LOS ANGELES COUNTY.

By W. H. STORMS, Assistant in the Field.

HAYDEN HILL FACING SOUTH WEST.

also solve the question of ore hauling, as the distance from the mouth of it to a suitable mill site on Willow Creek, at the outlet of White Horse Cañon, would be from a quarter to one half a mile, on a very regular grade. This arrangement would permit of the profitable working of the large bodies of low-grade ores that have to be left as unprofitable under the existing circumstances.

During the past season only three or four of the mines were taking out and working ores, the bullion yield being stated at about $12,000. About twenty men found employment. One mine, which has been idle during the past year on account of the accidental death of the owners, has resumed operations with a small crew.

The mines around Susanville, in the granite on the Diamond Mountain range, are doing little. A few men are striving to develop some veins which have been found to contain gold enough to pay for its extraction, but no great depth has been obtained and the operations are simply prospects.

The mining industry in this county is not as extensive as that of some of the neighboring counties, but there are mines in Los Angeles County of unquestioned value, and others which have a prospective value, dependent to a great extent upon the success achieved in working certain base ores, which occur in comparative abundance.

THE KELSEY MINE.

One of the most interesting mines in the county is located in the rugged mountains about 8 miles from the town of Azusa, in the San Gabriel Cañon. It is commonly known as the Kelsey Mine, and has become famous as a producer of silver ore of fabulous richness.

The country is made up almost entirely of metamorphic rocks, having schistose, gneissoid, and massive structure. Both hornblende and mica occur in these rocks abundantly, the former being frequently altered to chlorite, or by further change to epidote. Dikes of porphyritic rock have been intruded into the crystalline schists. In the immediate vicinity of the Kelsey vein are intrusions of a dark green, much decomposed, and shattered rock, probably diorite. Faults, great and small, are numerous throughout the region. Within a few hundred feet of the mine is a great fault, which may be plainly seen cutting the mountain. The displacement must reach many hundreds of feet. It has resulted in bringing in contact on a horizontal plane rocks of entirely different character. On the south side of the fault the rocks are made up of quite regularly bedded micaceous sandstones, more or less schistose, and having a prevailing buff or light gray color. These rocks dip east at an angle of 20° to 30°. On the north side of the fault the rocks are harder, of a dark gray color, and containing considerable hornblende. These rocks are more gneissoid and massive than schistose. The dip is much less regular than on the south side of the displacement. Large, lenticular masses of quartzose and feldspathic rock are of frequent occurrence in the hornblende gniess, evidently the result of the segregation of the contained minerals. On the whole there is much more evidence of the disturbance on the north side of the fault than on the south side. It is in this area of greatly disturbed strata. that the Kelsey vein has formed.

The vein is of the fissure type and occupies the line of a fault plane, that at first, perhaps, was a mere crack, but which has become enlarged by the movement upon themselves of the rock masses forming the walls, resulting in a grinding and crushing of the rocks by the attrition and pressure incident to this movement. Into this crevice mineral waters found their way, carrying in solution the minerals now constituting the vein.

The Ore. The silver occurs as native and as glance (argentite), possibly partly as chloride and in combinations with sulphur, cobalt, and arsenic. The associated minerals are cobalt bloom (erythrite), a hydrous cobalt arsenate, nickel arsenate (annabergite), carbonate and silicate of copper (chrysocolla), iron oxide, and black oxide of manganese in a gangue of baryta (heavy spar), with calcite (lime spar) and some quartz. A clay selvage usually separates the vein material from the wall, this feature being well developed in places on the foot wall side, as though open crevices had occurred and the finely divided material which was carried by the percolating waters had found a resting place when an open space was reached, the absence of any current permitting the Imaterial to settle.

The clay may have been derived in part from the decomposition of the overhanging wall, the fine silt settling by gravity on the foot wall side of the vein. In places a soft, clayey gouge constitutes the entire vein filling, suggesting that the clay selvage and gouge are also partly due to the attrition of the walls. Galena occurs sparingly in small disseminated crystals, but the occurrence is so infrequent as to be scarcely worth mentioning. In width the crevice varies from a thin seam to over 4 feet. A banded structure is not uncommon in the vein.

