Keynot Mine Earthcache EarthCache
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Anyone considering using the trails in this area must approach it as a rugged backcountry exploration with steep elevation gains and losses where no other people will be encountered and no assistance is readily available.
People venturing into the Inyo Mountains Wilderness should proceed cautiously and not overextend their supplies or capabilities. Hikers and backpackers must carefully adhere to all wildland backcountry safety measures and initially explore short distances until they become personally familiar with trail alignments and water sources before getting into the more isolated portions of the wilderness. Most of these trails have not been maintained or signed, and are not easy to use or follow. On some segments, it is necessary to much through dense brush or cross steep slopes covered with loose rock.
Recommended route to the mine site: French Springs > Forgotten Pass >Frenchies Cabin > Beveridge > Ridge Cabin > Keynot Mine. For additional trail information see the BLM website for the Beveridge area. http://www.blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/ridgecrest/beveridge.html
Logging requirements:
Send me a note through my Groundspeak profile with the following information :
1) The text "GC4CQD0 Keynot Mine" on the first line
2) The number of people in your group.
3) How recently was the mine area worked?
4) What compass direction does the ancillary mine shaft go into the mountain? ("Shaft" waypoint, N36 43.134 W117 56.222)
5) Describe the structures and the rock strata at the posted location of this Earthcache. What type of rocks and minerals are most prominent in the immediate area?
In her book Mines of the Eastern Sierra, La Siesta Press, 1966 Mary DeDecker writes:
"Beveridge, which was the most important gold producing district in Inyo County, has remained the most inaccessible. It's mines and mills tucked into a maze of canyons on the precipitous east face of the Inyo Mountains were reached only by trails. ... Occasional springs were the only source of water, and they were few and far apart. In some instances the flow was enough to create running streams in the canyons before being lost in the thirsty gravel. Such places were blessed with streamside trees -- willow, cottonwood, or even oak. As a whole, however, wood was extremely scarce, except for a fair amount of pinyon at higher elevations and a fringe of bristlecone and limber pine on the peaks. Most of the important requirements for mine production were scare or missing, but the gold was there, so hardy miners appeared on the scene and proceeded to overcome the obstacles."…
…"The Keynot group, of seven claims on the ridge north of Keynot Canyon, made the record for the greatest production in the district. It also had the most extensive development, including seven tunnels from 150 to 750 feet long. It's deepest mine went down 1800 feet. Ore was carried three miles by pack mules to a five-stamp mill in Beveridge Canyon, formerly Hahn's Canyon." [In later years a tramway was built] "This amazing accomplishment of transporting heavy mill machinery so far by trail paid off in savings of costs for carrying ore. Beveridge Camp, below the junction of Cave and Beveridge canyons, was, and still is, by far the most inaccessible of the mining camps of the Inyos. Hence, it has had few visitors since it was abandoned and shortage of water along the route makes the trail a difficult one."
According the Bureau of Mines records, the Keynot Mine was founded in 1878 and operated continuously through 1883, then intermittently until 1906. There was some exploration work done in 1937, but no ore was processed. In 1983 the Far West Exploration company flew in by helicopter a 250 ton cyanide gold recovery plant and began mining the dump. A large bulldozer was also brought in by helicopter piece by piece and assembled on site, where it remains today. The operations were suspended later in that year when it was determined that insufficient water resources were available to sustain operations under the licenses the company was granted.
Keynot Mine consisted of four quartz monzonite veins. These veins were as thick as 5 feet, averaging 2.1 feet in thickness. The veins branch and are segmented by the numerous faults in the area. Near the surface the veins are primarily leached, drusy quartz with gold. At depth, the gold occurs as discrete particles and as particles associated with chalcopyrite and pyrite and with small amounts of galena and sphalerite.
The workings of the mine totaled more than 10,000 feet in thirty underground shafts that followed the veins of ore. In addition, there were more than 20 small pits and exploratory cuts, 9 cabins, an air concentrator, and a cyanide mill.
Bureau Of Mines records indicate that at least 29,000 onces of gold worth about $500,000 were recovered from the mine in the 1878 to 1906 period.
Mineral Descriptions:
Druzy: A coating of fine crystals on a rock fracture surface, vein or within a geode.
Chalcopyrite: A copper iron sulfide mineral that crystallizes in the tetragonal system. It has the chemical composition CuFeS2. It has a brassy to golden yellow.
Galena: The natural mineral form of lead sulfide. It is the most important lead ore mineral. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It crystallizes in the cubic crystal system often showing octahedral forms.
Pyrite: Also known as iron pyrite, is an iron sulfide with the formula FeS2. This mineral's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue have earned it the nickname fool's gold because of its superficial resemblance to gold. The color has also led to the nicknames brass, brazzle and Brazil, primarily used to refer to pyrite found in coal. Pyrite is the most common of the sulfide minerals.
Quartz Monzonite: an intrusive igneous rock that contains plagioclase feldspar, orthoclase feldspar, and quartz. It is abundant in the large batholiths (great masses of igneous rocks mostly deep below the surface) of the world's mountain belts. Quartz monzonite differs from granodiorite by containing more alkali feldspar, usually more biotite and less hornblende, and oligoclase instead of andesine as the plagioclase mineral.
Sphalerite: A mineral that is the chief ore of zinc. It consists largely of zinc sulfide in crystalline form but almost always contains variable iron. When iron content is high it is an opaque black variety, marmatite. It is usually found in association with galena, pyrite, and other sulfides along with calcite, dolomite, and fluorite. Miners have also been known to refer to sphalerite as zinc blende, black-jack, and ruby jack.
The following references were used for the data in this Earthcache:
* “Mineral Resources of the Inyo Mountains Wilderness Study Area, Inyo County, California”
MLA 18-85, 1985
Bureau of Mines, Dept. of the Interior
* “Mines of the Eastern Sierra”, La Siesta Press, 1966, by Mary DeDecker
* Wikipedia for mineral descriptions.
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