Black Diamond Gold Project

Famous 1856 Black Diamond Gold lode Mine for Sale

Plumas County California via Johnsville Rd.

3 – 20-acre contiguous unpatented lode claims totaling 60 acres on the Sierra/Plumas County line in Northern California Historic gold producer since 1856. Documented in producing over 18 million dollars of high-grade gold at 2026 prices. The last 30 years of production have produced hundreds of gold/quartz museum quality specimens having rare dendritic crystalline structures that are highly prized by collectors. Mine site is 6.5 miles from a paved county road and another 7 miles from the closest town. Accessible from April through November yearly. Mine elevation is 5800’ – 6800’ over a 4500-foot length ledge. Existing U.S. Forest Service PO permitting approval currently in place covering surface/ subsurface extraction and hauling of ore offsite for processing using the existing haul roads to upper and lower-level portals.

See History and Production

The Black Diamond Quartz Lode Mine is situated on the Sierra-Plumas County line and begins on the dividing ridge between Slate and Hopkins Creeks. It is located six miles east of Gibsonville and one fourth mile from Mt. Aetna. (Sierra County Records)
1856- Miguel Campo and Company took out a preemption mineral claim for the Black Diamond Mine (Plumas County Preemptions 1856:223). On July 14,1856, it was reported that: A great excitement has been created among the miners in the towns above this place by the discovery of a quartz ledge by a company of Chilanoes [sic], about the first of last week, on the dividing ridge between the waters of Slate Creek and that of Hopkin’s Creek. The ledge is described as being from two to twelve inches thick, and the center has the appearance of being nearly solid gold. A gentleman who visited it, and who had a number of specimens in his possession, calls it a 'gold ledge’, with some little quartz stuck about it. The specimens that we have examined indicate great richness and appear to be about half gold. The ledge extends to the surface of the hill, and was found without any excavating, and if reports are half true, it contains a larger amount of treasure than any ever before discovered. It had been discovered by finding a quartz rock that had broken off from the ledge and rolled down the side of the mountain. [Sacramento Daily Union]
Another early twentieth-century newspaper account reported that: “Sometime in the late fifties some Chilean miners took out a pocket from the Black Diamond and recovered over eighty thousand dollars. [Plumas Independent 1924] (Reference that gold was priced at $20.67 in 1860 which extrapolates to a 3,870 ounce pocket of gold valued in year 2026 as over 18 million dollars)
1860-According to John McFarland, who owns a hotel at Poker Flat, “Some Mexicans were working the Black Diamond Quartz Mine near Bunker Hill and Hopkins Creek in the vicinity of Mt. Aetna in the 1860s. They worked the lower grade ore with an arrastra and took out a large and exceedingly rich pocket. They carried the ore by burro over the trail to Downieville. Much of the gold from the mine and near the Bunker Hill Mine was coated with a black substance (arsenopyrite) which is likely how the mine got its name.” (James J. Sinnott, 1977)
1913-The Black Diamond Mine has been bonded by Marius Duvall. (Mining and Scientific Press, Dec. 27, 1913)
1916-A quartz bonanza was uncovered at the Black Diamond Mine by T. E. Winrod and Peckwith of Downieville who have been prospecting in the Hopkins Creek area where great quantities of gold were extracted by crude methods in early days. (Engineering and Mining Journal, November 11, 1916)
1923-T. E. Winrod located the Spanish Pocket Quartz Mine July 4th. (Sierra County Records)
1942-The U.S. War Production Board Issues Limitation Order L-208 on October 8, 1942. Closing the Black Diamond Mine. All three drifts and two of three shafts are filled in and closed. (according to adjacent Alpine placer mine owner John Chickenoff interview in 1992 by Laporte, CA historian Jann Garvis)
1965-Don Phelps of Oroville, California locates the Black Diamond mine. Mr. Phelps drove an upper tunnel less than fifty feet long along the vein that intercepted the sixty-foot-deep air shaft on top of the hill. Rich ore was taken out and milled in Oroville. A number of large crystalline gold specimens were taken out of exceptional value. A blasting accident in the late 1980’s severely injured Mr. Phelps. (Clark Pearson interviews Don Phelps in 2005 before his death)
1990- Don Phelps closes the Black Diamond Mine and the Forest Service burns down his cabin.
1995-The Black Diamond Mine reopens under new and the present ownership by Clark Pearson of Grass Valley, California. The mine holdings include the historical workings near the top of the mountain and extending to the north with three contiguous 20-acre claims along the lode and crossing Hopkins Creek and Sherman Ravine to the north. A Geophysical mineral survey was conducted to reveal the extent of the Black Diamond deposit plus finding a virgin “chimney” deposit located 1200 feet to the Northwest and parallel to the Black Diamond deposit. This survey and unpublished report indicate that the gold taken out by earlier miners was a small fraction of the overall potential left in reserve below the unmined 200’ depth mark and at the present lower forth level tunnel.
Owner Pearson, over the last thirty years, has employed two geologists and one mine engineer to map the existing four levels of tunnels and two shafts on the site. Pearson has reopened all tunnels to access the vein and taken out many hundreds of thousands of dollars of crystalline specimens of gold laced in quartz. Numerous gold/quartz specimens the size of potatoes have been taken out. Most crystalline dendritic gold quartz specimens from the Black Diamond Mine were coated in arsenopyrite and galena. High grade zones appear ribbed with gold/quartz, including vug zones laced with gold beautifully wrapped in clear quartz crystals. Haul road access points include the fourth level portal area and another to an airshaft on the top of the hill. From the top airshaft are short trails accessing the first, second and third portals and tunnels on the vein. Two high-grade shafts remain filled with rock that are located below the fourth level portal and down the hill per the 1942 War Order L-208. The top of the airshaft is on the Sierra/Plumas County line and at an elevation of 6800’. The fourth level portal and tunnel are at 6600’ elevation.