Natomas Placer

Past Producer in Lander county in Nevada, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Palladium, Copper
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Workings at the site
  19. Links to other databases
  20. Bibliographic references
  21. General comments
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10039043
MRDS ID M046568
Record type Site
Current site name Natomas Placer
Alternate or previous names Copper Canyon Placer, Camp Dahl and Christensen, Grand Hills Mining Co., Wilson Placer, Greenan Placer, Guy Davis, Homestake, Oversight, Comet, Annex, Big Nugget, Estes, Gold Crown, Sunrise Fraction
Related records 10149889

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -117.13789, 40.51879 (WGS84)
Elevation 1600
Location accuracy 100(meters)
Relative position 14 MI SOUTHWEST OF TOWN OF BATTLE MOUNTAIN, Accurate Within Alluvial Fan

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Lander(county)

Nevada(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Antler Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Winnemucca(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Winnemucca(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Dixie Valley(hydrologic unit)

Central Nevada Desert Basins(hydrologic accounting unit)

Central Nevada Desert Basins(hydrologic subregion)

Great Basin(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Nevada Lander

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 030N 043E 33,28 Nevada

Comments on the location information

  • FAN AT THE MOUTH OF COPPER CANYON. LOCATION GIVEN IS PLACER MINE SYMBOL AT MID FAN NEAR CENTER SEC. 33 SHOWN ON TOPO MAP

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Primary
Palladium Critical Tertiary
Copper Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • AU IS RELATIVELY COARSE; NUGGETS TO 5 OZ FOUND. ONE NUGGET WEIGHED ABOUT 21 OZ. UNABLE TO FIND SOURCE OF PGE DATA (1991); NO MENTION OF PGE IN LITERATURE CITED

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore

Analytical data

Result FINENESS RANGED FROM 830-870, AVERAGING 860

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 119
USGS model code 39a
Deposit model name Placer Au-PGE
Mark3 model number 54

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Unconsolidated Deposit > Gravel
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Holocene

Nearby scientific data

(1) -117.13789, 40.51879

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description Channels

Ore body information

  • General form BLANKET, CHANNELS, LENTICULAR SHEETS
    Thickness 1.37M
    Length 975.36M
    Width 853.44M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Canyon Fan, Stream Channel, Stream Hydraulics

Comments on the geologic information

  • IN UPPER PART OF FAN, HIGH-GRADE GRAVELS FORM LENTICULAR SHEET-LIKE BODIES OVERLAIN BY BARREN MATERIAL FARTHER DOWN THE FAN, THE RICHER GRAVELS ARE IN SMALL THIN LENSES SCATTERED THROUGHOUT SECTION

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Medium
Significant No
Discovery year 1911
Discoverer Original Discovery Of Gold In The Fan By James Dahl In 1911
Year of first production 1911
Production years MOSTLY 1947-1955

Mining district

District name Battle Mountain District

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Natomas Co.
    First year 1955

Comments on the production information

  • COMBINED PRODUCTION FOR ALL COPPER CANYON FAN PLACERS (1911-1939) IS: 35,310.44 OZ AU AND 4,862 OZ AG.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface
    Length 701.04M

Comments on the workings information

  • OPEN PIT DRAGLINE DREDGING OPERATIONS. EARLY MINING INCLUDED DRIFTING, SLUICING

Comments on development

  • NATOMAS PLACER CO. ACQUIRED J.O. GREENAN'S CLAIMS IN COPPER CANYON FAN AREA IN 1941. A DRAGLINE DREDGE MINED THE AREA 1946-1948. IN 1949, A BUCKET-LINE DREDGE OPERATED

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    ROBERTS, R.J., AND ARNOLD, D.C, 1965; ORE DEPOSITS OF THE ANTLER PEAK QUADRANGLE, HUMBOLDT AND LANDER COUNTIES, NEVADA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 459-B, P. B85-B86.

  • Deposit

    THEODORE, T.G., AND BLAKE, D.W., 1975, GEOLOGY AND GEOCHEMISTRY OF THE COPPER CANYON PORPHYRY COPPER DEPOSIT AND SURROUNDING AREA, LANDER COUNTY, NEVADA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 798-B, P. B10.

  • Deposit

    JOHNSON, M.G., 1973, PLACER GOLD DEPOSITS OF NEVADA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1356, P. 36-39.

  • Deposit

    HUTTL, J.B., 1950, HOW NATOMAS KEEPS A LARGE DREDGE OPERATING IN THE DESERT: ENGINEERING AND MINING JOURNAL, V. 135, NO. 4, P. 173.

  • Deposit

    STAGER, H.K, 1977, GEOLOGY AND MINERAL DEPOSITS OF LANDER COUNTY, NEVADA, PART II, MINERAL DEPOSITS: NEVADA BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY BULLETIN 88, P. 67.

  • Deposit

    VANDERBURG, W.O., 1939, RECONNAISSANCE OF MINING DISTRICTS IN LANDER COUNTY, NEVADA: U.S. BUREAU OF MINES INFORMATION CIRCULAR 7043, P. 33-34.

  • Production

    JOHNSON, M.G., 1973

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit THE LARGEST PLACER OPERATION IN DISTRICT BEGAN WHEN NATOMAS CO. ACQUIRED J.O. GREEAN'S CLAIMS IN COPPER CANYON FAN AREA IN 1941. WW II INTERRUPTED OPERATIONS UNTIL 1946, WHEN A DRAG-LINE DREDGE WAS USED TO MINE GRAVELS IN UPPER PART OF FAN UNTIL 1948. IN 1949, A BUCKET-LINE DREDGE WITH A 9,000 CU YD/DAY CAPACITY WAS PUT INTO OPERATION, DREDGING UP TO 110 FT DOWN. DRILLHOLES PERMITTED PLOTTING OF GOLD DISTRIBUTION WITHIN THE FAN. DAHL AND H.C. CHRISTENSEN BEGAN DRIFT-MINING IN 1911 AND CONTINUED UNTIL 1920. IN 1932, D. WILSON TOOK OVER PROPERTY AND WORKED GOLD-BEARING GRAVELS NEAR BEDROCK. IN 1935, GRAND HILLS MINING CO, INSTALLED A MECHANICAL WASHING PLANT AND OTHER LESSEES WORKED PROPERTY WITH DWINDLING RETURNS THROUGH 1930'S, UNTIL J.O. GREENAN BOUGHT IT IN 1939. HE BEGAN A SYSTEMATIC CHURN-DRILLING PROGRAM AND PROVED A LARGE VOLUME OF GOLD-BEARING GRAVEL DOWN AND ACROSS FAN. HE SOLD PROPERTY TO NATOMAS CO. IN 1941. ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT
Deposit THIS WAS THE LARGEST PLACER OPERATION IN DISTRICT. IN 1939 CLAIMS COVERED 2,600 ACRES. ALLUVIUM IS 20-100 FT THICK WITH BEST ORE NEAR BEDROCK

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-APR-76 Blair, Will N. U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-DEC-80 La Pointe, D. D. Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology
Updater 01-JUN-91 Peterson, Jocelyn A. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

External references

Authoritative Nevada resources

These are landing pages for further research — the state agencies don't currently expose per-mine deep links.