PRINCIPALGOLD-PRODUCING D CISOFTHEUNITEDS1 ESGEOLOGICALSURVEYPROFESSIONALPAPER610PrincipalGold-ProducingDistrictsoftheUnitedStatesBy A. H. KOSCHMANNand M. H. BERGENDAHLGEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 610Adescription of the geology, mining history,and production of the major gold-miningdistricts in21 StatesUNITEDSTATESGOVERNMENTPRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON 1968UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORJAMES G. WATT, SecretaryGEOLOGICAL SURVEYDallas L. Peck, DirectorLibrary of Congress Calalog-card No. GS 68-341First Printing1968Second Printing19SOThird Printing1982For sale by the Superintendent of Documents. U.S. Government Printing OfficeWashington, D.C. 20402CONTENTSJlbstract _IntrodueQon _Scopeand objecuves _Authorshipandacknowledgments _Distribution of principaldistricts _Geologic relations _History of goldminingandtrendsinproduction_Jllabama _Cleburne County _Tallapoosa County _Jllaska _CookInlet-Susitnaregion _Copper Riverregion _lCuskokwiroregion _NorthwesternJllaska region _SewardPeninsularegion _SoutheasternJllaskaregion -SouthwesternJllaskaregion _1{ukonregion _PrinceWilliamSoundregion _Arizona _Cochise County _Gila County _Greenlee County _!daricopaCounty _!dohave County _Pima County _Pinal County _SantaCruzCounty _1{avapai County _1{umaCounty _California _Amador County _Butte County _Calaveras County _Del NorteCounty _EIDoradoCounty _FresnoCounty _Humboldt County _Imperial County _Inyo County _lCern County _LassenCounty _LosJlngeles County _Jdadera County _JdariposaCounty _JdercedCounty _JdodocCounty _!dono County _Napa County _Nevada County _Placer County _Plumas County _RiversideCounty _SacramentoCounty _Pap California-Continued1 SanBernardinoCounty _2 SanDiegoCounty _3 SanJoaquinCounty _3 ShastaCounty _3 SierraCounty _4 SiskiyouCounty _4 StanislausCounty _6 TrinityCounty _7 Tulare County _8 Tuolumne County _8 1:uba County _11 Colorado _13 Jldams County _14 Boulder County _16 ChaffeeCounty _16 Clear CreekCounty _19 Custer County _23 Dolores County _23 EagleCounty _31 GilpinCounty _32 GunnisonCounty _35 Hinsdale County _37 JeffersonCounty _38 LakeCOunty _39 LaPlataCounty _40 lIineral County _42 Ouray County _43 ParkCounty _odS Pitkin County _45 RioGrandeCounty _51 Routt County _53 SaguacheCounty _58 San JuanCounty _58 Sannligue1County _59 Sunnnit County _60 TellerCounty _60 Georgia _61 CherokeeCounty _62 Lumpkin County _62 VVhiteCount,y _62 Idaho _64 Jlda County _66 BinghamCounty _66 Blaine County _67 Boise County _67 BonnevilleCounty _69 Camas County _69 Cassia, Jerome,and!dinidoka Counties _69 Clearwater County _70 Custer County _70 ElmoreCounty _72 GemCounty _73 IdahoCounty _74 LatahCounty _75 LemhiCounty _III757677777980818182828484878791939798989910110210311)3105106107109110111112112113114116117118119119]20]20]20]21]21]23-126126126126127129130130133134IV CONTENTSIdaho-ContinuedOwyhee County _Power County _ShoshoneCounty _Valley County _Michigan _Montana _BeaverheadCounty _Broadwater County _CascadeCounty _Deer LodgeCounty _FergusCounty _Granue County _JeffersonCounty _LewisandClarkCounty _Lincoln County _MadisonCounty _Mineral County _Missoula County _ParkCounty _Phillips County _Powell County _Ravalli County _Silver BowCounty __Churchill County _ClarkCounty _ElkoCounty _ESIneraldaCounty _Eureka County _IIUInboldt County _LanderCounty _Lincoln County _LyonCounty _Mineral County _ County _PershingCounty _Storey County _County _VVhitePineCounty _)lexico _Bernalillo County _CatronCounty _Colfax County _DonaAnaCounty _Grant County _Hidalgo County _LincolnCounty _OteroCounty _Sandoval County _SanMiguel County _SantaFeCounty _Sierra County _Socorro County _ Carolina _BurkeCounty _Pue138138139140141142144145148148149150152154159160164164165167167169169171171173175177179180183185186188191195197198199200202202204204205207207208208209209210210211211NorthCarolina.---ContinuedCabarrus County _DavidsonCounty _Franklin County _GastonandClevelandCounties _GuilfordCounty _MecklenbergCounty _lIontgomeryCounty _RandolphCounty _RowanCounty _Stanly County _Transylvania County _lJnionCounty _Oregon _BakerCounty _Grant County _Jackson County _Josephine County _LaneCounty _nfalheurCounty _Pennsylvania .__SouthCarolina .__ChesterfieldCounty _Lancaster County _McConnickCounty _SouthDakota _LavvrenceCounty _PenningtonCounty _Tennessee _lJtah _Beaver County _Iron County _JuabCounty _Piute County _Salt Lake County _SUInInit andVVasatchCounties _Tooele County _lJtah County +--Virginia__Fauquier County _FluvannaandGoochlandCounties _Orange County _SpotsylvaniaCounty _VVashington _ChelanCounty _FerryCounty _Kittitas County _Okanogan County _SnohomishCounty _Stevens County _VVhatcomCounty _VVyoIning _AlbanyCounty _Fremont County _Selectedbibliography _Indexoflocalities _Page212212213213213213214214214215215215216216222224226229230231231

232232232235238240240242243243245246249250252253253253254254254256258259259260261262262262263263277CONTENTSILLUSTRATIONSFIGURES1-4. Graphs showing:1. Goldproductionof the United States-1799 through 1965 42. Goldproduction (tonearest1,000 ounces) of25principalgold-mining dis-tricts of the United States-through 1959___________________________ 53. Annual goldproductionofAlabama, Gorgia, NorthCarolina, SouthCaro-lina, andVirginia, 1823-1960 74. Annual goldproductionof Alaska, 1880-1965 95. Mapshowing gold-mining districtsofAlaska 106. Graphshowingannual goldproductionof Arizona, 1881-1965 337. Mapshowinggold-miningdistricts of Arizona 348. Graphshowing annualgoldproduction of California,1848-1965 549. Mapshowinggold-miningdistricts of California 5610. Mapshowinggold-miningdistrictsofColorado 8511. Graphshowingannual gold production ofColorado, 1868-1965 8712. Mapshowinggold-mining districtsofIdaho 12213. Graphshowingannual goldproductionof Idaho, 1880-1965 12414. Mapshowinggold-miningdistrictsofMontana 14215. Graphshowing annual gold production of Montana, 1900-65 14316. Mapshowinggold-miningdistricts ofNevada 17217. Graphshowing annualgoldproduction ofNevada, 1880-1966 17418. Graphshowingannualgold production of NewMexico, 1881-1965 20119-21. Maps showing:19. Gold-mining districts of New Mexico 20320. Gold-mininglocalities of North Carolina 21221. Gold-miningdistricts of Oregon 21722. Graphshowing annual gold production ofOregon, 1881-1965 21823. Mapshowinggold-miningdistricts of SouthDakota 23324. Graphshowingannual goldproductionof SouthDakota, 1876-1965 23425. MapshowinggOld-miningdistrictsofUtah 24126. Graphshowingannual goldproductionofUtah, 1866-1965 24227. Graphshowing annual goldproductionof Washington, 1881-1965 25528. Mapshowinggold-miningdistrictsofWashington 256vPRINCIPALGOLD-PRODUCINGDISTRICTSOFTHEUNITEDSTATESBy A. H. KOSCH:M.ANN and Y. H. BERGENDAHLABSTRA.CTExcept for small recoveriesofgoldbyIndiansandSpan-ish explorers, gold was first discovered and mined in theUnited States in North Carolina in 1799. This initial dis-coverywas followedbyothers inthe 1820's and1830's inseveral oftheother AppalachianStates. These States pro-ducedsignificant amountsof golduntiltheCivil War. Afterthe discovery of gold in California in 1848, the WesternStates contributedthe bulk of this country's goldproduction.Newdiscoveries inwidelyseparated areas inthe WesternStatesfollowedinrapidsuccession.From 1799 through 1965, the UnitedStates produced about307,182,000 ounces of gold, which at the price of $35 perounce wouldbe valued in round numbers at $10,751 mil-lion. In an analysis of gold-production trends, the period1932-59 is partiCUlarly informative; the effect of the in-creaseof the priceofgoldin1934from$20.67to $35perounce is clearly shown, as