The Altoona Mine is a mercury mine located in Trinity county, California at an elevation of 4,626 feet.
About the MRDS Data:
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.
Mine Info
Elevation: 4,626 Feet (1,410 Meters)
Commodity: Mercury
Lat, Long: 41.13639, -122.54472
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Altoona Mine MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Altoona Mine
Secondary: Castella Corp
Secondary: Rare Metals Corp of America
Secondary: Universal Silvers
Secondary: Trinity Claim
Secondary: Blockade Claim
Commodity
Primary: Mercury
Location
State: California
County: Trinity
District: Altoona District
Land Status
Land ownership: National Forest
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.
Holdings
Not available
Workings
Type: Surface/Underground
Ownership
Owner Name: Castella Corp.
Owner Name: Sonoma Mines, Inc.
Years: 1972 -
Production
Year: 1962
Time Period: To 1962
Material type: HG
Description: Cp_Grade: ^10-20 Lb/Ton
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1875
Discovery Year: 1871
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: M
Physiography
General Physiographic Area: Pacific Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Pacific Border Province
Physiographic Section: Klamath Mountains
Mineral Deposit Model
Model Name: Silica-carbonate Hg
Orebody
Form: STEEPLY DIPPING TABULAR LENSES
Structure
Type: L
Description: 3 Major Shear Zones.
Alterations
Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Argillic. Quartz And Ankerite Replace Diorite And Serpentine
Rocks
Not available
Analytical Data
Analytical Data: ASSAYS RANGED FROM 6.1-69.4 LB/TON
Materials
Ore: Cinnabar
Gangue: Magnetite
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Ankerite
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Pyrite
Comments
Comment (Deposit): FOR AN EXTENSIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY SEE BAILEY AND EVERHART 1964 ; INFO.SRC : BAILEY E H
Comment (Deposit): Discovery Year: 1824 BUT USED BY INDIANS FOR PAINT BEFORE THIS.
Comment (Development): 25 TON ROTARY, 1944. GOULD ROTARY FURNACE, ELECTRIC POWER AND A 100 KW DIESEL PLANT FOR EMERGENCY USE, 1958. NO DEVELOPMENT OR MINING HAS BEEN DONE BELOW 600 FT. ; ECON.COM: ELECTRIC POWER AT THE SITE
Comment (Geology): OPAL) AND CARBONATE (USUALLY FERROAN MAGNESITE). THIS IS SOMETIMES CALLED OPALITE. THREE SUCH ZONES HAVE BEEN FOUND IN THE DISTRICT BUT ONLY THE ONE EXTENDING ACROSS ALAMITOS CREEK INTO THE SANTA TERESA HILLS HAS PRODUCED HG. IN THIS DISTRICT THE SILICA IS MOSTLY QUARTZ. FORMATION OF THE SILICA - CARBONATE ROCK IS CHIEFLY A REPLACEMENT PROCESS. A DACITIC TUFF BRECCIA IN THE TEMPLOR MAY BE THE SOURCE OF THE HG BEARING SOLUTIONS. { STRUCTURALLY THE DISTRICT CAN BE DIVIDED INTO 3 BLOCKS SEPARATED BY MAJOR FAULTS. IN THE NORTHERN BLOCK DOMINANT TRENDS ARE E - W. THE CENTRAL BLOCK CONTAINS THE LOS CAPITANCILLOS ANTICILE AND SEVERAL NW TRENDING FAULTS. FAULTS AND FOLDS IN THE SOUTHERN BLOCK TREND WNW. OF THE MANY FAULTS, THE SMALL TENSION FRACTURES ARE SIGNIFICANT TO ORE DEPOSITION { THE ORES CONSIST PRIMARILY OF CINNABAR IN THE SILICA - CARBONATE ROCK BUT MAY ALSO OCCUR IN FRANCISCAN GRAYWACKE AND SHALE. THE DEPOSITS ARE CLASSED AS EPITHERMAL.
Comment (Workings): SIZES OF ORE BODIES VARIED GREATLY. DATA ABOVE IS FOR LARGEST (M60 AND M50). NEW ALMADEN IS THE DEEPEST MERCURY MINE IN THE WORLD
Comment (Development): MANY NEW METHODS OF MINING AND REFINING THE ORE WERE FIRST USED AT NEW ALMADEN.
Comment (Reserve-Resource): SUBMARGINAL ORE EXISTS AND HAS BEEN WORKED FROM TIME TO TIME.
