Red Cloud Mine (Kate Kearney Mine), Greeley Hill, Kinsley Mining District, East Belt, Mariposa County, California, USAi

Regional Level Types
Red Cloud Mine (Kate Kearney Mine)	Mine
Greeley Hill	Hill
Kinsley Mining District	Mining District
East Belt	- not defined -
Mariposa County	County
California	State
USA	Country

A Au occurrence located in the S½ sec. 22, and in the N½ sec. 27, T2S, R17E, MDM, 4.0 km (2.5 miles) E of Greeley Hill, along Bean Creek (about 6 miles ENE of Coulterville), on National Forest land. Discovered before 1880. Operated by Carl Harper. MRDS database stated accuracy for this location is 1,000 meters. The principal period of operation was 1885-1895 when most of the workings were driven and most of the production was made. The mine operated intermittently until 1935, but no active mining has been done since.

Mineralization is a vein deposit (Deposit model information: Model code 273; USGS model code 36a; deposit model name: Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein; Mark3 model number 27), hosted in rocks of the Calaveras Complex (Mesozoic/Paleozoic slate). The ore body is tabular. No local alteration details found in USGS researched documents. Local rocks include Paleozoic marine rocks, undivided, unit 4 (Western Sierra Nevada).

LOCAL GEOLOGY: The Red Cloud Mine is situated in the East Belt of gold mineralization of the Sierra Nevada and is similar in its origin and setting to the nearby Bandarita and Hasloe Mines. The deposit consists of a main gold-bearing quartz vein in slate that is part of the Paleozoic-Mesozoic Calaveras Complex. Regionally, this complex also includes phyllite, metachert, schist, metavolcanic rock, and metacarbonate rock. The vein strikes N40E according to Bowen and Gray (1957); Castello (1921) reported a strike of E-W. It dips 60-80NW, and its width averages 5 feet, with a maximum width of 15 feet. The vein is traceable for a distance of more than 4,500 feet. Vein matter is milky quartz with inclusions of brecciated wall rocks, locally banded or ribboned. Two 3-to-5-foot thick ore shoots, each about 400 feet long, were worked in the upper levels to a depth of over 500 feet. Ore minerals are native gold and auriferous pyrite.

Regional geologic structures include the Sonora Fault .

Workings include underground openings. There is an 8 x 10 foot inclined shaft 700 feet deep with levels at intervals of 100 feet and drifts aggregating more than 500 feet.

As of 1957, most of the stoping had been done above the 500-foot level. As of 1954, the workings were all caved and inaccessible. Metals Economics Group (1983) reported, however, in 1984 that the old workings were in good condition. The shaft was deepened to 700 feet in 1893. A 22-stamp mill operated on the property in 1889.

Production information: Estimated production was about $1,500,000 (period values), but there are no records to substantiate this claim.

Topo map shows 4 prospects and the shaft, covering an area of more than 20 acres. One claim, approximately 20 acres, in the middle 1880's produced ore which was running about $30 per ton, mostly from native gold. The average content of sulfides was about 2½% auriferous pyrite concentrates running between $100 and $200 per ton (period values).

Castello (1921) stated that the mine was said to have a production record of about $1.5 million, but there are no records to substantiate this estimate. Metals Economics Group (1983) reported that core drilling and assays by Aurum Technologies in 1979-1984 indicated ore bodies contained 1 million short tons of ore averaging 0.5 ounces of gold per ton. Despite this reported tonnage of ore, the size of the deposit is conservatively estimated here to be in the 'small' category.

Bowen and Gray (1957) were not aware of any active mining on the property between 1935 and 1957. In 1979, Aurum Technologies, Incorporated, of Modesto, California, began exploring the property by means of core drilling, grab sampling, assaying, and a VLF electromagnetic survey. Ore bodies were blocked out with the intention of rehabilitating the mine and bringing it into production by the end of 1984. As of 1988, the mine was still in development, but any subsequent activities at the mine are unknown.

Other Databases

Link to USGS MRDS:	10030964

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References