CHAPTER SEVEN.

MINERAL PRODUCTION OF CALIFORNIA BY

Introductory.

COUNTIES.

The State of California includes an area of 155,652 square miles and is divided into fifty-eight counties. Some mineral of commercial value exists in every county, and during 1914 active production was reported to the State Mining Bureau from fifty-six counties of the fiftyeight. In the mountainous portions of the State are found the vein forming minerals, largely. In the vast desert regions of southeastern California ancient lake beds afford an unlimited supply of saline deposits. Underlying the interior valleys of the central and southern portion of the State are the largest pools of crude oil in the world. Building stones and mineral earths of all descriptions are widely distributed throughout the length and breadth of the State.

The counties, with their mineral resources, production for 1914, etc., will be considered in detail in this chapter.*

Value of California Mineral Production, by County, for 1914, Arranged in the Order of Their Importance.

Asbestos from Alameda, Calaveras, El Dorado, Placer, Shasta. Amounts not separable.

4Platinum from Butte, Del Norte, Sacramento, Siskiyou, Yuba. Amounts not separable. See also p. 33. *See also supplement to Chapter Three-Metals, pp. 33, 34.

6-18655

Alameda.

Alameda County, while in no sense one of the "mining counties" of the State, comes twenty-third on the list, with a value of mineral products for 1914 of $870,427, an increase over the 1913 total, which was $844,217. The principal mineral resources of this county consist of asbestos, brick, chromite, clay, coal, lime, magnesite, manganese, pyrite, salt, soapstone, and the stone industry.

Commercial production for 1914 was as follows:

Alpine has usually shown a small production of gold and silver, but dropped out of the list of producing counties for 1914.

This county lies just south of Lake Tahoe, in the high Sierra Nevada range of mountains. Its area is 776 square miles, containing a population of but 309 persons. Transportation is by wagon or mule back, and facilities in general are lacking to promote development work of any kind.

The mineral resources of this section are varied and the country has not yet been thoroughly prospected. Barium, copper, gold, gypsum, lead, limestone, pyrite, rose quartz, silver, tourmaline, and zinc have been found here to some extent.

Amador.

Area: 601 square miles.

Population: 9,086 (1910 census).

The value of Amador County's mineral production increased from $3,013,180 in 1913 to $3,230,075 in 1914, thus taking seventh place on the list of counties in the State as regards total value of mineral substances marketed.

Although having an output consisting of twelve different minerals, the leading product, gold, makes up nearly 98 per cent of the entire total. Amador is second in the State in gold production.

The mineral resources of this county are, in the main, as follows: Asbestos, brick, chromite, clay, coal, copper, gold, lime, quartz crystals, sand-glass, sandstone, silver, soapstone, and stone industry.

Area: 1,722 square miles.

Population: 27,301 (1910 census).

Location: North central portion of State.

Butte, thirteenth county in California in regard to the value of its mineral output, reported a commercial production of six mineral substances having a total value of $1,755,315, as compared with $2,533,940 for 1913. As will be noted in the following tabulation, gold is by far the most important item. Butte stands fifth among the gold-producing counties of the State. Among the principal mineral resources of this section are asbestos, barytes, chromite, gems, gold, limestone, marble, mineral water, platinum minerals, silver, and stone industry.

Commercial production for 1914 was as follows:

Calaveras.

Area: 1,027 square miles.

Population: 9,171.

Location: East central portion of State-Mother Lode district. Calaveras County reported production of seven different minerals, valued at $2,068,343 during the year 1914, as compared with the 1913 output worth $2,042,901. Gold, copper and silver are the chief mineral substances produced. In regard to total value of mineral output Calaveras stands twelfth among the counties of the State; it is sixth in gold, second in copper, and third in silver.

The principal mineral resources developed and undeveloped are: Asbestos, barytes, chromite, clay, copper, fuller's earth, gold, graphite, limestone, magnesite, marble, mineral paint, mineral water, platinum minerals, pyrite, quartz crystals, silver, soapstone, and the stone industry.

Commercial production for 1914 was as follows:

Colusa County lies largely in the basin of the Sacramento Valley. Its western border, however, rises into the foothills of the Coast Range of mountains, and its mineral resources-to a great extent undeveloped —include coal, chromite, copper, gypsum, manganese, mineral water, pyrite, quicksilver, sandstone, stone industry, sulphur, and in some places traces of gold and silver.

The value of the 1914 production was $32,251, a decrease from the 1913 figures of $48,481, giving it forty-sixth place.

Contra Costa, like Alameda County, lies off the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay, and is not commonly considered among the mineralproducing counties of the State. It stands eighteenth on the list in this respect, however, with an output valued at $1,149,321 for the calendar year 1914. Various structural materials make up the chief items. Among the others are brick, clay, coal, gypsum, limestone, manganese, mineral water, soapstone, and stone industry. Commercial production for 1914 was as follows:

Population: 2,417 (1910 census).

Location: Extreme northwest corner of State.

Transportation: Wagon and mule back.

Del Norte rivals Alpine County in regard to inaccessibility. Like the latter county also, given transportation and kindred facilities, this portion of the State presents a wide field for development along mining lines especially. Its chief mineral resources, largely untouched, are chromite, copper, gems, gold, graphite, iron, platinum minerals, silver and stone industry.