Little Bodie

East of this site stood the Little Bodie mines, organized in the 1930s as five mines or claims that produced high-grade ore containing galena, pyrites, sulphide, and gold valued at $12 to $15 per ton. During their heyday, the mines employed five workers and could produce 30 tons of ore per day. The facilities included a shop, pump, bunkhouse, mill, and settling tank, and water for milling was pumped from springs 100 feet south of the mines. The mineshafts were reportedly 175 feet below the surface and between 100 and 250 feet in length. By the 1940s the mines began to falter, and soon after all commercial operations ceased, with most equipment, machinery, and buildings dismantled and sold. Although its existence was brief, Little Bodie continued the tradition of gold production begun by its namesake, "Big Bad Bodie," in the 1860s.

California · United States