Dairy Farm Mine

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The Dairy Farm Mine produced copper, zinc, and gold from a volcanogenic massive-sulfide deposit along the south shore of Camp Far West Reservoir. Along the north shore of the reservoir are pyritic outcrops and small exploration pits associated with the same mineralized geologic unit. The Dairy Farm deposit is part of the Foothill Copper-Zinc Belt which extends along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada in eastern California. Although total production history of this mine is not well documented, mining began during the 1860s and continued in the early 1900s and 1930s. During 1915, 350 tons of ore per day were mined and more than 500,000 tons of ore with a grade of more than 1 percent copper were blocked out as reserves. A cyanide plant with a capacity of 100 tons per day was active on the site prior to 1915. During the 1930s, gold was recovered from cyanidation of gossan, the oxidized portion of the deposit.

Open pit mining at the Dairy Farm Mine during the 1920s and 1930s resulted in a pit that extends more than 150 feet below the original land surface. When the water level in the reservoir is high, the pit is inundated by the reservoir, whereas at lower water levels, the pit is hydraulically isolated.

pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5008/pdf/sir20065008.pdf
www.brainygeography.com/features/CA.mine/dairyfarmmine....
www.mindat.org/loc-85223.html