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Clandestine Gold Mining During WW2?


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So most of us have read about how during the war gold mining was not allowed since we needed to concentrate all our mining resources on useful industrial materials that could applied towards the war effort (iron, vanadium, uranium, tungsten, etc).

 

But after visiting a number of old abandoned mines that ran during the war years I'm left wondering if some of these mines were actually still going after gold and reporting some minor tertiary commodity as their official "product" instead like iron.

 

Has anyone ever run into the same feeling at certain mines? Is there there any documentation showing that this happened? I'm guessing no since it would have been illegal at the time, but I'm just curious. Were any mines ever caught mining gold when they should have been mining something else? Are there records from whatever dept monitored mines back then to make sure the miners were not going after gold?

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From what the oldtimers told me the mines ran until they ran out of powder.

If you read the old reports in some districts some of the gold mines ran right on though WW2.

I think the mines that were high in nickel and copper were permitted to run.

My family worked a pocket mine during that time on shares and a lot of families in the area were in on it. The deal was they needed powder so they all got together and only worked one mine.

Not sure if it was illegal but knowing the history of my family it more than likely was.

I'm going to look up the War Production Board Order L-208 and learn about it. Might be interesting.

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From https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/US/357/357.US.155.29.html

"As a part of this conservation program, WPB, on October 8, 1942, issued Limitation Order L—208 now before us. That order was addressed exclusively to the gold mining industry which it classified as nonessential. It directed each operator of a gold mine to take steps immediately to close down its operations and, after seven days, not to acquire, use or consume any material or equipment in development work. The order directed that, within 60 days, all operations should cease, excepting only the minimum activity necessary to maintain mine buildings, machinery and equipment, and to keep the workings safe and accessible. Applications to the WPB were permitted to meet special needs and several exceptions were made under that authority. Small mines were defined and exempted from the order. (emphasis mine - Steve H.) The WPB did not take physical possession of the gold mines. It did not require the mine owners to dispose of any of their machinery or equipment."

I am not sure what the exact exemption was as I have not found a text of the order yet.

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You can find the full text of WPB L-208 at the Land Matters Mining Library.

Just type "War Powers" or "L-208" into the search box and download the PDF.

It appears there were two exceptions to the closure order. Here is the one for small miners:

"The provisions of this order shall
not apply to any lode mine which pro-
duced 1200 tons or less of commercial
ore in the year 1941, provided the rate of
production of such mine, after the issu-
ance date of this order, shall not exceed
100 tons per month, nor to any placer
mine which treated less than 1000 cubic
yards of-material in the year 1941, pro-
vided that the rate of treatment of such
placer mine, after the issuance date of
this order, shall not exceed 100 cubic
yards per month.
"

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  • 2 years later...

I would love a copy of the order, too!  Tried going to the Land Matters Mining Library and searching but was unable to find it.  I used both WPB L-208, which is what was suggested in the post above, and WPB L-2084, which is the number given in the Supreme Court case.  And "war powers".  All three times, no result!

