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Indian Diggings Mining District, El Dorado County, California, USAi
Regional Level Types
Indian Diggings Mining DistrictMining District
El Dorado 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:
~58km
GRN:
N26W68
Type:
Mining District
Köppen climate type:
Csa : Hot-summer Mediterranean climate
Mindat Locality ID:
264131
Long-form identifier:
mindat:1:2:264131:0
GUID (UUID V4):
0


Location: This district is in south-central El Dorado County about 30 miles southeast of Placerville. It includes the Indian Diggings, Henry Diggings, Omo Ranch and Brownsville areas. Indian Diggings is best known as a placer-mining district, but there are a number of lode deposits. The Fairplay district lies to the west.

Geology: The district is underlain by quartz-mica schist, graphitic slate, green schist, quartzite, and limestone. The central part of the area has been intruded by a round quartz-diorite stock. Portions of the bedrock are overlain by patches of Tertiary auriferous
gravel and extensive andesite flows.

Ore Deposits: The channel gravels are part of the Tertiary Mokelumne River, which extends south into this area from the Grizzly Flat district. The channel then extended west and southwest toward Fiddletown in Amador County. Indian Diggings was on a branch of this channel. Large amounts of gold came from these channel deposits, especially those at Indian Diggings, where the bedrock is limestone that contained numerous rich potholes. Mining was done by both hydraulicking and drifting. A number of narrow north-striking quartz veins in quartz diorite contain small but often rich ore shoots. The ore contains free gold and abundant pyrite, galena, and smaller amounts of other sulfides.

Mines: Placer: April Fool, Armstrong, Carrie Hale, Chic, Christion, Deep Channel, Dorsey, Drusy, Hayward, Hidden Treasure, Irish Slide, Last Chance, Little Bill, Lucky Jack, Old Chink, Omo, Patterson, Payne, Peacock, Richmond, Syracuse, Telegraph, Tomcat, Yellow Aster, Yellowjacket. Lode: Black Oak, Gold Note, Independence, Polar Bear, Potosi, Stillwagon.

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

4 valid minerals.

Detailed Mineral List:

ⓘ Galena
Formula: PbS
ⓘ Native Gold
Formula: Au
Localities: Reported from at least 41 localities in this region.
Description: Placer material. Apparently somewhat argentiferous.
ⓘ Pyrite
Formula: FeS2
ⓘ Quartz
Formula: SiO2
Localities: Reported from at least 23 localities in this region.

Gallery:

List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification

Group 1 - Elements
ⓘNative Gold1.AA.05Au
Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts
ⓘGalena2.CD.10PbS
ⓘPyrite2.EB.05aFeS2
Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides
ⓘQuartz4.DA.05SiO2

List of minerals for each chemical element

OOxygen
Oⓘ QuartzSiO2
SiSilicon
Siⓘ QuartzSiO2
SSulfur
Sⓘ GalenaPbS
Sⓘ PyriteFeS2
FeIron
Feⓘ PyriteFeS2
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

Lindgren, Waldemar & Henry Ward Turner (1894), Description of the gold belt, California; description of the Placerville sheet: USGS Geol. Atlas, Placerville folio (Folio No. 3) 3 pp.; […(abstract): Jour. Geol.: 4: 248-250 (1896)].
Lindgren, Waldemar (1911), The Tertiary gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California: USGS Professional Paper 73, 226 pp.: 180-181.
Clark, Wm. B. & D.W. Carlson (1956), Mines and mineral resources of El Dorado County, California: California Journal of Mines and Geology: 52(4): 429-435.
(1970) Gold Districts of California. Bulletin 193. California Division of Mines & Geologyp.66
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