Ivanpah-Mescal Mining District

The Ivanpah mining district is in northeastern San Bernardino County about 35 miles northeast of Baker and south of the Mountain Pass-Cark Mountain area. The district includes the mines in both the Ivanpah Range and the Mescal Range, which is just to the west. Gold mining began here at least as early as 1882, when the Mollusk mine was opened. Moderate mining activity continued in the district until about 1915, and there was some work again in the 1930s.

The western part of the district is underlain predominantly by limestone and dolomite, with smaller amounts of shale, sandstone and dacite. To the east is granite and gneiss, and to the south is quartz monzonite. The gold deposits are in quartz veins or mineralized breccia, which occur chiefly in granitic rocks or gneiss, although the Mollusk vein is in dolomite. Other mineral commodities in the district are silver, copper, tungsten, tin, barite, fluorspar, and rare earths. As in the Clark mining district to the north, the metal-bearing deposits are associated with several major thrust fault zones.