The Hastings Mine is a mineral extraction site approximately northeast of the city of Vallejo,

Solano County, California Solano County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 453,491. The county seat is Fairfield. Solano County comprises the Vallejo–Fairfield, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which i ...

. The Hastings site on

Sulfur Springs Mountain Sulphur Springs Mountain (or Sulfur Springs Mountain) is a mountain in southwestern Solano County, California. The slopes can be accessed via hiking trails emanating from Blue Rock Springs Park in the city of Vallejo. Cinnabar deposits were e ...

was used for extraction of

cinnabar Cinnabar (), or cinnabarite (), from the grc, κιννάβαρι (), is the bright scarlet to brick-red form of mercury(II) sulfide (HgS). It is the most common source ore for refining elemental mercury and is the historic source for the bri ...

until the year 1930. The Hastings Mine is classified as a medium priority mine from the standpoint of environmental oversight.Oversight of inactive mercury mines in California
In the last inspection of the Hastings Mine in 1997, sediments in a drainage below the mine were found to contain ten parts per million of mercury; furthermore, spring water below the mine exhibited a water concentration of .31 micrograms per liter (a violation of the State of California standard for receiving waters of .05 micrograms per liter). Miles of underground shafts were driven in the course of working the quicksilver deposits in the area. In 1989, Earth Metrics reviewed old 1918 maps of workings of the Hastings and St. John's Mines and found that mine shafts were not driven into the site prior to the year 1918.C.Michael Hogan, Marc Papineau et al., ''Environmental Assessment of the columbus Parkway Widening between Ascot Parkway and the Northgate Development, Vallejo'', Earth Metrics Inc. Report 7853, California State Clearinghouse, Sept, 1989

Environmental effects

Principal ongoing impact is from mercury contamination of spring water flowing beneath the site; moreover, historical analysis has shown that the volume of spring water itself has been greatly reduced from levels of a century ago. This reduction of spring flow has come about due to the extensive mine shafts driven to achieve the cinnabar extraction.

References

Mines in California History of Solano County, California Geography of Solano County, California Buildings and structures in Solano County, California {{SolanoCountyCA-geo-stub

Environmental effects

See also

References