El Molino Mine (El Molino pegmatite; MS 5391), Hiriart Mountain (Hariat Mtn; Harriot Mtn; Heriart Mtn; Heriot Mtn; Hiriat Hill), Pala, Pala Mining District, San Diego County, California, USAi

Regional Level Types
El Molino Mine (El Molino pegmatite; MS 5391)	Mine
Hiriart Mountain (Hariat Mtn; Harriot Mtn; Heriart Mtn; Heriot Mtn; Hiriat Hill)	Mountain
Pala	Town
Pala Mining District	Mining District
San Diego County	County
California	State
USA	Country

"El Molino"
—Spanish, meaning "The Mill".

Setting:
Located in the NE4NE4 Sec. 25 T9S R2W SBM, the El Molino mine is low on the southeastern slope of Hiriart Mountain, and is in a group of three juxtaposed pegmatite dikes which trend north and dip 15 to 25 degrees west. The deposit was developed by several open cuts. Nearly all production was from the lowest dike which is 7 feet in average thickness. The gem-bearing variety of pegmatite was noted to occur in the central part of the dike, and generally at the contact between line rock and overlying graphic granite. This central unit, or core zone is described as continuous and ranges in thickness from 3 inches to 2 feet. The core consists of quartz, microcline, albite, and muscovite, with beryl, bismuth and sulfide minerals. Some of the beryls were noted to occur as individual crystals and radiating crystal groups, with some as colorless to deep-pink tabular crystals which line cavities or pockets.

History:
A claim to the deposit was located by Marion M. Sickler on January 1st of 1904 (MS 5391A). Prior to the date of the El Molino location, the surrounding vacant public lands were temporarily withdrawn and removed from mineral entry under the United States land and mineral laws pursuant to Secretarial Order dated January 24, 1903.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.

On August 27th, 1938, Marion M. Sickler deeded the mine to his son Fred for 1 dollar and 'love and affection'. Fred eventually sold the mine to George Ashley in 1947, whom subsequently sold the mine to Norman E. Dawson in 1948.

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).

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References