Castle Dome Stamp Mill is Working

The Stamp Mill is Working

The stamp mill was an important part of a mine.  It took the raw ore and pounded it and sent the smashed ore over a sluice with plates that were charged with a chemical to hold the mineral(s) which were being mined.

This stamp mill hasn’t worked for many years but it has always been a goal to get it working.  Thanks to Glen, one of our volunteers, and people he knows, and his many hours of work, trials, and attempts, it ran today, Wednesday February 24, 2021 for a short time. The people here now know how to make it work.

The stamp mill is not a new concept.  It was used as early as 300 B.C. and by the Romans and those living in Samaraqand in Uzbekistan in 970’s and in medieval Europe.

The first stamp mill in the United States was built in 1829 near Charlotte, NC. They became popular, especially in remote mines like the one here at Castle Dome in the western USA for gold, silver, and copper mining.

The ore is pounded, not crushed, by heavy metal stamps.  The smallest mills, like the one here, have three stamps.  The stamps are raised in sequence, not all at once, by cams that lift them, one by one, down onto the ore.  The stamps rotate as they come up before they come back down to pound the ore.

The pounded ore is carried by water over a sluice which is lined with a metal that is “charge” to attract the wanted mineral(s).

Once the mill has done its work the large stamps are raised by a chain on a pulley and the large stops that hold the stamps up are put back in place.

Most stamp mills were near water, which was used as the motor.  The one here, in the desert, must have run by a motor.  While the original motor doesn’t function, it is a testament to the craft in building and simplicity of design of old stamp mills like ours that it can, with a new motor, still pound the ore.

Now, there are some limits.  Ours uses a belt made of metal and other materials that is like a conveyor belt to turn the big yellow wheel that turns  the shaft to rotate the cams that raise the stamps.  Older mills used belts made of less sturdy materials.

Other limits include keeping that big wheel on the shaft, keeping the belt on the wheel, having a big enough motor, and enough people that know how to run it.  This is not a one man operation. It is not a quiet operation, no narration or other sounds than the mill and the men working it.