Aurora Quicksilver Mine

Past Producer in San Benito county in California, United States with commodity Chromium
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. Ore body information
  11. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  12. Mining district
  13. Land status
  14. Ownership information
  15. Links to other databases
  16. Bibliographic references
  17. General comments
  18. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10043397
MRDS ID M100140
Record type Site
Current site name Aurora Quicksilver Mine

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -120.6796, 36.39161 (WGS84)
Elevation 1341
Relative position APPRORIMATELY 3 MILES DUE SOUTH OF IDRIA, CA.

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

San Benito(county)

California(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Idria(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Coalinga(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Monterey(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Panoche-San Luis Reservoir(hydrologic unit)

San Joaquin(hydrologic accounting unit)

San Joaquin(hydrologic subregion)

California(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Bureau of Land Management(Bureau of Land Management CA)

Bureau of Land Management CA BLM(Type of land area)

BLM(Federal land areas administered by BLM)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States California San Benito

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 018S 012E 05 California

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Chromium Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chromite Ore
Uvarovite Ore

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Serpentinite
    Rock unit name Franciscan;Panoche
    Rock description Franciscan;Panoche
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Late Cretaceous

Nearby scientific data

(1) -120.6796, 36.39161

Economic information

Ore body information

  • General form LENSE, POD

Comments on the geologic information

  • SERPENTINE IS HIGHLY SHEARED IN MOST PLACES.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Small
Significant No
Discovery year 1853
Year of last production 1943

Mining district

District name New Idria

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner North American Mining Co, Inc.
    Home office Boston, Ma
    First year 1941

Comments on the production information

  • ORE PRODUCTION RANGED FROM 150-1000 LONG TONS

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    WALKER, G.W. AND GRIGGS, A.B., 1953, GEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF CHROMITE IN CALIFORNIA, CALIF.: DIVISION OF MINES BULLETIN 134, PART 2, CHAPT. 2, P 54, 55, 80.

  • Deposit

    ECKEL E.B. AND MYERS, W.B., 1946, QUICKSILVER DEPOSITS OF THE NEW IDRIA DISTRICT, SAN BENITO AND FRESNO COUNTIES, CALIF., IN CALIF. JOURNAL OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, VOL. 42, NO. 2, P. 89, 106, 107.

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit CHROMITE DEPOSITS OCCUR IN A SERPENTINE MASS 12.5 MILES LONG AND 3 TO 4.5 MILES WIDE. MOST OF EXPLOITED CHROMITE OBTAINED FROM FLOAT BOU LDERS FOUND ON HILLSIDES AND IN GRAVELS OF ADJOINING CREEKS.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-JUN-1981 Oster, Karel L. (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.