American Borax Mine

Past Producer in San Bernardino county in California, United States with commodity Boron-Borates
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Host and associated rocks
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Geologic structures
  9. Ore body information
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Ownership information
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10023826
MRDS ID I003020
Record type Site
Current site name American Borax Mine
Alternate or previous names Columbian Mine
Related records 10286950

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -116.95087, 34.93334 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

San Bernardino(county)

California(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Nebo(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Newberry Springs(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

San Bernardino(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Mojave(hydrologic unit)

Northern Mojave(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northern Mojave-Mono Lake(hydrologic subregion)

California(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bureau of Land Management(Bureau of Land Management CA)

Bureau of Land Management CA BLM(Type of land area)

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States California San Bernardino

Comments on the location information

  • SOUTHWEST OF CALICO, BETWEEN BARSTOW AND YERMO.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Boron-Borates Primary

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Shale
    Rock unit name Barstow Formation
    Rock description Barstow Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Miocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -116.95087, 34.93334

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Faulting, Folding

Ore body information

  • Thickness 6.2M

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Non-metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Year of first production 1900
Production years 1901-1907

Mining district

District name Calico-Daggett Borate Area

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner American Borax Co.
    First year 1904
  • Type Owner
    Owner Standard Sanitary Co.
    Home office Philadelphia, Pa.
    First year 1907

Comments on the workings information

  • A 122 M INCLINED SHAFT WITH EXTENSIVE DRIFTS.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    PIPER, J.R., 1985, BORATE DEPOSITS OF THE CALICO-DAGGETT AREA, CALIFORNIA, IN BARKER, J.M., AND LEFOND, S.J., EDS., BORATES: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND PRODUCTION: NEW YORK, SOCIETY OF MINING ENGINEERS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING, METALLURGICAL, AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERS, INC., P. 147-155.

  • Deposit

    RAPP, J.S., AND VREDENBURGH, L.M., 1992, INDUSTRIAL MINERAL RESOURCE POTENTIAL OF TERTIARY PLAYA DEPOSITS OF THE FORT IRWIN AREA, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: SOCIETY FOR MINING, METALLURGY, AND EXPLORATION, INC. PREPRINT NUMBER 92-44, 9 P.

  • Deposit

    VER PLANCK, W.E., 1956, HISTORY OF BORAX PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES: CALIFORNIA JOURNAL OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, V. 52, NO. 3, P. 273-191.

  • Deposit

    YALE, C.G., 1905, BORAX, IN MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE US - 1904: WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, P. 1017-1028.

  • Other Database

    CIMRI

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit B-BEARING SHALE. BORATE MINERALS ARE MICROSCOPIC AND THE SHALE AVERAGED 4-8% B2O3 OVER A STRATIGRAPHIC THICKNESS OF 6.2 M. YALE (1905) REPORTED ORE GRADE AS 7% TO 30% B2O3.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-1992 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-NOV-1993 Orris, Greta J. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

Authoritative California resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.