Borax Lake

Past Producer in Lake county in California, United States with commodities Boron-Borates, Halite, Sodium, Cobalt
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Mineral occurrence model information
  8. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Ore body information
  11. Controls for ore emplacement
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Mining district
  14. Ownership information
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10055376
MRDS ID RL10050
Record type Site
Current site name Borax Lake
Alternate or previous names Clear Lake, Lake Hachinhama Little Borax Lake

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -122.66774, 38.96655 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Lake(county)

California(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Clearlake Highlands(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Healdsburg(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Santa Rosa(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Cache(hydrologic unit)

Lower Sacramento(hydrologic accounting unit)

Sacramento(hydrologic subregion)

California(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States California Lake

Comments on the location information

  • TWO AREAS IN CLEAR LAKE REGION PRODUCED MINOR BORATES: ?WESTERN SIDE OF LAKE.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Boron-Borates Primary
Halite Primary
Sodium Secondary
Cobalt Critical Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Borax Ore
Brine Ore
Gaylussite Ore
Halite Ore
Trona Ore

Analytical data

Result LAKE WATER LAKE HACHINHAMA
Result 75.4% NACO3, NACL 8.3%, BORAX 16.3%

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 260
USGS model code 35b.3
Deposit model name Lacustrine borates

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Volcanic Rock (Aphanitic)
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Clay, Mud
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Evaporite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -122.66774, 38.96655

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form STRATIFORM
    Dip }

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Thermal Springs

Comments on the geologic information

  • QUAT/HOLO LAKE: QUAT VOLCANICS ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF CLEAR LAKE.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Both
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1856
Discoverer Dr. J.A. Veatch
Year of first production 1864
Year of last production 1874

Mining district

District name Clear Lake

Ownership information

  • Type Operator
    Owner California Borax Co (Late 1870'S)

Comments on the workings information

  • BORAX-MUD DEPOSITS IN CLEAR LAKE SURFACE MINED. BRINES FROM LAKE HACHINHAMA EVAPORATED; BORAX AND NACO3 CRYSTALLIZED TOGETHER THEN TRONA DISSOLVED, LEAVING BORAX.

Comments on development

  • ECON.COM: VEATCH DETECTED BORIC ACID IN SPRINGS IN NTH CA. HE DISCOVERED BORAX IN CLEAR LAKE-FIRST BORAX MINED IN THE US 1864-1868; BRINES FROM LAKE HACHINHAMA EXTRACTED 1868-1874 BY AMERICAN BORAX CO.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    LYDAY, P.A., 1992, HISTORY OF BORON PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING: INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, NO. 303, P. 19-37.

  • Deposit

    SMITH, W.C., 1966, BORAX AND OTHER BORON COMPOUNDS: CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 191, PT. 1, P. 104-111.

  • Deposit

    SMITH, G.I., 1985, BORATE DEPOSITS IN THE UNITED STATES: DISSIMILAR IN FORM, SIMILAR IN GEOLOGIC SETTING, IN BARKER, J.M., AND LEFOND, S.J., 1985, BORATES: ECONOMIC GEOLOGY AND PRODUCTION; PROCEEDINGS OF A SYMPOSIUM HELD ON OCTOBER 24, 1984, AT THE FALL MEETING OF SME-AIME IN DENVER, COLORADO: NEW YORK, SOCIETY OF MINING ENGINEERS OF THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING, METALLURGICAL, AND PETROLEUM ENGINEERS, INC., P. 38-51.

  • Deposit

    YALE, C.G., 1904, BORAX, IN MINERAL RESOURCES OF THE US - 1903: WASHINGTON, D.C., U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, P. 1017-1028.

  • 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.

  • Production

    YALE, 1904.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit EXTENSIVE DEPOSIT OF COARSE BORAX CRYSTALS WITHIN LACUSTRINE MUD AT THE BOTTOM OF A LAGOON ON THE MARGIN OF CLEAR LAKE; THERMAL SPRINGS IN THE AREA. BORAX AND NA BRINES FROM LAKE HACHINHAMA.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-SEP-1993 Langford, R.P. BHP Utah Industries
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.