Exploring the Historic Emma Copper Mine in Acton, California

Forgotten Mining History
Forgotten Mining History
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Published 2019-01-17
Los Angeles County Mines #1:

The Emma Mine is an abandoned copper mine off of Soledad Canyon road in Acton California. It was worked from 1889 to the 1940s by various mining companies including the Emma Consolidated Mining Company, the Highland Mining Syndicate, the Bournite Mining Company, and the Allen Mines Company.

On this trip I explored two adits (a horizontal passage going into a mine) in a side canyon west of the main mining area. One was rather short and filled with garbage while the other was reported to be 500 ft long by a rockhounding article from a 1950’s magazine. It turned out to be around 200 ft long, and it appeared to have not been entered in at least a couple decades, due to the fact that it had to be dug out. It was easily the most interesting tunnel I explored on this expedition, as it contained some historical miner’s graffiti. Up the same side canyon was a collapsed adit that I figured must not be very extensive due to the relatively small waste rock pile. Also in this vicinity is a small vertical shaft that I did not explore on this trip.

After exploring the side canyon, I hiked to the main mining complex on the south side of the mountain where there are two explorable adits. These were difficult to film as they were very hot and humid, causing my lens to fog up. I also got footage of the old leaching tanks, where the copper ore was processed.

I have been exploring abandoned mines since I was eight years old. It has been a continuous hobby of mine, and I particularly enjoy the historical aspect of it. I’ve finally decided to start sharing my explorations with others, beginning with the location that started my interest of exploring mines in the first place. This is my first YouTube video and with this channel, I will uncover more forgotten mines in California and hopefully extend my explorations to other areas of the American Southwest.
All Comments (15)
  • @mitchellbarnow1709
    The San Gabriel and the San Bernardino Mountains have an incredible mining history! When does Xavier join in on the explorations? Thank you so much for all the years of fantastic videos!
  • @flyingshamrockranch
    Thanks for posting. How interesting. I live in Acton and knew about it be had never been there.
  • @commandertoucan8975
    Crazy! My friends live in Acton (I in Palmdale) and they have always told me about the old mines but none of us had ever seen any and we were planning on hiking Parker mountain just for fun bc it looked cool! Guess were gonna make this a hike/ mine exploration! And I know about a few other abandoned concrete things close to parker and where I live in Palmdale are 3 abandoned houses up in the hills we love exploring!!
  • @GenAfterNextTactics
    Have you ever seen the movie Duel at the train scene? You can see these tailings piles in the background
  • @scrumpymanjack
    Kudos. I woulnd't go down those tunnels. Very interesting.
  • @R00RAL
    Notice the oxidised copper inside..
  • @coreymacgregor176
    Hey brother, so I noticed you talking about adits NE of the Emma. Is it the first canyon right of the Emma?
  • @davebeckley2584
    Pretty cool tho a bit foggy. Every once in a while you come across a mine in which the country rock maintains an imprint representing the way the tunnel was driven. The first mine showed a very good example of why the sides of a mine are called the ribs. Starting at about 4:30 you could see how both walls waved in and out, the left more so than the right. Every point at which the wall waved toward the center of the shaft was a new face where drilling blast holes commenced to advance the shaft another approximately six feet. When they drilled the bits were not driven straight but were tilted away from the center of the shaft. Otherwise, the shaft would proceed to get smaller and smaller. As they blasted the remnants of the old face remained and as you look along the wall it has the appearance of a human body's ribs. Applying human anatomy the ribs would connect to the back which is the ceiling of the shaft which is how it got its name. The floor of the shaft had no comparable body part so it remained just the floor. Nice drawing of the long-gone operation. Thanks for sharing.