South October Mine – A Bust!
The South October Mine turned out to be a little harder to find than I anticipated. Once I finally tracked down the specific area, I found that the road was gated off. It looks like the mine had been reopened under the Cone / Liberty Mine. Doing some research online I did find a reference to the Cone Mine. It was listed as Cone Mountain #42 and showed abandoned in 1993. I was able to get a glimpse of it from an upper fire trail. It does not look like there has been anyone there in a long time. So I am not sure why it is still fenced off to the public. It is on BLM, Federal, land.
The mine that was there before was the South October Mine and from what I can tell, they had opened the same shaft and just changed the name. There is a record of a mine being in this location in 1953 but I am unable to find exact dates for either of these names.
So, having wasted 2 hours trying to get to this mine, I went to plan B. If at all possible, you should have another location in mind so your day isn’t totally a bust. That is if there are any other mines in the area. So I set off to the Lost Dutchman Mine. You will find that Activation posted soon.
John, JohnnyF, WJ0NF
