Mines of El Dorado County: “M” (Part 2)

The Miller mine was a chromite mine located one and one-half miles northwest of the town of Clarksville, near the Walker and Joerger mines. The deposit consisted of small amounts of layered chromite, however, there are no separate production records for this mine, since ore from these three mines was probably combined.

Also on the Mother Lode, two miles south of Placerville, was another Miller mine, the Miller (Ribbon Rock) mine. It was active from 1888 to 1894 and again in 1900. A ribbon-like vein of gold- bearing quartz, varying in width from two to five feet was developed by a 400-foot inclined shaft.

A third and fourth Miller mine were placer gold mines. One was near the gold rush town of Salmon Falls, the other was on the South Fork of the American River about six miles upriver from the City of Folsom. Both mines are now under Folsom Lake.

The Milo S. Jeffers mine was a placer gold claim of 160 acres two miles southeast of Smith Flat.

The Minerva mine was a 8.762 acre lode gold mine on the Mother Lode two miles south of the town of El Dorado.

The Minnehaha mine was a 7.78 acre lode gold mine on the Mother Lode three miles south of the town of El Dorado. In 1900 eight men were employed and the ore was being crushed with a four-stamp mill.

The Mississippi mine was a placer gold, drift mine one and one-half miles east of Volcanoville. It was active around 1894 when an ancient river channel deposit was developed by a 240-foot adit.

The Missouri mine was a 45.05 acre placer gold mine two mile east of Volcanoville in Missouri Canyon.

The Mitchell mine was a lode gold mine located two miles northwest of Pine Hill (Pine Hill is the hill at the north end of Cameron Park – elevation around 2000 feet). A 150-foot adit was used to develop a four to ten-foot wide vein of gold-bearing quartz.

The Mocettini mine was a manganese mine located two and one-half miles east of Latrobe. The deposit, which was developed by open cut, contained greenstone stained with black manganese and iron oxides.

The Mohawk mine was a lode gold claim three miles south the the town of El Dorado on the Mother Lode. It was worked together with three other mines, all three totaling 61.63 acres.

The Molkey mine was a hydraulic mine one mile southeast of Fair Play. An ancient river channel containing a lot of clay was mined for its gold.

The Molybdenite Group operated a lode gold claim three miles northeast of Fair Play.

The Monarch Consolidated mine was a 137.38 acre lode gold mine on the Mother Lode consisting of a group of seven claims one-half mile east of Nashville.

The Monarch-Sugar Loaf mine was an isolated lode gold mine located three miles northwest of the town of Nashville on about 20 acres. Originally worked in the 1850s, it was again active between 1870 and 1907 when the ore was treated in a ten stamp mill. Some prospecting was done in the 1930’s and during 1953 and ’54, when the mine was leased to J. H. Wren and Associates of Sacramento, some rehabilitation work was done. Early in 1955 George Ross and Associates leased the mine and took some high-grade ore from small pockets in the deposit of gold-bearing quartz. Near the surface the gold is in small but rich ore shoots. Deeper, the gold, accompanied by sulfides, pyrite and galena (lead ore), was found in areas where the vein swelled, changed in direction or functioned with small stringers. The deposit was originally developed by open cuts and shallow shafts over a surface distance of some 2000 feet. In 1955 three men worked the center of the deposit through a 70-foot crosscut adit, treating the mined ore by hand-sorting, hand-mortaring (crushing) and amalgamation (combining gold with mercury for later separation).

The Monitor mine was a lode gold mine on 17.258 acres of the Mother Lode just south of Nashville. It was worked through a shaft 50 feet deep with a 50-foot drift at the bottom. In 1900 the rock was bringing $6 per ton.

Just north of the town of Nashville and just east of the Cosumnes River, was the Montezuma-Apex and Montezuma Extension mines. There are pages and pages of records on this very large mine, which is only summarized here:
These lode gold mines on the Mother Lode were originally worked at shallow depths during the early days of the gold rush and even up until 1871. They were again worked from 1890 to 1907 and later in 1914. There was some recorded output of ore during the years from 1920 until 1928. In 1931 the mines were reopened by Nashville Mines, Ltd., who were succeeded by the Montezuma-Apex Mining Company in 1933. Up until 1939 they operated it and the Nashville (Havillah) mine some 1000 feet to the south. The Montezuma-Apex Mine and the extension, were developed by a 1540-foot inclined shaft and an older 360-foot inclined shaft some 300 feet to the north. In the old workings of the mine, an ore body eight to 20 feet wide was stoped for a length of 250 feet down to the 120-foot level. In the newer workings a 150-foot long ore shoot was mined between the 800 and 1000-foot levels around the year 1914 by the California Exploration Company which leased the mine. In 1932 the shaft was deepened and another ore shoot was 570 feet long by four to eight feet wide was worked at the 1200-foot level. Little mining was done below the depth of 1225 feet since from there the ore decreased in grade. At one point, the 1500-foot level was extended 1050 feet to the south under the Nashville Mine in an attempt to encounter the Nashville (Havillah) vein. The ore was treated in a ten-stamp mill that was replaced in 1933 with a 240-ton mill equipped with two Marcy ball mills, hydraulic traps, Wilfely tables and a ten-cell floatation unit which concentrated the gold.

