Forbestown Consolidated Gold Mines

Past Producer in Butte county in California, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, 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. Host and associated rocks
  9. Nearby scientific data
  10. Geologic structures
  11. Ore body information
  12. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. General comments
  16. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10035986
MRDS ID M023953
Record type Site
Current site name Forbestown Consolidated Gold Mines
Alternate or previous names Gold Bank Consolidated Quartz

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -121.26855, 39.53516 (WGS84)
Elevation 549
Relative position 1.3 MI. N. FORBESTOWN ON S. SIDE OF CANYON ON FEATHER RIVER

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Butte(county)

California(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Forbestown(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Chico(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Chico(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle Fork Feather(hydrologic unit)

Lower Sacramento(hydrologic accounting unit)

Sacramento(hydrologic subregion)

California(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Plumas National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States California Butte

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 019N 006E 01,02,12 California

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Silver Secondary
Copper Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Gold Ore
Quartz Gangue

Analytical data

Result FREE GOLD SAID TO BE $1.50/TON, SULFIDES FORMED 2-7% OF ORE CARRIED BALANCE. IN 1890, CON. WAS 7% OF ORE, AND CARRIED $85 IN GOLD, 9.5 OZ. AG/TON. IN 1894, IT WAS 2-3% OF ORE, YIELDING $40/TON IN AG, $20/TON IN GOLD. ELSEWHERE, IT WAS SAID TO BE $150/TON.

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Granitoid > Granite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Plutonic Rock > Mafic Intrusive Rock > Diorite
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Schist

Nearby scientific data

(1) -121.26855, 39.53516

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure description A Large Stock Of Granite Lies One 1 Mile North, And Gabbrodiorite 1 Mi. South

Ore body information

  • General form LENSES
    Strike E
    Dip 20N

Comments on the geologic information

  • ROCK FORMING HANGING WALL OF GOLD BANK VEIN IS HARD, DENSE, FINE-GRAINED, DARK GREEN DIORITE, AND BLOCKY RATHER THAN SCHISTOSE. FOOTWALL IS SYENITIC.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant No

Comments on the production information

  • TOTAL OUTPUT OF GOLD BANK PLACED AT $2,000,000 OF WHICH $500,000 WAS PROFIT. FIGURES FOR GOLD BANK (FIRST TWO) AND GOLDEN QUEEN. PERCENTAGE OF RECOVERY SAID TO BE LOW IN EARLY OPERATIONS, BUT LATER CLAIMED TO BE 92%-95% AU, AND UP TO 83% AG. OUTPUT OF 40 STAMPS IN 1896 WAS 4300 TONS A MONTH. NO OTHER PRODUCTION RECORDS FOUND.

Comments on the workings information

  • GOLD BANK MINE WORKED PREVIOUS TO 1887. PRINCIPAL ACTIVITY 1888-1904. EARLIER OPERATIONS THROUGH ADITS AND INCLINE. ADIT AT ELE. OF 1800 FT. RUNS SW, CUTTING FISSURE 1275 FT. FROM PORTAL. AT THIS PT., RAISE TO BOTTOM OF SHAFT, INCLINED DEPTH BEING 1600 FT. ON DIP AT ADIT. ADIT CONTINUED FOR 2500 FT. 9 LEVELS RUN BETWEEN SHAFT COLLAR AND DRAIN ADIT. 5 EARLIER ADITS RUN ON E. SLOPE HILL. VEIN STOPED FOR INCLINED DEPTH OF 1850 FT. ON DIP. THIRD AND SEVENTH LEVELS 1100 FT. LONG. TOTAL OF 2300 FT. EXPLORED ON STRIKE OF VEIN. LARGEST STOPE ON GOLD BANK (E. SIDE OF SHAFT) 450 FT. ON STRIKE BY 600 FT. ON DIP. STOPED WIDTH WHERE SEEN, BETWEEN LEVELS 8 AND 9 VARIED FROM 3-11 FT. GOLDEN QUEEN CLAIMS WORKED FROM 300 FT. LEVEL TO SURFACE. STOPING ON HANGING WALL SIDE. WAS THOUGHT THAT LARGE BLOCKS OF ORE COULD HAVE BEEN FOUND ON FOOTWALL SIDE.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    LOGAN, C.A., 1930, MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF BUTTE COUNTY, CALIF: CALIF. JOURNAL OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, V. 26, NO. 4, P. 373-375

  • Deposit

    WARING, C.A., 1915, MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF BUTTE COUNTY: CALIF. JOUR. MINES AND GEOLOGY, V. 15, P. 216-217

  • Deposit

    MINER, J.A., 1890, BUTTE COUNTY; CALIF. JOUR. MINES AND GEOLOGY, V. 10, P. 126-127

  • Production

    LOGAN (1930)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit INCLUDED 4 CLAIMS OF GOLD BANK MINE AND MILLSITE (NW 1/4 11 AND SW 1/4 2), GOLDEN QUEEN, 2 CLAIMS ADJOINING GOLD BANK ON WEST, GOLDEN KING (SEC. 1 AND N 1/2 OF NW 1/4 12), OROVILLE NO. 1 AND NO. 2 PLACERS, SHAKESPEARE MINE, MOSTLY IN YUBA COUNTY, E 1/2 10 AND MILLER MINE IN SEC. 15 (YUBA COUNTY). 1035 ACRES TOTAL. PATENTED CLAIMS WITH OTHER UNPATENTED CLAIMS. VARIOUS OLD STATISTICS ON DEPOSIT, WORKINGS AND COSTS IN MINER (1890) ; INFO.SRC : 1 PUB LIT
Deposit VEIN. ORE FORMS OVERLAPPING LENSES ON BOTH WALLS IN PLACES; UP TO 40 FT. THICK. ORE ON GOLDEN QUEEN CLAIMS FORMED SUBORDINATE RIBBON STRUCTURE, MOST WAS SOLID, WHITE QUARTZ

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-NOV-1980 Nelson, Scott C. (Albers, John, P.) U.S. Geological Survey

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.