Titanium Mine in the San Gabriel Mountains
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- Опубликовано: 7 сен 2024
- The Iron Blossom Mine was a titanium producer in the western San Gabriel Mountains during the years 1927-1928. The ore, referred to as magnetite-ilmenite, titaniferous magnetite, or titanomagnetite contains interlocking grains of the iron ore magnetite and a titanium-iron oxide known as ilmenite. It occurs near the contacts of anorthosite and gabbro-diorite intrusions. The ore was in the form of lenses which measured 6 to 8 feet wide and from 30 to 50 feet in length.
Production reportedly began in early 1927 when ore was packed down to Soledad Canyon using mules. The operators, the Mineral Increment Co. shipped ore to H.D. Rankin’s “test plant” in El Segundo which refined the titanium ore. This was found to be a difficult process as the magnetite and ilmenite crystals were finely intergrown. The final product from this plant was not actual titanium metal, but titanium dioxide which is used as a white pigment for paints. Eventually, a road was built up to the mine and constructed on the property were 5 cottages, a garage, a 50-ton bin, and a No. 2 Wheeling crusher driven by a 25-h.p. gas engine. The ore was removed from surface cuts, short adits, and a 300 foot adit which cut several lenses of ore. Production would stop in 1928, amounting to 10,013 tons of ore valued at $150,195.
The Iron Blossom mine wasn’t the only titanium mine in the western San Gabriels, but it was the largest and most “successful”. I put the word successful in quotes because the mine didn’t shut down due to lack of ore, but because the high cost of refining the ore made the operation uneconomical. These titanium deposits occur all over the western San Gabriels and the streams are full of the eroded material. Anyone who's attempted to gold pan in the area will be familiar with the impressive amount of “black sand” you’ll find. Naturally, there were other attempts to profit off of this abundant resource.
The first attempt to mine the titaniferous magnetite deposits was in 1906 near Russ Siding on the Southern Pacific Railroad in Soledad Canyon. The owners were actually attempting to extract iron and did not realize the ore contained titanium. They built a furnace but the presence of the ilmenite made this a failure. During the 1920s and 1930s, DuPont’s Pigment Division performed extensive prospecting around the Sand Canyon, Pacoima Canyon, and Mill Creek areas of the San Gabriel Mountains to obtain titanium dioxide for paint. However, they determined that the deposits were uneconomical. In the 1940-50s a sand and gravel mine in Big Tujunga Canyon produced 2000 tons of magnetite-ilmenite and as a byproduct. A placer gold mine in Sand Canyon did the same. Even the sand at Redondo Beach contained titanium ore which washed down from the San Gabriels. There were brief attempts to concentrate these sands, but all of these operations did not have much longevity.
The techniques used to refine titanium have improved significantly over the years and there was yet another attempt to mine it in the San Gabriels. In the 1980s, The P.W. Gillibrand Co, which produced rock, sand, and gravel from Soledad Canyon for decades did extensive surveying and planned to strip mine the Iron Blossom Deposit and two others in the area. Gillibrand claimed that the San Gabriels contained one the largest deposits of commercial titanium ore in the US and that mining those deposits would greatly benefit many industries. Unfortunately for Gillibrand and fortunately for environmentalists, this plan was stopped by public pushback. There was another attempt to mine titanium in Sand Canyon during this time, but this was also thwarted. The San Gabriels certainly contain some of the largest titanium reserves in the United States, and if there is ever a strong need for it, these deposits may be mined in the future.
Some articles about the Gillibrand Mine can be found here: scvhistory.com...
Glad to see you back out exploring. We've missed you.
Thanks for still being a fan even though I've been neglecting this channel. I'll never stop exploring.
You need to post more videos more often! You guys are among the most knowledgeable out there in the mining exploring world!
I'm trying to. Thanks for the kind words!
Great video! 50 years ago on the other side of the freeway where there are now houses used to be a spot that people went to shoot guns open field. It was fun. At that time, I heard there was a "Titanium" mine in this area, but never knew the actual FACT of it.
AWESOME video!!!
Thank you.
It’s been so long🥹
It definitely has been. Thanks for watching after such a long hiatus
Right when I'm thinking you will never be seen again, you post.
Somehow I just keep doing it. Thanks for the comment, Frank!
Glad you're back - always a pleasure to explore along side you, thanks for sharing
I really appreciate that. Thank you
Glad to see an upload! Thanks for the brief geology of the ore - I'm always interested in that. Probably repeating myself but I have lived in L.A most of my life - hiked and or mtn biked a huge % of the trails and between you & Western mine Detective, I now know about a ton more mines than I was aware of before - even in canyons I've been in but didn't know had a mine.
