1. Mineral Resources
  2. Online Spatial Data
  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

May Lundy Mine

Past Producer in Mono county in California, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, Zinc, Arsenic
Map
XML
JSON
KML
A
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. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Controls for ore emplacement
  15. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  16. Mining district
  17. Land status
  18. Bibliographic references
  19. General comments
  20. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10310710
Record type Site
Current site name May Lundy Mine
Alternate or previous names Crystal Lake

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -119.25583, 38.00139 (WGS84)
Elevation 3255
Location accuracy 100(meters)
Relative position The deposit is about 8 miles northwest of Lee Vining.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Mono(county)

California(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Dunderberg Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Bridgeport(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Walker Lake(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Mono Lake(hydrologic unit)

Mono-Owens Lakes(hydrologic accounting unit)

Northern Mojave-Mono Lake(hydrologic subregion)

California(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Inyo National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Hoover Wilderness(Wilderness)

Wilderness FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States California Mono

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 002N 025E 30 SE California

Comments on the location information

  • The location point selected for latitude and longitude is the prospect symbol located immediately west of the map label "May Lundy Mine" on the 7.5-minute Dunderburg Peak quadrangle. The 1:100,000-scale map has an adit symbol labeled "May Lundy Mine", located 0.18 mile (0.29 km) 18.1? NE of the prospect symbol labeled "May Lundy Mine" on the 1:24,000-scale quadrangle, placing the adit just north of the boundary of the Hoover Wilderness. The older Matterhorn Peak 15-minute quadrangle shows several adits for the May Lundy Mine. The main upper workings of the May Lundy Mine, some of which are shown and labeled "May Lundy Mine" on the 1:24,000-scale quadrangle, and the Lake View Tunnel entrance to the mine (crosscut), also shown and labeled "May Lundy Mine" on the 1:24,000-scale quadrangle, are within the Hoover Wilderness immediately south of the wilderness boundary.

    To reach the deposit from the junction of U.S. 395 and Lundy Lake Road located 6 miles (9.6 km) north of Lee Vining, travel about 3.4 miles (5.4 km) west on Lundy Lake Road to the junction with a road that forks to the south and ends at a parking area at the Hoover Wilderness trailhead near the south end of the Lundy Lake dam. The foot trail (formerly a jeep road; wheeled vehicles no longer permitted) gains 900 feet (270 m) in elevation over 1.5 miles (2.4 km) westward as it nearly parallels the south side of Lundy Lake before heading south into Lake Canyon. The trail continues 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southward gaining another 920 feet (276 m) in elevation at the large mine dump just beyond the May Lundy Mine's Lake View Tunnel entrance (elevation 9600 feet, 2880 m; lowest May Lundy Mine workings; entrance caved). The upper May Lundy Mine workings are located on the steep ridge west of the Lake View Tunnel, at elevations ranging from about 10,600 feet (3280 m) to 11,000 feet (3300 m). The trail crosses the Hoover Wilderness boundary about 0.14 mile (0.22 km) north of the Lake View Tunnel entrance, and all of the main May Lundy Mine workings are located within the wilderness. The mine is not accessible in winter due to closure of Lundy Lake Road following the first heavy fall/winter snowstorms (area visited by this MRDS reporter on September 27, 2007; upper mine workings not visited).

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Lead Secondary
Copper Secondary
Zinc Critical Tertiary
Arsenic Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • Commodity Info: Ore Grade: Milling-grade gold ore reportedly yielded as much as one troy ounce gold per short ton with a "high silver content" (silver price averaged $1.108 per troy ounce silver between 1880 and 1884). Concentrates also reportedly carried as much as 4 troy ounces gold per short ton, and tailings carried $1.05 in gold (0.051 troy ounces gold per short ton at a gold price of $20.67). The value of bullion produced from the ores reportedly varied from $13 to $17 per troy ounce from ore mined from 1880-1884.

    Gold:silver ratio: 1:11 estimate (this MRDS reporter) [average bullion value of $15 per troy ounce; assume gold plus silver, no copper or other metals, ore grade of 1.0 troy ounce gold per short ton].

