Meadow Lake District

Publication Info:
Gold Districts of California
Bulletin 193 California Division of Mines and Geology 1976
Table of Contents

Related: Where to Find Gold in California

Location
This is a small lode-gold district in eastern Nevada County just southwest of Meadow Lake and approximately seven miles northeast of Cisco. Gold was discovered here in 1863, and there was a "rush" to the area that lasted from 1865 to 1870. Minor prospecting was done afterward until the early 19005 and again during the 1920s and 1930s. The total output of the district has been estimated to be valued at $200,000.

Geology
The region is underlain chiefly by granodiorite with minor amounts of greenstone. There are a number of narrow quartz veins, which, in places, contain free gold and abundant sulfides. A number of high-grade pockets were encountered near the surface during the early days, but at depth the deposits pinch out or become very low in grade.

Mines
Baltimore group, Excelsior, Great Western, Hercules, Mammoth, New Hope, Of What, Philadelphia group.

Bibliography
Irelan, William, Jr., 1888, Meadow Lake district: California Min. Bur. Rept. 8, p. 454.

Lindgren, Waldemar, 1897, Truckee folio, California: U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas of the U.S., folio 39, 8 pp.

Lindgren, Waldemar, 1900, Colfax folio. California: U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas of the U.S., folio 66, 10 pp.

Logan, C.A., 1924, Nevada County, Meadow lake district: California Min. Bur. Rept. 20, pp. 355-362.

MacBoyle, Errol, 1919, Nevada County, Meadow Lake mining district: California Min. Bur. Rept. 16, pp. 33-37.

Wisker, A. L., 1936, The gold·bearing veins of Meadow Lake district: California Div. Mines Rept. 32, pp. 189-204.

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