Johnsville Mining District, Plumas Co., California, USAi
Regional Level Types | |
---|---|
Johnsville Mining District | Mining District |
Plumas Co. | County |
California | State |
USA | Country |
This page is currently not sponsored. Click here to sponsor this page.
Latitude & Longitude (WGS84):
40° North , 120° West (est.)
Estimate based on other nearby localities or region boundaries.
Margin of Error:
~75km
Locality type:
KΓΆppen climate type:
A Au mining district located around Johnsville, about 4 miles SW of Plumas Eureka (town) in the Plumas Eureka state park.
The Johnsville district is in south-central Plumas County. Both a lode- and placer-gold district, it is at the north end of a major belt of gold mineralization that extends southward through the Sierra City district in Sierra County (sec fig. 22, p. 116).
History: The river and stream gravels in the general area were first placer-mined in 1849 or 1850. The Eureka quartz vein, discovered in 1851, quickly brought many miners to the region, and most of the area was soon covered with claims. Considerable coarse gold was recovered from the creeks and considerable high-grade ore from the lode mines during those early years. Both the Plumas-Eureka and the Jamison mines were operated on a major scale until the early 1900s, when mining activity in the area declined. Johnsville was named for William Johns, manager of the Plumas-Eureka mine. There was intermittent activity in the district from the period of World War I until around 1943.
The area suffered from a number of disastrous fires. Part of the town and some of the mines became Plumas-Eureka State Park in 1959. The value of the total output of the district is unknown, and there have been a number of extravagant claims. The author estimates the production to be somewhere between $10 million and $20 million. This was a well-known early-day "snowshoe" or ski resort area.
Geology: A considerable variety of rocks crops out in this district, including north- and northwesttrending belts of slate, schist, quartzite, and limestone on the west; metadacite or quartz porphyry to the south; a gabbroic intrusion in the central portion; and greenstone to the east. Portions of the region are overlain by Tertiary andesite. Much of the central portion of the area is covered with glacial detritus. A number of patches of Tertiary gravels yielded gold in the early days. Massive bodies of magnetite are found to the west.
Ore Deposits: There are a number of north- and northwest-trending quartz veins and several wide complex systems of quartz veins. The individual veins usually are only a few feet thick. These contain free gold and often abundant pyrite and varying amounts of galena, chalcopyrite, and arsenopyrite. A number of high-grade pockets were taken from near the surface in the early days. Milling-grade ore contained from a 1970 few dollars to more than one ounce gold per ton. The sulfide concentrates sometimes held more than $150 in gold per ton. The ore shoots had horizontal stoping lengths of as much as several hundred feet.
Mines:
Lode: Jamison ($1.5 million), Plumas-Eureka ($8 million), Plumas-Mohawk, and Round Lake.
Placer: Beckwith Consolidated drift, Continental drift, Queen drift, and the Brown Bear hydraulic.
Select Mineral List Type
Standard Detailed Gallery Strunz Chemical ElementsCommodity 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-localities6 valid minerals.
