Desert Hound Mine (Keys Mine), Black Mountains, Amargosa Range, Inyo County, California, USAi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Desert Hound Mine (Keys Mine) | Mine |
| Black Mountains | Mountain Range |
| Amargosa Range | Mountain Range |
| Inyo County | County |
| California | State |
| USA | Country |
This page is currently not sponsored. Click here to sponsor this page.
Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
36° North , 116° West (est.)
Estimate based on other nearby localities or region boundaries.
Margin of Error:
~35km
Type:
Köppen climate type:
The Desert Hound Mine was first discovered in the late summer of 1906, when the Engineering & Mining Journal reported that E. M. Wilkens and Burt Sides had located it high on the summit of the Black Mountains, overlooking Death Valley. The mine was perhaps the most isolated in all of Death Valley, particularly when transportation time to the nearest points of settlement were considered, for the only way in or out was via a five-mile hiker either from Virgin Spring or the Death Valley floor, The closest point of contemporary civilization, Greenwater, was over twenty airline miles and close to thirty road and trail miles away.
Nevertheless, the two men managed to sell their property to an eastern syndicate for $30,000 in cash and 75,000 shares of stock in a new company, which became known as the Keys Mining Company. The company was owned and promoted by F. D. Mellen & Company of Boston, and had sixty-five claims, with both gold and copper values. Bill Keys was the local manager and representative of the company on the ground, and the Desert Hound Mine was commonly known as the Keys Mine.
Following its discovery, the Desert Hound Mine underwent a bewildering shift of owners, as each subsequent purchaser found out exactly bow isolated the mine really was, and how costly it would be to operate. Through it all, Bill Keys remained the only stable individual, as he served first one and then another owner as its ground representative and manager. The DuPont Powder Company, in a rare venture into mining, bought the mine from the Boston promoters in early 1907, and announced that development would start soon. DuPont, however, soon found out how expensive it would be to start developments, and as late as July 1907, still had not started work.
The next mention of the Desert Hound is in October of 1907, when Bill Brockington replaced Bill Keys as manager of the property. This time development work was started, under the direct supervision of Brockington, and by the end of October the Rhyolite Daily Bulletin reported that Brockington was ready to ship out two carloads of ore, worth an estimated $20,000. Six men were employed at the mine at this time, and development work continued through the rest of 1907. Late that year, by which time a tunnel had been run in 120 feet and a shaft sunk to seventy feet, a gold strike was reported, but no more shipments were made. Sometime in the fall of 1907, DuPont leased the mine back to a group of Boston promoters, although it took the local newspapers several months to catch up on that change.
In February of 1908, the Inyo Independent reported that Brockington was working eight men on the property. Two assayers had been brought in from Boston, and a complete assaying outfit had been installed at the mine, including a furnace which weighed 600 pounds. Work was necessarily slow, due to the extreme isolation of the mine, but by the end of April, the Rhyolite Herald reported that the miners were beginning to sack high-grade ore for shipment. The Bullfrog Miner reported several weeks later that the assay testing done by the Boston experts had been successful, and the company was planning a big development campaign.
Following that report, however, no more news was heard from the mine until December of 1908, when Brockington told the Rhyolite Herald that the mine "is destined to become the greatest producer in California." A party of Boston promoters of the Key Gold Mining & Milling Company had arrived in Death Valley for a visit to the mine, and reports indicated that the visitors were so pleased with its prospects that they planned to install an aerial tramway near the mire to take the ore down to a proposed mill site.
In January of 1909, the Rhyolite Daily Bulletin reported that a wagon road was being built from Death Valley Junction to the property, in order to facilitate the planned improvements, and the Bullfrog Miner confirmed later that month that plans were being made to construct a small mill on the property. Water was scarce in the vicinity, however, and the fact that the mine was located in an almost inaccessible place made such plans difficult in the extreme to carry out.
Nevertheless, work continued at the Desert Hound, and the Rhyolite Daily Bulletin reported in February that a second mine had been opened at the camp, which was "rapidly coming again to the front." The Rhyolite Herald reported considerable development later that month, with the mine holding an abundance of ore between $80 and $100 per ton. A mill would be required to mine it profitably, however, due to the costs and difficulties or transportation. Little more is heard from the property in 1909. The Bullfrog Miner reported in May that a good force of men were working, and the Rhyolite Herald mentioned in September that between ten and fifteen men were working on a crosscut tunnel and a drift.
No further word was heard from the mine for a year and a half, until April of 1911, when the Rhyolite Herald reported that the Key Gold Mining Company was running a 1,300-foot tunnel to tap its vein, and had recently shipped forty tons of ore to the Needles, California, smelter, worth about $310 per ton. Highlighting the difficulties of the mine, the Herald stated that $60 ore was often dumped out at the mine, since it did not pay to ship to the smelter. Following that report, the Desert Hound was not heard from for another year, until the Inyo Register reported in February of 1912 that the DuPong Powder people were working at the mine. That, however, was the last mention of the mine for quite some time.
After twenty-some years of idleness, the Desert Hound was again reopened in the 1930s, as a small one-man operation. This enterprising miner blazed a pair of nice hiking trails between his property and Virgin Spring Canyon, where a small milling operation was set up at the spring. Judging from the ruins of that mill site, which consists of no more than a small tailings dump and a small concrete engine mount, the milling operation was neither long-lasting nor particularly successful. Sometime in the late 1930s, the mine was finally abandoned for good.Latschar, 1981
List of minerals for each chemical element
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North AmericaContinent
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Basin and Range BasinsBasin
- Mojave DomainDomain
- Southern Basin and RangeWide Rift
USA
- Death Valley National ParkNational Park
This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to
visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders
for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.
