Orleans District

The Orleans District is a gold mine located in Humboldt county, California.

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

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Site Name

Primary: Orleans District

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Secondary: Platinum
Secondary: Silver

Location

State: California
County: Humboldt
District: Orleans District

Land Status

Not available

Holdings

Not available

Workings

Not available

Ownership

Not available

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: District
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Stream placer
Operation Type: Surface
Discovery Year: 1850
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

Not available

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Placer Au-PGE

Orebody

Form: Irregular

Structure

Not available

Alterations

Not available

Rocks

Name: Sand and Gravel
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Quaternary

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Platinum

Comments

Comment (Geology): REGIONAL GEOLOGY The Orleans District is situated within the western part of the Klamath Mountains geologic province. This province is characterized by extremely complex lithologies and structures that were assembled through various plate-tectonic processes. Paleozoic-Mesozoic metamorphic complexes intruded by various Mesozoic plutons compose the basement of the province. Many of these various lithologies contain gold in places. Structurally, the metamorphic rocks and some of the plutonic rocks have been deformed by folding and faulting. The dominant structures are major regional thrust faults with superimposed younger faults. LOCAL GEOLOGY The Orleans District is characterized by high-relief landscape with narrow river canyons that have been incised into metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks of the Jurassic Galice Formation; farther upstream from the district, there are other metamorphic and plutonic rocks. The canyon bottoms in this area contain small deposits of Quaternary alluvium in the form of active bars and older terraces. The materials in these deposits have been derived by erosion of the various basement rocks at higher elevations. In places, the basement rocks contain gold within quartz veins and altered rock. Erosion of the gold-bearing basement rocks provided the gold that was eventually deposited in the modern placer deposits along the canyon bottoms. The narrowness of the canyons resulted in limited extents of placer deposits along the canyon bottoms.

Comment (Identification): This placer-mining district is along the Klamath River in the northeastern corner of Humboldt County. The most notable producer was the Pearch Mine, a hydraulic operation about one mile northeast of the settlement of Orleans.

Comment (Commodity): Commodity Info: Gold is fine to medium.

Comment (Commodity): Ore Materials: Native gold, native platinum

Comment (Location): Location selected for latitude and longitude is the town of Orleans on the USGS 7.5-minute Orleans quadrangle.

Comment (Workings): Mining in this district was accomplished through surface placering methods in the early days and later included both hydraulicking and dredging. The bench gravels along the Klamath River were mined by hydraulic methods.

Comment (Deposit): The gold-bearing deposits are alluvial gravels in the Klamath River itself and extensive older bench gravels about 50-80 feet above the level of the present river. Silver and platinum are also present in the gravels.

Comment (Development): Mining began in this district during the gold rush and continued at least through the 1940?s. As published information about this district is sparse, it is uncertain exactly what year this mining activity began. The most productive property in this district was the Pearch Mine. Averill (1946) reported that in 1941 the mine produced 266 ounces of gold and 38 ounces of silver from 128,500 cubic yards of gravel. The placer deposit here was reportedly about 80 feet thick, but only its lower part was gravel.

Comment (Economic Factors): Tooker and Vercoutere (1986) estimated the production along the Klamath River to be about 138,000 ounces through 1981.

Comment (Commodity): Gangue Materials: Metamorphic rocks, igneous rocks (as clasts)

References

Reference (Deposit): Averill, C.V., 1946, Placer mining for gold in California: California Division of Mines Bulletin 135, p. 258-259.

Reference (Deposit): Clark, W.B., 1970, Gold districts of California: California Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin 193, p. 140.

Reference (Deposit): Tooker, E.W. and Vercoutere, T.L., 1986, Gold in the conterminous United States, Perspective of 1986 - Preliminary map of selected geographic, economic, and geologic attributes of productive (>10,000 oz) gold districts: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 86-209, 32 p.

Reference (Deposit): Wagner, D.L. and Saucedo, G.J., 1987, Geologic map of the Weed Quadrangle, California: California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology Regional Geologic Map Series, Map No. 4A, scale 1:250,000.

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.