is the effect of a fixed sellingpriceof goldcombinedwithrisingcostsof labor andmate-rial in post-World War II years.Districtsthat haveproducedmorethan10,000ouncesaredistributedin21 States. Five States-California, Colorado,SouthDakota, Alaska, andNevada-haveyieldedmorethan75percent of thegoldproduced inthiscountry. Of themorethan 500 districts that have produced more than 10,000ounces of gold, 45 have produced more than 1 million ounces,and four-Lead, S.D., Cripple Creek, Colo, Grass Valley,Calif., and Bingham, Utah-have produced more than 10millionounceseach. The25leadingdistrictshaveproducedabout half thegoldminedintheUnitedStates, andthe508districts that are described account for roughly 90 to 95percent.In general, gold is derived from three types of ore: (1) orein which gold is the principal metal of value, (2) base-metal orewhichyieldsgold asabyproduct, and (3) placers.Intheearly years, most of the gold wasmined fromplacers,but after 1873, though placers werebynomeans depletedandcontinuedtocontributesignificantlytoour annual out-put, productioncamechietlyfromlodedeposits. Thesearchfor goldledtothediscoveryanddevelopment ofmanysil-ver, lead, copper, and zinc deposits fromwhich gold wasrecovered as a byproduct. Since the late 1930's, byproductgold has become asignificant fraction of the annualdomesticgold output.Most of thegolddepositsintheUnitedStates arecloselyassociated with and probably genetically related to smallbatholiths, stocks, and satellitic intrusive bodies of quartzmonzoniticcompositionthat range inage fromJurassic toTertiary. Some deposits, as thosein theSoutheasternStates,maybegeneticallyrelatedtograniticbodiesthat were in-trudedat thecloseofPaleozoictime, andsomedeposits, asat Jerome, Ariz., arePrecambrianinage.Alaska, thefourthlargestgold-producingState, yieldedatotal of 29,872,981ounces fromthe first discoveryin1848through1965. Morethanhalf ofthistotalwasminedfromplacers intheYukonregionandtheSewardPeninsula. Theimportant lode-mining area has been in Southeastern Alaska,where mines in the Juneau and Chichagof districts pro-ducedmorethan7millionouncesof goldthrough1959.Arizona ranks eighth among the gold-producing StBtes;a total of about 18,321,000ouncesofgoldwas minedfrom1860 through 1965. Deposits of copper and silver wereknown long before theTerritorywasacquiredby theUnitedStates, but hostile Indians and lack of water anylarge-seale prospectingormining. Inthe 1870's, afterthe transcontinental railroads were completed and thE: In-dians ceased hostilities, Arizona's gold deposits receivedconsiderable attention. Mining activity increasedably in the early 1900's, when the large porphyry CO"'lperdeposits at Ajo, Bisbee, Globe-Miami, Clifton-Morenci, Ray,SanManuel, andSuperior weredeveloped. Large-sealemin-ingoftheseandothercopper deposits continues, andmostof the gold producedafter 1900 has been a byprodurt ofthese ores.California hasproducedmoregold than any otherStl te-morethan106millionouncesfrom1848through1965. Thewell-knowndiscoveryinEl DoradoCountyin1848sparkedaseriesofgoldrushesthat indirectlyledtocolonizationoftheentiremountainWest. Therichgoldplacers of Ca1'for-nia yieldedphenomenal wealthinthe earlyyears, and as theplacers were depleted, prospectors searched for and ff'lundthe source of the placer gold-the high-grade gold-qt'oZ.. c:0

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.gen -11.",,,,:::>0:I:1-20FIGURE 3.-Annual gold production of Alabama, Georgia, NorthCarolina, SouthCarolina, andVirginia, 1823-1960.Sources of data: 1823-1934 fromPardee and Park(1948), 1935-60 fromU.S. Bureau of Mines (1933-66).CLEBURNECOUNTYThe Arbacoochee district, in southern CleburneCounty inTps. 16 and17 S.,Rs. 11 and12E., con-tainedthe richest placersoftheState; it wasex-tremely active in the1830's, but by 1874 only afewminers were still at work there (Adams, 1930,p. 21). Severalattempts atlodeminingweremadein the late 1800's, but by1900these mines wereidle (Adams, 1930, p. 22, 23).Brewer (1896, p. 85) credited the Arbacoocheedistrict withmost ofthe$365,300ingold (17,700ounces) producedbyAlabamato1879; after 1890this district became almost inactiveand the FogMountaindistrict becametheState'sprincipalpro-ducer.Most of thegoldcamefromresidual placers inthe vicinity of Gold Hill and fromgravels alongClear Creek (Adams, 1930, p. 21-22). Bedrockinthe southernpart of the district consists of Ash-landMica Schist andinthe northern part, of of the Talladega Slate. Thesetwounits are se'1a-ratedbyabandof HillabeeChloriteSchist which8 PRINCIPAL GOLD-PRODUCING DISTRICTS OF THE UNITED STATESwas intruded along an old thrust fault plane(Adams, 1930, p. 18). Gold-bearing quartz veinswithpyriteoccur intheHillabee, but theyaretoolowgrade tobeeconomic.TALLAPOOSACOUNTYIn TallapoosaCounty the principal goldproducerwas the HogMountain district, inthe north-centralpart of the county in T. 24 N., R. 22 E.The only workings of any consequence in this dis-trict are those of the Hog Mountain or Hillabeemine, which opened in 1839 and operated on a smallscaleuntil 1893, whenlarger orebodies were dis-covered and production increased. From1893 to1916, the mine produced $250,000 (about 12,100ounces) in gold (Adams, 1930, p. 50). The minewasclosedin1916becauseofhighoperatingcostsandwas not reopeneduntil 1933. During1934-37the Hog Mountain mine was the largest producer inAlabama, but it was closedin1938andremainedinactivethrough1959. Total goldproductionof thedistrict through 1959 was about 24,300 ounces,abouthalfofwhichwasproducedduring1934-37.BedrockintheHog Mountaindistrictconsistsofschistose rocks of the Wedowee Formation andquartz diorite (Park, 1935, p. 4-6). Theschist isdarkgray, graphitic, andis complexlyfoldedandmay be cut by thrust faults. The age of the Wedoweewas considered by Adams (1930) to range fromCambriantoCarboniferous, but Park (1935, p. 5)thought itmight evenbePrecambrian. Thequartzdiorite, whichmayberelatedtothe PinckneyvilleGranite of post-Carboniferous age, intruded thedeformed Wedowee Formation. The larger goldveins of thedistrict fill shear zones inthequartzdiorite. Quartzisthemostabundant veinmineral;pyrrhotite andsmall amounts of chalcopyrite, py-rite, arsenopyrite, gold, sphalerite, galena, bismuthminerals, and silver (Park, 1935, p. 12, 13) alsooccur.ALASKAGold, thelurethatdrewsettlersacrossthewideprairiesandintothemost remotemountaingulliesinourWesternStates, provedalsotobethedomi-nantfactor inthesettlement of Alaska. Thismostimportant mineral commodity of the State wasknowninAlaskaasearlyas1848, longbeforetheterritorywasacquiredfromRussiabytheUnitedStatesin1867. P. P. Doroshin, aRussianminingengineer, madethediscoveryinthegravelsoftheKenai River ontheKenaiPeninsula, butthere wasno great excitement andapparently no gold wasmined(Martin and others, 1915, p. 181-182). A sec-ond discovery of placer gold in 1865-66 on theSewardPeninsulabyapartyexploringfor atele-graphroutesimilarlyfailedtoarousemuchinter-est (Collierandothers, 1908, p. 13-14).Alaskangoldminingbeganinsoutheast Alaska.In1869minerswhohadbeendisappointedintheCassiar golddistrict in British Columbia disc'weredgold placers at WindhamBay and SumdumBaysoutheastofJuneau. In1870-71thefirst gol1>leMiddle Devonian age. In the central part of thedistrict the Devonian rocks are overlain by argillite,limestone, andsandstoneof theKetchikan Series,partly of Paleozoic and Mesozoic age. Locally, Meso-zoic conglomerates overlie the DevonianAbroadbelt of granite (or diorite), part of theCoast Rangebatholith, underlies the easternpartof the district (Brooks, 1902, p. 40-41), but themost widely distributed igneous rockis theKasaanGreenstone, which is the oldest