Abstract

The Rocky and Beaver Lake mining districts include the Rocky Range and the Beaver Lake Mountains of southwestern Utah, in Beaver County, northwest of Milford, and the intervening low-relief and pediment areas between the two ranges. Copper, lead and other minerals were discovered about 1870, and the two districts were organized in 1872 and 1871 respectively. The principal historic mines were the Old Hickory mine in the Rocky district, which exploited a low-grade copper and magnetite-bearing skarn deposit, and the OK mine in the Beaver Lake district, which recovered copper from a breccia pipe deposit in granodiorite. Because of close proximity to Milford, the districts never developed substantial settlements, and there are no ghost towns. From 1880 until 1943, the districts had limited railroad access through the Hickory and Solus stations on the Frisco branch of the Union Pacific line. The districts are presently uninhabited.

The great bulk of production from the districts was achieved from 1962 through 1974, when a succession of operators mined the OK mine, as well as the newly-discovered copper and magnetite-bearing skarn deposits of the Bawana, Maria and Hidden Treasure mines. The latter deposits were found using aeromagnetic and ground magnetic geophysical tools under shallow alluvial cover on the southwest margin of the Rocky Range. Since 1974, the districts have recorded no metal production. The “Essex mill,” a decaying fixture just north of Highway 21 three miles west of Milford, was operated periodically from 1948 until 1974, and processed almost all of the ore produced from the districts during that time period. At the present time, the only operating mine in the district is the Twin Mountain quarry, situated along the east side of the Rocky Range, from which fresh granitic rock is extracted for use as railroad track ballast.

Copper was by far the dominant metal produced both historically and in relatively modern times. The two districts combined rank 9th among all Utah metal mining districts, by value of metals and also by tonnage of ore. The production totals are as follows (recovered metals):