In a message dated 7/31/01 9:18:36 AM Pacific Daylight Time, sweetwater@sierratel.com writes: > Does anyone have any tidbits or information on either the MT GAINES > Mine, or > James Taylor Gaines? > Carolyn, Here's what I have, I think Bill gave it to me a while back. My Joseph Spagnoli was an owner of the Mt. Gaines Mine at one time.......... Mines from: Geologic Guidebook Along Highway 49--Sierran Gold Belt Bulletin 141 State of California Division of Mines Department of Natural Resources "The Mother Lode Country" Centennial Edition, 1948 Mines: Mount Gaines The MOUNT GAINES mine, located five miles northeast of Hornitos on the Hornitos-Bear Valley road, is the only major gold producer in Mariposa County. It has an inclined shaft with an average dip of 300 having a total inclined depth of 1322 feet. The ore is of sulfide type and the veins dip at 300 to 350 from horizontal. Steeply dipping veins are more common along the Mother Lode, in this respect, therefore, the Mount Gaines veins are unusual. The wall rock is meta-andesite and vein minerals include pyrite, quartz, clialcopynite, galena, and sphalerite as well as disseminated gold. Bornite, proustite, arsenopyrite, and argentite have been found in small quantities. Early production of the MOUNT GAINES totaled $1,250,000 to 1911. No recent figures are available. Two and two-tenths miles south of the town of Bear Valley, prominent outcrops of quartz can be seen to the west of the highway. These stand up like white walls on the gently rolling land surface and mark the trace of one branch of the Mother Lode. Bear Valley, originally called Simpsonville, was promoted by J. C. Fr_mont during his administration of the Las Mariposas grant. The town is now largely a ruin of small stone, adobe, and frame buildings marked by Division of Highways Historical Marker 331 Another road from Hornitos joins Highway 49 just north of Bear Valley. Two miles north of Bear Valley and one-tenth of a mile past the divide marking the drop into Merced River canyon, a broad shoulder in the highway affords a good parking place from which to observe the panorama to the northwest. The river has cut a gorge which is over 1200 feet below the level of Bear Valley and more than 2000 feet below the ridge tops on either side. Remnants of the old rolling land surface an be seen on the ridge to the east of the river. Hell hollow, which is a narrow gorge tributary to the Merced, lies immediately below the road to the northwest. The first fossils by which the age of the Mariposa slates were determined came from outcrops in Hell Hollow. To the east of the Merced River and more or less paralleling its course, thc white outcrops of the main branch of the Mother Lode can be followed for miles. In the vicinity of Whites Gulch, the quartz outcrops take an abrupt turn and strike almost due north. It is possible that the Mother Lode, at that point, is offset by a cross fault, but work on that area has been insufficient to establish the fact conclusively. The abrupt change in strike of the Mother Lode outcrops is very noticeable from several points along Highway 49 as it drops from Bear Valley into the canyon of the Merced. The Mother Lode thrust fault system has displaced many thousands of feet of beds. More than 15,000 feet of strata may have been cut out in some places. Steeply dipping linear outcrops of meta-volcanics of the Pe±on Blanco or Logtown Ridge formation can be seen in the hillside to the west of the Merced River. Sharon Mariposa, CA listmom

Hi Carolyn, Just sticking my nose in (again). In case you are not aware, all surveyors have microfilm copies of the USGS maps from the original township surveys in the 1850s and tracking the exact location of the mines in the sections of each township. I'm sure the info in this message is reliable, however, in the future if you had these microfilm copies of the USGS maps, you could pull it up and find the mine and sometimes even track it through it's evolution. If anyone knows of a surveyor that has these films who would loan them out for a week or so, they can be transferred onto new film for quite a reasonable price. Carolyn, if you're interested, contact me direct. Just some miscellaneous info I thought I'd pass along. Sue Silver EDC ----- Original Message ----- From: <DULCICH6@aol.com> To: <CAMARIPO-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2001 10:19 AM Subject: Re: [CAMARIPO] MT GAINES MINE > In a message dated 7/31/01 9:18:36 AM Pacific Daylight Time, > sweetwater@sierratel.com writes: > > > > Does anyone have any tidbits or information on either the MT GAINES > > Mine, or > > James Taylor Gaines? > > > > Carolyn, > Here's what I have, I think Bill gave it to me a while back. My Joseph > Spagnoli was an owner of the Mt. Gaines Mine at one time.......... > > Mines from: Geologic Guidebook > Along Highway 49--Sierran Gold Belt > Bulletin 141 > State of California Division of Mines > Department of Natural Resources > "The Mother Lode Country" > Centennial Edition, 1948 > > Mines: Mount Gaines > > The MOUNT GAINES mine, located five miles northeast of Hornitos on the > Hornitos-Bear Valley road, is the only major gold producer in Mariposa > County. It has an inclined shaft with an average dip of 300 having a total > inclined depth of 1322 feet. The ore is of sulfide type and the veins dip at > 300 to 350 from horizontal. Steeply dipping veins are more common along the > Mother Lode, in this respect, therefore, the Mount Gaines veins are unusual. > The wall rock is meta-andesite and vein minerals include pyrite, quartz, > clialcopynite, galena, and sphalerite as well as disseminated gold. Bornite, > proustite, arsenopyrite, and argentite have been found in small quantities. > Early production of the MOUNT GAINES totaled $1,250,000 to 1911. No recent > figures are available. > > Two and two-tenths miles south of the town of Bear Valley, prominent outcrops > of quartz can be seen to the west of the highway. These stand up like white > walls on the gently rolling land surface and mark the trace of one branch of > the Mother Lode. > > Bear Valley, originally called Simpsonville, was promoted by J. C. Fr_mont > during his administration of the Las Mariposas grant. The town is now largely > a ruin of small stone, adobe, and frame buildings marked by Division of > Highways Historical Marker 331 Another road from Hornitos joins Highway 49 > just north of Bear Valley. > > Two miles north of Bear Valley and one-tenth of a mile past the divide > marking the drop into Merced River canyon, a broad shoulder in the highway > affords a good parking place from which to observe the panorama to the > northwest. The river has cut a gorge which is over 1200 feet below the level > of Bear Valley and more than 2000 feet below the ridge tops on either side. > Remnants of the old rolling land surface an be seen on the ridge to the east > of the river. Hell hollow, which is a narrow gorge tributary to the Merced, > lies immediately below the road to the northwest. The first fossils by which > the age of the Mariposa slates were determined came from outcrops in Hell > Hollow. > > To the east of the Merced River and more or less paralleling its course, thc > white outcrops of the main branch of the Mother Lode can be followed for > miles. In the vicinity of Whites Gulch, the quartz outcrops take an abrupt > turn and strike almost due north. It is possible that the Mother Lode, at > that point, is offset by a cross fault, but work on that area has been > insufficient to establish the fact conclusively. The abrupt change in strike > of the Mother Lode outcrops is very noticeable from several points along > Highway 49 as it drops from Bear Valley into the canyon of the Merced. The > Mother Lode thrust fault system has displaced many thousands of feet of beds. > More than 15,000 feet of strata may have been cut out in some places. Steeply > dipping linear outcrops of meta-volcanics of the Pe±on Blanco or Logtown > Ridge formation can be seen in the hillside to the west of the Merced River. > > > > Sharon > Mariposa, CA listmom > > > ==== CAMARIPO Mailing List ==== > The California GenWeb Project: > http://www.cagenweb.com/ > >