Plumas County, California Mines

Plumas County, California is one of the West's top gold producing regions. With over 700 active placer claims, it makes number 6 on our list of top counties to find gold.

WMH Mine Discovery Tools for Google Earth are available for Plumas county

Plumas County California mine distribution
Plumas County, California mine distribution

Plumas County has 821 mine records in the USGS MRDS database. Gold mines are the most common mine type, with 588 mines being listed with gold as a primary commodity.

Plumas County has nine gold mines that the USGS identifies as significant producers, which is notable given that it is not uncommon for many counties in the West to have no mines considered significant.

Plumas county was the location of extensive hydraulic gold mining, with peak production being between the years of 1855 and 1871. Gold production through 1965 from all gold mining activity was estimated to be over 4.5 million ounces.

Plumas County contains at least 15 historically important gold mining districts.

Plumas County California mine distribution
Plumas County still has active mining areas with many mining claims. Numbers like L2-P4 indicate 2 lode claims and 4 placer claims in that PLSS section (at the time the reference claim data was created). Image is from the WMH Mine Discovery Tools

About the MRDS Mines Database:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

All 821 mines in Plumas County, California

Western Mining History is your source for over 116,000 mines in the western states.

California Gold

Where to Find Gold in California

"Where to Find Gold in California" looks at the density of modern placer mining claims along with historical gold mining locations and mining district descriptions to determine areas of high gold discovery potential in California. Read more: Where to Find Gold in California.