Access is very good with most any 4WD vehicle. A GPS and mapping is vital, as there are many roads in the area and only a single road that will bring you to the mine claim. Location is ideal and well known for gold producing mines that are workable year round.

Report from 1909
M. J. Smith and George B. Parks own the Black Metal group of three claims, developed by tunnels and shafts. The claims extend over the north and south slope of a cone of a small mountain. On the north side of this cone the ore is a black metal with values well up in silver and up to $20 gold, while on the south slope the ore runs 33% copper and $3 in gold (Mining and Engineering World p. 450).
History of Mining in the Old Woman Mountains.

On the southwest end of the range the Black Metal Mine was first located before 1896. In 1902, when the Silver Wave was so busy, the Black Metal was relocated. M. J. Smith and George B. Parks of Barstow owned the Black Metal Mine in 1910 and were arranging to lease it to C. H. Scheu, a Los Angeles mining man, for $30,000. In September Scheu and Parks visited the property, but the deal apparently fell through.

Smith and Parks, in February, 1911, dissolved their partnership in the Black Metal and other property they owned. Parks became owner of the Black Metal and the Desert Butte Group near Kilbeck Siding. In March, 1911, he was preparing to move out to the mine. He purchased a “fine span of mules” from Seymore Alf, of Barstow, to haul ore from the Black Metal and Desert Butte Group. That April, finally ready, George Parks and his wife left for the mines with a “carload of goods and supplies.” About the time they arrived, news came of another strike at the adjoining mine of Joe Holbrook and Ernest Morrison. Parks was busy during the next two months, and he was ready to ship 20 tons of ore. The shipment was made and grossed $27 a ton. In August he was ready to ship another 20 tons of ore, yet in November, 1911, Parks and his wife left the Black Metal. She was probably suffering from a bad case of cabin fever and he, looking for a better return for his time and money, went into general contracting, leaving mining to others.