McLaughlin Mine
 |
|
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Location | Clearlake Oaks, Lake County |
| California | |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 39°00′14″N 122°39′59″W / 39.00389°N 122.66639°WCoordinates: 39°00′14″N 122°39′59″W / 39.00389°N 122.66639°W |
| Production | |
| Products | Borax, Sulfur, Mercury, Gold |
| History | |
| Opened | 1856 (California Borax Co) 1875 (Sulphur Bank Quicksilver Mining Co) 1927 (Bradley Mining Co) |
| Closed |
1957 |
| Reference no. | 428 |
| Owner | |
| Company | Bradley Mining Company |
| Year of acquisition | 1927 |
1957
The Sulphur Bank Mine is located near Clearlake Oaks and Clear Lake in Lake County, California. The 150-acre (0.61 km2) mine became one of the most noted mercury producers in the world.
During the 150 years since the Sulphur Bank was discovered, the area has drawn geologists, inspired unique scientific theories, established constitutional case law and now attracts environmental scientists who study the impact of mercury contamination within the Cache Creek watershed of northern California and the Sacramento River-Delta Region and San Francisco Bay.
Beginning in 1856, the mine was first worked for borax. Mining for sulfur began in 1865, and produced 2,000,000 pounds (909,090 kg) in four years. Mercury ore was mined intermittently by underground and open-pit methods from 1873 to 1957. Sulphur Bank Mine was credited with a total output of 92,400 flasks (7.02 million pounds) by 1918. The mine was an important producer during both world wars.
The mine closed in 1957 and is a California Historical Landmark (#428). Sulphur Bank Mine became an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) superfund site in 1990.
Although the hot springs of the Sulphur Bank contained borax, the search led John Allen Veatch to nearby Borax Lake where the California Borax Company established the first commercial borax mining operation in the U. S. beginning in 1860 and ceasing in 1868. The company established land claims to Borax Lake, the Sulphur Bank and Sulphur Springs in Colusa County.
The officers of the California Borax Company included physicians Veatch, William Ayers and Robert Oxland; and lawyers Henry Halleck, Archibald Peachy, William Billings and Solomon Heydenfeldt. The fascination with borax resulted from the fact that boric acid was critical as a flux in metal working. All borax at that time was imported, mostly from the Tuscan Lakes area of Italy. The California Borax Company did engage in sulfur mining at Sulphur Bank (extracting 2 million pounds in 4 years) for a time before the company’s collapse in 1868 and the sulfur was discovered to be contaminated with cinnabar.
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Wikipedia