The original discovery of rich veins of silver was made by a man named Pablo Flores who began mining and smelting operations near the summit of Buena Vista Peak in 1865. In April, 1866, the mine was included in the Lone Pine Mining District organized in April, 1866. By 1867, tales of the silver at Cerro Gordo had spread, bringing in flocks of new prospectors.

Businessman, Victor Beaudry of nearby Independence, California, was so impressed by the quality of silver being taken out of Cerro Gordo, he opened a store near the mine and soon acquired several mining claims to settle unpaid debts. He then built two modern smelters and continued acquiring mining rights from debtors until he soon owned a majority of the richest and most productive mines in the area, which eventually included a partial interest in the Union Mine.

In 1868 another businessman named Mortimer Belshaw arrived in Cerro Gordo and after establishing a partnership with another stakeholder in the Union Mine, he brought the first wagon load of silver from Cerro Gordo to Los Angeles. Later, he would build a superior smelter as well as the first wagon road up the mountain. Known as the Yellow Grade Road, Belshaw charged tolls for its use and was able to control the shipments of silver from the mountain.

By 1869, Americans had taken over the property and ultimately turned it into the largest producer of silver and lead in California, yielding ores that assayed at least as high as $300 per ton.

In the early 1870’s, two smelters were erected at Cerro Gordo and one on Owens Lake near the rival town of Swansea. Contributing to Cerro Gordo’s commercial success was the fact that the area was excellent for smelting works — water and wood were abundant, good fire-clay was available, and because of the wide variety of ores in the district, necessary fluxes were obtainable.

Mule teams, owned by Remi Nadeau, transported the ore to Los Angeles, 275 miles away, necessitating high-class ore and bullion in order to make a profit, and for the first few years they did as trains of huge freight wagons delivered so much silver bullion from Cerro Gordo that the Los Angeles News, in February, 1872 stated,“To this city, Cerro Gordo trade is invaluable. What Los Angeles now is, is mainly due to it. It is the silver cord that binds our present existence. Should it be unfortunately severed, we would inevitably collapse.”

But, it was not the end for Cerro Gordo. In 1905, mining activity was revived in the Panamint region, and hope was seen for many of the old productive mines. Cerro Gordo was purchased by the Great Western Ore Purchasing and Reduction Company, which envisioned building a 100-ton smelter for custom work and also to process ore left on the Cerro Gordo dumps, earlier considered too low grade for the technological methods then in use. By modern methods the ore could be worked profitably. By 1907 high-grade zinc was found in the old Cerro Gordo stopes, and ore shipments were begun.

By 1920, about ten men were still employed by the Cerro Gordo mines company and silver-lead ore was being shipped. A few years later, in 1924, silver-lead ore on the old dumps was still being worked. Gross production of the Cerro Gordo camp from its early profitable years up until 1938 was about $17 million.