The rocks inclosing the vein differ in various parts of the mine. A much decomposed rock, containing iron in the form of carbonate, occurs frequently, while a chloritic, more or less schistose, sometimes massive,

rock, also plays an important part in this connection. The dike of dark basic rock, resembling diorite, previously referred to, is exposed at numerous places throughout the workings, often in contact with the vein, or close to it. Since its formation the Kelsey vein has been subjected to severe torsion, which has resulted in abrupt fracture and displacement. To me it seemed very probable that the vein was the result of chemical precipitation, and no doubt, to some extent, the replacement of country rock along the line of a fissure or fault plane; that subsequent to the filling in of the vein the region was subjected to further violent disturbances, which fractured the rocks along an east and west course, and causing the turning of a large mass of rock formation lying south of this fault to the west. The vein being included in the general movement, was deflected from its natural course north and south. I came to these conclusions from close observations taken along the surface of the ground on the course of the vein, and in all accessible underground workings.

Most of the ore extracted from these workings has been high grade, usually running over $200 per ton, small lots often assaying several thousand ounces. The property, at the time of my visit last spring, was under the management of Dr. Endlich, E.M. This gentleman was making every effort to systematically open and recover a vein that had been as systematically and outrageously gouged. The workings were in bad condition and at some points were positively dangerous. The mine was gradually assuming an improved appearance and promised to yield better returns than ever before. A good mill has been erected at the foot of the mountain, in the San Gabriel Cañon, where a large stream of water flows during the entire year. An office, boarding house, stables, corrals, etc., had been built for the accommodation of men and animals. In adddition to this I found a complete assay office and chemical laboratory, and here Dr. Endlich was experimenting with the rich cobalt and nickel ores. As a result of his labors in this direction he exhibited several bars of cobalt speiss containing a very high value in silver. The assorted ore contains from 7 to 15 per cent in cobalt, 2 to 3 per cent nickel, and from 1,000 to 1,400 ounces silver per ton. Dr. Endlich thus describes his methods: "The ore is crushed through a twenty-mesh sieve, mixed with sufficient litharge to produce an 8 per cent charge, and enough borax is added to take up the gangue (quartz, heavy spar, carbonate of lime, magnesia, and iron). Carbonate of soda and flour are mixed with the charge. If the percentage of arsenic in the ore is sufficiently high to produce speiss none is added; otherwise some metallic arsenic is mixed in. Some sulphides in the ore and reduced sulphur from the heavy spar are utilized to produce mattes. The mixture is melted in large Dixon crucibles; the slag poured off, and the metallic product allowed to cool. The bars obtained are composed of lead, silver, cobalt, nickel, arsenic, and sulphur, principally; the lead being in the form of sulphide, the cobalt and nickel in the form of arsenides. The bars contained from 4,500 to 7,000 ounces silver per ton. The slag contained a trace of silver, and averaged about 0.75 per cent cobalt, which can be worked over by arsenizing, if desired, and the cobalt obtained in the resulting speiss."

At this writing about 560 pounds of ore has been treated in this way and the product shipped to Balbach's works in Newark, N. J., for refining.

THE VICTORIA MINES.

This property is situated but a short distance from the Kelsey Mine. The Victoria Mine was operated under English management for an English syndicate two or three years ago. Lately all operations have been suspended. The property, whatever it may be worth, is a monument to mismanagement of the worst sort.

THE LORDSBURG STAMPEDE.

In the month of March, 1892, the report went abroad that rich silver and gold-bearing rock had been found in the mountains north of Lordsburg, 28 miles east of the city of Los Angeles. So glowing were these stories that a general stampede for the new mining field ensued. Farmers left their homes, merchants and clerks in some instances temporarily closed their stores to join in the rush to Lordsburg. Unfortunately the stories proved to be unfounded, and, after three weeks of excitement, all had left the mines excepting a very few, who still had hopes of making a find.

CEDAR MINING DISTRICT.

Fifty-five miles by rail northeast from Los Angeles, on the line of the S. P. R. R., is the Cedar Mining District, the principal village being about the railway station called Acton. In the low hills about Acton, which rise out of the valley that skirts the northern base of the San Gabriel range of mountains, are located the gold mines which have been worked for many years by Mexicans and Americans.

