Oriental

Past Producer in Sierra county in California, United States with commodities Gold, Platinum
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. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Controls for ore emplacement
  15. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  16. Mining district
  17. Land status
  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 10086500
MRDS ID X025318
Record type Site
Current site name Oriental
Alternate or previous names Alta
Related records 10116707

Geographic coordinates

Geographic coordinates: -120.85881, 39.45989 (WGS84)
Elevation 1234
Relative position 1 MI SOUTH OF ALLEGHANY

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Sierra(county)

California(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Alleghany(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Truckee(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Chico(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Yuba(hydrologic unit)

Lower Sacramento(hydrologic accounting unit)

Sacramento(hydrologic subregion)

California(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Tahoe 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 Sierra

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Mount Diablo 019N}018N 010E}010E 33}04 E2 OF SW4 OF SE4 (33); E2 OF NW4 OF W2 OF NE4 (04) California

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Gold Primary
Platinum Critical Tertiary

Comments on the commodity information

  • GOLD IS ASSOCAITED WITH ARSENOPYRITE

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Pyrite Ore
Silver Ore
Quartz Gangue
Talc Gangue

Alteration

  • (Local) Carbonate, Albitic

Analytical data

Result ORE RAN AS HIGH AS $1000/TON. PT DETECTED IN NATIVE GOLD SAMPLES UP TO 86.4 PPM (AVG. 32 PPM)

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 273
USGS model code 36a
Deposit model name Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Mark3 model number 27

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite

Nearby scientific data

(1) -120.85881, 39.45989

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Melones Fault Zone
Type of structure Local
Structure description Fault

Ore body information

  • General form VEIN
    Strike EW-N65W
    Dip 28-50N
    Thickness 6.1M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Fractures

Comments on the geologic information

  • OLDEST ROCK IS SCHISTOSE QUARTZITE, WHICH GRADES INTO FINE-GRAINED MICA SCHIST WITH THIN QUARTZITE BANDS. QUARTZITE NOT FOUND IN UNDERGROUND WORKINGS.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

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

Mining district

District name Alleghany District

Land status

Ownership category National Forest

Comments on the production information

  • REPORTEDLY $734,000 IN GOLD WAS OBTAINED FROM AREA ON VEIN 14 BY 22 FT

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Surface/Underground
    Name of workings ORIENTAL
    Area 62.081HA
    Overall depth 237.74M

Comments on the workings information

  • 4150 FT ADIT AND RAISE INTERSECTS INCLINED SHAFT ON VEIN. 10 LEVELS WITH SHORT DISTANCES. RECENT WORK ON ADIT LEVEL. ALTA WORKINGS CAVED.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    MCCULLOCH, W.C., OESTERLING, W.A., SPURCK, W.H., AND TISCHLER, M.S., 1964, MINERALS FOR INDUSTRY, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: SUMMARY OF GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF 1955-1961: SOUTHERN PACIFIC COMPANY, V. 2, P. 37.

  • Deposit

    AVERILL, C.V., 1942, MINES AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF SIERRA COUNTY: CALIFORNIA JOURNAL OF MINES AND GEOLOGYU, V. 38, NO. 1, P. 33, 35, 62.

  • Deposit

    FERGUSON, H.G., AND GANNETT, R.W., 1932, GOLD QUARTZ VEINS OF THE ALLEGHANY DISTRICT, CALIFORNIA: U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY PROFESSIONAL PAPER 172, P. 98-101, PL. 15.

  • Deposit

    J.K. BOHLKE, 1982, WRITTEN COMMUN. TO N.J PAGE, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

  • Deposit

    LOGAN, C.A., 1941, MINERAL RESOURCES OF NEVADA COUNTY: CALIFORNIA JOURNAL OF MINES AND GEOLOGY, V. 37, NO. 3, P. 374-408, 425-436, 441-468.

  • Production

    FERGUSON AND GANNETT (1932),, AVERILL (1942)

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit VEIN PRODUCTIVE WHEREVER SERPENTINE CONTACT WAS EXPLORED. MOST PRODUCTIVE AREA WAS A NARROW BAND OF GABBRO BETWEEN GRANITE AND SERPENTINE. A NEW ORE BODY WAS DISCOVERED IN 1952. VEINS CONSIST OF BRANCHES AND STRINGERS WITH THE GREATEST THICKNESS IN 7TH AND 8TH LEVELS. VEIN DISPLACES POROUS GRANITE DIKE ABOUT 160 FT HORIZONTALLY AND 200 FT DOWN DIP. DIKE IS 50 FT THICK IN UPPER WORKINGS, 350 FT THICK IN LOWER WORKINGS. GRANITE IS COARSE, UP TO ICM+. FELDSPAR IN GABBRO UNRECOGNIZABLE, AUGITE ALMOST COMPLETELY ALTERED TO HORNBLENDE. MINOR THRUSTING OCCURRED DURING AND AFTER MINERALIZATION. ALTA MINE IS 500 FT SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF ORIENTAL SHAFT. DUMPS AT ALTA MINE CONTAIN COARSELY CRYSTALLINE ARSENOPYRITE AND PYRITE. VEINS AT THE TWO MINES MAY UNITE IN BROKEN GROUND ABOVE 5TH LEVEL.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-MAR-1979 Hayden, F. (Albers, J.) U.S. Geological Survey
Updater 01-AUG-1993 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 California resources

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