  • Ore Materials: Native gold, silver (electrum), auriferous pyrite

  • Gangue Materials: Non-auriferous pyrite, sphalerite, magnetite, arsenopyrite, iron oxides.

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Silver Ore
Electrum Ore
Pyrite Gangue
Sphalerite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Arsenopyrite Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Silicic; quartz
    Oxidation

    Depth of mineralization approximately 1,500 feet.

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 273
USGS model code 36a
Deposit model name Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Mark3 model number 27

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granodiorite
    Rock type qualifier Biotite-hornblende
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
    Rock type qualifier Biotite
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Hornfels
    Rock type qualifier Quartzofeldspathic
    Rock unit name Virginia Lakes sequence
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Jurassic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Hornfels
    Rock type qualifier Calc-silicate
    Rock unit name Virginia Lakes sequence
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Jurassic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Virginia Lakes sequence
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Jurassic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Chemical Sediment > Chert
    Rock type qualifier Meta-
    Rock unit name Virginia Lakes sequence
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Jurassic
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Sedimentary Rock > Clastic Sedimentary Rock > Conglomerate
    Rock type qualifier Meta-
    Rock unit name Virginia Lakes sequence
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Jurassic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -119.25583, 38.00139
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description North-northwest trending folds with steeply dipping limbs; north-northwest, steeply southwest-dipping faults/fractures.

Ore body information

  • General form Tabular

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Open-space filling along steeply-dipping faults, fractures; high-grade ore shoots along faults, fractures.

Comments on the geologic information

  • GEOLOGY

    The principal geologic feature in the May Lundy Mine area is a 2- to 4-mile-wide (3.2- to 6.4-km-wide) roof pendant of metamorphic rocks that extends northwest along the Sierra crest for many miles. According to Schweickert (1981) and others cited in Schweickert (1981), these rocks comprise the Sattlebag Lake pendant of presumed and known lower Paleozoic strata characterized by the presence of bedded chert, argillite, limestone, and quartzite, and metavolcanic and plutonic rocks of an early Mesozoic Andean-type magmatic arc.

    Brook (1977; cited in Schweickert, 1981) suggests that the unfossiliferous lower Paleozoic rocks of the Saddlebag Lake pendant are lithologically and structurally correlative with the fossiliferous Ordovician and Silurian strata of the Mount Morrison pendant 50 km (31 miles) to the southeast. Brook and others (1979; cited in Schweickert, 1981) have also identified upper Paleozoic rocks in this area.

    The lower Paleozoic (?) rocks at Saddlebag Lake resemble the "lower" Shoo Fly, recognized 50 km (31 miles) west in the west limb of the Nevadan synclinorium. Both the Shoo Fly in the northwestern Sierra Nevada and the lower (?) Paleozoic rocks of the Saddlebag Lake and June Lake pendants are unconformably overlain by Triassic and Jurassic volcanic and sedimentary rocks that lie in the core of the synclinorium. These relationships, together with the lithostratigraphic similarities, suggest that the lower Paleozoic rocks in the eastern Sierra Nevada between latitudes 37?30' and 38?N can be considered part of the Shoo Fly Complex (Schweickert, 1981).

    Metavolcanic and plutonic rocks of an early Mesozoic Andean-type magmatic arc occupy a region up to 150 km (94 miles) wide extending from the eastern Klamath Mountains to the Mojave Desert. South of latitude 39?N, metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks of Late Triassic to Middle Jurassic age lie generally west of exposures of coeval plutonic rocks, and have been invaded by younger plutonic rocks of the Sierra Nevada Batholith. The metavolcanic rocks are heterogeneous assemblages of lava, tuff, and breccia of basaltic to rhyolitic composition, locally interbedded with greywacke, siltstone, conglomerate, and limestone. Evidence suggests that much of the volcanism was subaerial, although the existence of marine fossils and interbedded submarine tuff, turbidites, and limestone, indicates marine conditions near of adjacent to volcanic centers.

    On the western limb of the Nevadan synclinorium, the metavolcanic rocks unconformably overlie Paleozoic rocks on the north fork of the American River. On the eastern limb, in the Saddlebag Lake, Ritter Range, and Mount Morrison pendants, the same unconformity occurs (Schweickert, 1978, cited in Schweickert, 1981).

