Grant County Oregon Gold Production |
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NORTH FORK DISTRICT
The North Fork district includes the drainage area of the North Fork of the John Day River and Desolation Creek between lat 44°45' and 45°00' N. and long 118°15' and 118°55' W.
This is a placer district that dates back to the early 1860's. Pardee and Hewett (1914, p. 10) estimated the total minimum production to 1914 at $893,000 in gold (about 43,000 ounces) ; since then, only 1,336 ounces have been reported from the district. The principal mines were the French Diggings and the North Fork. At the French Diggings both moraine and stream gravels were mined, and at the North Fork a gold-bearing terminal moraine was mined (Parks and Swartley, 1916, p. 97, 164).
QUARTZBURG DISTRICT
The Quartzburg district is in eastern Grant County between lat 44°28' and 44°36' N. and long 118°35' and 118°47' W.
In 1862, placers at Dixie Creek were discovered, and shortly afterward lode mines were producing in the district. After the initial boom of placer mining, in which estimated production ranged from $600,000 to $6 million (Swartley, 1914, p. 198), the district slowed down to sporadic small-scale activity. Lindgren (1901, p. 710) stated the production from lode mines to 1900 did not exceed $100,000. From 1904 through 1959, the recorded gold production from the district was 954 ounces from lodes, 8,534 ounces from placers, and 624 ounces undif-ferentiated as to source. Total production through 1959, using the $600,000 figure for the early placer production, was about 45,100 ounces.
The dominant rocks exposed in the Quartzburg district (Gilluly and others, 1933, p. 86-88) are metaandesite, metadiabase, other volcanics, and small amounts of argillite, of possible Carboniferous age. Diorite, gabbro, and serpentine bodies and their associated porphyritic dikes cut the metavolcanics and sediments. A mid-Cretaceous series of more acid intrusives - quartz diorite and granodiorite - is exposed in the Dixie Creek valley and near the head of Ruby Creek. The Columbia River Basalt once covered the entire area, but it has been eroded from the mineralized area. Gold and small amounts of copper and cobalt occur in fissure veins in the pre-Tertiary rocks. These veins probably are related to the quartz diorite intrusions. Quartz, dolomite, and calcite compose the gangue, and pyrite, arsenopyrite, glaucodot, cobaltite, bismuth, bismuthinite, tetrahedrite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and galena are the chief metallic minerals. Much gold came from oxidized parts of these veins in the early days (Lindgren, 1901, p. 710).
SUSANVILLE DISTRICT
The Susanville district is between lat 44°41' and 44°47' N. and long 118°41' and 118°52' W., in eastern Grant County.
Most of the production from this district was from placer mining before 1900. The placers were discovered in 1864, and those along Elk Creek and along the north side of the Middle Fork of the John Day River yielded $600,000 in gold (Swartley, 1914, p. 169). These placers were inactive in 1930 (Gilluly and others, 1933, p. 117). The Badger mine, discovered in the late 1860's, was the most important lode property in the district (Swartley, 1914, p. 170), but after several years of successful operation it was closed in 1905, reopened briefly in 1922, and closed again (Gilluly and others, 1933, p. 111). Most of the recent production from the district was from dredging operations. From 1932 through 1959 the district produced 937 ounces of lode gold and 17,809 ounces of placer gold. Total production through 1959, including the estimated early placer production, was about 48,750 ounces.
Gilluly, Reed, and Park (1933, p. 106-111) described the geology and ore deposits in some detail. The country rock throughout most of the Susanville district is schist of unknown age. This was intruded by bodies of gabbro and peridotite which are now mostly altered to serpentine. A large quartz diorite mass borders the district on the north and aplitic dikes from this intrusion cut the schist and ultra-basic rocks. Higher areas in the district are capped by Columbia River Basalt. Ore deposits are fissure veins parallel to the schistosity in the country rocks. Many veins seem to be related to the aplite dikes. Quartz is the dominant gangue mineral; metallic minerals include pyrite, marcasite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, galena, stibnite, tetrahedrite-tennantite, and chalcocite. Gold occurs in the sulfides and also as free gold.
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