Coffin Mine, Coffin Peak, Black Mountains, Amargosa Range, Inyo County, California, USAi
| Regional Level Types | |
|---|---|
| Coffin Mine | Mine |
| Coffin Peak | Peak |
| Black Mountains | Mountain Range |
| Amargosa Range | Mountain Range |
| Inyo County | County |
| California | State |
| USA | Country |
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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
36° North , 116° West (est.)
Estimate based on other nearby localities or region boundaries.
Margin of Error:
~1km
Type:
Köppen climate type:
Mindat Locality ID:
259128
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:259128:8
GUID (UUID V4):
7e625832-0693-4c2b-a7ba-bedf0a9630ee
To the northwest of Greenwater, about five miles, is the site of the abandoned 'Coffin' Mine, so named in retrospect by its proximity to the peak of the same name. The mine's only documented claim to fame stems from a letter reportedly written home by a young miner: "Dear Pop, and All. Well I just came in from the Grave Yard Shift; of the Coffin Mine, on the Death Valley Slope of the Funeral Mts. How's that? Tragical enough?" Although this letter, which hangs in the Furnace Creek Ranch museum, is dated 1906, there are several problems with its authenticity. The voluminous information on the Greenwater District does not contain any reference to a Coffin Mine; the mine itself is situated on the Amargosa slope of the Black Mountains rather than the Death Valley slope of the Funeral Mountains; and all the physical evidence at the site indicates that it was a gold mining operation of a later date than the Greenwater boom.
But whatever the origin of the letter, the Coffin Mine has some rather typical ruins, including a shaft, some dumps and the scattered debris of several building sites, probably bunk and cook houses. Gasoline tins scattered around the site would seem to indicate that this mining effort took place later than Greenwater, probably in the 1910s or 1920s, The site itself is not very impressive, but the isolated setting and obvious lack of civilization aptly sums up the type of life experienced by the operators of a small time desert mine.Latschar, 1981
List of minerals for each chemical element
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
North America PlateTectonic Plate
- Basin and Range BasinsBasin
- Mojave DomainDomain
USA
- Death Valley National ParkNational Park
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References
