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A timbered adit of the Sunflower Mine. |
Sunflower Mine
The Sunflower Mine was discovered in 1911 by E.H. Bowman. Bowman intending
to find gold instead discovered a rich vein of cinnabar and malachite. Cinnabar,
an ore of mercury, was used in the amalgation of gold and was an essential
part of gold mining. The mine was later purchased by the Sunflower Mining
Company. A large processing facility was built onsite to break down the
ore into mercury whereby it was shipped by wagon and eventually truck.
The workings consist of impressively sized open cuts, tunnels and underground
stoping. From 1913 to 1965, an estimated 3,973 flasks of mercury were produced
and 2,140 pounds of copper. Also very notable was 764 ounces of gold and
1,095 ounces of silver.
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