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Tourmaline Topaz Mine Mining Claim, the famous MAPLE LODE gem pegmatite deposit, Aguanga Mtn, Palomar Divide, San Diego County, California. Known for gems and mineral specimens. 20.66 acre UNpatented LODE mining claim on federal land (BLM Minerals/USFS Surface) on a famous well known PROVEN past producer of small but bright blue tourmaline Elbaite crystals, pastel pink, green, blue & purple elbaite tourmalines, clear, light & dark blue topaz crystals, occasional Quartz and Albite, and sporadic pinkish, red and purple apatite crystals, Morganite, Aquamarine, Black Schorl Tourmaline, Lepidolite and Cleavelandite, etc. The Federal BLM mining claim measures 1500 ft x 600 ft. Its located just south of the patented Mountain Lily (Ware/Emeralite) Mine on the other side of the ridge.
BLM SERIAL NUMBER CA105275076. Active, Valid, and in good standing.
SEASONAL ACCESS from Hwy 79 (Temecula to Warner Springs area, then by forest service road 9S07 known as Palomar Divide Road or South Grade Rd. You have to go up about 7 mph, Palomar divide road is good, partially dirt and partially paved most of the way up. When you get to a large paved parking area on a ridge you are above the mine area, the road is closed and locked during winter and severe weather.This has helped protect the claim. I'm sure as a claim owner you could get a key/access during off season from the FS. From Palomar Divide Rd a very steep dirt road down to the claim that needs serious work in places, also a locked gate partway down (put in by prior owners) protects the claim. I suggest walking down until improvements to the claim road are made (filling in some ruts and drainage ditches within claim). This is a remote isolated area but Palomar Divide road is popular. 4WD is suggested. There is a large flat asphalt parking area above the mine limits very close to the mine access road that I use to park my truck when going down to the claim. Roland Reed’s old buried cargo container serves as a storage for tools and equipment and looks like a bunker. Rumor has it that some of the old tunnels that used to produce the bright tourmalines are buried/caved behind the buried container. It is published in the literature and known by San Diego miners/collectors. Very large waste piles and tailings to go thru that go partway down the canyon. Most of the existing cuts/working are too steep and deep to be safe, so you will have to put in some work to reopen the workings or dig this one further, there are steep cuts. Old existing workings cut into the hillside. I would suggest starting a new adit and working underground. Different from many of the other San Diego Pegmatites in that parts of the pegmatite have been hydrothermally alterted (??) and much easier to dig. There's some good stuff you can still find in the tailings downhill if you take ALOT of time to look. This was a limited, sporadic producer, but the prices on what was found were always high, and some of the most beautiful blue tourmaline ever found in California. Its only been worked on a small scale by the prior owners. It's a steep mountainside and future surface work is likely very limited, but the dike/vein continues underground. My suggestion is to cut or tunnel in from the east end on the other side of where Roland and others found blue gem tourmalines, you could easily start a new tunnel just east of the old storage bunker. There's definitely more in her, probably better, but it depends on how much work you put in to get to it. My old friend and mentor George Ashley said this was the claim he thought had the most future potential in San Diego County after the claims on Hiriart Mtn reverted back to the Pala Tribe in 1990. It was owned by Roland Reed at that time. Claim is sold AS IS and DOES NOT include the heavy equipment (Cat Backhoe, Parts, and Ingersoll Compressor NOT included). LOOK AT ALL THE PHOTOS. Great history and info on the mine is available on Mindat at links you can copy & paste to go, below. Quitclaim mineral deed will be executed to you upon payment in full, within 3 working days after full payment received and cleared in my account. I will handle the entire transfer process which can take up to several weeks, with both the county recorder and the BLM. I will file the Quitclaim deed with the county and then BLM, with a copy mailed to you priority overnight signature required. NO DIGGING OR REMOVING ANY MINERALS UNTIL PAID IN FULL. PLEASE NOTE that I have a Rand Ingersoll air compressor and Catepillar loader equipment/parts on the claim that I reserve the right to remove from the claim at any time into the future and which are NOT included with the claim sale, and the deed will reflect this. This is a FEDERAL BLM Mining Claim on Federal Land, you get the mineral & access rights but you do not own the land. ALL Fees and filings are current and the next $200 annual BLM claim fee is due on Sept 1, 2025. I normally pay it in July to be safe. That repeats yearly. I will help you understand the claim rules/laws and help you get started.
I live in South Dakota and can't make it out to the claim as often as I'd like. It would be better in the hands of someone more local or in the area. Getting a proven well documented and historical claim like this doesn't happen often, and there are not any others that I am aware of that are for sale at this time. This is a dream claim, especially if you are into pegmatites, tourmaline, gems, and live in the southern California area. Getting a REAL proven producer of Tourmaline in San Diego County is very RARE AND HARD TO COME BY. THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO GET ONE. I'm listing this for $35k, and believe its worth alot more. If I can retain some digging rights I would consider lowering the price somewhat. Contact me by message here in Ebay.
PAYMENT Can be made via paypal, personal check, certified check, and possibly other ways etc. Any mailed payment must be sent to me via certified mail, return receipt (this protects BOTH OF US). I will consider financing and payments, with at least half down. CONTACT ME FIRST please.
I will be updating this listing over the next week or two with more info and photos of some things found at the claim/mine. Feel free to ask questions first.
Link to BLM MLRS Registration page:
https://mlrs.blm.gov/s/blm-case/a023d000006ynhGAAQ/c7864337
Link to Mindat locality page:
https://www.mindat.org/loc-91432.html
LINK TO MINDAT PHOTO GALLERY SHOWING EXAMPLES OF WHAT HAS BEEN FOUND IN THE PAST:
Listed on our Ebay page here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/156715053988
LINK TO THIS PAGE: https://www.dominiongems.com/product-page/maple-lode-gem-tourmaline-mine-san-diego-co-california |