The Jewelry Exchange, a Tustin-based jewelry manufacturer and retailer said it has acquired a mine with deposits of quartz and gold in the Twentynine Palms area of San Bernardino County.
The Gold-Stone mine is spread across three parcels of land totaling 60 acres. It first opened in 1942, but was shut down shortly after by the War Production Board, a government agency that supervised industrial production during the World War II. Gold mining was viewed as “non-essential” and workers were directed to mines involved in the production of metals needed for the war effort. The ban on gold mining was lifted in 1945, but the Gold-Stone mine never reopened.
Jewelry Exchange is owned by Goldenwest Diamond Corp., which also owns and operates under the names Jewelry Factory and the Jewelry Source.
