Sierra County, California has 8,147 records of mining claims on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management and 456 records of mines listed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS).
Quick Facts
- 8,147 records of mining claims on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
- 1,307 active mining claims
- 6,840 closed mining claims
- 456 USGS records of mines in Sierra County, California.
- Gold , Silver , Chromium , Copper , and Lead mines located in Sierra County, California. See All
Mines Summary
in Sierra County, California
- 456 Total
- 44 Occurrences
- 50 Prospects
- 3 Plants
- 359 Producers
Sierra County Mine Locations
Click to open an interactive map.
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Recently Updated Mining Claims
Most recently updated claims in Sierra.
Mining Claims (BLM)
Sierra County, California has 8,147 mining claims on public land listed in The Diggings™. Of these claims, 16.04% are active while 83.96% are now closed.
Quick BLM Facts
- 8,147 records of mining claims on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
- 1,307 records of active mining claims
- 6,840 records of closed mining claims
Mine By Disposition
In Sierra
| COUNTY | Authorized mines |
|---|---|
| closed | 6840 |
| active | 1307 |
Sierra County, California Mining Image Gallery
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Kirkpatrick Mine, 1950 J.C. O'Brien Courtesy of California Geological Survey -
Slate Creek Gravel Gold Mining Company, 1896 E. B. Preston © E. B. Preston Courtesy of California Geological Survey -
Crescent Pacific Mining Company, 1950 J.C. O'Brien Courtesy of California Geological Survey -
Depot Hill Hydraulic Mine, 1940 Courtesy of California Geological Survey -
Depot Hill Hydraulic Mine, 1940 Courtesy of California Geological Survey -
Lucky Gold Hill Mine, 1940 Charles Averill © Charles Averill Courtesy of California Geological Survey
Sierra County, California Trends Overview
January 2021 vs. January 2020
January 2021
January 2020
Net
Change
Opened Claims
0
15
15
100%
Opened Acres
0
500
500
100%
Transfered Claims
0
1
1
100%
Transfered Acres
0
36
36
100%
Located Claims
0
15
15
100%
Located Acres
0
500
500
100%
Mining Trends
Historic Mining Records (USGS)
Sierra has 456 identified mines listed in The Diggings™. The most commonly listed primary commodities in Sierra mines are Gold , Silver , and Chromium . At the time these mines were surveyed, 44 mines in Sierra were observed to have ore mineralization in an outcrop, shallow pit, or isolated drill hole—known as an occurance mine.1 Sierra has 50 prospect mines.2 359 mines were in production at the time the data was entered into USGS records.
Quick USGS Facts
- 456 records of mines in Sierra County, California.
- 50 records of prospects
- 44 records of mineral occurrences of observable ore mineralization.
- 3 records of mining plants
- 359 records of mineral producers
Mine By Disposition
In Sierra
| COUNTY | Authorized mines |
|---|---|
| Producers | 359 |
| Prospects | 50 |
| Occurrences | 44 |
| Other | 3 |
1 Grade, tonnage, and extent of mineralization for such mines are unspecified.
2 Such mines have some degree of development such as surface trenching, adits, shafts, drill holes, geophysics, geochemistry, or geological mapping to estimate grade and tonnage.
Popular Public Lands & Regions
in Sierra County, California
Land TypeTotal ClaimsActive ClaimsClosed ClaimsActive AcresTotal MinesProspectsOccurrencesPlantsProducers
Tahoe National Forest
National Forests
7,415
1,138
6,277
38,085.99
651
67
78
4
502
Plumas National Forest
National Forests
588
155
433
6,613.46
124
27
25
0
72
Mendocino National Forest
National Forests
1
1
0
20
0
0
0
0
0
Toiyabe National Forest
National Forests
23
0
23
0
6
1
2
0
3
Top Mining Districts
in Sierra County, California
StateTotal ClaimsActive ClaimsClosed ClaimsActive AcresTotal MinesProspectsOccurrencesPlantsProducers
Downieville Mining District
California
520
332
188
10,239.17
130
11
8
1
110
Alleghany Mining District
California
452
300
152
9,538.47
184
5
34
1
144
Sierra City Mining District
California
335
151
184
5,395.26
140
35
19
1
85
Poker Flat Mining District
California
132
87
45
3,615.64
48
13
5
0
30
Eureka Mining District
California
70
40
30
2,310.16
18
0
4
0
14
Gibsonville Mining District
California
60
35
25
1,550.5
24
9
2
0
13
Brandy City Mining District
California
111
36
75
1,140
15
1
1
0
13
Pike Mining District
California
102
36
66
1,089.89
55
2
10
0
43
Indian Hill Mining District
California
109
38
71
1,083.29
15
0
0
1
14
American Hill Mining District
California
58
37
21
957.54
24
2
0
0
22
Top Owners
in Sierra County, California
CityStateCategoryInterest RelationshipTotal ClaimsActive ClaimsClosed ClaimsActive Acres
Telegraph LLC
South Lake Tahoe
California
Corporation
Claimant
28
24
4
2,480.02
Mountain House Mine LLC
Grass Valley
California
Corporation
Claimant
59
59
0
1,923.07
North Fork Mining Co.
Nevada City
California
Corporation
Claimant
42
42
0
1,587.51
Ruby Gold Inc.
Grass Valley
California
Corporation
Claimant
69
23
46
1,315.45
Investigative Resources Inc.
Malibu
California
Corporation
Claimant
4
4
0
600
Popular Towns, Cities, Etc.
in Sierra County, California
CountyStateTotal ClaimsActive ClaimsClosed ClaimsActive AcresTotal MinesProspectsOccurrencesPlantsProducers
Goodyears Bar
Sierra
California
21,680
2,415
19,265
83,067.10
2,077
131
367
7
1,572
Alleghany
Sierra
California
21,690
2,405
19,285
82,623.47
2,482
125
424
7
1,926
Downieville
Sierra
California
21,200
2,394
18,806
81,742.72
1,801
112
313
6
1,370
Pike
Sierra
California
18,768
2,144
16,624
72,742.90
2,502
109
442
8
1,943
Sierra City
Sierra
California
17,024
1,939
15,085
64,446.64
1,240
99
205
5
931
Calpine
Sierra
California
5,335
411
4,924
14,191.83
363
56
70
1
236
Sattley
Sierra
California
5,432
415
5,017
13,391.87
366
57
62
1
246
Loyalton
Sierra
California
3,176
321
2,855
8,267.17
137
38
43
0
56
Sierraville
Sierra
California
3,776
220
3,556
7,455.30
276
48
55
1
172
Verdi
Sierra
California
3,843
279
3,564
6,828.40
165
43
57
1
64
Mining Claim News From The Diggings™
Learn more about the Bureau of Land Management, Public Land Survey System, and mining claims.
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Understanding Claim Ownership
We receive lots of emails from people who find their name or a relative’s name on our site and want to know if this means they have some right to the land listed under that name.
-
Understanding BLM Administrative Areas
Whether it is filing a mine or researching one, the administering BLM office is going to be the definitive source.
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Understanding Location Data
Mine handled by the Bureau of Land Management are not mapped by latitude and longitude, instead, these mines harken back to the Public Land Survey System.
-
Understanding Townships
A “township” can refer to two different things. Both are part of the PLSS measurement system but have different uses.
