Location
This district is in northeastern Fresno County about 10 miles northeast of Clovis and two miles north of Academy. The area was placer-mined on a small scale during the gold rush and lode-mined from the 1870s to around 1900. Apparently very little mining has been done here since.
Geology
The area is underlain by granitic rocks with thin bands of slate and mica schist. A serpentine belt lies to the east. A number of narrow north-trending quartz veins contain free gold and varying amounts of sulfides. The veins occur near or at the contacts between granitic and metamorphic rocks. The ore bodies are shallow, none having been mined to a depth greater than 150 feet. Copper also has been mined here.
Mines
Blue Rock, Confidence, Crystal Springs, Defiance, Monte Cristo, Rip Van Winkle, Thorn.
Bibliography
Goldstone, l. P., 1890, Fresno County, Big Dry Creek Mining district: California Min. Bur. Rept. 10, pp. 193-194.
Irelan, Wm., Jr., 1888, Big Dry Creek mining district: California Min. Bur. Rept. 8, pp. 208-209.
