Cerro Gordo Mines

The Cerro Gordo Mines are a collection of abandoned mines located in Cerro Gordo in the Inyo Mountains, Inyo County, near Lone Pine, California, United States. Mining operations were conducted from 1866 to 1957, producing high grade silver, lead, and zinc ore; and, more rarely, gold and copper. Some ore was smelted on site, but larger capacity smelters were eventually constructed along the shore of nearby Owens Lake. These smelting operations were the beginnings of the towns of Swansea and Keeler. Most of the metal ingots produced here were transported to Los Angeles. Mining of silver and lead peaked in the early 1880s, with a second mining boom producing zinc in the 1910s. Home to some 4,700 people during its peak, the site is now a California ghost town.