Silver Spoon Mine

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The mine is about 1.1 mile south of Darwin along the southwest flank of the Darwin Hills. It has a single incline shaft about 25 yards deep. Minerals exposed in the mine area are primarily fine-grained wollastonite in limestone that has been partially replaced by tactite.

Mindat.org shows this mine to be a source of Tetradymite (Bi 2 Te 2 S). The presence of significant amounts of tellurium would make likely make lead fire assays for gold and/or platinum group metals ineffective, as the Te would “wet” or reduce the surface tension of the precious in the cupel, and allow the precious to be absorbed into the cupel along with the litharge. The Bugbee approach of adding extra litharge is, at best, of limited benefit, especially with the platinum group metals.

www.theweekendminer.com/CaInyoCountySilverSpoonorSilver...


From the California Journal of Mines and Geology, Vol. 47, No. 1, Jan. 1951:

5 claims are owned by Theodore Peterson, Darwin, California.

Workings consist of a 75-degree inclined shaft with levels at 150 and 250 feet. The 150-foot level has approximately 275 feet of drifts and crosscuts and the 250-foot levelhas 240 feet of workings.

The mine has been intermittently worked by lessees and the owner. In 1940 L.H. Buckner had a lease for a few months on part of the mine and made one 20-ton shipment, part of which was concentrate from ore sent to the mill at Old Coso. In August 1946 the present lessee, B. Quinn, made a 60-ton shipment of ore assaying 16 percent lead, 12 percent zinc and 7 ounces of silver per ton. In December of 1947 the owner made a 49-ton shipment of ore. Quinn has made some other shipments, one of 50 tons, to the International Smelting and Refining Company at Tooele, Utah.

Two men are employed.