of the intru"iverocks. Warner, Goddard, andothers (1961, p. 13)implythat thegreenstoneis of Mesozoicage, butolder thanCretaceous. In generalthetaryrocksthroughout thedistrict occur innorth-west-trending bands (Brooks, 1902, p. 51).The geology of theHyder areaissummarizedasfollows fromBuddington (1929, p. 13-42). TheHazeltonGroup, of probableJurassicage, is c'lm-posed of greenstone, tuff, breccia, graywacke,sl ... te,argillite, quartzite, andsomelimestone, anditoc-cursaslargedisconnectedpatchesintheeast andwest partsof the area. Thebedsare tightlyfoldedand strike predominantly to the east. A granodioritebatholith, called the Texas Creek batholith, intrudedtheHazeltonGroup, andtheHyderQuartzMonzo-niteandtheBoundaryGranodioriteintruded hththe Hazelton Group andTexas Creek batholith. Theintrusive rocks areof Jurassic or Cretaceous ageand are genetically related to the Coast Rangebatholith.22 PRINCIPAL GOLD-PRODUCING DISTRICTS OF THE UNITED STATESThe ore deposits are somewhat variedin this dis-trict; commercial amounts of silver, copper, iron,lead, andzincarepresent inadditiontogold. Theore deposits are of four general types-vein de-posits, brecciaveins, mineralizedshear zones, andcontact metasomatic deposits. The veins occur inthe oldest rocks of the district. They range in widthfromafewinchesto10 feet or more and are madeup of quartz, calcite, pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena,sphalerite, and gold (Wright and Wright, 1908,p. 80-81). Breccia veins, most abundant in thelimestoneandschist, consist for themost part ofquartz-cemented country rock. Auriferous sulfidesmaybe in limestone fragments or in the quartz(Wright and Wright, 1908, p. 81-82). The shearzonedepositsrangeinwidthfrom5 to50feet andfollowthe structure of the enclosing rock-mostcommonlyslateor greenstone. Thedominant min-eralsarequartzandcalciteinveinletsandchalco-pyrite and pyrite disseminated throughout the rock.Goldoccurs inthe quartz-calciteveinlets (Wrightand Wright, 1908, p. 82-83). The contact meta-morphicdepositsareinlimestones near their con-tacts with intrusives. These deposits consist ofmasses of chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, pyrite, and mag-netite in a gangue of garnet, epidote, calcite, quartz,amphibole, andwollastonite. Bothcopper andgoldare produced from these deposits (Wright andWright, 1908, p. 83-84). OntheKasaanPeninsula,contact metasomaticdeposits of magnetite, pyr-ite,andchalcopyrite arefoundinassociationwithtac-tite bodies inlayersandlenses ofmetamorphosedsedimentary rocks inthe KasaanGreenstone (War-nerandothers, 1961, p. 30-52).Worthy of special mention is the Salt Chuck mineonthe Kasaan Peninsula. Originallylocated as acopper prospect in 1905, this deposit was laterfound to contain platinumminerals and gold andsilver in recoverable amounts (Holt and others,1948, p. 3). Theorebodiesaremasses of borniteandchalcopyrite thathavereplacedandfilledfrac-tures ina pyroxenitecountryrock (Mertie, 1921,p. 124-125). Accordingto Holt, Shepard, Thorne,Tolonen, andFosse (1948, p. 4), atotal of326,000tons of orewithanaveragegoldcontent of 0.036ounces per ton was produced fromthe beginning ofmining to the spring of 1941. This amounts to11,736ouncesof gold.PORCUPINEDISTRICTThePorcupinedistrictis just northof lat 5915'N. at long 13620' W. along Porcupine Creek, atributaryof theKlehini River.Productive gravels were discoveredin 1898 alongPorcupineCreekanditstributaries (Wright, 1904,p. 12). TheeraofgreatestactivitywasfroD' 1900to1906whenabout $100,000ingoldperyezrwasproduced. Between1915 and1917, hydraulicequip-ment was installed which accounted for a briefrejuvenationofthedistrict (Eakin, 1918b, f- 99),but from1917through1959there was onlyocca-sional small-scale productionby individuals. Totalproductionfor thedistrict through 1959is 53,250ounces, all fromplacers.Eakin'sreport (1919, p. 9-21) onthedistrict is the source of the data on geology andplacer deposits givenhere.The northeast part of the districtisunderlainbydioritic rocks of the Coast Range batholith.B'lrder-ingthis onthesouthis a northwest-trending- beltof phyllite, slate, and limestone of LatePennsyl-vanian orEarlyPermian age. Anelongate massofdioritecutsthemetasedimentaryrocksinthewestand southwest part of the district. Themetasedi-mentaryrocks arealsocut bynumerous ofquartzandcalcitecarryingvariableamountsofsulfides, andlocally therocks areimpregnated withlenticular massesof sulfides.Placers consist of creek gravels, side benche."l, andhigh benches.The gold probably was derived locallybyerosionoftheauriferoussulfidesinthecountryrock.YAKATAGADISTRICTThe Yakataga district, an area of about 1,000squaremiles, is betweenlat 6000' and6030' N.andlong14120' and14440' W., justwest ofthenorthern end of thepanhandle that forms Alaska.Thedate of discovery of ore in the Yakatalj:adis-trict is unknown. According to Maddren (1913b,p. 133), goldwasfirst foundinthebeachsands atYakataga about 1897 or 1898, but Smith (1933,p. 96) listed the first productionfor the al'ea in1891. Duringthefirst yearsthebeachsands wereworked with simple rockers. Later, several attemptsatlargerscalemining, byusingsluiceboxes, weremade (Maddren, 1913b, p. 133-134). Bench gravelsalongthe WhiteRiverwerefoundtobegoldbear-ingandthesehavebeenworkedintermittentlybyhydraulic methods. Total recorded productionforthe district from 1891 through 1959 was onlyounces, all fromplacers. In 1959the distric{. wasvirtually inactive; less than75 ounces wasreportedfrom1950 through1959.In the northern part of the district the highSt. EliasRange, whichdominatesthelandsczue, iscomposedof intenselycontortedandintrusive rocks. The Robinson Mountains, in theALASKA 23central part ofthedistrict, arecomposedof Ter-tiaryand Pleistocene sedimentaryrocks in north-west-trending folds. In the south, the district iscovered with outwash gravel and fluvial deposits(Maddren, 1913b, p. 126-132). The gold in thebeach placers was concentrated by wave actionfromtheglaciofluvial depositsoftheWhiteRiver.Theultimatesource ofthegoldwasthecrystallinerocks of theSt. Elias Rangefromwhichthegoldwas removed either byglaciers or byPleistocenestreams andwas redepositedat lower levels. Thepresent stream system of the White River reworkedtheauriferousoutwashgravel andPleistoceneflu-vial deposits andconcentratedthegoldinchannelsandswhichnowformlowbenchesthat arebeingeroded (Maddren, 1913b, p. 142-143).SOUTHWESTERNALASKAREGIONInthe AlaskaPeninsula,whichformstheSouth-westernAlaskaregion, onlytheUngadistrict con-tains commercial golddeposits of anymagnitude.There has been scattered production from theKodiakarea, where lodes andbeachplacers wereminedona small scale, butmorethan90percentofthetotalproductionhascome fromUnga. Totalrecorded production for Southwestern Alaskathrough 1959is 112,570ounces, of which 108,000ounces is of lodeoriginand4,570ouncesis fromplacers.UNGADISTRICTUngais anisland, oneof theShumaginGroup,betweenlat5510'and5523' N. andlong16030'and 16050' W.Almost the entire productionof this district isattributed tothe Apollo Consolidated mine whichbeganproductionin1891andby1904yieldedbe-tween $2 and $3 million (Martin, 1905, p. 100).Production decreased markedly after 1905 andceasedafter 1922. Total production through 1959was107,900ounces, all oflodeorigin.ThecountryrockisandesiteanddacitebelievedbyBecker (1898, p. 83) tobeMioceneoryoungerandbyMartin (1905) tobesomewhat older thanMiocene. Sedimentary rocks that range inage fromOligocene to Pliocene (MacNeil and others, 1961,p. 1802) are alsopresent onUngaIsland, buttheirrelations withthe igneous rocks cannot be deter-minedfromthepublishedliterature. Becker (1898,p. 