THE RED ROVER.

This is the name of the principal mine in the district. It was located and worked many years since by Mexicans, but has during the past eight or ten years been in the hands of Americans. The vein strikes northwest and southeast, dipping to the southwest at an angle of 50° from the horizon. The rock is a white, fine-grained, saccharoidal quartz, showing in places bluish bands. It contains free gold in variable amount, with some iron sulphuret. A very large amount of quartz has been stoped from the vein and crushed in various mills.

The Red Rover is quite extensively developed, the new vertical shaft being down over 400 feet. The old inclined shaft, which is sunk on the vein, is down 220 feet. Several levels are run out from both these shafts, which are 200 feet apart. The new shaft was sunk between the main vein and a spur which branches from it. A crosscut was run out toward the spur, which is opened on the surface, but it was found it did not go down. A crosscut was then run toward the main vein, which was found intact, and a drift was carried in 60 feet on the vein.

The country rock is mostly massive metamorphic, very much broken and faulted. Nearly every mine in the district has been displaced more or less by these faults. For some reason the Red Rover has been shut down for some months past. It is understood that operations are to be resumed.

THE NEW YORK MINE

Is situated within half a mile of the Red Rover, and is similar in character. The quartz is said to mill $10 to $25 per ton. The owner has a five-stamp mill, which is complete and does good work. The vein is from 1 to 3 feet in width. It has produced considerable bullion. Other mines of the vicinity are the Topeka, Union, Escondido, King of the West, and Santa Clara, each of which has seen better days. The first three mentioned have been large producers, but are worked down to the water line, and a base ore proposition now faces the owners in the form of iron pyrites.

IN THE MAIN RANGE.

Up in the main range of the San Gabriel Mountains, on the north slopes of this rugged chain, are located a number of veins, on which considerable work has been done. The veins are well defined, ranging from 1 to 4 feet in width, striking northwest and southeast, and dipping uniformly to the northeast at a high angle. All of these veins contain gold, but all quickly run into sulphurets. All the mines are idle at present, but something brighter is hoped for. The sulphurets are said to contain sufficient gold to make chlorination profitable. If this is actually the case there is an abundance of material to work upon.

LIPARITES AND TUFAS

In the region about Acton are many hills of liparite (quartz-bearing trachyte) and tufa, which are identical with the rhyolites of the Calico, region-the same violet-brown, porphyritic liparite; the same pea-green and buff-colored tufas; the same conglomerate; in fact, an exact fac simile of the Calico range. There are no great beds of sedimentary rock, however, and these liparite hills are comparatively small, isolated As far as my knowledge goes ores of silver have never been found in these rocks in the Acton district. Careful prospecting may possibly discover such ores.

masses.

PROSPECTS OF THE CAMP.

Owing to the fact that the gold mines of this district have been worked to the water line, almost without exception, what now remains to be done to perpetuate the prosperity of the district, is to concentrate the sulphurets, working them by chlorination in works built in the district. Wood and water are both obtainable at moderate cost, and the sulphuretted ores of this district that contain but a very few dollars per ton should pay. The cost of mining, transportation, crushing, and concentrating should not exceed, ordinarily, $5 per ton of quartz, and the expense of treating the concentrates should be under $10 per ton. Base ores containing $10 per ton as it comes from the vein should realize a profit in this district, and I am told that many of the mines produce rock of a much better grade than that mentioned.

THE ALPINE MINES.

Not far from Acton, in the low hills overlooking the Antelope Valley, are the mines of the Alpine Plaster and Cement Company, a Los Angeles corporation. Here a deposit of gypsum is being mined, the material being sent to Los Angeles, where it is manufactured into plaster of Paris. Fifteen tons of the raw material are consumed daily.

THE PLACER DEPOSITS.

