
How can you look for "color" in Mariposa County mine dumps if you don't know
where the best dumps are? Why waste weekends randomly digging through tailing piles for specimens?
This dude is digging away in the four-foot-wide Mount Gaines vein, about 50 feet above the 500 level. The mine is about 5.5 miles from Hornitos (exact location is in book).
This book will lead you to the most likely areas to hit pay dirt! It's also a treasure trove of information for history buffs, bottle collectors, photographers, geologists, hikers, offroaders, rockhounds, prospectors, treasure hunters, metal detector enthusiasts — just about anyone interested in learning about, exploring or prospecting old mine sites in historic Mariposa County.
I said it before, and I'll say it again: This is not some gift-shop rockhound book; it was prepared by the California Division of Mines — written about miners for miners by miners.
When I say that this report is rare, I don't use that term lightly. I have seen only a handful of these in 22 years of looking for California mining items. It's packed with geology information, ore value, mine-production stats, history, even claim holders' names and addresses.
Also a valuable tool for
stock certificate collectors
Because this report lists mine owners and different names for the same mine, it is also a valuable tool for collectors of stock certificates. Some mine descriptions contain brief histories of the mines in question (including dates of actual production) and previous owners.
Of course, this book also covers other mineral deposits in Mariposa County: silver, copper, barite, jasper, asbestos, talc and soapstone.
Where is it?
Mariposa County, one of the Mother Lode counties, is in northern California. The eastern third of the county is in Yosemite National Park. Some of the most famous features of the parks — Yosemite Valley and Big Trees — are in Mariposa County. Adjacent counties are Madera, Mono, Merced, Stanislas and Tuolumne.
The Book:
California Journal of Mining and Geology,
1957, State of California Department of Natural Resources, Division of Mines, San Francisco, six by nine inches, about 343 pages total, about 300 are about Mariposa County mineral resources, by Oliver E. Bowen Jr. and Clifton H. Gray Jr. First and only edition, no official reprints ever issued, paper covers, stapled binding.
Near-fine condition. You will not find a better copy anywhere at any price. Inside condition is near-fine. Looks like it might never have been opened before we cracked it for the first time. Corners are BARELY bumped; slight sunning-soiling to cover. Some crumpling along bottom of rear cover. Former owner stamps on cover and elsewhere.
Contains all SEVEN oversize maps in rear pocket, ALL in near-perfect folded shape. Interior pages are barely yellowed.
Payment methods
and domestic shipping
Paypal only. FREE shipping and handling via priority mail. I pride myself on bulletproof packaging and ship in sturdy cardboard boxes or reinforced envelopes. Sorry, absolutely no pickups.
The fine print:
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!
Mining men pose in front of the Hornitos Saloon, about 1895: standing from left, Henry Nelson, Smith Thomas, John Branson, Dennis (?), B.A. Sheppard, G. Gagliardo, J.D. Craigham and Mose Rodgers; seated, from left, R. Bancroft, Al Sylvester, Collier (?), J. Spagnoli, Bailey, Tom Thorne, Robert Arthur and Tom Williams.
Communities and nearby counties
Counties near Mariposa are Inyo, Tulare, Fresno, San Benito, San Bernardino, Santa Clara, Alameda, San Joaquin, Calaveras, Amador, Alpine, El Dorado, Sacramento, Yolo and Napa. Communities include Agua Fria, Bagby, Bear Valley, Coulterville, Hornitos, Indian Gulch, Mariposa, Mormon Bar, Mount Ophir, Mt. Bullion, Quartzburg, Catheys Valley, Midpines, Tuolumne Meadows and Wawona. Towns in adjacent Mono County include Bridgeport, Coleville, Crowley Lake, June Lake, Lee Vining and Mammoth Lakes. Communities in Tuolumne County include Chinese Camp, Groveland, Jamestown, La Grange, Long Barn, Miwuk, Sonora, Soulsbyville, Standard, Death Valley Acres, Panamint Plateau, Tuolumne and Twain Harte.
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