84) describedthedepositasareticulated vein-azoneof fracturesthat was mineralized. ThewaIl-rocksaremuchalteredandhavebeenreplacedbychlorite and pyrite. Gangue minerals are sugaryquartzwithsomecalcite, andtheoremineralsarefree gold, pyrite, galena, sphalerite, chalcoprite,andnativecopper (Becker, 1898, p. 83).YUKONREGIONThe vast Yukon region encompasses the ell tiredrainage basin of the Yukon River inIthas the shape of a truncated wedge extendingacross central Alaska. Theregionisnarrower (80to100mileswide) alongthewest coast of All'.skaat the mouthof the river andwider (200to300miles) alongAlaska's easternborder, whereit in-cludes thebasins of the Yukonandoneofits maintributaries, theTanana. This has beenbyfar themost productiveof all the gold-producingregi'ms,witha recordedtotal through 1959of 12,282.250ounces, most ofitfromplacers.Goodrich'sdetailedaccount (inSpurr andGood-rich, 1898, p. 103-131) of theearlyexplorathns,thediscoveryof gold, andthedevelopment of thefirst miningdistricts isthesourceofmuchofthematerial presentedhere.The Yukon region had been traversed rat.herthoroughly after the 1840's by explorers andtraders intentonestablishingnewpostsandopen-ing newcountry forthe furtrade. Alivelycompe-tition which developed among the Russians, theHudson Bay Co., and the Americans was ter'lli-nated by the purchase of Alaska by the UnitedStates.Inthe 1860's small quantities of goldhadhenfoundat several localitiesintheYukonbasin, butcredit for thediscoverythat ledtointensivepros-pecting goes to George Holt, who made several tripsto the Yukon in the1870's andreturned with- ghw-ing, if not entirelyveracious, tales of goldintheinterior. In 1881 a fewprospectors panned somegoldalong theBigSalmonRiver, oneof thetariesoftheYukonRiver intheYukonTerritory,Canada. Ayearlater, prospectorsworkinguptheYukonfromits mouthfoundgoldinconsiderablequantities near what is nowRampart, in centralAlaska. Discoveriesinthe1880'salongthebound-arybetweenAlaskaandCanadainthe FortynileRiver area were developed rapidly, and by 1893more than 300 men were working the gravels.Birch Creek in the Circle district next attractedattentionand it soonrivaled theFortymile district.Between1890and1895gold-bearinggravelswerefoundalong theKoyukukRiverandadditional dis-coveries were madeinthe Rampart areaandintheadjacentHot Springs district.In 1902gold was discovered in the Fairbanksdistrict (Prindle, 1904, p. 64) which in the l'11C-ceedingyears developedintotheleadingproducer24 PRINCIPAL GOLD-PRODUCING DISTRICTS OF THE UNITED STATESin Alaska. The Fairbanks discoveries stimulatedprospecting to the south in the foothills of theAlaskaRange, andplacerswerefoundintheBon-nifieldcountryin1903andtheKantishnadistrictin1906(Prindle, 1907, p. 205).At about the same time, commercial quantitiesof gold were found several hundred miles tothewest in the gravels of the upper valley of theInnoko River and this led to discoveries on theadjacent Iditarod River. In about 1910 placers werefoundalong Long Creek in theRuby district, about70 mileseastofKoyukuk (MertieandHarrington,1924,p. 88,89, 101). One ofthemost recentlydis-coveredplacerdistrictsintheYukonregionistheTolavana district situated along the Tolovana River,a tributarywhich joins the Tanana River about100 miles westofFairbanks. Miningoftheseplac-ers beganin1915(Brooks, 1916, p. 201).Most of theplacer districts of theYukonbasinremainedactive after World WarII, through1959,though production decreased because of the con-stantlyrising mining costs especially since 1950.Only two districts-Fairbanks and Nabesna-havehadanysignificant lode production, but thisisdwarfedbytheplaceroutput. TheYukonbasinhasyieldedatotalof12,282,250ouncesofgold, ofwhich 10,776,460 ounces is fromplacers, 305,560ouncesisfromlodedeposits, and1,200,230ouncesisundifferentiatedbutpresumablyfromplacers. Itmay seem strange that fromsuch alargeregionsofewcommercial veindepositshavebeenexploited;however, several factors must beconsideredinananalysis of this imbalance. First, the placers areamenable to large-scale dredging methods whichmeansthat low-gradematerial canbeminedevenat present highcosts. Secondly, theremoteness ofthe areas containing the lode deposits demandslarge tonnages of high-grade ores for profitablemining.It is difficult to summarize the geology of a regionaslargeastheYukondrainagebasin, especiallyinviewofthefactthattheregionhas not beencom-pletely mapped and the areas that are mapped weredone at different scales at different times andbynumerousindividuals. Theupper part ofthe basin,the Yukon-Tanana area, was mapped first by Spurr(inSpurr andGoodrich, 1898) and thenbyMertie(1937), butthat partofthebasinfromthejunc-tionof theYukonandTanana tothemouthof theYukonhasbeenmappedinsmall parcels byindi-viduals investigatingonlycertaindistricts.Inthe upper part of thebasin, stratifiedrocksranging in age fromPrecambrian to Recent areexposed. Representatives of every period exceptJurassic are present (Mertie, 1937, p. 44-46).MesozoicandTertiarygraniticintrusiver(){.ksarethemostimportant membersoftheigneous familyinthisarea, anditisbelievedthatthemetr'>llifer-ousoredepositsarerelatedtothem(Mertie, 1937,p.46).Farther downstream, inthe Ruby area, green-stones and undifferentiatedmetamorphicofPaleozoicageandolderarethepredominant coun-tryrocks (Mertie andHarrington, 1924, p. 12).IntheInnokoandIditaroddistricts, whichmaybe considered the lower reaches of the Yukon, Meso-zoic sedimentaryrocks, chieflyCretaceous inage,composemostof thecountry rock. ThesearE. inter-layered locally with basic igneous rocks. G"aniticintrusionsmakeupthemountainareas, and' rhyo-lite dikes are scattered throughout the area (Eakin,1913, p. 295).Throughout the Yukon basin, large are,'>g arecoveredwithfluvial deposits that formflats tensof miles wide. The entireregion has acomplox geo-morphicandstructural history, muchof whichisfairlyrecentinage, but notenough work beendonein theregion to interpret the many ano:'llalousfeatures of the present drainage (Mertie, 1937,p.237).BONNIFIELDDISTRICTTheBonnifielddistrict isbetweenlat '')' and6450' N. andlong14540' and14920' W. Itex-tends fromthe Tanana flats on the north tothenorthslope of theAlaskaRangeonthesouth, andit isboundedonthewest andeastbythe:tTenanaandDelta Rivers, respectively.The first gold was mined fromthe gravels ofGoldKingCreekin1903. Duringthe earlyyearsthere were high hopes that the Bonnifield wouldbecome a majordistrict, but onlysmall amonntsofgold were producedannually, andafter 1919thedistrict was idle. Total production throughwasabout 36,600ounces, allfromplacers.Thegeology, asoutlinedbyCapps (1912, p. 17-19), isasfollows. Theoldest rocks inthecUstrictare metasedimentary rocks of Precambrian0'" earlyPaleozoic age-theBirch Creek Schist, cons-sicorTertiaryage (Harrington, 1918, p. 45-46).Cretaceous sandstone and argillite, somewhat me4-a-morphosed, occur adjacent to the greenstC''1.ethroughout much of the district. The most abnn-RUBYDISTRICTTheRubydistrict isbetweenlat 6340' 6445' N. andlong 15440'and15620'W.Thefirst discoveriesofgoldinthis weremade in 1907 along Ruby Creek (Mertie, 1936,p. 144). These placers were soon exhausted, butotherdiscoveriesin1910alongLongCreekandin1912alongPoormanCreekkept thedistrict flour-ishing (Mertie, 1936, p. 145, 159). Under-rrounddrifting, sluicing, andhydraulic methods havebeenusedtominethegravels. Althoughproductionde-creasedsomewhat inrecent years, thedistrictwasstill producing substantially through 1959. Totalgoldproductionthrough1959was389,100ounces,all from placers.Undifferentiated metamorphic rocks, schist, phyllite, slate, quartzite, chert, and lime-stone, aremainlyof Paleozoic age andare