Souvenir Mining Spoons/Souvenir Mining Spoon North Star Mine Closeup

Souvenir Mining Spoons

Souvenir Mining Spoon North Star Mine Closeup.JPG - SOUVENIR MINING SPOON NORTH STAR MINE - Sterling silver spoon engravedwith a detailed picture of the North Star Mine Grass Valley, Cal; miner figure with gold pan and crossed shovel and pick on handle, 4 in. long, weight 11 gms., marked on back Sterling with a mfg. hallmark (The North Star Mine was located on Lafayette Hill a short distance south of Grass Valley, CA. The Grass Valley District was the second largest producer of gold during California’s Gold Rush behind the Mother Lode of the Sierra Nevada district. The Lafayette ledge by Wolf Creek was worked since 1851, and was pronounced by the State Geologist in 1855 as being one of the best-producing for quartz mining in California. It was discovered during the time of the California Gold Rush by a group of men, principally Frenchmen, who named their company, the "Helvetia and Lafayette Company". It changed hands in 1855, and again in 1857 when it was purchased under a forced sale for US$15,000. At the same time the name was changed to the "North Star." In the 1860s, reserves were estimated to be not less than thirty thousand tons, worth in the aggregate of $900,000. Competition between Grass Valley Gold District's 95 mines was fierce, forcing them to open, close, and re-open at various times. The North Star Mine was Grass Valley Gold District's deepest mine, measuring 4,000 feet vertical depth. In 1895 the mine owners hired A. D. Foote to design and construct an electric-generating plant for the mine. A 30-foot diameter Pelton water wheel, the largest in the world to that date, was installed in the North Star Mine powerhouse. By 1928, the North Star's total output value was approximately $33 million. The following year, Newmont Mining Corporation purchased the adjacent Empire Mine and the North Star Mine, consolidating them to become Empire-Star Mines, Ltd. The Empire-Star was forced to shut down by the U.S. War Production Board during World War II. Mining resumed after the war but inflation costs of gold mining left the operation unprofitable. The mine was officially closed on May 28, 1957 when the last water pumps were shut down and removed. In 1975 California State Parks purchased the Empire-Star property to create a state historic park. The North Star powerhouse is designated as a California Historical Landmark and serves today as a wonderful museum featuring the Pelton wheel and other relics of the mining past.)

Souvenir Mining Spoon North Star Mine Closeup | SOUVENIR MINING SPOON NORTH STAR MINE - Sterling silver spoon engraved with a detailed picture of the North Star Mine Grass Valley, Cal; miner figure with gold pan and crossed shovel and pick on handle, 4 in. long, weight 11 gms., marked on back Sterling with a mfg. hallmark (The North Star Mine was located on Lafayette Hill a short distance south of Grass Valley, CA. The Grass Valley District was the second largest producer of gold during California’s Gold Rush behind the Mother Lode of the Sierra Nevada district. The Lafayette ledge by Wolf Creek was worked since 1851, and was pronounced by the State Geologist in 1855 as being one of the best-producing for quartz mining in California. It was discovered during the time of the California Gold Rush by a group of men, principally Frenchmen, who named their company, the "Helvetia and Lafayette Company". It changed hands in 1855, and again in 1857 when it was purchased under a forced sale for US$15,000. At the same time the name was changed to the "North Star." In the 1860s, reserves were estimated to be not less than thirty thousand tons, worth in the aggregate of $900,000. Competition between Grass Valley Gold District's 95 mines was fierce, forcing them to open, close, and re-open at various times. The North Star Mine was Grass Valley Gold District's deepest mine, measuring 4,000 feet vertical depth. In 1895 the mine owners hired A. D. Foote to design and construct an electric-generating plant for the mine. A 30-foot diameter Pelton water wheel, the largest in the world to that date, was installed in the North Star Mine powerhouse. By 1928, the North Star's total output value was approximately $33 million. The following year, Newmont Mining Corporation purchased the adjacent Empire Mine and the North Star Mine, consolidating them to become Empire-Star Mines, Ltd. The Empire-Star was forced to shut down by the U.S. War Production Board during World War II. Mining resumed after the war but inflation costs of gold mining left the operation unprofitable. The mine was officially closed on May 28, 1957 when the last water pumps were shut down and removed. In 1975 California State Parks purchased the Empire-Star property to create a state historic park. The North Star powerhouse is designated as a California Historical Landmark and serves today as a wonderful museum featuring the Pelton wheel and other relics of the mining past.)

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