Detailed Mineral List:
β Arsenopyrite Formula: FeAsS Reference: USGS (2005), Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS): U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, loc. file ID #10310667 |
β Chalcopyrite Formula: CuFeS2 Reference: USGS (2005), Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS): U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, loc. file ID #10310667 |
β Galena Formula: PbS Reference: USGS (2005), Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS): U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, loc. file ID #10310667 |
β Gold Formula: Au Localities: Reported from at least 9 localities in this region. Reference: Pemberton, H. Earl (1983), Minerals of California; Van Nostrand Reinholt Press: 34; USGS (2005), Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS): U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, loc. file ID #10310667. |
β Quartz Formula: SiO2 Reference: USGS (2005), Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS): U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, loc. file ID #10310667 |
β Sphalerite Formula: ZnS Reference: USGS (2005), Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS): U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia, loc. file ID #10310667 |
Gallery:
List of minerals arranged by Strunz 10th Edition classification
Group 1 - Elements | |||
---|---|---|---|
β | Gold | 1.AA.05 | Au |
Group 2 - Sulphides and Sulfosalts | |||
β | Arsenopyrite | 2.EB.20 | FeAsS |
β | Chalcopyrite | 2.CB.10a | CuFeS2 |
β | Galena | 2.CD.10 | PbS |
β | Sphalerite | 2.CB.05a | ZnS |
Group 4 - Oxides and Hydroxides | |||
β | Quartz | 4.DA.05 | SiO2 |
List of minerals for each chemical element
O | Oxygen | |
---|---|---|
O | β Quartz | SiO2 |
Si | Silicon | |
Si | β Quartz | SiO2 |
S | Sulfur | |
S | β Chalcopyrite | CuFeS2 |
S | β Galena | PbS |
S | β Sphalerite | ZnS |
S | β Arsenopyrite | FeAsS |
Fe | Iron | |
Fe | β Chalcopyrite | CuFeS2 |
Fe | β Arsenopyrite | FeAsS |
Cu | Copper | |
Cu | β Chalcopyrite | CuFeS2 |
Zn | Zinc | |
Zn | β Sphalerite | ZnS |
As | Arsenic | |
As | β Arsenopyrite | FeAsS |
Au | Gold | |
Au | β Gold | Au |
Pb | Lead | |
Pb | β Galena | PbS |
References
Sort by
Year (asc) Year (desc) Author (A-Z) Author (Z-A)Irelan, William, Jr. (1888b), Plumas-Eureka Mine, Eighth annual report of the State Mineralogist [includes mineral resources of the State, with contributions by W.A. Goodyear, H.A. Whiting, and Stephen Bowers]: California Mining Bureau. (Report 8), 946 pp.: 8: 476-478.
Turner, Henry Ward (1897), Description of the gold belt: description of the Downieville sheet: USGS Geol. Atlas Downieville folio (No. 37), 8 pp.
Lindgren, Waldemar (1911), The Tertiary gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California: USGS Professional Paper 73, 226 pp.: 112.
MacBoyle, Errol (1920a), Mines and mineral resources of Plumas County: Johnsonville Mining District, California Mining Bureau. Report 16, 188 pp.: 21-27.
Pagliuchi, F.D. (1923), The mineral resources of the Johnsville district in Plumas County, California: Pacific Mineral News: 2: 1-5.
Averill, Charles V. (1928), Mining Activity in Plumas County, California Division of Mines and Geology, 24th Report of the State Mineralogist (Report 24): 24: 261-316.
Averill, Charles V. (1937), Mineral resources of Plumas County: California Journal of Mines and Geology, California Division Mines (Report 33): 33(2): 79-143.
Durrell, Cordell (1959), Tertiary stratigraphy of the Blairsden quadrangle, Plumas County, California: University of California, Publications in Geologic Science: 34(3): 161-192.
Jackson, W. T. (1960), A history of mining in the Plumas-Eureka State Park area, 1851-1890: California Division of Beaches and Parks, 56 pp.
Jackson, W. T. (1961), A history of mining in the Plumas-Eureka State Park area, 1890-1943: California Division of Beaches and Parks, 48 pp.
Clark, Wm. B. (1970a) Gold districts of California: California Division Mines & Geology Bulletin 193.
Pemberton, H. Earl (1983), Minerals of California; Van Nostrand Reinholt Press: 34.
Localities in this Region
- California
- Plumas Co.
- Johnsville Mining District
- Johnsville
- Lakin Mine
- Madora Lake
- Plumas-Eureka Mine (Mammoth Mine; Eureka Peak Mine; Rough and Ready Mine; Washington Mine; Seventy-Six Mine; Lawton vein; North vein; Eureka vein; Eureka claim; Director claim; Director 1 claim; Director 2 claim; Oceola claim; Oliver claim; Johns Extension Quartz claim; Eureka Peak Quartz claim; Mammoth claim)
- Plumas Mohawk occurrence
- Johnsville
- Johnsville Mining District
- Plumas Co.
Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality
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.
Carnation Mine, Johnsville, Johnsville Mining District, Plumas Co., California, USA