Atolia Mining District – San Bernardino County, California
You can drive directly to mine CASBO_02787. You would have to hike about 300 feet to mine adit CASBO_02788
The claim is accessed off of 25 miles of dirt roads. The roads are easy if they are dry and could be easily navigated in a 2WD high clearance vehicle. If it has rained recently you can expect large puddles of water that would be safest traveled in a 4WD high clearance vehicle.

This claim is part of the historic Blackwater project that was executed in the early 1980s by Homestake Mines. The Blackwater Project II Mine has roots back to the late 1800s when native gold outcrops were defined on the small mountain. The Blackwater Project II Mine was held by 3 main companies until early 1990s when the Homestake Mines group defaulted on the leases. There was some exploration and development that was done in the 1970s and into the early 1980s. Homestake Mines leased the property in the early 1980s amid the gold spike. The Blackwater Project II mine should be viewed as primarily a gold producer. There are assays and some limited production numbers available but they are not verified. The Mines are known for producing a high OPT ratio of native gold. The Blackwater Project II consists of a series of two adits, currently only the lower portal is accessible. The upper portal has slough at the entrance and is not safe to access with out some clearing work. The claim is located roughly 20 miles from the ghost towns of Atolia. An area of many mines and a lot of history, but no amenities. It's a long but smooth dirt road out to the mining claim. The roads are easily navigable by most vehicles with decent ground clearance. In dry conditions, it is easily possible to get a high clearance 2WD vehicle to the claim. The mining claim is located in the Atolia mining district. Due to the location and weather in the area, this mineral claim could be worked year round. This is a desert region and very remote. Warm day temps and cool night temps will be common. There are no resources on the claim so claimant should plan to pack in all required food, water, and supplies.

Mining of scheelite ores in the Atolia district is largely confined to one major and several minor vein systems and two deposits of alluvium in an area of 2 square miles near Atolia. The Stringer district, several mines in which have yielded a small production, lies 2 miles west of the Atolia district. The main shaft of the Atolia Mining Co., which owns most of the productive area, attains a vertical depth of 750 feet (1,400 level). The vein averages about 3 feet in width and recently the crude ore has yielded about 15 pounds of 65 percent tungstic oxide concentrate to the ton. The alluvium from a pit about 1,000 feet in diameter, 1,500 feet southeast of Atolia, has been removed to a depth of 15 to 30 feet for concentration. Recently a second area, 2,500 feet southwest of Atolia, has been explored. The total yield of tungstic oxide from all concentrate to the end of 1930 is about 600,000 units (20 pounds each), or about 6,000 tons. As long as prices exceed $10 per unit of tungstic oxide, a fairly steady production of ore may be expected from the lode mines for some years.[1]

The Blackwater Prospects are characterized as a volcanic hosted precious-metal hydrothermal cell located in the California Desert.

The Blackwater flow dome complex is characterized by; (1) acid-sulfate alteration assemblages, brecciation and silicification, and (3) anomalous precious metal and trace element values which suggest this prospect represents the upper portion of a hydrothermal gold-silver system.

The Blackwater Prospect is located approximately twenty miles east of the Randsburg-Johannesburg Mining District in San Bernardino County, in Sections 26, 27, 34, and 35, Township 29 South, Range 43 East. The prospect area is readily accessible by gravel roads east of U.S. Highway Route 395.

The area is located west of the Blackwater Well Wilderness Study Area, north of the Historical Site at Blackwater Well, and south of the China Lake Weapons Testing Center.

No production or any record of activity was found in a literature search for the area. However, numerous prospect pits, shafts, adits, dumps and access roads reflect historic exploration activity. It is hypothesized, due to the proximity to the Randsburg-Johannesburg Mining District and Blackwater Well, the prospects on the Butte were investigated for precious metals during the late 1800's and early 1900's. Later, in the 1950's-1960's, adits were driven to determine mineralization.

The Blackwater Well Historical Site, south of the Butte, was a watering station for the 20 mule teams which hauled borax from Death Valley to Mohave.

Westmont (formerly Nicor) staked the property in 1984 and conducted an initial evaluation. In 1987, the area was restaked by P. Drobeck, J.P. Rogowski and L.W. Watson, who leased the unpatented claims to Homestake Mining Company in 1988. A detailed evaluation has been conducted and a drilling program proposed to test this hypothesis.

Summary of Geochemistry
High Values Background Values

Au 2.1 ppm 0.020 ppm

Ag 213 ppm 0.10 ppm

Sb 1300 ppm 5 ppm

Hg 60 ppm 0.10 ppm

The anomalous precious metal values and trace element signatures indicate the existence of a precious metal hydrothermal system at Blackwater Butte and have aided in the identification of numerous target areas. Precious metals and trace element values and exposed alteration assemblages suggest high to moderate potential exists for concealed precious metal mineralization.[1]

The lower or main adit has a concrete bulkhead about 40 feet in. The door has been recently torn off of the bulkhead as it was in place in 2015. The bulkhead has kept water from entering the mine as it sloughs in from outside weather. Behind the bulkhead, the mine works back for another 30' before encountering a fault with a beautiful gold ore body. This section has been timbered as the rock is a little looser but it has not been worked commercially. Working further back the drift "T"s off. This is where a good wide body of gold ore was intersected and followed. The drift runs to the right and left, with the left only a short cut. To the right, the drift works back 30' or so with a good lode of ore being chased on the spine of the workings. The drift makes an abrupt right angle turn to continue to chase the ore. The face shows the gold ore and has been drilled but not blasted.