thepre-dominantbedrock typesintheRubydistrict: (Mer-tie and Harrington, 1924, p. 12). Acomplex ofgreenstone derived frombasic igneous roc'1{s, be-lievedtobeMississippianinage (Mertie ar1Har-rington, 1924, p. 59), is exposed throughout thedistrict. Afewgranite stocksof Mesozoic (7) ageintrudeboththePaleozoicrockunits. Theized structure is an anticline trending nc...theastandplunging to the southwest.Numerousquartzveins arein thecountry rocks;NABESNA DISTRICT30 PRINCIPAL GOLD-PRODUCING DISTRICTS OF THE UNITED STATESdant rock type exposedin the district is the uncon- mining wasdone onLittleMinookCreek (Pess, insolidated material deposited during Quaternary Prindle andHess, 1906, p. 26). Smith (193?, tabletimebythedebris-ladenstreams issuingfromthe facing p. 96), however, does not report any pro-huge glaciers of the interior of the YukonRiver ductionuntil1904. The district reacheditspeak ofbasin (Harrington, 1918, p. 36-44). activity before 1910; after that time, pro"luctiondecreased, and in the 1950's onlya fewl:'undredouncesperyearwere mined. Totalgoldpro"luctionthrough 1959 was 86,800 ounces from placers.There arenoworkable lodedepositsinthedistrict.The geology of the district, as summar:zed byMertie (1934, p. 172-173), is chieflytheSl\me asthatoftheHot Springsdistrict. Consolidatedsedi-mentary rocks-whichrange in age fromvician to Tertiary and include sandstone,shBIe, con-glomerate, chert, limestone, andcoal-bearingrocks-composethe bulkof the bedrock. These arein-trudedlocallybygraniteofTertiaryage. T"-posits. The major minein this district is theGree:'lMountain. withaproductionof between$1andmillion in gold to 1890(Averill, 1937, p. 111). FroI'"CALIFORNIAThetotal goldproductionofthedistrict through1959 wasabout300,000ounces. Inrecent yearsac-tivityhasslackened, andduring1942--59lessthan100 ouncesperyearwasreported.No detailsongeologyorhistorycouldbefound.OPHIRDISTRIUDThe Ophir district. near Auburn,is the most pro-ductivelode-golddistrict ofPlacer County; italsohas produced significant amounts of placer gold.The first reported production from the quartz mineswas in 1867, when the Green Emigrant mine yielded$100,000 (Logan, 1936, p. 28). Inthe1870's manymineswere developed, andalthoughnot all .pros-pered, the district continued to be moderately activeuntil 1921. From about 1936 to 1942 the mines wereveryproductive, but during1942-59lessthan100ounces per year was produced. The chief lode mineswere the Crater, Bellevue, Oro Fina, and ThreeStars. Total estimatedlode productionof thedis-trict through1959, including Logan's (1936, p. 29)estimateof $3million (145,300 ounces), is about255,500 ounces.Placers alongthe AmericanRiver inthe Ophirdistrict were worked as early as 1850, but theseshallowgravels wereexhausted by 1880 (Logan,1936, p. 49). The production fortheseyearsisun-known. Inthelate1930's, dredgesstartedworkingthegravels near Loomisandinafewyearsrecov-eredmore than73,000ouncesofgold.Thegeologyofthedistrict wasbrieflydescribedby Logan (1936, p. 8-9). Granite, which is theeastern part of a batholith, is intruded into am-phiboliteschist. Theoredepositsarenearthecon-tact andarefoundinboththegraniteandintheschists. Thegoldoccurs inlenticular quartz veinsand is associated with small amounts of pyrite,galena, sphalerite, andcoppersulfides.RISINGSUN MINETheRisingSunmine, 1112mileswest of Colfax,with anestimatedtotalproduction of $2millioningold (Logan, 1936, p. 34), istheleadinglode-goldproducer inPlacer County.Openedin1866, themineproducedcontinuouslyuntil 1884. Thereafter itwasinoperationfor sev-eral brief periods,the most recent on record was in1932. The Rising Sun deposit is in azone of altereddiabase, serpentine, andslate of the MariposaFor-mationofJurassicage, nearalargestockofgab-bro. The main vein averaged 18inches in widthandcontainedrichpockets of freegoldinquartz(Logan, 1936, p. 34).74 PRINCIPAL GOLD-PRODUCING DISTRICTS OF THE UNITED STATES1933 to1952 thedistrictproduced 32,069ouncesoflodegoldand3,255ouncesof placer gold; nopro-ductionwas reportedduring1952-59. Total mini-mumproduction through 1959was about 100,000ounces.The bedrock inthesouthwest part of thedistrictconsistsofanorthwest-trending bandofmetasedi-mentaryrocksof theCalaverasFormation. Thisisbordered on the northeast by a parallel band ofpre-Devonian metavolcanic rocks. A few smallbodies of granodiorite, of Jurassic age, cut theolder rocks. The ore deposits are in veins in themetavolcanic rocks near the granodiorite and inthegranodioriteitself. Theveinsconsist ofquartzwithfreegoldandsmall amountsofsulfides.JOIINSVIU,EDISTRICTThe Johnsville,in the east half of T. 22N., R. 11E., in south-central Plumas County, is primarilyalode district, but it has produced some placer goldfromTertiaryand possiblyalsofromQuaternarygravels.ThePlumas Eurekamine, thelargest lodemineinthedistrict, beganoperationsin1851andhadatotal estimated yield of $8 million in gold to about1925 (Averill, 1937, p. 118). Inmorerecent yearsthedistrict hasbeenonlysporadicallyactive; dur-ing 1933-59, only 2,009 ounces of lode gold and1,413 ouncesof placergoldwere reported. Itstotalgoldproductionwasabout 393,000ounces.The bedrockinthe district consists of a broadnorthwest-trendingbandof metasedimentaryrockswhichbelongtothe Calaveras Formationof Car-boniferousage (Averill, 1937,map) andwhich areintrudedby smallbodies of andesiteofCarbonifer-ousage. Thegolddepositsareinthequartzveinsinthe metasedimentary rocks.LAPORTEDISTRICTThe La Porte district, inT. 21 N., R. 9E., insouthwest Plumas County, was the center of hy-draulic mining of gravels of the Tertiary YubaRiver inthe 1850's and1860's. After the enactmentofdebriscontrollaws, thegravelswereworkedbydrift minesonamuch-reducedscale. During 1932-59 thedistrictproduced9,347ouncesofgold.Totalproduction from 1855 through 1959 was about2,910,000 ounces. A small amount of production wasreported in 1957, but none was reported in 1958-59.The channel near La Porte is ab:mt 500 feet wide.Goldwasconcentratedontheamphibolitebedrockorinthe lowermost 2 feet ofthegravel. Themainchannel has beentraceda distanceof 10miles tothenortheast, anditrangesfrom500 to1,500 feetin width and from14to 129feet in Thechannel isoffset nearLaPorte bynumerOl'ofore bodies, but there is a pronounced mineralogicdifference. The chimneyore, thechief source of thegold, consistsofa coreofpyritecontainingminorquantitiesof other minerals which make them valu-ablefor silver, copper, andgold. Thechief COIJpermineral is chalcopyrite. Silver andgoldareass')ci-atedwithchalcopyrite, galena, andwithagrouroflate copper and silver minerals including tetra-hedrite, freibergite, polybasite, stromeyerite, bC"lr-nonite, and schapbachite. Late accessory mine)'alsinclude manganosiderite, dolomite, barite, apatite,andquartz. Thegalenacontainssmall inclusiomofhessiteandalittlepetzite, andthepetzitecontainsminuteblebsandveinletsoffreegold.Themantoore bodies arevaluedmainlyforzinc.The minerals of these deposits are sphalerite, py-rite, manganosiderite, minor galena, andaccessl)rychalcopyrite, barite, dolomite, andquartz. Oxidizedparts of these deposits contain considerable lead, sil-ver, andgold. Themantosare50to .300 feet wide,5to150 feetthick, andasmuch as4,000feet IO'1g.All are in the Leadville Limestone (OgdenTwetoandT. S.Lovering, inVanderwilt andothers, 19:-e spo-radic attempts to revive some properties, but nosignificant activityoccurreduntil thereope'lingoftheLuckyBoyminein1939. Placerminingalongthe Yankee Fork was alsorenewed about that time.WorldWarIIcurtailedactivities, but afeY' prop-ertieswerereopenedin1946and1947. Pro'iuctioninthelate1940'swas almost entirelybyadredgethat operated along the Yankee Fork, althoughsome small-scale production fromlode depositscon-tinued through 1957 (T. H. Kiilsgaard, writtencommun., 1962). The most productive placer," in thedistrict were along theYankee Fork of the SalmonRiver, fromthemouthof JordanCreekalmost tothe mouth of the Yankee Fork.Anderson(1949, p. 14) credited the district withatotal productionofgoldandsilvervaluedat $13million to about 1948. Of this, $12 million wasmined before 1910. Umpleby (1913a, p. 78) esti-matedthat about 40 percent of this was ingold(about 252,400ounces). From1948throuyh1959thedistrict produced14,253 ounces i most of it wasfromdredging operations. Total gold prdthegeologyandoredepositsinconsiderabledetail.The oldest rocks in the district are contorted quartz-ites and mica schistsof Ordovician age or older,and theyare overlain locallyby limestone,andquartziteofSilurianage. OverlyingthePale,?