GOLDBELT SPRING
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GOLDBELT SPRING |
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NAME: Goldbelt Spring COUNTY: Inyo ROADS: 4WD GRID: 1 CLIMATE: Hot summer, cool winter BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime |
COMMENTS:
East/south from Teakettle Junction in Death Valley NP, thru Hidden Valley. Or east on Hunter Mountain Road, likely closed by snow in winter and late spring REMAINS: Dumptruck, dugout, building remains |
| The famous Shorty Harris lead the first rush into the Goldbelt Mining District after he discovered gold a few miles south of the area's namesake, Goldbelt Spring. There was talk of building a town site but, the ore didn't amount to much so, the talk fizzled. Harris also discovered tungsten here in 1915. In the 1940's, talc was discovered and mined in various locations. Although no large talc deposits were ever discovered here. There are only flattened buildings now left when only a few years ago there were three 50s era shacks, a dugout and an outhouse. The nearby Calmet Mine has an abandoned ore chute. The spring is marked by a dumptruck, resting forever at this site. As this is the only reliable spring in the area, it was used by the Tuhu band of Western Shoshoni indians, and later by miners (mostly talc and chrysotile asbestos) as a base camp. Before they were removed by the Park Service, non-indigenous feral burros frequented the site, evidenced by numerous skulls and bones that could once be found nearby. None of the local mines was particularly productive and none were major operations. Geologically, chrysotile occurs just north of Goldbelt on the east side of Ulida Flat in a zone of serpentinized dolomite which was altered in contact with quartz monzonite, probably of the Hunter Mountain Pluton. Submitted by: Bill Cook |
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