Comment (Production): DISTRICT HAS YIELDED 40% OF US MERCURY - SEE INDIVIDUAL MINES FOR PRODUCTION FIGURES. 4% HG ORE
Comment (Location): ON EAST FORK OF TRINITY RIVER
Comment (Production): PRODUCED MORE THAN 100 FL IN 1959, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971: MORE THAN 500 FL IN 1968, 1970. IDLE 1960-1965. CLOSED IN 1971
Comment (Deposit): STEEP TABULAR BODIES UP TO 200 X 200 X 5 FT
Comment (Workings): CAVED. 258 LB/FT OF WORKINGS. FLOODS EASILY
Comment (Geology): IN THIS DISTRICT, SERPENTINE IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE ORE ZONES, BUT IS NOT THE PRINCIPAL HOST ROCK AS IN THE COAST RANGES. POSSIBLY A HOT SPRINGS DEPOSIT WITH MANY IRREGULAR CONDUITS, BUT MORE LIKELY A SILICA-CARBONATE DEPOSIT NOT HOSTED BY SERPENTINE
Comment (Geology): { FRANCISCAN ROCKS OCCUPY 75 % OF THE DISTRICT AND INCLUDE GRAYWACKE, SILTSTONE, MAFIC VOLCANICS, CHERT, LIMESTONE, MINOR METAMORPHICS. EVERYWHERE THE ROCKS HAVE SMALL SCALE FOLDS AND SHEARS. THE SERPENTINES OCCUR AS TABULAR BODIES WITHIN THE SEDIMENTS AND WERE ALTERED IN LATE TERTIARY TO SILICA - CARBONATE ROCK, WHICH HOSTS THE ORES. OVER THIS ARE TWO UNNAMED SEDIMENTARY UNITS OF SANDSTONE, SHALE, AND LIMESTONE, THE LOWER UNIT IS CRETACEOUS AND THE UPPER EOCENE. OVER THIS LIES THE MIOCENE TEMBLOR FORMATION GRADING FROM CGL THROUGH SANDSTONE TO DIATOMACEOUS SHALE. UNITS ABOVE THIS SHALE ARE THE MONTEREY FORMATION, A SHALE WITH INCLUDED FELSIC VOLCANICS. ALLUVIUM OVERLIES THIS. STRUCTURES TREND W AND NW. OLDEST ROCKS DIP NE AND SHOW CRUMPLING, FOLDING, FLOWING, AND FAULTING. MAJOR FAULTS ARE STRIKE - SLIP; THE LARGEST IS THE BEN TROVATO. ROCKS OF INTERMEDIATE AGE ARE LESS DEFORMED. { THE SILICA - CARBONATE ROCK IS SERPENTINE HYDROTHERMALLY ALTERED TO SILICA (QUARTZ, CHALCEDONY, OR
Comment (Commodity): COPPER IS IN A SINGLE GOSSAN. CHROMITE IS IN SMALL LENSES IN SERPENTINE. MANGANESE IS IN FRANCISCAN CHERT
Comment (Reserve-Resource): 1957 DIREXPL DMEA, INDICATED RESERVES OF 55,000 TONS
Comment (Deposit): 1957 DIREXPL RARE METAL CORP OF AMER - ORE TO 750 FT
References
Reference (Deposit): U.S. BUREAU OF MINES, 1959-1973, MINERALS YEARBOOKS: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES
Reference (Deposit): SWINNEY, C.M., 1950, THE ALTOONA QUICKSILVER MINE, TRINITY COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: CALIFORNIA JOURNAL OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, V. 46, NO. 3, P. 395-404.
Reference (Deposit): INTFEN, S.F., AND DAVID, F.F., 1972, DIRECTORY OF MINERAL PRODUCERS IN CALIFORNIA FOR 1970: CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY PAMPHLET, P. 16.
Reference (Deposit): O'BRIEN, J.C., 1965, MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF TRINITY COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: CALIFORNIA DIVISION OF MINES AND GEOLOGY COUNTY REPORT 4, P. 48-49.
Reference (Deposit): HOLMES, G.W., JR., 1965, MERCURY IN CALIFORNIA, IN MERCURY POTENTIAL OF THE UNITED STATES: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES INFORMATION CIRCULAR 8252, P. 173-174, 199.
Reference (Production): USBM DATA
Reference (Deposit): BAILEY, E.H., U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, PERSONAL FILES
California Gold
"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.
