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American Camp Mining District, East Belt, Tuolumne County, California, USAi
Regional Level Types
American Camp Mining DistrictMining District
East Belt- not defined -
Tuolumne CountyCounty
CaliforniaState
USACountry

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Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
38° North , 120° West (est.)
Estimate based on other nearby localities or region boundaries.
Margin of Error:
~1km
GRN:
N26W68
Type:
Mining District
Köppen climate type:
Csb : Warm-summer Mediterranean climate
Mindat Locality ID:
250092
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:250092:1
GUID (UUID V4):
0


Location: This district is in northwestern Tuolumne County in the general vicinity of American Camp Station, which is about eight miles northeast of Columbia. It includes the Italian Bar, French Camp, Star Ridge, Grant Ridge, and Cedar Ridge areas. The famous Columbia placer-mining district adjoins it on the southwest.

History: The streams in the district were first mined during the gold rush. The town of Italian Bar was the principal settlement at that time. It later was destroyed by fire. Lode mining began about 1860, and continued almost steadily until around 1900. There was some mining in the district again in the 1920s and 1930s, and there has been minor prospecting since. The Grant mine was prospected for uranium in 1953-54. Geology. The district is underlain predominantly by argillite, quartzite, siliceous schist, and limestone of the Calaveras Formation (Carboniferous to Permian). There are also a few small granodiorite stocks. Finegrained
diorite and aplite dikes are common and are often associated with the gold-quartz veins.

Ore deposits: Numerous gold-quartz veins and stringers contain small to medium-sized ore shoots. The veins strike either west or north-north-east. In places the ore is rich. The ore contains free gold associated with varying amounts of sulfides, especially galena and chalcopyrite. There are several patches of Eocene channel gravels that have been mined by hydraulicking. At the Grant mine black uraninite
associated with gold occurs in quartz.

Mines: Argentum Consolidated, Black Bear, Contention, Gold Ridge, Grant, Gray Eagle, Ham and Birnev ($100,000), Hazel Bell, Indian Girl, Keltz ($300,000), Lucky Strike, Mountain Lily, Noonday, Rifle, Sonnet, Star, Tiffany, Volunteer.

Select Mineral List Type

Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical Elements

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

8 valid minerals.

Detailed Mineral List:

ⓘ Calcite
Formula: CaCO3
ⓘ Galena
Formula: PbS
ⓘ 'Manganese Oxides'
ⓘ Native Gold
Formula: Au
Localities: Reported from at least 12 localities in this region.
Description: Placer material. Somewhat argentiferous.
ⓘ Pyrite
Formula: FeS2
ⓘ Quartz
Formula: SiO2
ⓘ Rhodonite
Formula: CaMn3Mn[Si5O15]
ⓘ Spessartine
Formula: Mn2+3Al2(SiO4)3
ⓘ Sphalerite
Formula: ZnS

Gallery:

List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification

Group 1 - Elements
ⓘNative Gold1.AA.05Au
Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts
ⓘSphalerite2.CB.05aZnS
ⓘGalena2.CD.10PbS
ⓘPyrite2.EB.05aFeS2
Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides
ⓘQuartz4.DA.05SiO2
Group 5 - Nitrates and Carbonates
ⓘCalcite5.AB.05CaCO3
Group 9 - Silicates
ⓘSpessartine9.AD.25Mn2+3Al2(SiO4)3
ⓘRhodonite9.DK.05CaMn3Mn[Si5O15]
Unclassified
ⓘ'Manganese Oxides'-

List of minerals for each chemical element

CCarbon
Cⓘ CalciteCaCO3
OOxygen
Oⓘ CalciteCaCO3
Oⓘ QuartzSiO2
Oⓘ RhodoniteCaMn3Mn[Si5O15]
Oⓘ SpessartineMn32+Al2(SiO4)3
AlAluminium
Alⓘ SpessartineMn32+Al2(SiO4)3
SiSilicon
Siⓘ QuartzSiO2
Siⓘ RhodoniteCaMn3Mn[Si5O15]
Siⓘ SpessartineMn32+Al2(SiO4)3
SSulfur
Sⓘ GalenaPbS
Sⓘ PyriteFeS2
Sⓘ SphaleriteZnS
CaCalcium
Caⓘ CalciteCaCO3
Caⓘ RhodoniteCaMn3Mn[Si5O15]
MnManganese
Mnⓘ RhodoniteCaMn3Mn[Si5O15]
Mnⓘ SpessartineMn32+Al2(SiO4)3
FeIron
Feⓘ PyriteFeS2
ZnZinc
Znⓘ SphaleriteZnS
AuGold
Auⓘ Native GoldAu
PbLead
Pbⓘ GalenaPbS

Localities in this Region

USA
USA

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

North AmericaContinent
North America PlateTectonic Plate
USA

This page contains all mineral locality references listed on mindat.org. This does not claim to be a complete list. If you know of more minerals from this site, please register so you can add to our database. This locality information is for reference purposes only. You should never attempt to visit any sites listed in mindat.org without first ensuring that you have the permission of the land and/or mineral rights holders for access and that you are aware of all safety precautions necessary.

References

Goldstone, L. P. (1890), Tuolumne County, Keltz mine: California Mining Bureau (Report 10): 10: 755-757.
Turner, Henry Ward & Ransome, F.L. (1898): Description of the gold belt; description of the Big Trees sheet, California: USGS Geologic Atlas, Big Trees folio (Folio No. 51), 8 pp.
Logan, Clarence August (1928), Tuolumne County: California Mining Bureau. (Report 24): 24: 8-21.
(1970) Gold Districts of California. Bulletin 193. California Division of Mines & Geologypp.24-25
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