Reward Mine

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Also known as: Brown Monster, Brown Monster-Reward. Includes the Eclipse, Hidden Treasure Group, Hirsh and Telescope Group.

The Reward and Brown Monster Mines were the major producers of lode gold in the Union District, which is east of Lone Pine, in the Inyo Mountains, in the north central part of Inyo County. The Union District produced between 10,000 and 50,000 ounces of lode gold between the 1860s and 1959. Gold is frequently found in placers in the area today.


From the California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 47, No. 1, Jan. 1957:

Ownership: Basil Prescott, Beverly Hills, California owns 2 patented and 6 unpatented claims plus 2 millsites. The property is under lease and option to Dr. W.A. Wilson, Bishop, California who has subleased to T.L. Bright, Independence, California.

The deposit and mine workings are fully described by Tucker and Sampson* and a complete discussion of the geology of the property is given by Knopf**.

The property was acquired under lease and option by the Golden Queen Mining Company, Los Angeles, and considerable exploration work was done during the period from November 1940 to April 1942. Several hundred feet of drifts and crosscuts were driven, and diamond drilling was done on both the Reward and Brown Monster veins. The fault block between the two veins was also prospected. Some ore was mined and shipped to the Golden Queen mill near Mojave, California, but the results were not favorable.

Mr. T.L. Bright of Independence, California has operated the property since 1936, except for the period of the Golden Queen operation. Some gold ore has been mined along the footwall of the old stopes, and shipped to the Tropico mill at Rosamond. A vein carrying lead, silver and gold was discovered in the upper levels of the Reward workings. The vein was exploited in 1948. Bright reported a daily production of 10 tons which was shipped via truck to the American Smelting and Refining Company plant at Selby, California. The ore is reported to assay from $100 to $150 per ton.

A small mill has been constructed to concentrate some of the lower-grade ores. The crude ore is crushed to minus 1 inch in an 8 by 12-inch jaw crusher, carried by a belt conveyor to a small crushed-ore bin, and fed by a belt feeder to a 4 by 4-foot ball mill and rake classifier in closed circuit with a Denver Equipment Company jig between the ball mill discharge and the classifier. The overflow from the classifier goes to two 6 by 16-foot Wilfley concentrating tables. All the machinery is belt-driven with power furnished by a Gray 225hp marine diesel engine. Mill capacity is 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 tons per hour.

Three men are working in the mine and one in the mill.


*W.B. Tucker and R.J. Sampson in an earlier 1938 publication.
**Adolph Knopf in an earlier 1918 publication.

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