    On a regional tectonic scale, the Saddlebag Lake pendant appears to represent a portion of an older Jurassic-Triassic volcanoplutonic arc system, which has been overprinted by a younger Cretaceous volcanoplutonic arc system.
  • ORE DEPOSITS

    Quartz veins associated with the May Lundy Mine occur in a body of Cretaceous-age biotite-hornblende granodiorite that forms the core of a north-trending regional anticline in Jurassic-age metasedimentary rocks (Chesterman, 1975). The veins strike north-northwesterly and dip steeply to the southwest. The mine is on the west flank of the anticline, which is also the east flank of a regional north-northwest-trending syncline that sub-parallels the anticline.

    The biotite-hornblende granodiorite is light- to medium-gray, medium- to coarse-grained, and grades locally into biotite granite. K-Ar determinations on the hornblende in samples collected in the unit from the Mono Craters Quadrangle yield ages of about 85 million years (late Cretaceous; Evernden and Kistler, 1970, p. 10, cited in Chesterman (1975).

    A short distance west of the mine, are north-northwest-striking, Jurassic-age metasedimentary rocks that dip steeply to the southwest toward the axis of the above-mentioned north-northwesterly-trending syncline. These rocks consist of bedded, banded, light-gray, brown to dark-gray siltstone, sandstone, chert, minor conglomerate, all metamorphosed to quartzofeldspathic hornfels, calc-silicate hornfels, quartzite, metachert, and metaconglomerate (Chesterman, 1975).

    The quartz veins of the May Lundy lode reportedly vary from a few inches to several feet in thickness, strike north-northwesterly, dip steeply southwesterly, and average two to three feet (0.6 to 0.9 m) in thickness; widths of 10 to 14 feet (3 to 4.3 m) are reported for portions of the veins in underground workings. From the literature, these veins appear to be oriented subparallel to the contact between the granodiorite and metasedimentary rocks.

    The ore contains free (sometimes visible) gold, electrum, auriferous pyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, magnetite, arsenopyrite, minor native copper, and oxidized minerals in the upper portions of the veins. These minerals occur in a gangue of crystalline quartz stained with iron oxides.

    Milling-grade gold ore reportedly yielded as much as one troy ounce gold per short ton with a "high silver content." Concentrates also reportedly carried as much as four troy ounces gold per short ton, and tailings carried $1.05 in gold (0.051 troy ounces gold per short ton at a gold price of $20.67). Several ore shoots at the May Lundy Mine had stoping lengths of up to 300 feet (91 m). The value the bullion produced from the ores reportedly varied from $13 to $17 per troy ounce.

    There are two principal gold-bearing quartz veins at the May Lundy Mine. The May Lundy Vein is about 3.5 feet (1 m) wide in the lower part and 2.5 feet (0.8 m) wide in the upper part, and can be traced for 6000 feet (1829 m) along strike. The West Vein has a strike length of about 3000 feet (914 m). Both veins generally vary from 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 m) in width, strike northwesterly, and dip from 45? to 50? to the southwest. The main working tunnel (Lake View tunnel) crosscuts the May Lundy Vein 1500 feet (457 m) below the outcrop.

    In the May Lundy Mine, a series of smaller quartz veins appear to be cut-off by the May Lundy and West veins. These smaller veins strike more northerly to northeasterly than the May Lundy and West veins, and dip at high angles to the east. These smaller veins appear to be faulted along the structures along which the northwesterly-striking May Lundy and West veins formed. The smaller veins appear to be contemporaneous with prominent fractures having the same general orientation as the smaller veins. These faulted veins are from a few inches to two feet in width and do not appear to be ore carriers except near their intersections with richer portions of the main veins of the May Lundy lode.
  • Age of Mineralization

    The geologic setting, host-rock age (85 million years), ore-deposit type, and mineralization at the May Lundy Mine suggest a Mesozoic age for the gold and silver mineralization -- mineralization consistent with a Cretaceous volcanoplutonic arc system. Marsh and others (2007) present data that show that the gold in the Sierra foothills formed ca. 125?10 Ma (Lower Cretaceous), including deposits of the highly productive Mother Lode belt. Mineralization at the May Lundy Mine appears to be younger, occurring in a host rock with hornblende age of about 85 million years (Upper Cretaceous).

