Cal Poly Geology Club Death Valley Field Trip – 2004

The Western MineThe Western mine has the most extensive workings and the longest operating history ofthe talc mines in the southern Death Valley-Kingston Range region. The propertyconsists of seven patented and four unpatented claims, formerly owned and operated bythe Western Talc Company.The talc bodies at this locality were being worked as early as 1912 and may have beenopened one or two years before then. The claims of the Western mine cover all of thetalc-bearing exposures in the northwest quarter of the Alexander Hills and in the low areato the northwest of the hills. Here, as at numerous other localities in the surroundingregion the talc-bearing zone has formed as an alteration of cherty dolomite at the base ofthe Crystal Spring Formation. A diabase sill forms the footwall of the talc bodies throughmost of the mine area, but in the southern part, elongate bodies of green alteration rocklocally separate the white rock from the diabase.Figure 4. Cross section through a portion of the Western Talc Body.