Downieville Mining District, Sierra County, California, USAi

Regional Level Types
Downieville Mining District	Mining District
Sierra County	County
California	State
USA	Country

This page is currently not sponsored. Click here to sponsor this page.

PhotosMapsSearchMineralogy

NOTE: There is no USGS MRDS database file for this district.

Location: This is a lode and placer gold-mining district in west-central Sierra Countv in the general vicinity of the town of Downieville. It includes the Fir Cap Mountain, Craycroft, China Flat, and Slug Canyon areas and part of the Pliocene Ridge area. The Goodyear's Bar-Alleghany belt lies immediately to the W, the Sierra City district to the E, and the American Hill district to the S.

History: This area was prospected soon after the beginning of the gold rush. Major William Downie and his party arrived here in November, 1849. Soon a town was laid out, which was named for him early in 1850. The Downieville mining district was organized with "claims fixed at 30 feet per man". Many rich strikes were made; one claim 60 feet square yielded $80,000 in six months. At nearby Tin Cup Diggings, three men filled a tin cup with gold each day before quitting. A 25-pound nugget was found in the river upstream from the town in 1850. More than 5,000 persons lived here in 1851. After the surface placers were exhausted, the river was mined, and hydraulic and drift mining became important. Mining continued almost steadily until World War II, and intermittent prospecting and skin diving for gold continues.

Geology: The district is underlain predominently by north-trending beds of phyllitc, slate and quartzite of the Calaveras Formation (Carboniferous to Permian). To the west are greenstone, amphibolite, and serpentine. The higher ridges are capped by Tertiary andesite, which, in places, overlies rich Tertiary auriferous gravels. There are fairly extensive recent river and terrace gravels along the Yuba River and its branches.

Ore Deposits: A considerable number of gold-quartz veins occur chiefly in greenstone and slate. The veins range from one to 10 feet in thickness. The ore contains free gold and varying amounts of sulfides.

The milling-grade ore usually averages ¼ to ⅓ ounce Au per ton. Some ore shoots had stoping lengths of as much as several hundred feet. Some high-grade ore pockets have been taken from some of the mines. The Tertiary channel gravels are quartzitic, often well-cemented, and in places contain extremely coarse gold.

Mines: Lode: Alhambra, Bessler, Elcy, Finney (York) ($75,000 +), Gold Bluff ($1.5 million), Gold Point (Grey Eagle) ($100,000 +), High Commission, Jumper, Mexican, Oro, Oxford ($100,000+), Secret Canyon, Sierra Standard ($75,000). Placer: Brown Bear, City of Six, Craycroft, Golden Hub, Kirkpatrick, Klondike, Mott and Mt. Vernon, Monte Carlo, New York, White Bear ($200,000+), Wide Awake ($100,000 +).

Commodity List

This is a list of exploitable or exploited mineral commodities recorded from this region.

Mineral List

Mineral list contains entries from the region specified including sub-localities

14 valid minerals.