Heath Mine — Llano County

Northeast of Llano by about five miles, north of the Llano Lone Grove Road — the Heath Mine (Heath Ranch district, USGS MRDS TC40206). Field report: Primarily copper and intermittently worked in the soils above Precambrian schists; quartz stringers had a byproduct of gold in small amounts. USGS records the Heath Mine as a past producer 2.4 miles south 50° west of Lone Grove (approx. 30°47' N, 98°37' W). Host rock is Packsaddle Schist with intrusive granite and pegmatite; quartz stringers associated with pegmatite carry residual gold in soil. MRDS notes assays of 0.01–0.08 oz/ton Au in wallrock and up to 0.99 oz/ton from sorted ore; at least 26 sacks of ~1 oz/ton ore mined before 1912 and a small bullion run under the Llano Gold and Rare Metals Co. in 1915. About 60 pits, shafts, drifts, and crosscuts remain on private land. Texas Escapes documents late-1890s discovery on the Heath Ranch; two freight cars of ore shipped to Pueblo, Colorado in 1901 assayed about $35 per ton. A 32-ounce gold brick cast from Llano County ore was once displayed at a local bank. Related treasure entry "Heath Ranch Thirty-Two Ounce Gold Brick Hoard — Llano County" records separate hoard folklore. Private ranch property — historical reference only. Do not trespass.