O'Brien Mine

Past Producer in El Dorado county in California, United States with commodities Chromium, Iron
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. Nearby scientific data
  9. Ore body information
  10. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  11. Mining district
  12. Mineral rights holdings
  13. Land status
  14. Ownership information
  15. Reserves and resources
  16. Links to other databases
  17. Bibliographic references
  18. General comments
  19. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10139515
MRDS ID M007808
MAS/MILS ID 0060170022
Record type Site
Current site name O'Brien Mine
Alternate or previous names S-Bend Mine
Related records 10029957

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Main Entrance
Geographic coordinates: -120.89743, 38.826 (WGS84)
Elevation 439
Location accuracy 10(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

El Dorado(county)

California(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Coloma(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Placerville(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Sacramento(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

South Fork American(hydrologic unit)

Lower Sacramento(hydrologic accounting unit)

Sacramento(hydrologic subregion)

California(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States California El Dorado

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 011 N 010 E 07 NWNENE California

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Chromium Critical Tertiary
Iron Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chromite Unknown
Olivine Unknown
Pyroxene Unknown
Serpentine Unknown
Talc Unknown

Nearby scientific data

Main Entrance (1) -120.89743, 38.826

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Strike N35W
    Dip 53S
    Thickness 1M
    Length 20M
    Width 10M
    Area 1HA
    Depth to top 0M
    Field Value
    Type of Orebody #1 DISSEMINATED
    Shape of Orebody #1 TABULAR
    Type of Orebody #2 OTHER
    Shape of Orebody #2 LENTICULAR
    Shape of Orebody #3 IRREGULAR
    Primary mode of Origin MAGMATIC DIFFER
    Secondary mode of Origin OTHER
    Primary Ore Control LITHOLOGY
    Secondary Ore Control FAULTING
    Degree of Wallrock Alter. INTENSE
    Type of Wallrock Alter. #1 CARBONITIZATION
    Strike And Dip N35W:53S
    Minimum Depth to Top 0
    Avg. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 0
    Min. Thick. Unconsol. Mat. 0
    Total Surface Area (HA) 1
    Date of Last Modification 830316

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant No
Discovery year 1917
Year of first production 1918

Mining district

District name Garden Valley Area

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Patented
Type of mineral rights Private Lease

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Maragret G Bell,1976
    Interest 100
    Home office California
    Year 1976
  • Type Operator
    Owner Volo Mining Co., Last Operator 1942
    Home office California
    Year 1976

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1979
    Indicated 254mt ore
    Demonstrated 254mt ore
    Inferred 765mt ore
    Total resources 765000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Chromium Cr2O3 33 wt-pct Chromium Trace 1979
    Iron Fe 12 wt-pct Iron Trace 1979

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    COOP WAR MINERALS INVESTIG. EL DORADO CO. NO.28 1918, TALIA

  • Deposit

    CATER, CALIF DIV MINES BULL, 134,PT 3,CH 4,P.156, 1951

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit AVERAGE GRADE OF ORE SHIPPED IN 1918 WAS 32-34% CR2O3, FROM TOTAL PRODUCTION APPROX 3200 TO 3500 TONS, RECORD 700 AND RESERVE ESTIMATES BASED ON CATERSOBSERVATION, CITED FROM REC INSUFFICIENT ORE FOR COSTING ANALYSIS BY CDMG IN 1976 GAVE FOLLOWING PERCENTAGES-DISSEMIN E=S102 03.69,CR2O3 43.85,FEO 10.65,TOTAL FE 12.87,AL203 19.8 9.07,CR/FE 3.00.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 27-FEB-1984 Wetzel, Nicholas U.S. Bureau of Mines

Beyond USGS

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

Authoritative California resources

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