Coso Mine

Past Producer in Inyo county in California, United States with commodity Mercury
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Alteration
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Ownership information
  17. Production statistics
  18. Links to other databases
  19. Bibliographic references
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10040638
MRDS ID M055490
Record type Site
Current site name Coso Mine
Alternate or previous names Nicol, Devil's Kitchen, Atlas, Lynch & Lynch, Walley - Mickey & Wheeler

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -117.79452, 36.04026 (WGS84)
Elevation 1219
Relative position 10 MI E OF LITTLE LAKE

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Inyo(county)

California(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Cactus Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Darwin Hills(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Death Valley(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Indian Wells-Searles Valleys(hydrologic unit)

Northern Mojave(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northern Mojave-Mono Lake(hydrologic subregion)

California(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

NAVY(Federal land areas administered by NAVY)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States California Inyo

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 022S 039E 04,05,06,07,08 California

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Mercury Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Cinnabar Ore
Metacinnabar Ore
Alunite Gangue
Chalcedony Gangue
Clay Gangue
Gypsum Gangue
Hematite Gangue
Limonite Gangue
Opal Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Sulfur Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Hydrothermal, Argillic, Silicification

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic) > Felsic Volcanic Rock > Rhyolite
    Rock unit name Basalt Flows Recent;Rhyolite Flows Quat
    Rock description Basalt Flows Recent;Rhyolite Flows Quat

Nearby scientific data

(1) -117.79452, 36.04026

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Hot Springs And Fissures Associated With Them

Ore body information

  • General form IRREGULAR
    Thickness 15.24M
    Length 784.86M
    Width 472.44M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Hot Springs And Fumaroles

Comments on the geologic information

  • ACTIVE HOT SPRINGS AND FUMAROLES. MERCURY MINERALS CURRENTLY BEING DEPOSITED

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1929
Discoverer F.J. Sanders
Production years 1931-1932, 1935-1936, 1938-1944

Mining district

District name Coso

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner U.S. Government

Production statistics

  • Year 1962
    Period To 1962
    Material HG
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^12.4 Lb/Ton
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Mercury Mercury 5602g/mt

Comments on the workings information

  • DIMENSIONS GIVEN FOR LARGEST MASS OF SINTER

Comments on development

  • ECON.COM: U.S. NAVAL ORDNANCE TEST STATION, INYOKERN, CALIFORNIA

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    BAILEY, E. H., USGS PERSONAL FILES.

  • Deposit

    HOLMES, G. W., JR., 1965, MERCURY IN CALIFORNIA: IN USBM IC 8252.

  • Deposit

    ROSS & YATES, 1943, USGS BULL 936-Q, P. 395-416

  • Production

    USBM DATA

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-DEC-1975 Gassaway, J. S. 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.