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David K
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Good morning Ric, I know you are the rock guy in the room and your knowledge on them is not in dispute. I am the book guy, and I only want to see
something that says copper was mined in El Arco in the 1930s. So far, only gold is mentioned. There was an American mine manager living in El Arco...
as I recall from reading my books. The first mention of El Arco switching from mining gold to mining copper (I recall) is in Arnold Senterfitt's
Airports of Baja California (1972 edition).
In the 1954 travel adventure book, 'Bouncing Down to Baja' by Bill and Orv Wortman, they say: "The El Arco area is rich in mineral deposits, including
gold, silver, and copper... he obtained sixty or seventy grams of gold from a ton of ore." (approx. 2 ounces)
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David K
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From 1943: Land Where Time Stands Still by Max Miller
A book about traveling by land from San Diego to Cape San Lucas, in the Fall of 1941, published in 1943.
On page 58, last paragraph:
"The Hardings used to have an airplane, when the gold mine in El Arco was going well."
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Don Pisto
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you've sold the rest of us but im afraid you're gonna have to arm wrestle Ric! 
there's only two things in life but I forget what they are........
John Hiatt
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David K
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Ric may be correct, but not one book yet seen mentions El Arco was anything other than a gold mine. I agree with Ric about how books copy info from
other books. It happened with mission books and that is why I was motivated to write my book to provide the factual history that wasn't yet published
in English or at all, in a single source. I will continue to search books for mention of the element that El Arco mined.
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willardguy
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Quote: Originally posted by David K  | A book about traveling by land from San Diego to Cape San Lucas, in the Fall of 1941, published in 1943.
On page 58, last paragraph:
"The Hardings used to have an airplane, when the gold mine in El Arco was going well."
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also Margaret Brown Baldwin speaks of staying at a wealthy gentleman's house who owned a GOLD mine at El Arco.......pretty sure Margaret's dad new
something about mining!
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mtgoat666
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The old time miners were going after lode (vein) minerals. The 1960s-onward interest in el arco area is porphyry deposits. Small scale underground
mining vs open pit/strip mining.
The old mines in el arco area were spread out over a large area,… suspect the miners went after different minerals based on location. The area is
not homogeneous, different mines probably went after different minerals, and perhaps multiple minerals in each mine.
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Prefered gender pronoun: the royal we
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David K
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A famous "bait and switch" mine center might be Las Flores (San Juan Mine, south of L.A. Bay?
Books called it a 'silver mine'... but gold seems to have been the #1 element processed there? Yes, they both often come out of the same holes in the
earth... Maybe for taxation reasons, calling it a silver mine was a better business move?
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David K
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LOL, yes Ric... but lately, Nomad has been pretty lackluster without fresh trip reports... Blanca's trip up to Rancho San Francisco was nice to see.
I am not debating what was mined in El Arco, but simply listing the books that name the mineral mined... and so far, it is gold back then with copper
making it a rebirth of the town 50 years ago... only the rebirth never happened and now the town is totally abandoned. Just a cattle ranch is set up
there.
What books or documents do you have that say copper was mined there in the 1930s? Let's keep looking at what history says and if it is wrong (like
with the missions) let's correct it!
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SFandH
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Only historians can change the past.
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David K
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1958: Solo Below by Don A. Hue
Page 35:
"El Arco is a small dusty mining town located along the rim and overlooking an arroyo where extensive gold mining operations are being carried on."
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SFandH
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Be there doubloons in El Arco? Arr......
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mtgoat666
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From “ Geophysical exploration of the El Arco- Calmalli mining district, Baja California, Mexico” by Ram6n Farias Garcia, Univ of AZ MS Thesis….
“Production in the El Arco-Calmalli district began in 1883 when
gold placers were discovered. During the first half of the present [20th] century several small mines in the northwestern portion of the district,
such as the Calmalli and Don Carlos mines, were developed and worked for gold and copper and were still operating at the beginning of the 1930's. El
Arco was also an important mine worked for gold and copper between 1930 and 1940. Other small mines of lesser importance within the district are the
Otilla, Nogales, El Tigre, and El Aguila, but not all of
these prospects were formally worked. A large amount of placer activity also existed near the streams of Pozo Aleman at the center of the district.
