History

The Midnight Owl Mine, also known as the Lithia King, was one of the prominent mines in the White Picacho district known for its lithium deposits. Worked by brothers Earl F. and Sidney B. Anderson, who were public school teachers in Phoenix, the Midnight Owl Mine comprised five unpatented claims. With the erection of a mica mill in 1947, production began featuring open-cut methods. Between 1947 and 1952, 62 tons of amblygonite and 13 tons of beryl, along with columbite-tantalite concentrate, were mined and processed from the Midnight Owl Mine. A 1958 report cited that the mine produced several carloads of spodumene, along with amblygonite, beryl, columite and tantalite. Drawn by the high-quality feldspar reserves in the White Picacho District, the Sid Anderson properties were acquired by Fansteel Corp. in 1987, which in turn leased the 12 mining claims comprising 340 acres to Steelhead Resources, Ltd. The mine is also credited for a mixture of rare and microscopic minerals. Fluorescent minerals from the Midnight Owl Mine include eucryptite, a lithium-aluminum silicate found in massive gray pegmatite rock.