Death Valley Onyx Mine

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

Death Valley Onyx deposit (Onyx marble).

2 unpatented placer claims, Death Valley Onyx and Death Valley Gem Onyx, are owned by H.C. Degner, Beverly Onyx-Marble Company, 623 N. La Peer St., West Hollywood, California.

Layers and bands of onyx marble, having an aggregate thickness ranging from 3 to 7 feet, are in limestone; altered rhyolite crops out on the west of the deposit. Beautifully banded, mottled, and cloudy structures in a variety of colors, including green, red, brown, and cream, make the polished material an outstanding product.

The deposit has been worked by two quarries, one at the top of an isolated knob and the other 500 feet east and down the slope of the hill. The owner estimates 70,000 tons of material available from developed areas. Additional exploratory work, particularly drilling, would probably increase this figure.

The deposit was located in 1925 and has been worked intermittently since that time. Total tonnage produced is not available, but probably does not exceed 500 tons.

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This mine was also owned by Hollywood actress Delia Marlo who continued to develop the mine starting in 1957. She would be joined by her future husband, opera singer John Fletcher, in 1958. On the site was a factory that could process fifty tons of onyx at a time. Although the Briggs Mine clean-up agreement included clean up of this site by Canyon Resources Corporation, what's left are remnants of the factory which included huge grinding and polishing tables, and a 12-foot diamond saw. Other foundations were for the living areas of employees and jewelry shop. Operations continued in the 1970s. The USGS MRDS currently lists a Fletcher Tweed of Trona, CA as the current owner of the property.

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