Payette Placer Area

The Payette Placer Area is a gold mine located in Boise county, Idaho at an elevation of 5,157 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

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.

Site Name

Primary: Payette Placer Area
Secondary: Sawtooth Primitive Area.

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Tertiary: Uranium
Tertiary: PGE

Location

State: Idaho
County: Boise

Land Status

Land ownership: National Primitive 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

Type: Unknown

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Owner Name: Messrs. Hill, Knoblock, Davis And Murray.
Home Office: Idaho
Info Year: 1952

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Prospect
Operation Type: Placer
Mining Method: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Northern Rocky Mountains

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Not available

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Not available

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Not available

Comments

Comment (Location): THE DEPOSIT EXTENDS SOUTH FROM THE MOUTH OF TRAIL CREEK ABOUT 9.6 KILOMETERS UPSTREAM. IT COVERS PART OF SECTIONS 2,11,14,23,26,35, AND 36, T9N, R11E. AREA HAS BEEN EXPLORED BY 17 CHURN DRILL HOLES, FROM 12 TO 54 METERS DEEP. HOLES 1 THROUGH 12 ARE FROM 12 TO 33.5 METERS DEEP. CONCENTRATES FROM AREA DRILLED CONTAIN AN AVERAGE OF 3.9 KILOGRAMS OF BLACK SAND PER CUBIC METER, AND 2.4 KILOGRAMS OF HEAVY BUT NONMAGNETIC MATERIAL PER CUBIC METER. THE NONMAGNETIC FRACTION WAS ANALYZED FOR MIOBIUM, TANTALUM AND URANIUM. THE NB205, TA205, AND U308 CONTENT OF THE PLACER DEPOSIT, WEIGHTED BY LENGTH OF SAMPLE, AVERAGED 0.002, 0.0009, AND 0.0002 KILOGRAM PER CUBIC METER, RESPECTIVELY. HOLES 13 AND 15 WERE DRILLED TO A DEPTH OF 46 AND 44 METER THE SAMPLES WERE COMBINED AND PROCESSED AND CALCULATED TO CONTAIN 7.7 KILOGRAMS OF CONCENTRATES PER CUBIC METER. THE NONMAGNETIC FRACTION FROM HOLE 13 WAS EXAMINED PETRO- GRAPHICALLY AND SUMMARIZED AS FOLLOWS: FERROMAGNESIAN AND LIGHTER COLORED SILICATES ARE DOMINANT WITH QUARTZ, FELDSPARS, BIOTITE, PYROXINES, AMPHIBOLES, EPIDOTE, SPHENE, ILMENITE-LEUCOXENE, ZIRCON, ALLANITE, EUXENITE-POLYCRASE, AND PYRITE. CHURN DRILL HOLE 16 WAS DRILLED TO A DEPTH OF 51 METERS. CONCENTRATES INDICATE MAGNETIC MATERIAL AVERAGED 3.1 KILO- METERS PER CUBIC METER. NONMAGNETIC MATERIAL AVERAGED 2.8 KILOMETERS PER CUBIC METER. HOLE 17 SAMPLE RESULTS WERE ANALYZED AND MAGNETIC MATERIAL AVERAGED 25.7 KILOMETER PER CUBIC METER. THE AMOUNT OF AVAILABLE MATERIAL IN THE PAYETTE PLACER DEPOSIT IS IN THE ORDER OF SEVERAL HUNDRED MILLION CUBIC METERS.

References

Reference (Deposit): SAWTOOTH PRIMITIVE AREA, IDAHO.

Reference (Deposit): Kiilsgaard, T. H., And Others, 1970, Mineral Resources Of The Sawtooth Primitive Area, Idaho: USGS Bulletin 1319-D, 174p., P D82-91.

Idaho Gold

"Where to Find Gold in Idaho" 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 Idaho. Read more: Where to Find Gold in Idaho.