Furnace Creek Wash (Monte Blanco Borax and Salt mining district; Death Valley Borax and Salt mining district), Furnace Creek Mining District (Furnace Creek Borate Mining District), Inyo County, California, USAi
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
36° 24' 0'' North , 116° 52' 36'' West
Latitude & Longitude (decimal):
Type:
KΓΆppen climate type:
Mindat Locality ID:
157138
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:157138:0
GUID (UUID V4):
cc8a099c-a327-4b7b-aff5-ca1feaf6c625
A N-S-trending, N-flowing, then S-flowing stream/wash located between the Black Mountains and Funeral Mountains, flowing into the Death Valley around the northern end of the Black Mountains.
The claims staked in the vicinity of Furnace Creek Wash in the early 1880s became part of either one of two mining districts. On 3 November 1882 the Monte Blanco Borax and Salt Mining District was established with boundaries commencing at the south east corner of Death Valley Borax and Salt Mining District, 2 miles east of the mouth of Furnace Creek, thence running north 15 miles, thence east 15 miles, then south 30 miles, thence west 15 miles and then north 15 miles to point of beginning.
This district included most of the borax sites being worked or held in reserve today, such as the DeBely, Low Grade, Little Shot, Dot, Hard Scramble, and Monte Blanco borax deposits. The Death Valley Borax and Salt Mining District, formally established on 25 May 1883, had boundaries
commencing two miles East of the mouth of Furnace Creek wash and running North parallel with the Mountains fifteen miles, Thence West across Death Valley fifteen Miles Thence South along Panamint Mts. fifteen miles Thence East to place of beginning.
During all the years that the colemanite deposits south of Furnace Creek Wash had been held in abeyance by the Pacific Coast Borax Company, they had not been totally neglected. The company had, in fact, been very careful to establish legal title to the many claims that had been located for them in the area by various prospectors (many subsidized by the Pacific Coast Borax people), and also diligent in performing the necessary $100 worth of improvements necessary each year to maintain ownership. The original discoveries had been located in 1883 and patented in 1887 as placer claims, but it was later perceived by the extent and depth of the ore that these were actually lode deposits, making the basis for the original patents somewhat shaky. This obstacle was overcome by simply incorporating the earlier strikes within the boundaries of newer lode claims. Encouraging prospecting in the area and keeping track of resulting locations, carrying out the necessary surveys, and patenting location rights according to government regulations, while also performing annual assessment work, were time-consuming and often legally-complicated tasks, but by the 1900s when it was thought that these resources might be needed to bolster the failing supplies of the Lila C, the company had successfully obtained indisputable mining rights throughout the Monte Blanco and Corkscrew Canyon areas.
In the 1880s the company's annual assessment work, performed until federal courts confirmed their patents and made protective work unnecessary, was carried out by men either from Harmony Borax Works or the Monte Blanco camp. When borax activity moved to the Calico Mountains around 1890, groups of men left there by wagon each winter to tackle this duty. In the early 1900s men from the Lila C and then from Ryan set up temporary camps on the various claim groups and performed the work. When around 1916 the ever-present threat of claim jumping materialized and some disgruntled employees spurred on by competitors tried to take over some company claims in the area, it took the U.S. Supreme Court to confirm the original ownership. To prevent further encroachment the company proceeded to surround their more valuable Mount Blanco claims with fences of telephone wire string to Β°wood posts. Annual work was thereafter performed more conscientiously and careful records kept of the improvements made.
Although only very limited development work was carried out on the slopes of Mount Blanco, the area's resources were fully recognized and considered ripe for development if ever needed. When, for instance, a closure of the Lila C was being considered around 1909 or 1910 because of the low price of borax and the expense of recovering it from here, work in the Furnace Creek Wash area increased in preparation for a possible shift of operations.
In the early 1920s another colemanite deposit of exceptional purity was located about 1-1/2 miles from the Death Valley Railroad and supposedly adjoining Pacific Coast Borax Company property. The "discoverers"--W. Scott Russell, C.A. Barlow, and a W.H. Hill--formed the Death Valley Borax Company, moved gasoline hoists and other equipment onto the site, erected a camp, and determined to work the properties "declared by geologists to be the most remarkable and among the richest deposits on record." These claims were filed for patent the next year as the Boraxo Nos. 1 and 2 lodes. A sticky legal question arose due to the fact that this property had earlier been located as the Clara lode Claim by the Pacific Coast Borax Company, and a patent applied for that, unknown to the company, had been rejected on rather nebulous grounds. The company, therefore, assuming ownership, ceased annual assessment work, unwittingly opening the way for later relocation of the site. Ensuing litigation found in favor of the usurpers, forcing the Pacific Coast Borax Company to later buy it back. It ultimately became known as the Boraxo Deposit, and, as stated earlier, its exploitation by Tenneco, Inc., starting around 1970 has renewed borax operations in the Death Valley region.
In 1924 W.F. Foshag of the U.S. National Museum wrote a piece on the mineral deposits of Furnace Creek Wash, noting that the mines of the area were found in either of two districts: the Ryan District, composed of the Biddy Mccarthy (McCarty), Widow, Lizzie V. Oakley, Lila C and Played-Out deposits, and the Mount Blanco District, which was not being mined at that time but had been opened earlier by several exploratory tunnels. This latter area, he said, could be reached from Ryan "by continuing down the Wash past The tanks and taking the only road to the south leading into the clay hills flanking the Black Mountains on the north. The road leads directly to the deposits but the last mile must be made on foot."