Near Newhall the placer mines are worked more or less every season. There seems to be a large area over which gold is distributed in that section, but usually the pay is too small to make mining profitable. Various kinds of gold-saving machines have been used in the district, with varying success. The placer regions hereabouts, including Dry Cañon, La Cañon de Los Murtes, Casteca Cañon, and the San Francisquito, have all produced a large amount of gold, but to the individuals working these alluvial deposits great fortunes never came. The Newhall placers are being worked systematically and cheaply, and I am told with good results. Upon the flanks of Mount San Antonio, I am told miners obtained good results during the entire spring and early summer season of the present year. Coarse gold is found up there near the head of San Antonio Cañon, at an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet above the sea.

BUILDING MATERIAL.

There are a number of very good quarries of building stone in Los Angeles County. Granite is quarried all along the San Gabriel range, from the Cañadas to the San Antonio Cañon. The rock obtained is a beautiful stone of uniform grain and capable of withstanding a tremendous pressure. Sandstone is obtained in any desired quantity near San Dimas, on the line of the Southern California Railroad. In the San Fernando Valley, also, good sandstone is quarried.

MARIN COUNTY.

By W. L. WATTS, Assistant in the Field.

The mineral resources of Marin County that have been hitherto developed, may be reckoned among those of practical utility rather than of metallic value. The existence of the valuable and precious metals in Marin County, as mentioned in previous reports, was, however, sufficient to cause some excitement in the early days of California.

At a point visited by the writer, croppings of copper ore were found, from which a fair grade might be obtained by sorting, although the average of the ledge was of little value.

The oil and gas of Bolinas have also received some attention in years gone by, but the inefficiency of the boring tools in use in California at that time can hardly be said to have fairly tested the oil and gas bearing formations.

Notable among the attractions of the picturesque shore of Marin County are the hot springs of Rocky Point. At present their existence is by no means widely known, but lying as they do, almost within sight of the lights of San Francisco, they may be reckoned among the mineral resources of the county, by reason of the dollars they are likely to draw from the pockets of visitors.

WATER.

The principal water supply of San Rafael, San Quentin, and Ross Valley districts is from the mains of the Marin County Water Company. This company obtains water from Lake Lagunita, an artificial reservoir about 7 miles from San Rafael, and situated at a height of about 700 feet above that town. This reservoir comprises an area of 22 acres; it is 42 feet deep at high-water mark, from which point there is a constant overflow during the rainy season.

Lake Lagunita was formed by damming a valley on the northern slope of Mount Tamalpais. This enterprise was commenced by W. T. Coleman in or about the year 1872, and he sold the waterworks and privileges to the present company in 1877. The cost of water supplied by the Marin County Waterworks, at meter rates, is as follows: 10,000 gallons per month or under, 45 cents per thousand; 10,000 to 20,000 gallons per month, 35 cents per thousand; over 20,000 gallons per month, 30 cents per thousand. This company also obtains water from Sweet George Spring, about 3 miles south of the reservoir; the water from this spring flows into the flume supplying the town of San Rafael. The Ross Valley supply is taken principally from Bill Williams Gulch; this water right is also owned by the Marin County Water Company. The water from Worn Springs also flows into the Bill Williams main. A reservoir of about 300,000 gallons capacity has been formed by throwing a dam 12 feet in height and 40 feet in length across Bill Williams

Gulch, and from this reservoir the water is piped. A flume from Lagunita Lake carries the water which supplies San Rafael a distance of about half a mile to a hopper, whence it is piped about 6 miles to the town. The Marin County Water Company has other water rights, which at present are not used; the principal one of these is the water right of Cataract Gulch, on the Bolinas road, distant about 4 miles south of Lagunita Lake. It is the intention of the company to construct a new dam a short distance from Lake Lagunita, in order to create a larger reservoir at a slightly lower elevation. It is estimated that the new reservoir will contain 195,000,000 gallons. The barometric height of the high-water mark at the new reservoir has been estimated at 690 feet above the office of the company at San Rafael. The barometric height at the junction of the north and south forks of Sweetwater Gulch is 650 feet. That of Cataract Gulch, at a point about 300 yards up the gulch from the county road, is 600 feet. It has been estimated that the approximate discharge from the main flume of Lagunita Lake is 400,000 gallons in twenty-four hours in winter, and about 1,000,000gallons in twenty-four hours in summer.

