Digital-Desert : Mojave Desert
Intro:: Nature:: Map:: Parks:: Points of Interest:: Ghosts & Gold:: Communities:: Roads & Trails:: People & History:: Weather:: :?:: glossary
Ghost Towns and Mining Camps

Rosalie - Copper World



The Valley Wells copper smelter milled ore from surrounding mines, and was a shipping point for incoming goods and outgoing products. Ore processed at the smelter came from the Copper World mine as early as 1898, first by 20-mule team and later by tractor and trailer (Vredenburgh, 1996a). The two ore bins at the Copper World mine were for different purposes (Labbe, 1960): the larger held copper ore, and the smaller held iron and lime for fluxes at the Valley Wells smelter. Sulfur, to charge the smelter, came from the Francis copper mine in the southern Providence Mountains and from Utah (Vredenburgh, 1996a). The assay house and pyrite from the dumps were removed by the EPA in late 1990s because of arsenic (arsenopyrite) with the pyrite. We are looking at the remains of the 1917 blast furnace foundations, acid tanks, and slag. The slag was poured hot into forms that developed a flat, working floor when it cooled. The iron arsenate scorodite at the Valley Wells smelter suggests that some ore processed here came from the Mohawk Mine.

The copper milling process involves trucking ore to orebin above the crusher. Upon crushing, it was sent by belt conveyor to a ball mill for fine grinding. Iron pyrite was roasted in the adjacent sulfuric acid plant, and sulfurous gas mixed with the fine ore. The ore was washed and filtered, and the copper sulfate solution ran through tin cans in a series of concrete tanks (launders). The copperiron mud was taken to the adjacent smelter or shipped as concentrate (Labbe, 1960). The smelter produced copper matte, which was first hauled to Manvel (Barnwell) and later to the new (closer) rail head at Ivanpah. After 1917, the copper matte was hauled to Cima and shipped by rail for further refinement at Garfield, Utah.

The community surrounding the smelter included wooden buildings and cabins excavated under a roof of Pleistocene caliche. Rosalie was the post office (Vredenburgh,1996a).


Old Ores: mines and mineral marketing in the east Mojave Desert
Robert E. Reynolds and Ted Weasma

Rosalie - Desert Fever

After lying idle for 30 years, the Copper World was reactivated in 1898. The Ivanpah Smelting Company of Los Angeles sank two wells 5 miles from the mine, on a site known variously as Valley Wells or Rosalie Wells (or simply Rosalie). Nearby, in January, 1899, a fifty-ton furnace was erected, and that April there were 85 men employed, with Mr. V. C. Reche as superintendent. ...

Desert Mining History - San Bernardino County

In 1918 the claims were resurveyed and patented as was the Rosalie millsite. During this period 2,893 tons of lead-copper-silver-zinc ore was produced which ...

San Bernardino County Mining History

Rosalie · Ivanpah Mountains · New York Mountains · Vanderbuilt · The Garvanza Mine · Hart · Death Valley Mine · Exchequer District · Old Woman Mountains ...

Santa Fe Railroad

Rosalie - Clark Mountain - Mojave Desert Minig History The ore was hauled by teams to Ivanpah, and shipped via the California Eastern and Santa Fe Railroads ...

Mojave Desert Mining History - Includes additional northern areas

Rosalie A post office was maintained at the Ivanpah camp until April 24, 1899, at which time it was moved to ... 1900: Coolgardie About May, 1900, placer gold ...

Mining History in the Mojave Preserve

Rosalie. After lying idle for 30 years, the Copper World was reactivated in 1898. The Ivanpah Smelting Company of ... Ivanpah Mountains. The Bullion Mine, on ...

Railroads of the Mojave Desert

Rosalie - Clark Mountain - Mojave Desert Minig History To cut these costs, they persuaded the California Eastern Railroad ... While the railroad was busy being ...
Intro:: Nature:: Map:: Parks:: Points of Interest:: Ghosts & Gold:: Communities:: Roads & Trails:: People & History:: Weather:: :?:: glossary
Country Life Realty
Wrightwood, Ca.
Mountain Hardware
Wrightwood, Ca.
Canyon Cartography
DesertLink
Links to Desert Museums

Grizzly Cafe
Family Dining

Custom Search

Abraxas Engineering
privacy
These items are historical in scope and are intended for educational purposes only; they are not meant as an aid for travel planning.
Copyright ©Walter Feller. 1995-2024 - All rights reserved.