Modoc forest area any good..??

[Hobby]

Any one had any luck nuggett shooting around that area..This is in Northern C.A ..Thank's for any info .....Hobby

[Digger Bob]

Any one had any luck nuggett shooting around that area..This is in Northern C.A ..Thank's for any info .....Hobby

Nope. For the most part, the Modoc area is out of the gold fields. For the Eastern part of the state going northward, the gold ends at Butte Creek by Chico. Once you get to Redding, it changes over to the western part of the state, all the way north into Oregon and beyond.

Digger Bob

[dave wiseman]

http://www.google.com/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=Modoc+county+gold&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=

[nvradar]

I have herd a couple stories of an indian who would go into the Warners and come out with gold nuggets to buy his goods with. Don't know much more than that. It was in the late 1800s I believe. NVRADAR

[Hobby]

Nope. For the most part, the Modoc area is out of the gold fields. For the Eastern part of the state going northward, the gold ends at Butte Creek by Chico. Once you get to Redding, it changes over to the western part of the state, all the way north into Oregon and beyond.

Digger Bob

yea, I have not heard much about the Modoc forest and it cover's a big area.But I have sean a pic of a big nugget found just the other side of the C.A border in Oregon toward the coast.I'd say it was about 10-12 year's ago when I stoped in at D-K detector in Portland.It was found with a VLF and I think $20,000 was the estament on the big nugget.Heard of other nugget's and saw some nice raw copper from there also........Ive heard that story about the Indian prospector too..HH Hobby

[dave wiseman]

The thing about a light gold producing county such as Modoc is..that over the past 20 years it's likely to have also been lighty prospected,Don't have a clue as to how much BLM land there is ..private access may be difficult with all the big ranches.

[Reno Chris]

Most of the Modoc area consists of rocks that are unfavorable to forming gold deposits. For the most part these barren rocks are recent (geologically speaking) basalts.

Yep Modoc been prospected very little for nuggets. But neither has Kansas or Nebraska. They are not very favorable either. Most times prospecting barren and unfavorable areas is a total waste of time.

Chris

[dave wiseman]

Don't believe the fellow is trying to get rich,open up a new mining district or such.If he's an experienced beeper and can get access to the known gold areas..likely he'll do better than the average Arizona fellow does at,say,Rich Hill or San Domingo.

[Reno Chris]

I dont know Dave - the only two gold districts in Modoc yielded only tiny sized free gold - no placer, and nothing that could be found with a metal detector. One of them, Haden Hill, was heap leached in the 1980s. Although these are places with some gold, and I cant guarantee that there are no pieces large enough to see with a detector, I'd expect the chances of finding anything to be very, very low. The geology of the deposits is more closely allied with the gold-silver hard rock districts of Nevada, and not at all like the California mother lode or Arizona.

This is from a report I have:

The only sources of commercial amounts of gold

in the Modoc Plateau province of northeastern California

have been the Hayden Hill district in north-central

Lassen County and the Winters district in southwest

Modoc County. In both districts the gold-bearing veins

occur in volcanic rocks of Tertiary age. The mines

at Hayden Hill have yielded several million dollars

worth of gold, but the Winters district has been the

source of less than $200,000. A few small gold prospects

occur elsewere in this region.

Hayden Hill

Location. The Hayden Hill district is in northwestern

Lassen County about 20 miles southeast of

Bieber and 65 miles north of Susanville. It is the only

important gold-mining district in the Modoc Plateau

geomorphic province.

History. Gold-bearing veins were discovered here

in 1869 by J. W. Hayden and S. Lewis. The camp,

established in 1871, was originally known as Providence

City, renamed Hayden Hill in 1878. A rush to

the district lasted until 1883. There was considerable

activity again from 1903 to 1910, when the Golden

Eagle mine was worked on a large scale. During the

1930s the Hayden Hill corporation operated several

properties on a moderate scale, and there has been

intermittent prospecting since. The district has a total

output valued at about $3 million.

Geology. The district is underlain predominantly

by nearly flat-lying well-bedded rhyolite tuffs of Tertiary

age, some silicified and brecciated. Patches of

Pliocene basalt lie to the east, and extensive beds of

Miocene pyroclastic rocks lie to the west and north.

Ore Deposits. Several steeply-dipping veins and

stringer zones range from one to 25 feet in thickness.

These deposits consist chiefly of consolidated and cemented

breccia of wall rock; only a small amount of

quartz is present. The gold occurs in the free state in

usually small round particles and is commonly associated

with manganese. Appreciable silver is present but

practically no sulfides. Nearly all of the ore has been

recovered from above the 800-foot depth.

Mines. Brush Hill $400,000, Blue Bell $100,000,

Evening Star $200,000, Golden Eagle $1,025,000, Hayden

Gouge, Hayseed $150,000, Juniper $600,000,

North Star $20,000, Providence $78,000.

Winters

Location and History. This district is in southwestern

Modoc County 35 miles west-southwest of

Alturas and 16 miles north of Adin. The area was

first prospected for gold in 1890. The vein at the

Lost Cabin mine was discovered in 1904. Mining activity

continued for a few years after that date, and

there was prospecting here in the 1930s.

Geology. The district is underlain by andesite,

andesite porphyry, and basalt of Tertiary age. There

are several west- and northwest-striking veins that

contain fine free gold, quartz, brecciated wall rock,

calcite, and feldspar. The deposits are shallow, none

of the veins having been developed to a depth of

greater than 300 feet.

Mines. Dixie Queen, Lost Cabin (Hess) $150,000,

Modoc.

[dave wiseman]

Yeah Chris seems like your spot on..one would have to spend all summer up there for a chance of some quartz gold species.