JULIAN'S GOLDEN CHARIOT MINE SELLS

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By Miriam Raftery

November 11, 2014 (Julian) – The Golden Chariot mine along the Banner Grade near Julian was once a motherlode that produced nearly a million dollars worth of gold.  Commercial mining there ceased in 1931 during the Great Depression, though small-scale operations continued up until 2002, when a fire blazed through the Chariot Canyon.

But now, a group of investors have purchased the Chariot Mine for $150,000 – and just may reopen it for commercial operations, CBS Channel 8 news reports.

Engineers are surveying the mine to see if it could be made operational. That’s a daunting task, since the mine is flooded with water, which the new owners are draining.  But cave-ins block access to deep mine shafts and there’s damage to aging timbers that support the mine shafts.

What if mining can’t be resumed at the site? 

The property could still be a gold mine in another industry: tourism.  The owners are considering other options, such as raising desert tortoises or getting the site designated a historical landmark and making it a tourist attraction, such as the Eagle Peak mine in Julian has done—proving that with tourism dollars at stake, there’s still gold in the mountains of East County.


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