Dale Mining District – San Bernardino County, California
You can park within 200 feet of both the shaft and adit entrance.
This claim is located 38 miles outside of 29 Palms, California. The last 8 miles are on a high clearance 4WD road.
Contact us for exact coordinates.

The Dale Mine is located near the site of Old Dale, California. The mine is very old and has not been addressed in 70-80 years at a minimum. Access to the Dale Mine is limited to high clearance 4WD vehicles only. The Dale mine contains two portals which are not interconnected. The upper working is a short shaft of less than 20' which drops into a drift working. Based on waste dump sizing, the drift is 150-200'. There is some quartz, iron and galena visible in the waste dumps for this portal. No free gold was seen in the dumps. The lower working is an adit that has been cut low into the hillside. A rock wall contains any slough and there is a cut set of stone stairs that lead down into the drift. The drift is less than 200' but shows some cross section veins containing free gold, iron and quartz. It is assumed there may be some lead values but no galena or lead deposits were noted. The waste dump shows quartz, iron and some pyrites which were not noted in the workings. Historically this area was mined for native gold. It was reported that a single jack miner could expect to produce around $12 per ton (0.7 ounces) in gold. Many of the mines in the area were small operations worked by small miners and prospectors who vigorously defended their workings from all comers. It is located in a very harsh and unforgiving area, there are no resources. Expect to come well prepared and pack all required amenities to work the site.

An aeromagnetic low extends southeastward through the Dale mining district into the wilderness study area and across the Pinto Mountains into the Pinto Basin. The aeromagnetic low may be caused by alteration of magnetite to hematite and (or) pyrite during gold mineralization. The Zulu Queen and Outlaw mines, located within the aeromagnetic low on the southern flank of the Pinto Mountains, contain gold-bearing quartz veins in northwest-trending fault zones that cut igneous rocks similar to rocks in the Dale mining district. The close spatial relation between the mines and the aeromagnetic low as well as the geologic similarity of mines within the aeromagnetic low suggest that gold mineralization may extend southeastward from the Dale mining district into the wilderness study area.[1]

The Dale mine location is extremely harsh and remote. It is also well known for producing free milling gold in nuggets and veins. The Dale Mine Claim covers a series of workings. Initially thought to be an interconnected shaft and adit, the two workings are not connected. The upper workings show no visible gold but are also quite small and exploratory. The lower workings examine some interesting cross cut veins that show quartz, iron and free gold. There was pyrite identified in the waste dump of the lower portal, but no pyrite was identified in the mine.

There also appears to be another decline or shaft that has been covered. This did not seem to intersect with either of the other workings. It is also not known why this portal would be covered while the others were left open.

Claimants should expect to process native gold deposits from the mines as they are expanded and opened. The roads to the claim are extremely rough and will require high clearance 4WD. Sand washes are extremely soft and will easily swallow a vehicle that is not prepared.

Federally Registered Mining Claim ID: CAMC0315123