That big slab of ore had me drooling - that stuff slabbed, cut & polished would make incredible countertops!
The San Gabriels are full of hidden mines and that's what makes the range so great. I bet the magnetite would look really nice polished. Thanks for the comment!
Its nice to see your exploring again, beautiful views, the rock was interesting and i learned more about titanium...Great Job!..Thank You!
Thanks! Always hope my viewers can get something out of the video whether it's history or geology.
Excellent! Thank you
Glad you enjoyed it!
Good video thanks for posting added a like. Cheers
Thanks for the comment and the like!
Loved the geology descriptions and scenery shots. That tiny train looked like a model.
Thanks! Glad you liked the video
Not popping open that seam at 5:20 was heart breaking LOL.
I was dieing to see the fresh broken face of that ore !
It is some really pretty material. If you ever want some it's all over the western San Gabriels lol
Awesome to see you back!
Thanks! Happy to finally post again.
I have loved this channel since the very beggining you are one of the people who have made want to go out to these mines with my mom and friends.
I have went to almost 7 mines either open pit or just a little to dangerous.
Hopefully when I am more experienced I can actually go inside them.
Glad to see you back, and ready for more exploring ❤ 🎉😊
That means a lot! Thank you. Glad you have a passion for exploring these places, just remember to be safe!
You’re awesome! Thank you
Glad you liked the video!
Beautiful camera work !
Thank you!
AWESOMENESS!
Thanks for watching!
I did live in the area in the 70s, and at that time you could hike up there with nobody saying anything ! How times have changed
Yes! Welcome back to YT brother!!
Thanks man!
Very nice 😊
Thank you!
Hell of a hike before the mine but hey good day for it ey?
It was a good day to get out that's for sure
Very nice video!
Thanks for watching!
Cool! TY!!
Thanks for the watch!
Absolutely fascinating! What was the use for titanium back in the late 1920s? We know it is used for aircraft manufacturing today, but what was it needed for back then?
Happy to see you uploaded another great video - you were missed! will this be a start of more to come??
Yes, there is a lot of cool things to come. Thank you!
@@forgottenmininghistory looking forward to your most excellent narration and content
@@forgottenmininghistory do you think the road up could be navigated on a dirt bike? or are there too many washed out sections?
@@AUMINER1 I think the road would be ok, but I was there in January and there's been a lot of storms since then. The biggest problem you might have is the brush. It was really thick in a couple places and we had to swim around it.
Great video! Thanks for that explore. Doesn't look like they got that much ore out of there but mauve
I'm not sure how much ore they got from the adit since half of it is sealed off. I think they got most of it from surface cuts.
@@forgottenmininghistory oh, makes sense
Interesting - I think of Titanium as a relatively modern material. I know Titanium dioxide is used in paint. It would have been incredibly expensive to refine. What was it used for prior to the great depression? No timbers to hold up the shaft. I guess the rock was hard enough where they weren't needed. No rock bolts either.
It was actually mined for paint during this time, and yes it was very expensive. Most efforts to mine titanium in the area were failures for that reason.
I'm wondering, was the temperature rise as you delved deeper due to geo thermal or ambient temperature due to your entering during January?
It was definitely due to the ambient temperature of the surrounding rock. Mines will sometimes feel warm in the winter and cool in the summer. The ground was damp too so the humidity was increasing the further I got away from the portal.
can't beleieve you didnt contact me when you were out here. I have many mines I can show you that NO ONE has researched or shown
This was a quick trip I kind of did on a whim. I know you're the king of finding lost mines along the East Fork! Thanks for watching Alan.
GUISE GUISE!!! He didnt dieded! Woot Woot, took a year off though.. lol
I'm still alive!
@@forgottenmininghistory Woot Woot!!!!!!!
I’m guessing titanium white pigment?
Exactly that. Most of the titanium mined here was used for paints.
I find it very interesting how these mines were made by men probably not around anymore and how they get closed off inside to maybe never be seen again
Some of these mines can be like time capsules if you get lucky and dig one out with lots of equipment inside. I always wonder what it would be like to work at each of these specific mines back in the day.
🤙✌
Do you have the location of this mine ,i want to go see it
I don't like to give out exact locations, but all the information needed to find the mine is in the video and description if you are good with maps and a bit of internet searching.
It got dark fast.
That's our punishment for starting the hike way too late in January.