Knoxville Mine

Site Name

Primary: Knoxville Mine
Secondary: Knoxville
Secondary: Redington
Secondary: Excellsior
Secondary: Boston

---

Commodity

Primary: Mercury

---

Location

State: California
County: Napa
District: Knoxville District

---

Land Status

Land ownership: Private
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: Fee Ownership
Type: Patented

---

Workings

Type: Surface/Underground

---

Ownership

Owner Name: George F. And Launce E. Gamble
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: California
Info Year: 1982

---

Production

Year: 1977
Description: 1311
Year: 1975
Description: 528
Year: 1966
Description: 4491
Year: 1949
Description: 53
Year: 1940
Description: 3321
Year: 1927
Description: 3098
Year: 1922
Description: 68
Year: 1917
Description: Flasks Of Mercury
Year: 1907
Description: 1201 Flasks Of Mercury
Year: 1905
Description: Flasks Of Mercury
Year: 1884
Description: 19863 Flasks Of Mercury
Year: 1883
Description: Flasks Of Mercury
Year: 1862
Description: 95962 Flasks Of Mercury

---

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Surface-Underground
Mining Method: Unknown
Year First Production: 1862
Discovery Year: 1860
Discovery Method: Serendipity
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N

---

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Pacific Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Pacific Border Province
Physiographic Section: California Coast Ranges

---

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

---

Orebody

Form: IRREGULAR

---

Structure

Type: L
Structure: Knoxville Thrust

Type: L
Structure: Serpentine-Sediment Contact

---

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration: Silica Carbonate Alteration of Serpentine

---

Rocks

Not available

---

Analytical Data

Not available

---

Materials

Ore: Metacinnabar
Ore: Cinnabar
Gangue: Quartz
Gangue: Pyrite

---

Comments

Comment (Deposit): THE KNOXVILLE MERCURY PROPERTY WAS RESEARCHED, AND IN THE COURSE OF EVALUATION, FOUND TO HAVE NO DEFINABLE RESOURCES. THEREFORE, THE PROPERTY COULD NOT BE COSTED.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): UNDERGROUND OPERATIONS WERE ABANDONED IN 1941 AFTER EXTENSIVE EXPLORATION ON THE 90, 150,AND 210 LEVELS WAS UNPROFITABLE. COMPREHENSIVE MINE MAPS WERE NOT KEPT AS WORKINGS USUALLY CAVED A SHORT TIME AFTER MINING. UNDERGROUND LOW GRADE ORE MAY REMAIN IN PLACE OR AS STOPE FILL, BUT NO INFORMATION EXISTS FROM WHICH RESOURCE ESTIMATES CAN BE MADE. THE PRESENT OWNERS HAVE NO INFORMATION NOR ARE AWARE OF OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION TO AID RESOURCE ESTIMATION THE AVERAGE ORE GRADE DECLINED STEADILY THROUGHOUT THE LIFE OF THE MINE. IN 1943 THE GRADE AVERAGED 5-10 LBS./TON. HOMESTAKE MINING COMPANYS MC LAUGHLIN GOLD MINE AT THE SITE OF THE OLD MANHATTAN MINE 2.4 KM NORTHWEST OF THE KNOXVILLE WILL PRODUCE FROM 260 TO 350 FLASKS PER YEAR BEGINNING IN 1985 AND SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN COMPUTING THE DOMESTIC SUPPLY CURVE. OPEN PIT MINING AT THE KNOXVILLE CEASED IN 1976 DUE TO DECLINING MERCURY PRICES, THE NEED TO REFURBISH THE MILL AND THE LARGE QUANTITY OF WASTE REMOVAL REQUIRED TO EXPOSE ADDITIONAL ORE. THE GAMBLE FAMILY ANTICIPATES THERE WILL BE NO FUTURE PRIMARY MERCURY PRODUCTION FROM THE KNOXVILLE UNLESS UNDER EXTREMELY HIGH PRICE LEVELS. FUTURE PRODUCTION WILL PROBABLY BE AS BI-PRODUCT MERCURY FROM GOLD MINING. NORTHWEST TRENDING HIGH ANGLE THRUST FAULTS WHICH PROBABLY PROVIDED CHANNELWAYS FOR GOLD MINERALIZATION EXTEND DIRECTLY THROUGH THE KNOXVILLE MINE AREA. IN ADDITION, GOLD IS KNOWN TO OCCUR WITH PYRITE AT THE KNOXVILLE MINE (BECKER, 1988).

Comment (Ownership): Alternate ownership info in M055646 (=10040776) gvien as G.E. & L.J. Gamble instead of George F. and Launce E. Gamble.

Comment (Location): Adit and shaft shown on Knoxville topo. Adit is in extreme SE corner of sec. 6, shaft in extreme NE of sec. 7. North of the Berryessa Knoxville Road. Coordinates are for the shaft.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Deleted record 10040776 (old MRDS M055646) gave estimated grade of Hg prior to 1960 as 4292 g/mt.

Comment (Geology): GEOL.DESC: MINERALIZED ZONE NARROWS AT DEPTH

Comment (Production): STATE'S 5TH LARGEST PRODUCER

Comment (Workings): MOST WORKINGS ARE CAVED

---

References

Reference (Deposit): CALIFORNIA REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL BOARD, CENTRAL VALLEY REGION. INATCIVE MINE DRAINAGE IN THE SACRAMENTO CALIFORNIA, STAFF REPORT, JULY 92, P. 73.

Reference (Deposit): VREDENBURGH, L. M., 1982, TERTIARY GOLD-BEARING MERCURY DEPOSITS OF THE COAST RANGES OF CALIFORNIA: CALIFORNIA GEOLOGY, V. 35, NO. 2, P. 23.

Reference (Deposit): AVERITT, P. 1945, QUICKSILVER DEPOSITS OF THE KNOXVILLE DISTRICT, NAPA, YOLO, AND LAKE COUNTIES: CALIFORNIA JOURNAL OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, V. 41, NO. 2, PP. 78-81.

Reference (Deposit): BECKER, G. F., 1888, GEOLOGY OF THE QUICKSILVER DEPOSITS OF THE PACIFIC SLOPE: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, MONOGRAPH 13, P. 285-289.

Reference (Deposit): HOMESTAKE MINING COMPANY AND D'APPOLORIA, 1982, MCLAUGHLIN PROJECT - PROPOSED GOLD MINE AND MINERAL EXTRACTION FACILITY: PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT, P. 3-19.

Reference (Deposit): GUINIVERE, R., 1982, VICE-PRESIDENT, ENGINEERING, HOMESTAKE MINING COMPANY, SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ORAL COMMUNICATIONS.

Reference (Deposit): GAMBLE, G. F., 1982, PRESENT OWNER OF THE KNOXVILLE MINE, ORAL COMMUNICATIONS.

---

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.