Hayden Hill Deposit

Lassen County, California, United States

SilverGoldMercuryArsenicManganese

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Commodities

PrimarySilver, Gold

TertiaryMercury, Arsenic, Manganese

Commodity typeM

Deposit

Deposit typeHydrothermal stockwork; hydrothermal vein

Model104: Hot-spring Au-Ag

Orebody formTabular; irregular

Ore controlGold and silver are concentrated along sets of faults and fractures (and associated quartz veins, stockworks, and hydrothermal breccias) that cut Hayden Hill.

Materials

Ore mineralsElectrum, Gold, Pyrite, Acanthite, Tetrahedrite, Tennantite, Polybasite, Pearceite

GangueQuartz, Chalcedony, Goethite, Hematite, Calcite

Geology

Host rockDacite,Volcanic Breccia (Agglomerate),Siltstone,Mixed Clastic/Volcanic Rock,Sandstone · "Turner Creek Formation", "Tuff of Dago Springs"

StructureOre was originally discovered and mined on the southwest flank of Hayden Hill from many steeply dipping faults and fractures, which generally trend northeast or northwest. Most significant of these are the Providence, Golden Eagle, Juniper, and Brush Hill. Modern mining exploited these sets as well as those on the northeast flank of Hayden Hill, which included north-trending faults in addition to northeast- and northwest-trending faults and local stockworks. Intersections of these faults and fractures were particularly important sites of concentration., Walker Lane; Hayden Hill volcanic complex

Tectonic settingVolcanic arc; back arc

AlterationAs interpreted from Finn (1987) , Finn and Laskowski (1994), and Detra and Burnett (1994):\n\nEarly (?):\nPropylitic (early phase?); albite, chlorite, epidote, montmorillonite, quartz, calcite, pyrite\n\nStage-One:\nSilicic; quartz, chalcedony\nPotassic; adularia, sericite \n\nStage-Two:\nCarbonate; calcite (Finn, 1987)\nSilicic; quartz, chalcedony (Detra and Burnett, 1994)\n\nStage Three:\nSilicic; quartz, chalcedony\nPotassic; adularia, sericite \nArgillic; illite, montmorillonite\n\nLate:\nOxidation; goethite, hematite\n\nOxidation was reported to a depth of at least 835 feet, the depth of the Golden Eagle shaft (Tucker, 1919). All of the ore in the Providence Pit and about two-thirds of the ore in the Lookout Pit was oxidized based on observations up to 1994 (Detra and Burnett, 1994).\n