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1877

Mining district

District name Homer District

Land status

Ownership category National Forest
Area name USFS Hoover Wilderness

Comments on the workings information

  • Workings at the May Lundy Mine include drifts, crosscuts, raises, winzes, and stopes. The four main tunnels at the May Lundy Mine include: tunnels #1, #2, and #3, all driven on the lode, and the Lake View Tunnel that crosscuts and drifts along the May Lundy vein. Various reports are not entirely consistent with regard to descriptions of the mine workings; all mine records were reportedly destroyed by fire. The following is a synthesis of the various reports and a cross-section through the mine workings constructed by this MRDS reporter from the Dunderberg Peak 24K topographic map:

    #1 Tunnel (uppermost tunnel): 115 feet (35 m) long; driven along the vein; stoped to the surface along much of its length.
    #2 Tunnel: 900 feet (270 m) long; driven along the vein; situated 130 feet (40 m) below the #1 Tunnel; stopes driven 200 feet (60 m) upward to the #1 Tunnel.
    #3 Tunnel: 1400 feet (420 m) long; driven along the vein; situated 200 feet (61 m) below the #2 Tunnel; stopes 400 feet (120 m) long connect to the #2 Tunnel; three winzes sunk on the vein from the #3 Tunnel, the deepest of which is 160 feet (48 m).
    A level reportedly 200 feet (60 m) above lowest adit [might refer to workings from a raise above the Lake View Tunnel level or may be an error]: This level reportedly has 1400 feet (420 m) of drifts (same as #3 Tunnel).
    Lake View Tunnel (lowermost tunnel): reportedly 4000 feet (1219 m) long, crosscuts the May Lundy Vein 1500 feet (457 m) below the outcrop, drifts 1800 feet (549 m) to the north on the May Lundy vein; also reported: 3900 feet (1170 m) long, crosscuts the vein at 3100 feet [therefore drifts 800 feet (240 m) on the vein (?)].

Comments on other economic factors

  • Production estimates by this MRDS reporter based on estimated gold/silver ratio, ore grade in gold, value of bullion produced, gold and silver prices; values rounded to nearest one hundred (in parenthesis):

    1880-1884: $837,000 in bullion; 25,472 (25,500) troy ounces (0.79 metric tons) gold; 280,192 (280,200) troy ounces (8.72 metric tons) silver; average 5094 (5100) troy ounces (0.16 metric tons) gold per year; average 56,038 (56,000) troy ounces (1.74 metric tons) silver per year.
    1887-1888: $39,000 in bullion; 1252 (1300) troy ounces (0.04 metric tons) gold; 13,772 (13,800) troy ounces (0.43 metric tons) silver; average 626 (600) troy ounces (0.02 metric tons) gold per year; average 6886 (6900) troy ounces (0.21 metric tons) silver per year.
    1889-1898: $1,124,000 in bullion; 38,625 (38,600) troy ounces (1.20 metric tons) gold; 424,875 (424,900) troy ounces (13.22 metric tons) silver; average 3863 (3900) troy ounces (0.12 metric tons) gold per year; average 42,488 (42,500) troy ounces (1.32 metric tons) silver per year.
    1937: 60,000 short tons (54,431 metric tons) mill tailings; $4.23 per ton in gold; 7260 (7300) troy ounces (0.23 metric tons) gold; 79,860(?) (79,900(?)) troy ounces (2.49 metric tons) silver.

    Totals for 1880-1937, excluding 1899-1914 intermittent operations:
    Gold production, 72,609 (72,600) troy ounces (2.26 metric tons);
    Silver production, 798,699 (798,700) troy ounces (24.84 metric tons).

    Total value of gold and silver production: reportedly as much as $2 million (does not include recoveries from mill tailings in 1937) ($2,312,676 estimate by this MRDS reporter; compare with $3 million total of Clark, 1998).