-zoic rocksisa sequence of Tertiary flowsandtuffs,6,000feet thick, composedof16rhyoliteunits, fiveflows of basalt, oneflowof quartzlatite, andoneflow of quartz-bearing basalt that caps thequence. Theentire area hasbeenbrokenbynormalfaults that trend north to northwest,and the resul"192 PRINCIPAL GOLD-PRODUCING DISTRICTS OF THE UNITED ST.A.TESingfault blocksaretiltedeastward. Alateset offaults trends northeast. Ore deposits aremineral-izedfaultsor fault zonesintherhyolites. Manyoftheveins aresimplebut therearemanyzones ofstringers or veinlets with ill-d-copper-zinc-antimony sulfidesinquartz veinsin theCarboniferous meta-andesites (Kral, 1951, p. 199-200).PERSHINGCOUNTYPershing County, created in1919, is the of the17 counties of Nevada.The topography of the county, although hssruggedthanin most of theState, is typical of tratof the Great Basinandconsists of north-trendingmountainrangesseparatedbydryvalleys.PershingCountyhas a widevarietyofmineralresources, but silver, gold, tungsten, andmerCl1ryhave been the mainstays. Mining activity in thearea nowembracedbyPershingCountybeganin1860intheHumboldtdistrict. SoonafterwardtheStar and Buena Vista districts were discovered, f.ndthe townof Unionville became the center of miningactivityinthecounty. Thefirst successful smelic ageand are covered by a series of Tertiary v/)lcanicrocks consistingof the Hartford Hill Rhyolite ofEocene age, Alta Andesite of Miocene KatePeakAndesiteandKnickerbocker AndesiteofPlio-ceneage, andAmericanFlatBasalt ofQuaternaryage. TheHartfordHill RhyoliteandAltaAndesiteare cut by the Davidson Diorite of late MiocE''1e age.This intrusion was followed by normal faulting,andveins, includingtheComstockLode, were de-posited along the faults. Later movement in latePliocene or early Pleistocene time produced newfaults andadditional displacement along the olderones.The lode is a complexshear zone--Y-shaped incross section, about 13,000 feet long, and severalhundred feet wide. Many large blocks of countryrock were foundin the dominantly quartz gangue inthe upper part of the vein system. Calcite is a minorcomponent of the gangue. The ore minerals areargentite, stephanite, andnativegold. (1936,p. 532) reportedthesilversulfoselenide, aguilarite,associated with silver and argentite in tr4. ores.Sphalerite, galena, pyrite, andchalcopyrite freusu-allypresent but not necessarilyabundant. Within afewhundredfeet ofthesurface, oxidizedo]'escon-tained native silver, gold, polybasite,covellite, chalcocite, anglesite, andwulfenitE:. Wide-spreadpropylitizedandsericitizedwallrock ischar-acteristic of the Comstock Lode.WASHOECOUNTYLocated in the northwest corner of Nevada,WashoeCountydoes not havethebasin-an'l-rangetopography so characteristic of most of Nevada.Instead, it contains a series of lakes-separatedbylowdivides. Manylakesstill fill thevalleys in the northern part of the county, andPyramidandWinnemucca Lakes in the central partare the largest natural bodies of water in the State.The Virginia Mountains extend northw"!stwardacross the central part of the county. S,')uth ofReno, the Sierra Nevada is the dominant featureof the western part of the county. The lTorthernpart of thecountyisunderlainbylavas, tuffs, andlakebeds that, for themost part, containnoeco-nomic mineral deposits, butseveral mining districtsinthesouthernpart of thecountyhaveIl"oducedconsiderableamounts of goldandsilver (Overton,1947, p. 46-47). Prominent amongtheseOling-NEVADA 199house, Leadville, WedekindandPyramid. able placer miningwas done inthe earlydays atLittle Valley, Peavine, and Olinghouse, but therearenoreliableproductiondataontheseoperations(Vanderburg, 1936a, p.163-166).Theprospectors whofloodedintoComstocksoonoverflowed intoadjacent southernWashoe Countyand discovered mineral deposits in the Jumbo,Galena, and Peavine districts.Production of gold in the county from 1902through 1959 was 46,107 ounces.Although small amounts of goldhave beenpro-duced frommost of the districts in the county,onlytheOlinghousemaybeconsideredprimarilyagold district; it alone has produced more than 10,000ounces.OLINGHOUSE DISTRICTThe Olinghouse (White Horse) district is insoutheast Washoe County (lat 3940' N., long11925'E.), about 12 milessouth ofPyramid Lake.The district was prospected first in 1860, but verylittle work was done until 1901-3, the period ofgreatest activity (Hill, 1910a, p. 103). Inthemid-1930'stherewasabrief revival ofactivity; duringthe 1940's and 1950's there was only small-scaleproduction by lessees (Overton, 1947, p. 71-72).Productionfrom1902through 1921 was $509,530(about 24,700 ounces) in gold (Lincoln, 1923, p.240). Total gold production through 1959 was about36,000 ounces.The dominant country rock is an older andesite ofTertiaryage (Hill, 1910a, p. 104-105) intrudedbydikes and sills of porphyritic rhyolite and later ande-site. Theoredepositsareintheolderandesiteandconsistofzonesof alteredcountryrock adjacenttothe intrusives. Theoreminerals arefreegoldandsmall amountsofsilverchloride. Minor amountsofchalcopyrite, pyrite, calcite, andquartzare present(Overton, 1947, p. 71).Vanderburg (l936a, p. 164-166) reported somesmall-scale placer mining in this district throughoutitshistory, but hegavenoproductiondata.WHITEPINECOUNTYProspectors attracted by the silver strikes atReese River usp.dthe townof Austinas a supplypoint and headquarters fromwhichtheyexploredmost of easternNevada. Richsilver oresoonwasdiscovered at Battle Mountain, Egan Canyon, WhitePine, andPioche. Indeed, it was probablytherichsilverstrike atWhitePinethat influencedthefor-mationofWhitePineCountyfrompartofLanderCounty in 1869.Theminesofthecountyhavebeennotedchi.st, andnorthwest parts of the county. Asmall patch ofHorsetown ( 1) Formation, of Cretaceous age, isexposedintheTakilmaareainthesouthwost partof the county.At numerous localities throughout the county,channels, whichwere eroded into rocks of Creta-ceous age andolder, werefilled withgold-bearingconglomerates of Tertiary age (Shenon. 