Indiana Hill Placer Mine, Gold Run (Mountain Springs; Indiana Hill), Gold Run Mining District, Placer County, California, USAi

Regional Level Types
Indiana Hill Placer Mine	Mine
Gold Run (Mountain Springs; Indiana Hill)	- not defined -
Gold Run Mining District	Mining District
Placer County	County
California	State
USA	Country

A former placer Au occurrence/drift mine located in sec. 9, T15N, R10E, MDM, 1.9 km (1.2 miles) S of Gold Run, along the western margin of the Stewart Gravel Mines area. MRDS database stated accuracy for this location is 500 meters.

Local rocks include Paleozoic marine rocks, undivided, unit 6 (Northwestern Sierra Nevada).

The cemented "blue lead" gravels occupying the deep trough under the huge deposit of loose and finer material worked by hydraulic mining was extensively drift mined from the south end of the district at Indiana Hill where the river canyon exposed the deposit. The Indiana Hill Blue Gravel Mining Company worked these deposits from 1854. They erected an 8-stamp mill for crushing the cemented gravel in 1864. Between 1872-1874, the company produced 19,997 carloads, which yielded $75,422.47 or an average $4.71/ton (period values). By 1874, the company was working the bottom gravel by drifting through an adit then 1,600 feet long. They were then breasting a face 110 feet wide and taking out from 6-7 feet of gravel inclusive of the bedrock picking. They employed 25 men who extracted from 40-50 1,600 pound carloads every 24 hours. In places, a height of 10 feet was breasted. The previous production of the claim was estimated at $125,000 (period values). Between December 1, 1874 and August 21, 1875 the Indiana Hill Cement Mill and Mining Company produced $56,446.47 (period values) at an operating cost of $24,000 (period values). From 1876 to the end of January 1879, Indiana Hill Placer Mine produced $152,225.90 (period values). Details of later production are lacking, but the total is reported to be about $750,000 (period values)for the Indiana Hill mines.

In 1911, James Stewart acquired much of the property and did some underground drifting. Mining on a moderate scale continued at Gold Run until about 1915, with considerable production reported in 1908. Minor work was conducted on the deposits in the 1920's and 1930's.

As of 1936, 1,000 feet of the main Gold Run channel bottom had been worked entirely to bedrock beginning at the lower end of Indiana Hill, and a surface pit about 1,600 feet long by 2,000 feet was worked out completely. In addition, most of the top gravel is gone from the rest of the claims and the bottom has been drifted to an extent not exactly known. The upper gravel was ideal for hydraulicking, with no overburden or very large boulders.

Other Databases

Link to USGS MRDS:	10110841

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References