Goldtown[1]
OarVille
Former settlement
An abandoned house in Goldtown
An abandoned house in Goldtown
Goldtown is located in California
Goldtown
Goldtown[1]
Location in California
Coordinates: 35°00′06″N 118°10′08″W / 35.00167°N 118.16889°W / 35.00167; -118.16889
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountyKern County
Elevation
[2]
2,713 ft (827 m)

Gold Town (on topographic maps) or OarVille[1] is a former settlement in Kern County, California.[2] It was located 9.5 miles (15 km) north of Rosamond,[3] at an elevation of 2,713 feet (827 m).[2]

Today, Goldtown exists only as a grid of dirt roads and a few abandoned buildings and mines in the desert off the California State Route 14.[4] Silver Queen Road is the main paved road that connects Goldtown to the California State Route 14.

Fleta, California is 0.62 miles northeast of Goldtown. Mojave, California is 1.44 miles to the north. Gold mines exist within 2 miles to the north and south of Goldtown. These mines include: the Golden Queen Mine and Elephant Eagle mine on Soledad Mountain south of Goldtown , and Whitmore Mine and Exposed Treasure mine[5] on Standard Hill north of Goldtown. KHXT-FM (Mojave) radio tower, at an elevation of 3,028 feet (923 meters) above sea level, is 1.56 miles southeast of Goldtown.[6] The California Aqueduct Road is located about 5 miles to the west of Goldtown.[4]

Golden Queen Mine

From the early 1900s to 1980s, the Golden Queen Mine [7] was active on and off, using open pit, underground works, and heap leaching. About +100,000 tons of tailings were created over the years. Due to erosion since, some of these tailings reached the alluvial fan surface. The tailings contain elevated levels of arsenic. "Significant potential human health risks to the community and regional environmental impacts may have resulted from release of arsenic-bearing tailings into the waters of the state and airborne sources." according to the Bureau of Land Management.[8]

Construction has begun to re-open the Golden Queen Mine. Commissioning is planned for 2015. This is part of the Soledad Mountain Project. Open pit mining, cyanide heap leaching, and Merrill-Crowe processes will be used to recover gold and silver from crushed, agglomerated ore.[9] The heap leach pad for the mine will be located near Goldtown, according to Kern County Planning and Community Development Department. [10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 no title, Daily News, April 8, 1923 p1; "Goldtown Again on Mine Map of Kern," Los Angeles Times, May 20, 1935 p10; "Near Mojave Old Town is Coming Back," Los Angeles Times, May 20, 1935 p5
  2. 1 2 3 U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Gold Town, California
  3. ↑ Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 1041. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  4. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2014-02-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ↑ Soledad Mountain Project, Golden Queen Mining Company, Mojave, Kern County, California, Volume 1, May 1997 p262; "Alleged Auction of Exposed Treasure Mine," Los Angeles Times, November 1, 1906
  6. ↑ http://www.placekeeper.com/California/KHXT_FM_Mojave_-1662974.html Archived 2014-02-22 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ https://www.facebook.com/GoldenQueenMiningCo Archived 2023-11-10 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ "Golden Queen Abandoned Mine Lands Project, U.S. Bureau of". Archived from the original on 2014-02-22.
  9. ↑ "Golden Queen Mining Co. LTD. - Home Page - Fri Feb 7, 2014". Archived from the original on 2014-02-08.
  10. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140814193441/http://www.goldenqueen.com/i/maps/approved_project_boundary.jpg
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