Two miles northeast of Newtown was the Mooney mine, a placer gold, drift mine. It was only active from 1894-96.

The Mooney Flat mine was a placer gold mine on 40 acres one mile south of Cool, near Knickerbocker Creek.

The Morey (Humbug) mine was a lode gold mine one mile west of Grizzly Flat. It was active intermittently from 1919-44. Small veins of gold-bearing quartz contained small deposits of high-grade ore, which was removed by sinking numerous shallow shafts. The ore was treated in a small mill on the property.

Four miles northwest of the town of Rescue was the Mormon Hill mine, a lode gold mine. It was active in 1934 and from 1938-41. A two to three foot wide vein of gold-bearing quartz was developed by a 110-foot inclined shaft with 80 feet of drifts on the 100-foot level. The ore was treated in a five-stamp mill.

The Morning Star was a group of seam gold mines in a seam belt, one mile northeast of Georgetown. The mines were active around 1926 when about $75,000 in gold was recovered.

The Morris Consolidated mine was a 640 acre placer gold mine one mile east of Volcanoville.

Three miles east of Latrobe, on the west side of a large serpentine body, was a lode gold mine known as the Morse mine. All that is know is that it was active prior to 1894.

The Mount Gregory mine was a hydraulic mine three miles east of Volcanoville. It was active in 1896 and 1912 when a 20 to 25-foot bank with eight feet of cemented gravel was mined.

The Mount Hope mine was a 28.76 acre lode gold claim three miles north of Grizzly Flat on the north side of the North Fork of the Cosumnes River. It was active prior to 1888 when a vein of gold-bearing quartz was developed by a 1000-foot adit and 100 and 200-foot shafts. The ore was treated in a ten-stamp mill.

A second Mount Hope mine was a placer gold claim one mile north of Volcanoville.

A third Mount Hope mine was a 20.64 acre lode gold mine two miles north of Garden Valley on the east branch of the Mother Lode.

Near the Morey mine, one mile west of Grizzly Flat, was the Mount Pleasant mine, a lode gold mine on 50.08 acres. The principal source of gold in the Grizzly Flat district, it was first worked in 1851, during the early days of the Gold Rush. From 1874 to 1914 some $1,046,748 worth of gold was removed. After 1914 only some small prospecting was done on the property and nothing was apparently done after 1941. The deposit consists of a belt of nearly parallel quartz veins around 300 feet wide. Within the quartz was found free gold, pyrite, galena and other ores. The gold alone, between the years 1881 and 1887, averaged $14 per ton. One of the larger veins, the Earle vein, was developed by a 1065-foot shaft with levels at 100-foot intervals. Drifts, of which there are 9000 feet, range from 300 to 1300 feet in length, with most of the work above the 850-foot level. There are also two other shafts 300 to 600 feet deep. The ore was treated in a ten-stamp mill that burned down in 1926.

The Mountain Qual mine was an 18.03 acre lode gold mine three miles northeast of Fair Play on the north side of the Middle Fork of the Cosumnes River. It was worked together with three other miles.

The Mulvey Point mine was an 80 acre placer gold mine two miles north of Georgetown near Bottle Hill.

The Muntz mine was a lode gold mine on the west branch of the Mother Lode three miles northwest of Greenwood near the Middle Fork of the American River.

The Murderer’s Bar mine was a placer gold mine on 39.53 acres two miles north of Cool on the Middle Fork of the American River.

Two miles to the southeast of Latrobe was a chromite mine known as the Murphy mine. During World War I, some 3000 tons of ore from this deposit was milled. In 1942, during World War II, the Volo Mining Company removed another 3000 tons of ore. During the first half of 1953 Edward Hadsel and Jerry Grant sub-leased the mine from the El Dorado Chrome Company and for a few months, produced about 100 tons of 14 percent chromite ore per day, using a crew of eight people. The property was developed by two open pits, the larger one being 200 feet long, 10 to 30 feet wide and 25 feet deep at the northern end. The ore was drilled with jack-hammers and then trucked 16 miles to the El Dorado Chrome Company mill near the Church gold mine (Union mine), south of the townsite of El Dorado.

A second Murphy mine was a placer gold mine on the South Fork of the American River about six miles down river from Lotus.

The Murray mine was a 20 acres placer gold mine one-half mile west of Indian Diggings.

One mile west of Volcanoville, on Buckeye Point, was a placer gold, drift mine known as the Murzo (Brass) mine. It was active around 1894 when a 150-foot adit was driven into the ancient gravel deposit which lay on slate bedrock.

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