Mine detail: Sheep Ranch Mine

Previously called 'Eureka ClaimLodi ClaimFranklin ClaimAlabama ClaimRosco ClaimAdmiral Dewey ClaimSalamanda ClaimNorthstarv ClaimAspinwall ClaimLocation ClaimMcNair ClaimWallace ClaimChavanne ClaimAmerican MinePioche MineChavanne MineWallace and Ferguson MineWashington MineElk ClaimHurricane ClaimToom Claim'

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Location

Lat / long: 38.20845, -120.46871

Resource(M)

Primary: Silver, Gold
Tertiary: Iron, Zinc, Copper, Lead
Ore: Gold, Chalcopyrite, Sphalerite, Pyrite, Galena
Gangue: Quartz
Orebody form: Tabular, lens
Discovery year: 1867

Production

Operation type: Underground
Deposit type: Hydrothermal vein
Development status: Past Producer

Geology

Host rock:Calaveras Complex
Host type:Mica Schist
Structure:Melones Fault Zone, Bear Mountain Fault Zone, Foothills Fault System, Calaveras-Shoo Fly Thrust, Parallel veins in unnamed fractures.
Tectonic:Magmatic arc
Alteration processes:Negligible? None described.

References

DEP10310676
Reference{Deposit:: Bateman, P.C. and Eaton, J.P., 1967, Sierra Nevada batholith: Science, v. 158, p. 1407-1417.}{Deposit:: Bohlke, J.K., 1999, Mother Lode gold, in Moores, E.M. and others, editors, Classic Cordilleran concepts: A View from California: Geological Society of America Special Paper 338, p. 55-67.}{Deposit:: Bohlke, J.K. and Kistler, R.W., 1986, Rb-Sr, K-Ar, and stable isotope evidence for the ages and sources of fluid components in gold-quartz veins of the northern Sierra Nevada foothills metamorphic belt, California: Economic Geology, v. 81, p. 296-322.}{Deposit:: Bradley, W., 1936, Mines and mineral resources of Calaveras County: California Division of Mines 13th Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 236-239.}{Deposit:: Burchfiel, B.C. and Davis, G.A., 1981, Triassic and Jurassic tectonic evolution of the Klamath Mountains - Sierra Nevada geologic terrane, in Ernst, W.G., editor, The geotectonic development of California (Rubey Volume I): Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, p. 50-70.}{Deposit:: Clark, L.D., 1954, Geology and mineral deposits of the Calaveritas quadrangle, Calaveras County, California: California Division of Mines Special Report 40, 23 p.}{Deposit:: Clark, L.D., 1964, Stratigraphy and structure of part of the western Sierra Nevada metamorphic belt, California: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 410, 70 p.}{Deposit:: Clark, L.D., 1970, Geology of the San Andreas 15-minute quadrangle, Calaveras County, California: California Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin 195, 23 p.}{Deposit:: Clark, W.B, and Lydon, P.A., 1962, Mines and mineral resources of Calaveras County, California: California Division of Mines and Geology County Report No. 2, p. 69-70.}{Deposit:: Clark, W.B., 1970, Gold districts of California: California Divisions of Mines and Geology Bulletin 193, p. 115-116.}{Deposit:: Coveney, R.M., Jr., 1981, Gold quartz veins and auriferous granite at the Oriental Mine, Alleghany, California: Economic Geology, v. 76, p. 2176-2199.}{Deposit:: Crawford, J.J., 1896, Calaveras County gold: California State Mining Bureau 13th Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 288, 318.}{Deposit:: Dickinson, W.R., 1981, Plate tectonics and the continental margin of California, in Ernst, W.G., editor, The geotectonic development of California (Rubey Volume I): Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, p. 1-28.}{Deposit:: Eric, J.H. and others, 1955, Geology and mineral deposits of the Angels Camp and Sonora quadrangles, Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties, California: California Division of Mines Special Report 41, 55 p.}{Deposit:: Fischer, E. and Miller, B., 1998, Sheep Ranch pioneers: Las Calaveras, Quarterly Bulletin of the Calaveras County Historical Society, v. XLVII, October, 8 p.}{Deposit:: Hamilton, F., 1914, Mines and mineral resources of parts of California: California State Mining Bureau 14th Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 104-105.