The Owls Head Abandoned Mine is located in close proximity to Malone, New York.
The Owls Head Mine is a roughly thirty-foot-deep horizontal shaft carved into the mountain during the 1800s using picks, bars, sledges, chisels, and shovels. Magnetite, a type of iron ore, was scattered everywhere. The chunks were dense and heavy, with a shiny black surface. As the name suggests, the mineral is magnetic, allowing for the creation of a rudimentary compass by floating sliver on a leaf in a bucket of water. The magnetite beneath the ground interferes with compasses, as we observed, with the needle pointing far off from true north. The magnetite at Owl’s Head is found in a type of igneous rock known as pegmatite, or giant granite. This formation also contains a variety of feldspar called aventurine feldspar, or sunstone. Although it appears brown, when held up to the light, the surface sparkles, a phenomenon geologists refer to as aventurescence. The Owls Head hiking trail is great, with the mine located at the top of the mountain. A scenic lookout, approximately 500 meters from the mine, offers stunning views of the Adirondack Mountains. Location ID #CM0035
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