About · Southern California Mining Section of SME

The Southern California Mining Section is a local unit of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME), the international professional society for people who work in mining, mineral processing, metallurgy, exploration, and related fields. SME’s mission is to serve the mining, resources, and underground construction communities for a sustainable future, and its vision is to build a better world through mining, metallurgy, and underground construction.

Local SME sections bring that mission to the community level. Across the United States, sections host dinner meetings with technical speakers, support student chapters and scholarships, and create practical networking among working professionals, employers, and universities. National SME reports dozens of professional sections and student chapters that exchange information and expand grassroots participation in SME programs.

A section like SoCal SME typically operates through volunteer leaders, periodic dinner meetings that combine networking with a technical talk, and an open invitation to students and industry guests. Contact and registration are handled locally—for example via the section email and event pages—while national membership, publications, and career resources remain available through smenet.org.

National SME and other local sections

SoCal SME is one local section. Membership in the society is national. These sites belong to SME and to other local sections — they are not pages of this section.

Photographs

Licensed pictures of mines, mills, specimens, and geology. None of them were taken at a SoCal SME dinner. Places outside California are named in the caption.

California gold specimens

Gold seams in white quartz and dark host rock, a hydrothermal vein specimen from Amador County, California. — Gold-quartz vein in matrix, Amador County. Photograph by James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Reduced-resolution copy.

A mass of native gold on quartz from Calaveras County, California, photographed against a black background. — Gold-quartz vein, Calaveras County. Photograph by James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Mother Lode quartz-gold ore from an unspecified mine at or near Grass Valley, California. — Mother Lode gold ore, Grass Valley area. Photograph by James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

A California gold mass with quartz crystals, a museum specimen on a white display. — Gold mass with quartz, California. Photograph by James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Reduced-resolution copy.

Mojave iron pit, and a melting demonstration

Open historic iron pit and waste piles in desert hills at the Vulcan Mine area, Mojave National Preserve. — Vulcan Mine area, Mojave National Preserve. U.S. Geological Survey, Geology and Ecology of National Parks. Public domain. USGS media page.

A crucible of molten gold and copper heated by a torch in a small outdoor demonstration. — Molten gold and copper, a small-scale melting demonstration. Photograph by Maximilian Paradiz, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Reduced-resolution copy. Not a California mill.

Other districts — labeled

Interior of a large stamp mill at the Treadwell gold mine in Alaska, with batteries of stamps and men standing beside the tables, photographed in 1908 or earlier. — Stamp mill, Treadwell gold mine, Douglas Island, Alaska, 1908 or earlier. Public domain. Published in T. A. Rickard, Through the Yukon and Alaska (Mining and Scientific Press, 1909). Photographer unknown. Wikimedia Commons.

Black-and-white photograph of an underground stope in the Treadwell gold mine, Alaska, 1908, with broken rock on the floor and an opening to daylight. — Stope, Treadwell gold mine, Douglas Island, Alaska, 1908. Public domain. T. A. Rickard, probably the photographer, in Through the Yukon and Alaska (1909). Wikimedia Commons.

Hillside in the Cripple Creek Mining District, Colorado, with low-grade gold-ore piles prepared for cyanide heap leaching and a wooden mine building. — Cripple Creek, Colorado — low-grade gold ore above Squaw Gulch, set out for cyanide heap leaching. Photograph by James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Reduced-resolution copy. Not California.

Indoor gold-pour demonstration furnace at Gold Reef City, South Africa, with a crucible arm, brick wall, and a posted gold-price board. — Demonstration gold-pour setup at Gold Reef City, South Africa. Photograph by Dan Brown (London), CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. A museum demonstration, not a California plant.

Dark sulfide-bearing platinum-palladium ore from the Stillwater Mine, Montana, with metallic yellow and silver minerals. — Platinum-palladium ore, Stillwater Mine, Montana. Photograph by James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Reduced-resolution copy. Not a California locality.