The Giant King Mine is located in east-central Nevada County, California in the vicinity of the old mining town of Washington, 18 miles northeast of Nevada City. The Giant King consists of 24 unpatented lode claims totaling 480 acres and is in the south end of the Goodyear's Bar-Alleghany belt along Washington Creek.

The Giant King is bordered on west by the world famous Red Ledge Mine... on the south by the Phelps Hill Mine... the Alpha Diggings to the east is part of the Giant King's lode claims and borders the famous Omega Mine. The Melones Fault extends south from the world famous 16 to 1 Mines directly through the Giant King property! You couldn't ask to be in a better neighborhood or for better neighbors!

Melones Fault Of major importance, the Melones Fault cuts through the middle of the Giant King. Most of the gold mines within the Mother Lode System are localized along the Melones Fault, a steep, easterly dipping crustal-scale suture that extends from Plumas County in the north to Mariposa County in the south. This structure marks the boundary between several tectonic terrains. The quartz veins in this region typically extend to thousands of feet in depth and are noted for rich ore shoots often containing spectacular pockets of Gold-in-Quartz running hundreds or thousands of ounces per ton. Considering the large size of the Giant King’s quartz structure, and the fact that both the Melones Fault structure and the southern continuation of the 16-to-l vein system pass directly through the Giant King’s property, the Giant King property has an excellent potential for long-term quartz gold production.

The district is underlain chiefly by slate, schist and quartzite of the Blue Canyon Formation (Carboniferous). A serpentine body one to two miles wide crops out in the central portion. The Relief Quartzite (Carboniferous) and amphibolite lie to the west and granodiorite to the east. The serpentine is a south extension of a belt that passes north-northwest through Alleghany and Goodyear's Bar in Sierra County. Tertiary andesite overlies the main ridges to the north and south.

Ore Deposits
The auriferous Tertiary channel gravels at Alpha and Omega pass through the southern borders of the Giant King and are part of the main channel that extends west and north to Relief and North Bloomfield. Jarmin (1927) estimated that, at Omega, 13 million yards were mined and yielded 13.5 cents in gold per yard. Lindgren (1911) estimated that 40 million yards remained. The quartz veins contain small but rich ore bodies, similar to those of the Alleghany district to the north, but are not as plentiful. Except for arsenopyrite, sulfides are not usually abundant. A number of beautiful specimens of crystallized gold have been found in the neighboring Red Ledge mine. The Spanish mine also has yielded large amounts of barite.

Special Note:

The largest Quartz Structure / Vein ever discovered in California was at the Giant king Mine! Most hard rock miners get excited when they discover a quartz vein 18 inches wide. At the Giant King, you can stand inside carved out quartz chambers 30 feet high and 20-30 feet wide! Keep in mind, the Giant King covers only a small portion the 480 acre property. There are many,many more quartz outcroppings on the property. Some so large, you won't believe your eyes!

The Washington district was first mined during the gold rush, and the placers of the Middle Yuba River were highly productive. The Omega and Alpha hydraulic mines were opened in the mid 1850's and worked on a major scale through the 1880s. Later, Chinese miners reworked the tailings. Lode mining also began in the 1850's and continued steadily until about 1915. There was activity in the district again during the 1930s, and the Red Ledge mine has been worked in recent years. Barite, chromite, and asbestos also have been mined here.

Additional Info: PLEASE... No tire kickers, Lookie Lou's or Time Wasters! Before you call with questions READ the History of the Giant King and our Geologist's Report. There is a tremendous amount of information contained in these downloads! Thank You.