Location and History
This district is in southern Lassen County about five miles south of Susanville. It is in the Diamond Mountain block, which lies at the extreme north end of the Sierra Nevada. Placer-mining began in the late 1850s, and several hundred thousand dollars in gold were soon recovered. Later some work was done by Chinese miners. Lode-mining began in the 1860s and continued sporadically through the early 1900s with some activity again in the 1930s. The output of the district is estimated at around $1 million.
Geology
The district is underlain by quartz diorite and granite, which is overlain in places by Tertiary gravel and andesite. The quartz veins are as much as 15 feet thick and occur in shear zones chiefly in the quartz diorite. The are contains free gold and varying amounts of pyrite. Milling are usually was low to medium in grade, but some high-grade pockets were found. The are shoots were not large and none of the mines has been developed to any great depth. Some aplitic and basic dikes are associated with veins. Opal also is in the veins.
Mines
Arkansas $200,000+, Gold Belt (McDow) $20,000, Honey Bee $50,000+, Honey Lake, Harris-Mosgrove, Red Jacket (Gayman).
Bibliography
Averill, C. V., and Erwin, H. D., 1936, Lassen County, Diamond Mountain district: California Div. Mines Rept. 32, pp. 409-424.
Diller, J. S., 1908, Geology of the Taylorsville region, California: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 353, pp. 68--69.
Lindgren, Waldemar, 1911, Tertiary gravels in the Sierra Nevada, California: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 73.
Preston, e. B., 1890, Lassen County: California Min. Bur. Rept. 10, pp. 273-276.
Tucker, W. B., 1919, Lassen County, Diamond Mountain mining district: California Min. Bur. Rept. 16, pp. 235-236.