Finding Gold & Other Cool Minerals at an Abandoned Mine- Morning Star Mine, Cima, CA 

In this episode of Solomon's Vegas Adventures, Solomon and Eyubed explored the Morning Star Mine, an abandoned mine located in Mojave National Preserve, an hour south of Las Vegas. Solomon and Eyubed found Gold, Baryte, Chalcopyrite, Amazonite, and other cool minerals at this mine.
The Morning Star Mine was an open-pit mine that was operational until 1993. The extraction of the gold ore was done via heap leaching with cyanide, and a tailing pond filled with the toxic soup can be seen at the bottom of the mine. Toxic waste is still being dispelled from the mine via piping, and the cyanide is present both in a large tarp-covered pool and in the bottom of the pit. The mine was forced to close due to a litany of environmental law violations. Mojave National Preserve was established in 1994, a year after the mine's closure, and the site was cleaned up.
The Geology of the Morning Star Mine is interesting. The gold exists in lode deposit form, along with Silver, Copper, and Bismuth, and is hosted both in granite and in rhyolite (or finer-grained granite) along a detachment fault. There is also Dioritic-Gabbroic veins present in the mine. Hydrothermal mineralization also seemed to have taken place, as Chalcopyrite and Baryte was found and documented during our expedition. Furthermore, much of the gold ore exists as very small, almost invisible specks within the granite/rhyolite. We did find some larger veins and some aggregates with more visible gold.
The mine site is administered by the National Park Service, and getting to the mine is quite simple. There is a dirt road that goes right to the mine, and it's not difficult to drive up. We were able to make it in my car, which is not a high-clearance 4x4 vehicle by any means. The only caution about the road is that there is a portion of sandy conditions, and getting stuck there could be a real possibility. As is customary with all National Park expeditions, please do not take any rocks or anything you find there. Pictures are fine, but specimens must stay. Respect the land and enjoy the site and scenery.
#rockhounding #findinggold #geology #abandonedexplore #explore #adventure #lasvegas