Latitude: 33°23'9"N
Longitude: 117°3'46"W
If I could put my hand on the north star, would it be as beautiful?
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), U.S. essayist, poet, philosopher. “Beauty,” The Conduct of Life (1860).
Setting:
Located near the center of the N2NE4NW4 Sec. 23 T9S R2W SBM, about 1.70 miles north-northeast of Pala, the workings are situated along the northeastern slope of Tourmaline Queen Mountain.
History:
The prospect was developed by short adits and shallow cuts made in the northern exposure of the Stewart pegmatite dike, which strikes north and dips approximately 20 degrees west. In 1951, Richard H. Jahns listed the principal output as tourmaline and quartz
[1]. Jahns includes a cross-section of the west tunnel which extended 50 feet into gabbroic country rock, cutting through two veins of quartz-mica schist.
The pegmatite is described as consisting of quartz, perthite, albite and muscovite, while the hangwall was described as septa-like graphic granite with tapered edges. It appears the short lateral drift encountered a shear zone associated with the schistose rocks, and then continued approximately 10 feet beyond the actual hangwall of the dike, and back into the gabbro. Jahns describes the pegmatite exposed in the workings as appearing to be virtually barren of commercially desirable minerals
[2]. There is no mention of lepidolite, colored tourmaline, or any evidence of lithia mineralization exposed in the dumps. The claim was considered abandoned by 1958. The area is within lands managed for the benefit of the Pala Band of Mission Indians by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
Footnotes:| 1. | While describing the area north of the Gem Star mine Canyon workings, Jahns states that: "Most of the pocket material encountered in the Whim and nearby workings was beneath the coarse schorl-rich unit and within thin, discontinuous segments of massive quartz with giant euhedral crystals of perthite. Little but quartz crystals was obtained." [emphasis added] |
| 2. | While describing the Gem Star workings, adjacent to and south of the North Star - Jahns states: "The openings from which most of the gem production was obtained are known as the Canyon workings, and lie at the south end of the mine area." |
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: p. 14, 24, 57-59, 72 pp.
Weber, F. H. (1963), Geology and mineral resources of San Diego County, California. California Division of Mines and Geology, County Report 3: p. 109.
Mineral List
9 entries listed. 6 valid minerals.
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