Throughout the hills of Marin County, private supplies of water are obtained from springs, or by tunneling through several strata of rock, which usually stand at a very great angle, the water being found either at the point of contact between the strata or seeping through the more porous formation. A tunnel of from 80 to 130 feet in length is said to be sufficient as a general rule to furnish water for one family, and sometimes for more; still, tunneling for water in a rocky formation is an uncertain expedient. Thus, when the writer visited Larkspur, only a small supply of water was being obtained from a tunnel 140 feet long, which had been run under such conditions, but the supply from the tunnel had to be helped out by pumping from a well in the bed of the adjacent creek. A second tunnel was at that time being made. The formation penetrated was a metamorphic sandstone and shale, passing into a rock which, from a casual examination, resembles serpentine.

Farther down from the above mentioned tunnels, a well was dug, and ́after passing through 8 feet of adobe and 16 feet of shale, a spring was struck, which flowed at the rate of about 5 gallons per hour. A fair quality of water was obtained at a depth of 24 feet in a metamorphic sandstone near the creek.

Several attempts have been made at the Hotel San Rafael to obtain water by sinking a shaft and crosscutting the formation, and one boring that has been made there is said to be 900 feet in depth. It is reported, however, that the yield of water is small. Another shaft was commenced in September, 1891, the result of which was not known at the time of this writing. Several other attempts to obtain water by digging and boring into the rock formation near San Rafael have been far from satisfactory. The formation penetrated at the Hotel San Rafael in 1890 was yellow clay, 55 feet, and shale rock, with streaks of lime, 500 feet.

MINERAL AND THERMAL SPRINGS.

Besides numerous mineral springs associated with the gas-yielding rocks, and mentioned in connection therewith, a group of hot mineral springs is situated near Rocky Point, some 8 miles southeast from Bolinas.

On the eastern side of Bolinas Bay the unaltered formation gives place to metamorphic rocks. About 6 miles south of Bolinas is Willow Camp, on the East-koot Beach; it is quite a favorite bathing resort. A grove of willows at that point has been patronized by campers for many years, and is now becoming more widely known.

About 14 miles from Willow Camp and some 6 miles northwest from Point Bonita are several hot sulphur springs. Between the willows and the springs the shore is guarded by precipitous cliffs of highly metamorphosed, sedimentary strata, conspicuous among which are highly contorted, jaspery slates; and at one point a very high degree of silicification has been attained, and croppings of quartz present themselves. About half way between Willow Camp and the hot springs an alum shale is met with, the surface of which is covered with efflorescent salts; and associated with the shale is much iron pyrites. The rock whence the hot springs issue is highly metamorphic, and iron pyrites are abundantly scattered through it. The water of some of the springs is as hot as can be borne by the hand; the adjacent sand is quite warm, and the air is redolent with sulphuretted hydrogen. These springs are all situated below high-tide mark to the west of Rocky Point, in the vicinity where the waters of Steep Ravine reach the ocean. The shore land belongs to the Throgmorton ranch, but Mr. Houston Jones informed the writer that he has made application to the Government for a title to the springs.

EL TORO SPRING.

This spring is situated on the property of J. W. Taylor, near Novato, and the medicinal character of its waters has been known for many years. The following analysis of the water was made by William T. Wenzell, of San Francisco:

Carbonate of soda.. Carbonate of lime. Carbonate of magnesia

Chloride of sodium Chloride of potassium

Oxide of iron....

Sulphate of magnesia.

Carbonic acid, 37 cubic inches.

COAL.

Grains in

1 Gallon.

7.127

.641

.709

2,099

1.271

.617

.116

.040

Small seams of coal are found in several places in the county, notably on the ranch of C. Murray, about 3 miles north of Nicasio.

Some prospecting for coal has been done about 2 miles north of Bolinas, on the McGovern ranch. No coal, however, is in sight, the formation exposed being a dark-colored shale.

BUILDING STONE.

Besides the Hotaling quarry, in the southwestern edge of San Rafael, which was described in the Tenth Annual Report, some rough stone for gutter work and macadam has been taken out on the Coleman tract.

A small amount of sandstone has also been quarried near Mount Tamalpais cemetery. At other places the formation is greatly disturbed; it stands at a great angle and is traversed by numerous calcareous vein