A Viking is once again rising at this former talc mine and ghost camp in Death Valley California.
The Viking Mine is located in between Keeler and Darwin, 1.8 miles north off of highway 190 and less than 6 miles away from the Talc City Mine I explored in my last post.
It’s just a short drive up a graded dirt road after turning off of Saline Valley Rd.
The old railroad tie cabins are pretty hard to miss.
A meditation bench looks over Lower Centennial Flat and the Coso Range.
Vikings were the first humans to reach North America from Europe in the 10th Century. Sorry Mr. Columbus.
Have a seat, the views are amazing.
You would think there would be more historical information available with buildings like these but there is very little information online about the Viking Talc Mine.
Edith Lockhart from Darwin, CA was the original owner of the Viking Mine and Talc Queen Camp. She was born in Rojo, Sweden in 1883 and is rumored to haunt the property.
What’s in the bag? I believe it was the caretakers food, wrapped and tied up in order to help keep the rodents and other critters away. You’ll often find a caretaker on site which helps protect the remaining structures and property from vandals.
Salvador Dali or old miner? You decide.
He likes to keep an eye on you at all times, so you better be good.
He isn’t the only one who appears to be watching you.
A Room with a View
Don’t shoot, it ain’t cute.
Coil Mine
Much better than drywall.
The mine itself is just a short walk up the canyon from the camp. Wood headframes, open shafts/adits and other historical mining artifacts surround the area.
“There is a 20-foot shaft on the premises with two drifts at the bottom, one extending 20 feet and the other about 100 feet eastward. These workings arc partly in talc and partly in country rock. On the surface 50 feet east of the shaft there are a 30-foot trench and a short adit that exposes the talc. 15 feet farther east, a pit exposes 2 to 3 feet of talc in stringers. The rocks are similar to those at other talc mines in this area. Light-gray to black massive dolomite predominates, but within it is an intermittent, apparently steeply dipping strip of silica rock that resembles piartzite. The talc occurs sporadically and irregularly along this siliceous material, and probably was derived from it.” – Talc Deposits of Steatite Grade, Inyo County, California 1951
“Talc, some of which is of steatite grade, is in comparatively small masses, associated with steeply dipping siliceous bodies in massive dolomite. The property has a 100-foot shaft and a 60-foot shaft, each with about 100 feet of drifts. The mine has been operated by lessees and the total production, as orally reported by Mrs. Lockhart, is about 2000 tons.” – California Journal of Mines and Geology 1933
Shaft
“The talc is white, opaque, blocky, and soft. It has some superficial orange-red stains (which are commonplace in the district) and a few limonite cubes.” – Talc Deposits of Steatite Grade, Inyo County, California 1951
Alessio Floris, who holds the claim to the Viking Mine along with some local artists and friends, plan to restore and partially reconstruct some of the buildings within the camp. Follow/like Viking Mine California on FB for more information.
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