    1899-1914, intermittent operations:
    The difference between this MRDS reporter's estimates and Clark's (1998) estimate can be explained by including production from intermittent operations from 1899-1914 (which is unknown) and by an overestimate of production by Clark. If Clark is correct, a production value of $687,324 to $1 million for the period 1899-1914 is unaccounted for, equating to an estimated 25,438 (25,400) troy ounces (0.79 metric tons) gold and 279,818 (279,800) troy ounces (8.70 metric tons) silver production during this period [average annual gold production 1590 (1600) troy ounces (0.05 metric tons) for this period; average annual silver production 17,490 (17,500) troy ounces (0.54 metric tons) for this period]. These values appear to be high but place an upper limit on gold and silver production at the May Lundy Mine.

    Total gold and silver production for May Lundy Mine, 1880-1937; includes 1899-1914 intermittent operations (this MRDS reporter):
    Gold production, 98,047 (98,000) troy ounces (3.0 metric tons);
    Silver production, 1,078,517 (1,078, 500) troy ounces (33.5 metric tons).

Comments on development

  • OVERVIEW

    The May Lundy Mine is in the historic Homer mining district on the east side of the Sierra Nevada in west-central Mono County in the vicinity of Lundy Lake, about 6 miles (9.6 km) west of Mono Lake. The district is also known as the May Lundy or Lundy district, because the May Lundy Mine was the principal source of gold in the district. Ownership of the mine included the Homer Company, May Lundy Mining Co., and Crystal Lake Gold Mining Company, which changed the name to Crystal Lake Mine.

    The area was prospected during the Comstock silver rush of the 1860s, but the lode deposits were not discovered until 1877 and the May Lundy Mine discovered in 1879. The Homer mining district was organized in 1879.

    The property was held under 20 mining claims, one patented and 19 unpatented, (23 claims also reported). Owners at various times included Thomas Hanna and R. T. Pierce, Martinez, California, E. F. Smith, New York, and A. H. Heller, Pasadena, California. In 1942, mine equipment was sold per a judgment against Thomas R. Hanna and Wanda Muir Hanna, one of two daughters of naturalist, John Muir.

    The May Lundy Mine was named for the daughter of W. J. Lundy, operator of a sawmill that supplied timber to the Bodie mining district in the 1870s. The May Lundy Mine was worked on a "major" scale until the early 1900s. Continuous activity occurred from 1879-1885; the mine was idle during a period in 1885-1886; activity resumed from 1887-1898. The mine operated at intervals during 1898-1914. In 1937, a 140-ton flotation plant was installed to treat an estimated 60,000 short tons of accumulated tailings, reportedly worth $4.23 per ton in gold (equivalent to 0.121 troy ounces gold per short ton at $35 per ounce) from a 20-stamp mill that operated prior to that time; minor prospecting occurred thereafter.

    The mine produced a total of $3 million (Clark, 1998), equivalent to approximately 145,000 troy ounces (4.51 metric tons) gold at a price of $20.67 per troy ounce (price of gold during the period of major production). Milling-grade ore reportedly yielded as much as one troy ounce gold per short ton with a "high silver content." On the basis of an ore grade of one troy ounce gold per short ton, value of bullion equal to $13.00 to $17.00 (average $15.00) per troy ounce, an estimated gold:silver ratio of 1:11, and reported total value of bullion produced for various periods, this MRDS reporter estimates the following:

    Total gold and silver production for the May Lundy Mine, 1880-1937 (includes 1899-1914 intermittent operations):
    Gold production, 98,047 (98,000) troy ounces (3 metric tons);
    Silver production, 1,078,517 (1,078, 500) troy ounces (33.5 metric tons).

    Total estimated value of gold and silver production (this MRDS reporter) is $2.9 million (compare with $3 million of Clark, 1998).