}{Deposit:: Hamilton, F. 1923, Mining in California - Activities of the State Mining Bureau: California State Mining Bureau 19th Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 17.}{Deposit:: Hanks, H.G, 1886, Calaveras County: California State Mining Bureau 6th Annual Report of the State Mineralogist - Part II, p. 30.}{Deposit:: Ireland, W., 1888, Calaveras County: California State Mining Bureau 8th Annual Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 131-133.}{Deposit:: Julihn, C.E. and Horton, F.W., 1938, Mines of the southern Mother Lode region, Part I - Calaveras County: U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin 413, p. 110-112.}{Deposit:: Knopf, A., 1929, The Mother Lode system of California: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 157, 88 p.}{Deposit:: Landefeld, L.A., 1990, The geology of the Mother Lode Gold Belt, Foothills Metamorphic Belt, Sierra Nevada, California: in Landefeld, L.A. and Snow, G., editors, Yosemite and the Mother Lode Gold Belt: geology, tectonics, and the evolution of hydrothermal fluids in the Sierra Nevada of California: American Association of Petroleum Geologists, Pacific Section, Guidebook 68, p 117-124.}{Deposit:: Logan, C.A., 1935, Mother Lode gold belt of California: California State Division of Mines Bulletin 108, 240 p.}{Deposit:: Moore, L., 1968, Gold resources of the Mother Lode Belt of California: U. S. Bureau of Mines Technical Progress Report 5 - Heavy Metals Program, 22 p.}{Deposit:: Moores, E.M., 1972, Model for a Jurassic island arc - continental margin collision in California: Geological Society of America, Abstracts with program, v. 4, p. 202.}{Deposit:: Nesbitt, B. E. and others, 1986, Dual origins of lode gold deposits in the Canadian Cordillera: Geology, v. 14, p. 506-509.}{Deposit:: Preston, E.B., 1892, California State Mining Bureau 11th Annual Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 175-176.}{Deposit:: Root, L.L., 1925, Mining in California: California State Mining Bureau 21st Annual Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 158-159.}{Deposit:: Saleeby, J., 1981, Ocean floor accretion and volcanoplutonic arc evolution of the Mesozoic Sierra Nevada, in Ernst, W.G., editor, The geotectonic development of California (Rubey Volume I): Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, p. 132-181.}{Deposit:: Schweickert, R.A. and Cowan, D.S., 1975, Early Mesozoic tectonic evolution of the western Sierra Nevada, California: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 86, p. 1329-1336.}{Deposit:: Schweickert, R.A. and others, 1988, Deformational and metamorphic history of Paleozoic and Mesozoic basement terranes in the western Sierra Nevada metamorphic belt, in Ernst, W.G., editor, Metamorphism and crustal evolution of the western United States (Rubey Volume VII): Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, p. 789-822.}{Deposit:: Seward, T.M., 1991, The hydrothermal geochemistry of gold, in Foster, R.P., editor, Gold metallogeny and exploration: Blackie, Glasgow, p. 37-62.}{Deposit:: Wagner, D.L. and others, 1981, Geologic map of the Sacramento quadrangle, California: California Division of Mines and Geology Regional Map Series Map 1A, scale 1:250,000.}{Deposit:: Weir, R.H. and Kerrick, D.M., 1987, Mineralogic, fluid inclusion, and stable isotope studies of several gold mines in the Mother Lode, Tuolumne and Mariposa Counties, California: Economic Geology, v. 82, p. 1659-1682.}{Deposit:: Miscellaneous information on Sheep Ranch deposit is contained in File Number 330-2461 (CDMG Mineral Resources Files, Sacramento) and in files of the Anaconda Geological Documents Collection at the University of Wyoming.}{Deposit:: Additional miscellaneous information on Sheep Ranch Mine is also on file with:}{Deposit:: Collection number Ms 231.}{Deposit:: Holt Atherton Department of Special Collections}{Deposit:: University of the Pacific Library}{Deposit:: Stockton, CA 95211}{Deposit:: P. O. Box 721}{Deposit:: San Andreas, CA 95249}{Deposit:: (In addition to historical data, this collection includes an impressive photo catalog)}
ReporterDowney, Cameron I. (Higgins, Chris T.), Schruben, Paul G.