The Butt Valley Mining District is located in northwestern Plumas County and is a very extensive area that lies between Lake Almanor on the north side and Virgilia and Twain to the south. The Butt Valley District includes the Caribou Wilderness and Seneca areas. During the California gold rush, vast amounts of gold were recovered form the Feather River and its tributaries. Lode mining originally began in the 1850’s continued through the 1930’s but today, most mining is done along the rivers and streams in the area.
Geology- the Butt Valley District is underlain by a series of metamorphosed sediments, where slate is also abundant along with sandstone, limestone, quartzrite and conglomerates. In addition, you will also find greenstones and serpentine. Gold-quartz veins occur in brecciated zones in all of the formations, but they are most abundant in slate and greenstones. Ore contains free gold and varying amounts of sulfides including arsenopyrite. Some veins and vein zones are measured to be about 20 or more feet thick, and a number of high grade pockets have been found. Placer deposits bot Tertiary and Recent in age have been found to be extremely rich.
Work Cited: “Gold Districts of California” Edition 193. William B. Clark. 1998
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