Economic & production

Development statusProducer

Discovery year1870

Identification

Deposit ID10310628

Alternate namesGolden Eagle, Providence City

RegionNA

Data scoreA

Coordinates40.99785, -120.87028

References

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G-3, p. 261-406.Clark, W.B., 1970, Gold districts of California: California Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin 193, 186 p.Clifton, C.G., 1986, Primary gas dispersion halos in disseminated gold deposits: Examples from Nevada and California: Journal of Geochemical Exploration, v. 25, no. 1/2, p. 259.Cox, D.P. and Singer, D.A., 1986, Mineral deposit models: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1693, 379 p.Crawford, J.J., 1894, Lassen County: California State Mining Bureau 12th Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 149-150.Detra, E.H. and Burnett, J.L., 1994, Geology of Hayden Hill - A new mine revitalizing an old mining district: California Geology, v. 47, no. 5, p. 134-138.Dillard, G., 1992, Amax?s original plan survives gauntlet intact: Rocky Mountain Pay Dirt, November, p. 4A-7A.Finn, D.R., 1987, Geology and ore deposits of the Hayden Hill District, Lassen County, California: M.S. thesis, University of Nevada, Reno, 84 p.Finn, D.R. and Buchanan, L.J., 1984, Hayden Hill, California: Epithermal Au-Ag mineralization associated with Cascade volcanism: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 16, no. 6, p. 509.Fuis, G.S. and others, 1987, A geologic interpretation of seismic-refraction results in northeastern California: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 98, no. 1, p. 53-65.Garman, C.E., 1991, Geology and tectonism of the northeast Hayden Hill area, Lassen County, California: M.S. thesis, Colorado School of Mines, 84 p.Gay, T.E., Jr., 1966, Economic mineral deposits of the Cascade Range, Modoc Plateau, and Great Basin region of northeastern California, in Bailey, E.H., editor, Geology of Northern California: California Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin 190, p. 97-104.Grose, T.L.T., 1990, Basin and Range transition east of Lassen Peak: EOS, Transactions of American Geophysical Union, v. 71, no. 43, p. 1613.Grose, T.L.T., 1993, The Walker Lane Belt in northeastern California: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 25, no. 5, p. 44-45.Grose, T.L.T., 2000, Volcanoes in the Susanville region, Lassen, Modoc, Plumas counties, northeastern California: California Geology, v. 53, no. 5, p. 4-23.Grose, T.L.T. and others, 1994, Geologic map of the Hayden Hill 15-Minute Quadrangle, Lassen County, California: California Department of Conservation, Division of Mines and Geology Open-File Report 93-06, scale 1:62,500.Guffanti, M. and others, 1990, Late Cenozoic volcanism, subduction, and extension in the Lassen region of California, southern Cascade Range: Journal of Geophysical Research, v. 95, no. B12, p. 19,453-19,464.Hanks, H.G., 1888, Lassen County: California State Mining Bureau 8th Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 330-331.Hannah, J.L., 1977, Tectonic setting of the Modoc region, northeastern California: California Division of Mines and Geology Special Report 129, p. 35-39.Hazlett, D.P., 1984, A volcanotectonic and paleomagnetic investigation in the Hayden Hill area: M.S. thesis, Colorado School of Mines, 155 p.Hazlett, D.P. and Grose, T.L.T., 1983, The Hayden Hill volcanic center, northeastern California: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 15, no. 5, p. 330.Hill, J.M., 1915, Some mining districts in California and Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 594, p. 30-38.Hutchinson, R.W., and Albers, J.P., 1992, Metallogenic evolution of the Cordilleran region of the western United States, in Burchfiel, B.C. and others, editors, The Cordilleran Orogen: Conterminous U.S.: Geological Society of America, The Geology of North America, v. G-3, p. 629-652.Macdonald, G.A., 1966, Geology of the Cascade Range and Modoc Plateau, in Bailey, E.H., editor, Geology of Northern California: California Division of Mines and Geology Bulletin 190, p. 65-96.McKee, E.H. and others, 1983, Late Miocene and early Pliocene basaltic rocks and their implications for crustal structure, northeastern California and south-central Oregon: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 94, no.2, p. 292-304.Mooney, W.D. and Weaver, C.S., 1989, Regional crustal structure and tectonics of the Pacific coastal states; California, Oregon, and Washington, in Pakiser, L.C. and Mooney, W.D., editors, Geophysical framework of the continental United States: Geological Society of America Memoir 172, p. 129-161.Preston, E.B., 1890, Lassen County: California State Mining Bureau 9th Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 211-213.Preston, E.B., 1892, Hayden Hill Mining District: California State Mining Bureau 11th Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 241-242.Saucedo, G.J. and others, 1990, Age and distribution of volcanism - Susanville/Eagle Lake area, northeastern California: EOS, Transactions of American Geophysical Union, v. 71, no. 43, p. 1613.Tucker, W.B., 1919, Lassen County: California State Mining Bureau 15th Report of the State Mineralogist, p. 229-235.Finn, D. and Laskowski, E., 1994, Hayden Hill Mine tour and roadlog: Newmont Exploration Ltd., unpublished field guide.Grant, W. and Check, E.E., 1944, Report on Lassen Eagle Company property, Hayden Hill (CDMG Library, Sacramento).Hayden Hill Operating Company, Inc., 1989, Plan of operations for the Hayden Hill gold venture, Lassen County, California: Report submitted to U.S. Bureau of Land Management.McCusker, R.T. (adapted from), 1990, Geology of the Hayden Hill project: Unpublished report, 6 p.Steffen, Robertson and Kirsten (U.S.), Inc., 1991, Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement for the Hayden Hill Project, Lassen County, California: Unpublished report, p. 3-1 to 3-7.