Sempe Mine (Senpe; Sempa; Senpa), Hiriart Mountain (Heriart; Heriot; Hiriat Hill), Pala District, San Diego Co., California, USA

"Sempé"
—French, disassociation from the Latin 'Semper', meaning "Forever".

Located in the N2SE4 Sec. 24 T9S R2W SBM, the mine is on the northwest slope of Hiriart Mountain. The Sempe pegmatite dike is considered thick, strikes northward and dips 30 degrees west. Reports mention the shallow workings producing a small quantity of gem minerals including pink beryl (morganite) and quartz. Lepidolite and tourmaline is also noted to occur. The deposit was developed by several shallow cuts made along the exposure.

The deposit was discovered and first located under the general mining laws by Bernardo Hiriart and Pedro Peiletch on June 7th of 1901. The claim was most likely named after Hiriart's drink of persuasion, Sempé Armagnac, a distinctive kind of brandy from the Aquitaine region of France, popularly advertised in the early 1900's. The Sempe was the first of three claims on the mountain made by the two Basque Frenchman between 1901 and 1902.

Not long after the date of the Sempe location, the surrounding vacant public lands were temporarily withdrawn and removed from mineral entry under the United States land and mineral laws pursuant to Secretarial Order dated January 24, 1903. This order was a temporary withdrawal pending acquisition of all private inholdings, including valid existing rights, for the benefit of the Pala Tribe, under Indian tract allotment pursuant to the Act of January 12, 1891.

In 1906, George F. Kunz described the development of the Sempe mine occurring along two ledges of pegmatite, with one cut yielding fine pink beryl, and the other cut producing white beryl. The mine was later acquired by Jim R. Fouch, head of the Universal Microphone Company of Inglewood. Fouch mined the deposit between 1943 and 1945, when 2 large crystals of quartz were produced, from which were recovered a small amount of electronic grade quartz. George A. Ashley purchased the claim from Fouch in 1947.

In 1973, Pala International of Fallbrook developed a joint venture mining project involving the Sempe mine and began working the deposit. Some of the surface workings were expanded and new cuts made using a D-8 Caterpillar track-type dozer. Although moderately successful, mining operations had ceased by 1978.

In the early 1990's the Secretary of the Interior, through the delegation to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), investigated the bona fides of the mining claim to determine any encumbrance of an allotment application (trust patent) filed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs on behalf of the Pala Tribe on June 19, 1980. The claim was adjudicated and in 1992 it was declared invalid from the beginning, or void ab initio. The land is now managed for the benefit of the Pala Band of Mission Indians by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

References:
Jahns, R. H. and Wright, L. A. 1951. Gem and Lithium-bearing pegmatites of the Pala District, San Diego County, California. California Division of Mines special report 7A: 72 p.

Kunz, G. F. 1905. Gems, jeweler's materials, and ornamental stones of California. California State Mining Bureau bulletin 37: p. 86.

Kunz, G. F. 1906. The Production of Precious Stones in 1905. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey, Division of Mining and Mineral Resources. GPO, Washington: pages 26-27; 40 pp.

Pala International, Inc. 2007. A brief synopsis on mining operations by Pala Properties International, of Fallbrook, CA; at www.palagems.com.

Swoboda, E. R. 2001. Pala district 1946-48: Unpublished field notes and personal interviews. Swoboda Inc., Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County, CA; 5/2; 8 p.

Todd, W. R. & Waiwood, R. M. 1996. Mineral Report: Validity Examination of the Katerina Lode; Bureau of Land Management, United States Department of the Interior, Oct. 30; 71 p., maps/plats, photos, legal/technical data.

Weber, F. H. 1963. Geology and mineral resources of San Diego County, California. California Division of Mines and Geology, County Report 3: p. 111.