Sierra County, California Mines

Sierra County, California is one of the West's top gold producing regions. With around 1,000 active placer claims, it makes the top spot on our list of top counties to find gold. The County also has around 500 active lode claims.

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

Distribution of mines in Sierra County
Image from the WMH Mine Discovery Tools shows the distribution of mines in Sierra County

Sierra County has 1,064 mine records in the USGS MRDS database. Gold mines are overwhelmingly the most common mine type, with 991 mines being listed with gold as a primary commodity.

Sierra County has fourteen 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. The Sixteen to One and Sierra Buttes mines are the county's largest producers.

Nevada County contains at least 12 historically important gold mining districts.

Distribution of mines in Sierra County
The Alleghany district is one of the most active gold mining areas in the state. Numbers like L15-P5 indicate 15 lode claims and 5 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 1,064 mines in Sierra 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.