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War Production Board Limitation Order L-208, 7 Fed. Reg. 7992-7993, provided as follows: "The fulfillment of requirements for the defense of the United States has created a shortage in the supply of critical materials for defense, for private account and for export which are used in the maintenance and operation of gold mines; and the following order is deemed necessary and appropriate in the public interest and to promote the national defense. " 3093.1 Limitation Order L-208 - (a) Definitions. For the purposes of this order, `nonessential mine' means any mining enterprise in which gold is produced, whether lode or placer, located in the United States, its territories or possessions, unless the operator of such mining enterprise is the holder of a serial number for such enterprise which has been issued under Preference Rating Order P-56. "(b) Restrictions upon production. (1) On and after the issuance date of this order, each operator of a nonessential mine shall immediately take all such steps as may be necessary to close down, and shall close down, in the shortest possible time, the operations of such mine. "(2) In no event on or after 7 days from the issuance date of this order shall any operator of a nonessential mine acquire, consume, or use any material, facility, or equipment to break any new ore or to proceed with any development work or any new operations in or about such mine. "(3) In no event on or after 60 days from the issuance date of this order shall any operator of a nonessential mine acquire, consume, or use any material, facility, or equipment to remove any ore or waste from such mine, either above or below ground, or to conduct any other operations in or about such mine, except to the minimum amount necessary to maintain its buildings, machinery, and equipment in repair, and its access and development workings safe and accessible. "(4) The provisions of this order shall not apply to any lode mine [357 U.S. 155, 159]   which produced 1200 tons or less of commercial ore in the year 1941, provided the rate of production of such mine, after the issuance date of this order, shall not exceed 100 tons per month, nor to any placer mine which treated less than 1000 cubic yards of material in the year 1941, provided that the rate of treatment of such placer mine, after the issuance date of this order, shall not exceed 100 cubic yards per month. "(5) Nothing contained in this order shall limit or prohibit the use or operation of the mill, machine shop, or other facilities of a nonessential mine in the manufacture of articles to be delivered pursuant to orders bearing a preference rating of A-1-k or higher, or in milling ores for the holder of a serial number under Preference Rating Order P-56. "(c) Restrictions on application of preference ratings. No person shall apply any preference rating, whether heretofore or hereafter assigned, to acquire any material or equipment for consumption or use in the operation, maintenance, or repair of a nonessential mine, except with the express permission of the Director General for Operations issued after application made to the Mining Branch, War Production Board. "(d) Assignment of preference ratings. The Director General for Operations, upon receiving an application in accordance with paragraph (c) above, may assign such preference ratings as may be required to obtain the minimum amount of material necessary to maintain such nonessential mine on the basis set forth in paragraph (b) (3) above. "(e) Records. All persons affected by this order shall keep and preserve, for not less than two years, accurate and complete records concerning inventory, acquisition, consumption, and use of materials, and production of ore. "(f) Reports. All persons affected by this order shall execute and file with the War Production Board such reports and questionnaires as said Board shall from time to time prescribe. "(g) Audit and inspection. All records required to be kept by [357 U.S. 155, 160]   this order shall, upon request, be submitted to audit and inspection by duly authorized representatives of the War Production Board. "(h) Communications. All reports to be filed, appeals, and other communications concerning this order should be addressed to: War Production Board, Mining Branch, Washington, D.C., Ref.: L-208. "(i) Violations. Any person who wilfully violates any provision of this order, or who, in connection with this order, wilfully conceals a material fact or furnishes false information to any department or agency of the United States, is guilty of a crime, and upon conviction may be punished by fine or imprisonment. In addition, any such person may be prohibited from making or obtaining further deliveries of, or from processing or using, material under priority control and may be deprived of priorities assistance. "(j) Appeal. Any person affected by this order who considers that compliance therewith would work an exceptional and unreasonable hardship upon him may appeal to the War Production Board, by letter, in triplicate, setting forth the pertinent facts and the reason he considers he is entitled to relief. The Director General for Operations may thereupon take such action as he deems appropriate. "(k) Applicability of priorities regulations. This order and all transactions affected thereby are subject to all applicable provisions of the priorities regulations of the War Production Board, as amended from time to time. "(P. D. Reg. 1, as amended, 6 F. R. 6680; W. P. B. Reg. 1, 7 F. R. 561; E. O. 9024, 7 F. R. 329; E. O. 9040, 7 F. R. 527; E. O. 9125, 7 F. R. 2719; sec. 2 (a), Pub. Law 671, 76th Cong., as amended by Pub. Laws 89 and 507, 77th Cong.) "Issued this 8th day of October 1942. "ERNEST KANZLER, "Director General for Operations."

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6 hours ago, Johnny Luck said:

I would love a copy of the order, too!  Tried going to the Land Matters Mining Library and searching but was unable to find it.  I used both WPB L-208, which is what was suggested in the post above, and WPB L-2084, which is the number given in the Supreme Court case.  And "war powers".  All three times, no result!

Sorry for the difficulty Johnny. I just searched the Land Matters Library for all these terms individually:

war

powers

board

L-208

Each of those searches returns the War Powers Board L-208 order download as a result. So does a search for "gold", "mining", "limitation" and "order".

If that still isn't working for you here is a direct link to the War Powers Board L-208 order.

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Great information.  I do know of one mine in Montana that was allowed to continue dredging (bucket line) because they were

also recovering tungsten along with gold and other minerals.  Maybe someone else knows of others.

Bugler

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 I wonder the same thing. We have some mines in my area that prior to the war were gold  but then switched to Chromite  as they were on a Serpentine/Slate contact.  Not a bad deal, the waste rock was now worth money and kept the mine running.

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