In 1956 the Pacific Coast Borax Company was reorganized into the U.S. Borax and Chemical Corporation, which still retains the early mining properties of the former smaller organization in the Death Valley region, including those in the Furnace Creek Wash area extending from the monument boundary west of Ryan northwest to Monte Blanco and then on to Gower Gulch. In this latter canyon quite limited exploratory and assessment work has been done through the years, as evidenced by the presence of only short adits and shallow shafts. The Corkscrew Mine at the head of Corkscrew Canyon has been developed by two adits, but its ore body is considered about exhausted. From 1953 to 1955 colemanite recovered here went into air-dispersed fire retardants for use against forest fires. Utilization of such a retardant, and consequently any further development of the mine, was doomed in the early 1960s by the U.S. Forest Service's determination that boron-based retardants caused soil sterility and were in addition less effective than other products. The DeBely Mine also operated in the mid-1950s to supply borates for this purpose.Greene, 1981
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsDetailed Mineral List:
| β Colemanite Formula: Ca[B3O4(OH)3] · H2O Description: Occurs as nodules in shale. |
| β Gypsum Formula: CaSO4 · 2H2O Description: Occurs as nodules in shale. |
| β Hydroboracite Formula: CaMg[B3O4(OH)3]2 · 3H2O Description: Occurs in the Furnace Creek Formation. |
| β Priceite Formula: Ca2B5O7(OH)5 · H2O Description: Occurs as nodules in shale. |
| β Stilpnomelane ? Formula: (K,Ca,Na)(Fe,Mg,Al)8(Si,Al)12(O,OH)36 · nH2O Description: Possibly celadonite or chlorite per p.c. of Foshag to Murdoch & Webb (1983). |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
| Group 6 - Borates | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| β | Colemanite | 6.CB.10 | Ca[B3O4(OH)3] Β· H2O |
| β | Hydroboracite | 6.CB.15 | CaMg[B3O4(OH)3]2 Β· 3H2O |
| β | Priceite | 6.EB.25 | Ca2B5O7(OH)5 Β· H2O |
| Group 7 - Sulphates, Chromates, Molybdates and Tungstates | |||
| β | Gypsum | 7.CD.40 | CaSO4 Β· 2H2O |
| Group 9 - Silicates | |||
| β | Stilpnomelane ? | 9.EG.40 | (K,Ca,Na)(Fe,Mg,Al)8(Si,Al)12(O,OH)36 Β· nH2O |
List of minerals for each chemical element
| H | Hydrogen | |
|---|---|---|
| H | β Colemanite | Ca[B3O4(OH)3] · H2O |
| H | β Gypsum | CaSO4 · 2H2O |
| H | β Hydroboracite | CaMg[B3O4(OH)3]2 · 3H2O |
| H | β Priceite | Ca2B5O7(OH)5 · H2O |
| H | β Stilpnomelane | (K,Ca,Na)(Fe,Mg,Al)8(Si,Al)12(O,OH)36 · nH2O |
| B | Boron | |
| B | β Colemanite | Ca[B3O4(OH)3] · H2O |
| B | β Hydroboracite | CaMg[B3O4(OH)3]2 · 3H2O |
| B | β Priceite | Ca2B5O7(OH)5 · H2O |
| O | Oxygen | |
| O | β Colemanite | Ca[B3O4(OH)3] · H2O |
| O | β Gypsum | CaSO4 · 2H2O |
| O | β Hydroboracite | CaMg[B3O4(OH)3]2 · 3H2O |
| O | β Priceite | Ca2B5O7(OH)5 · H2O |
| O | β Stilpnomelane | (K,Ca,Na)(Fe,Mg,Al)8(Si,Al)12(O,OH)36 · nH2O |
| Na | Sodium | |
| Na | β Stilpnomelane | (K,Ca,Na)(Fe,Mg,Al)8(Si,Al)12(O,OH)36 · nH2O |
| Mg | Magnesium | |
| Mg | β Hydroboracite | CaMg[B3O4(OH)3]2 · 3H2O |
| Mg | β Stilpnomelane | (K,Ca,Na)(Fe,Mg,Al)8(Si,Al)12(O,OH)36 · nH2O |
| Al | Aluminium | |
| Al | β Stilpnomelane | (K,Ca,Na)(Fe,Mg,Al)8(Si,Al)12(O,OH)36 · nH2O |
| Si | Silicon | |
| Si | β Stilpnomelane | (K,Ca,Na)(Fe,Mg,Al)8(Si,Al)12(O,OH)36 · nH2O |
| S | Sulfur | |
| S | β Gypsum | CaSO4 · 2H2O |
| K | Potassium | |
| K | β Stilpnomelane | (K,Ca,Na)(Fe,Mg,Al)8(Si,Al)12(O,OH)36 · nH2O |
| Ca | Calcium | |
| Ca | β Colemanite | Ca[B3O4(OH)3] · H2O |
| Ca | β Gypsum | CaSO4 · 2H2O |
| Ca | β Hydroboracite | CaMg[B3O4(OH)3]2 · 3H2O |
| Ca | β Priceite | Ca2B5O7(OH)5 · H2O |
| Ca | β Stilpnomelane | (K,Ca,Na)(Fe,Mg,Al)8(Si,Al)12(O,OH)36 · nH2O |
| Fe | Iron | |
| Fe | β Stilpnomelane | (K,Ca,Na)(Fe,Mg,Al)8(Si,Al)12(O,OH)36 · nH2O |
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Antler Foreland BasinBasin
- Basin and Range BasinsBasin
- Mojave DomainDomain
USA
- Death Valley National ParkNational Park
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