The American Canyon Placers is a gold mine located in Pershing county, Nevada.
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
Satelite View
MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.
American Canyon Placers MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: American Canyon Placers
Secondary: Chinese Placers
Secondary: Chinatown Quicksilver Placer
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Secondary: Mercury
Location
State: Nevada
County: Pershing
District: Spring Valley District
Land Status
Land ownership: BLM Administrative Area
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
Not available
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Placer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: M
Physiography
Not available
Mineral Deposit Model
Model Name: Placer Au-PGE
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Not available
Alterations
Not available
Rocks
Name: Clay, Mud
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Holocene
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Cinnabar
Comments
Comment (Production): ESTIMATED $10,000,000. (?) LARGELY FROM AMERICAN & SPRING VALLEY CANYONS. ALSO PRODUCTION OF PROBABLY LESS THAN 100 FLASKS OF MERCURY.
Comment (Development): MOST OF THE PLACER MINING WAS DONE IN THE 1880'S AND 1890'S BY CHINESE MINERS WHO DUG SHAFTS 40-100 FT INTO THE GRAVELS.. NO DOUBT VERY EARLY IN THE MINING, THE CINNABAR OCCURRING WITH THE GOLD IN THE STREAKS OF HEAVY MINERAL CONCENTR-ATIONS WAS NOTED. ACCORDING TO RANSOME, THE OCCURRENCE OF "BOW-LDERS" OF CINNABAR IN THE PLACER GRAVELS LED TO A SEARCH FOR T-HEIR SOURCE AND RESULTED IN THE EARLY DISCOVERY OF THE DIXIE (-KAOLIN) AND NEVADA ALMADEN LODE DEPOSITS FARTHER UP AMERICAN C-ANYON. IN 1941, AFTER A LONG PERIOD OF LITTLE INTEREST IN THE -GOLD PLACERS, THE CHINATOWN QUICKSILVER PLACER DEPOSIT WAS STA-KED IN AMERICAN CANYON NEAR THE CENTER OF SEC 18 BY J. L. ALGE-R, MERRIL FISK AND W. F. FISK. IN 1942, RECORDS INDICATE INDEP-ENDENT PRODUCTION BY TWO OF THE PARTNERS YIELDING 32 FLASKS HG-. NO OTHER MERCURY PRODUCTION FROM THE PLACER DEPOSITS IS RECO-RDED, BUT IT SEEMS VIRTUALLY CERTAIN ADDITIONAL MERCURY WAS RE-COVERED HERE BOTH IN THE EARLY PERIOD OF EXTENSIVE MINING BY T-HE
Comment (Development): FRUGAL CHINESE AND IN OPERATIONS IN THE EARLY 1940'S. IN 19-80 THERE WAS RENEWED INTEREST IN THE GOLD PLACER DEPOSITS WHIC-H MAY LEAD TO RECOVERY OF A LITTLE MERCURY AS A BYPRODUCT.
Comment (Deposit): GOLD WAS CONCENTRATED IN A PAY STREAK UNDERLAIN BY CLAY AT AN AVERAGE DEPTH OF 60 FEET BUT AT SHALLOWER DEPTH AT THE UPPER END OF THE PLACER THAN AT THE EDGE OF THE RANGE. PARTICLES OF CINNABAR RECOVERED FROM THE GRAVELS LED TO THE DISCOVERY OF SEVERAL MERCURY DEPOSITS IN THE AMERICAN CANYON DRAINAGE.
Comment (Workings): CHINESE MINERS DUG SHAFTS 40-100 FT INTO THE GRAVELS. NUMEROUS DREDGE AND PLACER TAILINGS COVER OVER 100 ACRES.
Comment (Deposit): MOST OF THE PLACER MINING WAS DONE IN THE 1880'S AND 1890'S BY CHINESE MINERS WHO DUG SHAFTS 40-100 FEET INTO THE GRAVELS. NUMEROUS DREDGE AND PLACER TAILINGS COVER OVER 100 ACRES. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT; 2 UNPUB REPT
References
Reference (Deposit): RANSOME, F.L., 1909, MINING DISTRICTS IN HUMBOLDT CONTY, NEVADA; USGS BULL. 414
Reference (Deposit): SCHRADER, F.C., 1914, THE ROCHESTER MINING DISTRICT, NEVADA; USGS BULL. 580-M
Reference (Deposit): VIKRE, PG., 1978, GEOLOGY & SILVER MINERALIZATION OF THE ROCHESTER DISTRICT, PERSHING, COUNTY, NEVADA; STANFORD UNIV. PH.D. THESIS
Reference (Deposit): JOHNSON, M.G., 1977, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF PERSHING COUNTY, NEVADA; NBMG BULL. 89.
Reference (Deposit): VANDERBURG, 1936, PLACER MINING IN NEVADA; NBMG 30
Reference (Deposit): BAILEY, E. H., RYTUBA, J.J. AND JONES, R. B., 1984, UNPUBLISHED DATA ON MERCURY DEPOSITS OF NEVAD.
Reference (Deposit): JOHNSON, M.G., 1973, PLACER GOLD DEPOSITS OF NEVADA; USGS BULL. 1356
Nevada Gold
Nevada has a total of 368 distinct gold districts. Of the of those, just 36 are major producers with production and/or reserves of over 1,000,000 ounces, 49 have production and/or reserves of over 100,000 ounces, with the rest having less than 100,000 ounces. Read more: Gold Districts of Nevada.
