Stamp Mill

Boom, crank, hiss, a loud sound is heard across the small town of Markleeville the sound of a large engine is cranking on top of the hill. It's the Stamp Mill.

The stamp mill has four heavy iron stamps, which slam and turn against a metal anvil. A rotating table once fed ore to the stamps, crushing the rock and then it would wash in a chemical ash to created an amalgam. The amalgam was then treated to release the valuable metals. The mill probably was driven by steam engine during its use in the 1800's.

Our Stamp Mill is believed to have been manufactured in the 1880's and is the only working one in California on the Eastern Slope of the Sierra. The stamp mill also once crushed ore for the Cal Pine Mine on Burnside Lake Road.