1933b,p. 152-154). Gold placers alsooccur inl'igh ter-racesofPleistoceneagealong theRoguePiver.GRANTSPASSDISTRICTTheGrants Passdistrict is ineast-central Jose-phineCounty between lat 4224' and4235' N. andlong12315' and12335' W. Includedwithinthisdistrict are the Jumpoff Joe Creek, Rogue Rjver,Winona, and Merlin camps.TheearliestminingwasalongPicket andJump-off Joe Creeks several years after thealong Josephine Creek in 1852. Although recQrdsare .scanty, apparentlythisdistrict wasnot imnor-tant until lodequartz miningbeganinthe1890's(Winchell, 1914b, p. 215). The major lode mine wasthe Daisyor Hammersley. Someof theimpor"antplacer mines were along Jumpoff Joe Creek, theRogueRiver, andthe DryDiggingat thetoW'l ofGrants Pass. The district was sporadicallyactivethroughthe1930's, but onlyafewmines weninoperationin1942 (OregonDepartmentof GeOl')gyand Mineral Industries, 1942, p. 66). From1951through1959only afewounces wasreportedfromthe district. Estimates of early lode productioncredit the Granite Hill mine with$65,000ingold(Diller and Kay, 1909, p. 58), the Daisy ,"ith$200,000, and the Baby with $20,000 (Winc'l.eIl,1914b, p. 225, 228). Incomplete production data forthedistrict from1904to1932total 5,218ounces.From1932through1957thedistrict produced540ounces of lode gold and6,087ouncesof placer I]')ld.GALICEDISTRICTOREGON 227Themajor gold-producingdistricts inJosephine dacite porphyry, all ranging in age from Late Jmas-County are the Galice, Grants Pass, Greenback, sic toEarly Cretaceous. The rocks were compressedIllinoisRiver, Lower Applegate, andWaldo. into isoclinal folds that trend northeastward andwere later torn byfaults, the mostofwhich are high-anglereverse faults that strike con-cordantlywith the strikeof therocks. There area fewnorthwest-trending normal faultsin the area.Gold is the chief commodity of theGalice dishict,butconsiderable copper, silver, andalittlelead, inaddition to gold, have beenproduced at the AIr-edamine (Shenon, 1933c, p.24).Theveins of the Galice district fillinmanyof theJurassicigneous rocks-thegabl>roicamphibolite, diorite, and dacitebodies. Veins' alsooccur in the Rogue Formation and its metamor-phosedequivalent; however, therearenomineral-ized fracturesinthe DothanorGaliceThe veins dip steeply and most of themstrikenorthor north-northeast. Inmost deposits the goldis free and is associated with pyrite, pyrrhetite,andsome chalcopyriteinaquartzgangue.Atthe Almeda mineasecondperiod of minerali-zation is recognized. It is characterized by abundantchalcopyriteandalittlesphaleriteandgalenainagangueofbarite (WellsandWalker, 1953).The Galice district is between lat 4228' and4244' N. andlong12328' and12354' W., inthenorthwest corner of Josephine County, andincludestheMount Reubendistrict inthisreport.PlacerminingbeganinthisdistrictalongGaliceCreek in 1854. Bythe 1880's the richer depositswere minedoutandChinesetookover many of theoperations (Oregon Department of Geology andMineral Industries, 1942, p. 16). TheOldChannelandthe Bentonmines wereamongthe importantgold prod-ucers in southwestern Oregon. The OldChannel mine,about 1 mile west of Galice, was firstworkedin1860andwasoneof thelargest,ifnotthe largest, hydraulic mine in Oregon (OregonDepartment of Geology and Mineral Industries,1942, p. 48-59). The workings were in a gravelterraceabout 600feet abovetheRogueRiver. TheBenton, alode mine in the Mount Reuben area, waslocatedin1893andwasworkeduntil 1905. Itwasreopened in 1936 and closed again from 1942through 1959. During 1940 and 1941 the Bentonwas the largest underground mine in southernOregon (OregonDepartment of GeologyandMin-eral Industries,1942, p. 17). Other important minesintheGalicedistrict weretheAlmeda, GoldBug,Oriole, BlackBear, andRobertson. Theperiodsofgreatest production fromthe quartz mines werefrom1900 to1910 andfrom1939to1942. Thedis-trict was practically inactive from1951 through1959.TheGalicedistrict producedabout $5millioningold to 1913 (Diller, 1914b, p. 47). From1914through 1959, gold production included 16,600ounces fromlodemines, 7,258ouncesfromplacers,and 1,941 ounces undifferentiated as to source.Total production, includingestimatesof earlypro-duction, wasabout 268,000ounces.Thefollowing descriptionof the geologyof theGalice district has been summarized fromWellsand Walker (1953). Steeply dippingsedimentary,volcanic, andmetamorphic rocks of Late Jurassicagecross thedistrict inanortheastward-trendingbelt. From oldest toyoungest these consistof sand-stone, shale, and siltstone of the DothanFormation,alteredlavaflows, tuffs, breccias, andagglomeratesoftheRogueFormation, andmudstone, sandstone,tuff, and agglomerate of the Galice Formation.Theserocks wereintrudedbysheets anddikes ofperidotite, gabbroic amphibolite,quartzdiorite, andILLINorsRIVERDISTRICTThe Illinois River district is alongwestboundaryof Josephine Countybetweenlat 4213'and4229' N. andlong 12338'and12405' W.Placer miningwasreportedas earlyas 1852inthegravelsofJosephineCreek, a tributaryoftheIllinois River (Raymond, 1870, p. 217-218), butrecords of early production are so fragmenun:y thatthe early output from the district is uncertain(Wells and others, 1949, p. 21). Scatter'i dataattribute2,006ouncestothedistrictfrom1904to1932 (U.S. Geological Survey, 1904-24; U.S. Bu-reauofMines, 1925-32). From1932throurh1959thedistrict produced327ounces of lode goldand3,670ouncesofplacer gold. Total recordedproduc-tionthrough1953was6,003ounces, butunre-corded early production must have beenrt least5,000 to10,000 ounces. There was nopro-ductionfrom1954 through1959.The geology of the Illinois River distrht wasdescribed by Wells, Hotz, 'and Cater(1949, p. 2-21).The country rock ischieflytuffs, agglomerates, andflowsofthevolcanicmemberoftheGaliceForma-tionof Jurassicage. Theserocks strikenortheastanddipfairlysteeplytothesoutheast. Disc'lntinu-ousbodiesof serpentine andlarger massesofperi-dotitearealsopresent. Anelongatemass 0:1: horn-blende diorite occupies the northwestern part ofthe district and borders the serpentine an'l peri-dotite. Lodegolddepositsareoftwotypes--smalltabular quartz bodies or pockets containirQ' freegold and sulfides, and auriferous gossanr fromwhichthesulfides havebeen leached. Both innoncarbonaceous rocks of theGaliceFormationataconsiderable distance from the hornblende diorite.Themost productiveplacershave beenthosp. alongtheIllinoisRiver.LOWERAPPLEGATEDISTRICTTheLower Applegatedistrict isinsoutheasternJosephine Countybetweenlat 4207' N. ar'i long12315'and12336'W.The recorded production of this from1904through1959wasonly4,180ouncesartl doesnot warrant its inclusion in this report; howf.ver, as228 PRINCIPAL GOLD-PRODUCING DISTRICTS OF THE UNITED STATESTotal productionthrough1959, includingthe 'esti- Most ofthelodeminesareingreenstone themates of early production,was about 22,000 ounces. contact withserpentinebodies. ThedepositfareinThe predominant country rock in the Grants Pass small veins and stringers. Veinfilling is mainlydistrict consistsof northeast-trending bands of ser- quartz andsmall amounts of pyrite, arsenopyrite,pentine, greenstone, andGalicesedimentaryrocks, chalcopyrite, galena, and localGoldall ofJurassicage (DillerandKay, 1924, p. 2-7). occurschieflyinthefreestate: someisaSf'lciatedAdioriticintrusiveofLateJurassicorEarlyCre- with the sulfides.taceous age transects the other rocks. The lodedepositsareinsmall quartzveinletsandstringersin greenstone and in the diorite intrusive. Theveinfillingismainlyquartzwithsmall amounts ofpyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, andlocalpyrrhotite. Most of the gold occurs in the freestatewithquartz, but someof thesulfides carry varyingamounts of gold.GREENBACK DISTRICTThe Greenback district, which includes Graves,Wolf, andCoyote Creeks, isin the northeast cornerof Josephine County, between lat 4237' and4243'N. andlong12316' and12328' W.The dateofgold discoveryinthisdistrict isun-known, but placersalongGravesandWolf Creeksprobably were discovered in 1860(Winchell, 1914b,p. 182) and were productive throughthe1940's. Inthe late 1890's andearly1900's, lode minessuch astheGreenback, Dorothea, andLivingstonweredis-covered, andtheyexceededthe placers inproduc-tion. Forsomet:iIrieintheearly1900'stheGreen-back mine wasregardedasthelargestproducerinsouthwestOregon (Diller, 1914b, p. 31). Afterthe1930's, however, production fromplacerswas muchgreater than that from the lode mines. From WorIdWar II through 1959the Greenbackdistrict