The El Arco-Calmalli district became important in 1968 when IndustrialMineraMexico,S.A., formerlyAsarcoMexicana,S.A.,began a geological and
geophysical reconnaissance of the district followed by a drilling program. This exploration led to the discovery of the El Arco porphyry copper
deposit.”
Woke!
“...ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” “My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America
will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
Prefered gender pronoun: the royal we
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David K
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Gold & Copper: Hardly Any Fences by John Hilton
Hardly Any Fences, Baja California in 1933-1959, by John W. Hilton. Published in 1977 as #38 of the Dawson Baja California Travels Series.
Very interesting! >>>
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bajaric
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The answer to the question of whether El Arco was a "gold mining town" or a "copper / gold mining town" is really just a question of semantics. They
mined gold there, so it was a gold mining town. The gold that was found at El Arco, from all indications, was a fringe benefit of mining a lot of
copper ore, but it was still gold.
To get an answer as to what exactly they were mining at El Arco in the 1920's-1930's would require finding records of copper and gold production that
were kept by the Federal government of Mexico, for tax purposes. Of course, in 1910 the Federal government of Mexico was overthrown in a revolution.
Thus, there might be a gap in the records from 1910-1920, but after that records should be available. However, traveling to Mexico city and digging
though old tax records to figure out what they were mining at El Arco is not high on my list of priorities.
[Edited on 5-20-2021 by bajaric]
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David K
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Of course...
I look forward to going prospecting with you someday!
There is still a lot of gold (or copper) in them thar hills!!
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bajaric
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OK amigo! Some day when the border crossing situation improves for us luddites that cross in the regular lanes maybe we can do a little exploration
trip. There is not much gold left laying around that can be easily recovered, and such areas tend to be off limits, but exploring the old mining
districts it is a great excuse to get off the beaten track and see some parts of Baja that few people ever visit.
I ran across a reference to an article that would cast some light on El Arco, but have not been able to find it:
El Arco, Zarate and Munoz 1925
If someone on here with access to a research library system could try and find that article somewhere it would be cool, I don't have access to the
academic research system.
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David K
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Seeking Papers on El Arco Mine History:
1) https://www.mindat.org/loc-191823.html
El Arco Mine, El Arco, Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, Mexico
Gold
<photo of gold nugget>
Placer gold nugget collected at the El Arco site. Formerly of the William Larson collection.
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2) https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.83...
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3) https://books.google.com/books?id=1xFyRVrXxQIC
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Jack Swords
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Just have to join in this!
Years ago we explored Pozo Aleman and Calmalli. We found dry washers in some of the buildings and a rocker in the same area. There were the dug outs
under a cliff wall with blackened wall from fires. The rocker and dry washers are used for gold mining as we use similar items in our area in old
placer diggings (ancient stream beds). I had photos, but several computer changes has rendered the photos gone.
We have 2 dry washers and the bellows is powered by a lawn mower engine, but some are human powered. We have recovered quite a bit of gold from the
Mojave and other desert areas. Sure learned a lot about the trials of the old miners....lots of work.
Perhaps David can find his photos as they were sent to him (storage area with several dry washers).
https://www.goldrushnuggets.com/robousbygomi.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drywasher
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David K
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| Quote: Originally posted by Jack Swords | Just have to join in this!
Years ago we explored Pozo Aleman and Calmalli. We found dry washers in some of the buildings and a rocker in the same area. There were the dug outs
under a cliff wall with blackened wall from fires. The rocker and dry washers are used for gold mining as we use similar items in our area in old
placer diggings (ancient stream beds). I had photos, but several computer changes has rendered the photos gone.
We have 2 dry washers and the bellows is powered by a lawn mower engine, but some are human powered. We have recovered quite a bit of gold from the
Mojave and other desert areas. Sure learned a lot about the trials of the old miners....lots of work.
Perhaps David can find his photos as they were sent to him (storage area with several dry washers).
https://www.goldrushnuggets.com/robousbygomi.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drywasher |
Yes Jack... all your photos of historic locations are saved on my website. Here is your section: http://www.vivabaja.com/swords/
Pozo Aleman dry washer: http://www.vivabaja.com/swords/page3.html
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Jack Swords
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Fantastic David, you must have a great filing system to keep track of so many photos. Thanks.
The dry washers and rockers are used for gold mining in areas with little water. We were surprised to find them there, they were obviously well used.
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