  • HISTORY

    1860s: Area prospected during the Comstock silver rush;
    1877: Lode deposits discovered;
    1879: May Lundy Mine discovered; Homer mining district organized;
    1879-1885: Continuous activity at May Lundy Mine;
    1885-1886: May Lundy was idle;
    1887-1898: Activity resumed at May Lundy;
    1899-1914: Intermittent operations;
    1937: A 140-ton flotation plant was installed to treat an estimated 60,000 short tons of accumulated tailings, reportedly worth $4.23 per ton in gold (equivalent to 0.121 troy ounces gold per short ton at $35 per ounce) from a 20-stamp mill that operated prior to that time;
    1937: Minor prospecting after 1937.
    1942: Mine equipment sold per a judgment against Thomas R. Hanna and Wanda Muir Hanna; Wanda Muir Hanna was one of two daughters of naturalist, John Muir.
    1970s: Some work, extent unknown (Gary Taylor, California Geological Survey, personal communication, August 2007).

    Mine Life: 35+ years, including continuous and intermittent operations; tailings worked for a brief period beginning in 1937. Some work (extent unknown) during the 1970s (Gary Taylor, California Geological Survey, personal communication, August 2007).

    Current Land Status: Hoover Wilderness, Inyo National Forest; status of formerly/currently patented claim(s) is not known to this MRDS reporter.

    ORE PROCESSING

    Prior to 1894, ore was processed using a 10-stamp mill (owned by the May Lundy Company) at Lundy, where 50% of the gold was caught in the battery mortars; the remainder was amalgamated on electro silver-plated copper plates. Tailings were passed over blanket sluices and the rich "pyritous sands" from these were "treated raw" with quicksilver and without other chemicals other than a "very little crude soda" in two Washoe pans. The mill was driven by a Leffel turbine, 17.5 inches (44.5 cm) in diameter, under an effective head of 28 feet (8.5 m).

    Ore was transported to the mill by a tramway 3500 feet (1067 m) long from the lowest tunnel to the floor of Lake Canyon. From there, the ore was hauled in wagons by a difficult-to-maintain road 5 miles (8 km) to the mill. Snowslides often damaged the tram. The mill suspended operations in 1884; from 1887-1888, a few miners under lease produced ore from the May Lundy using a custom 2-stamp mill in Lake Canyon; mules were used to haul ore down the mountain to the mill.

    A 10-stamp mill reportedly was built by the Jackson and Lakeview Mining Company at the base of the tramway to the May Lundy Mine in 1894. In 1900, the May Lundy Mine was bought by the Crystal Lake Gold Mining Company, and the mill was expanded to 20 stamps. The circuit at this mill included an Allen crusher, Dorr Thickener, storage tanks, duplex Dorr Classifier, Allis-Chalmers ball mill, 6-cell Kraut flotation machines, Kraut cleaner cell, and Amico filter.
    Power was supplied by a hydroelectric plant on Mill Creek 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the mill. The plant had a Pelton wheel and 250 KVA generator. The power line to the mill was 10,200 feet (3109 m) long.

Comments on the environmental information

  • The May Lundy Mine is located in the Eastern Sierra Nevada at elevations ranging from 9500-12,500 feet (2896-3810 m), an area that rises from timberline to mostly barren, rocky slopes above timberline. The area lies within and immediately south of the Hoover Wilderness, Inyo National Forest.

    Vegetation ranges from subalpine at lower elevations to alpine at higher elevations. Animal species are typical of those at high elevations throughout the Sierra Nevada.

    Historic wooden structures in the mine area are mostly destroyed; metal mining and processing apparatus and ancillary equipment are prevalent. Industrial mineral materials such as stone, ceramics, and concrete are also present.

    Recovery of gold and silver by amalgamation using native mercury at millsites near the historic Lundy townsite and in Lake Canyon below the May Lundy Mine may be sources of native mercury that possibly have accumulated in South Fork of Mill Creek, in Mill Creek, and in sediments washed into Lundy Lake, and also into Blue and Crystal lakes in Lake Canyon below the millsite at the May Lundy Mine. Native mercury may also be present in other drainages in the Homer mining district. This MRDS reporter does not know if testing for mercury has been undertaken in the area.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Chesterman, C. W., 1975, Geology of the Matterhorn Peak 15-minute Quadrangle, Mono and Tuolomne counties, California: California Division of Mines and Geology Map Sheet MS 022, scale 1:62,500.

  • Deposit

    Clark, W. B., 1998, Gold Districts of California, California Gold Discovery to Statehood: California Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin 193, Sesquicentennial Edition, p. 64-65.