pro-ducedonly100 to200ouncesofgoldannually.Records of early production in the Greenbackdistrict do not exist and estimates are fragmentary.TheDorotheamineproduced$50,000ingold, andthe Livingston, $20,000 (Oregon Department ofGeology andMineralIndustries, 1942,p. 101, 110).Winchell (1914b, p. 184) reportedearlyproductionof $400,000 fromplacers along GravesCreek. Totalrecorded production for the district from 1904through 1959 was 37,062 ounces--2,001 ounces fromlodemines, 28,853ouncesfromplacers, and6,208ounces undifferentiated. Total gold productionthrough 1959, including Winchell's estimate ofearly placer production fromGrave Creek, musthave been at least 55,000ounces.The geology of the Greenback district is verysimilar to that of the Grants Pass district. Alternat-ingbandsofgreenstone, serpentine, andsedimentsof the Galice Formation cross the district in anortheasterly direction (Diller and Kay, 1924) .OREGON 229placerswere mined along WilliamsCreek soon after1852and through the 1870's (Winchell, 1914b, p.229), it seems logical to assume a total production ofwell over 10,000 ounces.Most of theproductionwasfromplacers, but lode mines were discovered asearlyas 1860 (Winchell, 1914b, p. 229) andwereactiveona small scaleuntil 1950. Themajor lodemines were the Humdinger, Oregon Bonanza, andPorcupine. Themost productiveplacers werealongWilliams, Slate, and Oscar Creeks and MissouriFlat.The Lower Applegate district is underlain byTriassic (?) greenstonethat is intruded by dioriteandserpentine. Galicesedimentaryrocks of Juras-sicageareexposedinthewesternpartof thedis-trict. Thegolddepositsareinquartz veins inthegreenstone, diorite, andsedimentaryrocks. Shenon(1933a, p. 50-51) postulatedthat theores are re-lated to the acidic intrusives and were formedatshallow depths and at moderate temperatures.Quartz, calcite, pyrite, galena, arsenopyrite, andnative gold are the vein constituents. Shenon(1933a, p. 50) notedapophylliteas gangueintheHumdinger mine.WALDODISTRICTThe Waldo district is in southern JosephineCountybetweenlat 4200' and4210' N. andlong12330' and 12350' W.Placers have beenthemainstayof thisdistrict;however, thereare afewlode mines, andsome goldis produced as a byproduct fromsome of the coppermines. Placers were discovered along AlthouseCreek in 1853(Shenon, 1933b, p.178-179) and weredeveloped mainly by a group of sailors who con-structed a longditch to carry sufficient water toworktheplacers. By1901productiondeclined, butthe district was rejuvenated shortly afterward whenhydraulic mining enabled substantial economicalproduction fromlower grade gravels. The districtwas active until 1942, but fromthenuntil 1959itwas virtuallyidle. Shenon(1933b, p.179) estimateda total minimumplacergoldproductionof$4mil-lion (about194,000 ounces) upto1932. From1932through 1959 the district produced 1,228 ouncesfromlode mines and 18,614 ounces fromplacers.Total production through 1959 was about 213,800ounces. Theprincipal placer mines weretheLlanode Oro, Deep Gravel, and Platerica mines. The QueenofBronzecoppermine, whosetotal productionwasvalued at more than $1,350,000,yielded ore contain-ing from 0.04 to0.44 percentgoldand5.16to16.33percent copper (Shenon, 1933b, p. 163).ThegeologyoftheWaldodistrict was describedin considerable detail by Shenon (1933b, p. 148-161). Triassic metamorphosed conglomerate, lime-stone, chert, argillite, andsandstonecropout inanarrowbandtrendingnorth-souththroughthecen-tral part of the district. The Galice Formatior ofJurassicageunderlies thesouthwest corner ofthedistrict, and conglomerate and sandstone of theCretaceousHorsetown (?) Formationunderliemuchofthenorthwesternpart. PatchesofTertiarycon-glomerate, which is gold bearing, occur alongtheEast Forkof theIllinois River inthecentral partof the district. Quaternary gravels, among thmthe auriferous Llando de Oro Formation, fill thevalleyof the EastFork of the IllinoisRiveranditstributary streams and gulches. Metabasalt, mo.ta-gabbro, andserpentineunderliemost of thesouth-easternpart of thedistrict. The serpentine is be-lieved to be of Jurassic or Early Cretaceous age,but the ageof the metagabbro andmetabasal" isunknown. Near the greenstone-serpentine contactscoppersulfideswere depositedasirregularlense:>infractures. These depositsare in both the greenstoneand serpentine. Small irregular deposits of c1'ro-miteintheserpentinealsohavebeenmined.LANECOUNTYLane County has been a relatively small froIdproducer even though mining of the preciousmetalsbegan asearly as1858 andcontinuedin adesultoryfashion through the 1940's. Most of thegold hascome fromveins in the Bohemia and Blue Riverdistricts.Total recorded gold production of Lane Countyfrom1880 through 1959 was slightly more than46,000 ounces. Considering that mining begall in1858, it seems reasonable to assume that at least50,000ouncesofgoldwas produced. Therocks ex-posed in the countyare sedimentaryand ignE',)usand range in age fromEocene to Recent (Smith andRuff, 1938, p. 11-22). The oldest rocks are sHud-stones, shales, andvolcanics composing the Ump..maFormationof Eoceneage. This is overlainbytheCalapooya Formation, alsoof Eoceneage, conrist-ingdominantlyof pyroclastics. Theuppermost Eo-cene formation is the Tyee Sandstone. sediments are the Fisher Formation(tuffs and b":'ec-cias) andtheEugeneFormation (tuffaceous sf.nd-stoneand shale). The Eocene and Oligocene s-,-----,..----,--------,~ ~.8-'0:0:> "0o ~500 f0400'"u.....z "is.LL .,54 p.--- 1939, Reconnaissance of miningdistriets in Land",rCounty, Nevada: U.S. Bur. MinesInf. Cire. 7043, 83p.--- 1940, Reconnaissanceof miningdistrictsinChurchillCounty, Nevada: U.S. Bur. Mines Inf. Circ. 7093, 57p.Vanderwilt, J. W., andKoschmann, A. H., 1932, Geologyofthe Independence district, Colorado: U.S. Geol. Surv'1Ypress release 67484.Vanderwilt, J. W., and others, 1947, Mineral resources ofColorado: Denver, Colorado Mineral Resources BoaJ--i,547 p.Varnes, D. J., 1963, Geologyandoredepositsof theSouthSilvertonmining area, San JuanCounty, Colorado: U.S.Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 378-A, p. A1-A56.Vaughan, F. E., 1922, Geology oftheSanBernardinoMOlln-tains north of San Gorgonio Pass: California Pubs. Dept. Geo!. Sci. Bull., v. 13, no. 9; p. 319-411.Vhay, J. S., 1948, Cobalt-copper deposits of the Blackbirddistrict, Lemhi County, Idaho: U.S. Geo!.StrategicMineral Inv. Prelim. Rept. 3-219, 26p.Wagner, N. S., 1959, Mining inBakerCounty, 1861 to 195Q:The Ore-Bin (Oregon Dept. Geology and Mineral l"-dustries), v. 21, no. 3, p. 21-27. R. E., andHosterman,J. W., 1956,geology of western Mineral County, Montana: U.S.Geol.Survey Bull. 1027-M, p. 575-612.Warner, L. A., Goddard, E. N., andothers, 1961, Ironandcopper deposits of Kasaan Peninsula, Prince of WaJ..sIsland, southeastern Alaska: U.S. Geo!. Survey Bull.1090,136 p.Washington State Planning Council, 1940, Cascade Moun-tains study, State of Washington: Olympia, Washin"'-ton State Planning Council, 56 p.Waters, A. C., 1932, Apetrologic and structural study of t"eSwakane gneiss, Entiat Mountains, Washington: Jo\-r.Geology, v. 40, no. 6, p. 604-633.Watson, T. L., 1907, Mineral resourcesofVirginia: Lynch-burg, Virginia JamestownExpositionComm., 618 p.Wayland, R. G., 1943, GolddepositsnearNabesna[Alaska]:U.S. Geo!.Survey Bull. 933-B, p. 175-199.Weaver, C. E., 1911, Geologyandore depositsof theBlewE't.tmining district: WashingtonGeol. SurveyBull. 6, 104p.--- 1920, The mineral resources of Stevens Count;':Washington Geo!.Survey Bull. 20, 350 p.--- 1949, Geologyandmineral depositsofanareanor+hof SanFranciscoBay, California: CaliforniaDiv. Min..sBull.149, 135 p.Weed, W. H., 1900, Geologyof the Little Belt Mountair