  • Deposit

    Eakle, A.S. and McLaughlin, R.P., 1919, Mines and Mineral Resources, Mono County: California State Mining Bureau, Report 15 of the State Mineralogist:p. 170-171.

  • Deposit

    Engineering and Mining Journal (E&MJ), Oct. 1945, p. 121; Aug. 1945, p. 18; Feb. 1946, p. 18.

  • Deposit

    Evernden, J. F., and Kistler, R. W., 1970, Chronology of emplacement of Mesozoic batholithic complexes in California and western Nevada: U. S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 623.

  • Deposit

    Marsh, Erin, Goldfarb, Richard, Bierlein, Frank, Kunk, Mick, September 2007, New constraints on the timing of gold formation in the Sierra Nevada foothills province, central California [abstract]: Arizona Geological Society Symposium: Ores & Orogenesis, Circum-Pacific Tectonics, Geologic Evolution, and Ore Deposits; Tucson, Arizona, September 24-30, 2007, Poster Session presentation no. 33, abstract ID 168; online at agssymposium.org/media/AbsPdfs/Abstract168.pdf.

  • Deposit

    May Lundy Mine, California: http://www.ghosttownexplorers.org/california/maylundy/maylundy.htm.

  • Deposit

    Saleeby, Jason, 1981, Ocean floor accretion and volcanoplutonic arc evolution of the Mesozoic Sierra Nevada, in Ernst, W. G., Editor, 1981, The Geotectonic Development of California, Rubey Volume 1, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632, p. 132-181.

  • Deposit

    Sampson, R.J. and Tucker, W.B., 1940, Mineral resources of Mono County: California State Mining Bureau, Report 36 of the State Mineralogist, p. 11, 128-129.

  • Deposit

    Schweickert, R. A., 1981, Tectonic evolution of the Sierra Nevada Range, Roof pendants in the eastern and southern Sierra Nevada, in Ernst, W. G., Editor, 1981, The Geotectonic Development of California, Rubey Volume 1, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey 07632, p. 87-131.

  • Deposit

    Tucker, W. B., 1927, Mono County: California State Mining Bureau, Report 23 of the State Mineralogist, p. 376, 385-386

  • Deposit

    Whiting, H.A., 1888, Homer Mining District: California State Mining Bureau, Report 8 of the State Mineralogist, p. 367-371.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit Quartz veins associated with the May Lundy Mine occur in a body of Cretaceous-age (85-m.a.) biotite-hornblende granodiorite that forms the core of a north-trending regional anticline in Jurassic-age metasedimentary rocks (Chesterman, 1975). The veins strike north-northwesterly and dip steeply to the southwest.

The quartz veins of the May Lundy lode reportedly vary from a few inches to several feet in thickness, strike north-northwesterly, dip steeply southwesterly, and average two to three feet (0.6 to 0.9 m) in thickness; widths of 10 to 14 feet (3 to 4.3 m) are reported for portions of the veins in underground workings. Based on descriptions in the literature, these veins appear to be oriented subparallel to the contact between the granodiorite and metasedimentary rocks.

The ore contains free (sometimes visible) gold, electrum, auriferous pyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, magnetite, arsenopyrite, minor native copper, and oxidized minerals in the upper portions of the veins. These minerals occur in a gangue of crystalline quartz stained with iron oxides.

There are two principal gold-bearing quartz veins at the May Lundy Mine. The May Lundy Vein is about 3.5 feet (1 m) wide in the lower part and 2.5 feet (0.8 m) wide in the upper part, and can be traced for 6000 feet (1829 m) along strike. The West Vein has a strike length of about 3000 feet (914 m). Both veins generally vary from 2 to 4 feet (0.6 to 1.2 m) in width, strike northwesterly, and dip from 45? to 50? to the southwest.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 31-AUG-2007 Hill, Robert L. California Geological Survey CGS (Formerly CDMG)
Editor 20-FEB-2008 Schruben, Paul G. U.S. Geological Survey Converted from S&A FileMaker format to Oracle. Edit checks on rocks, units, and ages with Geolex search, and other fields.

Beyond USGS

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

External references

Maps centered on this site

Authoritative California resources

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