Please do not destroy or throw away this publication. If you have no further use 

for it, write to the Geological Survey at Washington and ask for a frank to return it

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Harold L. Ickes, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

W. C. Mendenhall, Director

Bulletin 846 B

GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS

OF THE

TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON

INCLUDING THE BLUE CREEK DISTRICT 

BY

PHILIP J. SHENON

Contributions to economic geology, 1933, Part 1 

(Pages 141-194)

UNITED STATES

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

WASHINGTON : 1933

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. ------ Price 20 cents

 Page

Abstract._._____._.__.__________.____---_-___--__---------------- 141

Introduction__ ._____...____._________--___._---_.--__--__-_----- 142

Field work and acknowledgments.------------------------------ 142

Location and transportation facilities.-_____-_--_______---__----_ 143

Literature and maps___.____._____-_____-____-_--__---___--__ 143

Geography of the Klamath region._.-______-_____------.__-_-__---__ 144

Relief and drainage._..________________.__-----____-____'--_-_ 144

Topographic features of the Klamath Mountains.__-----_---_--_-- 145

Age and development of the Klamath Mountains.__-___-_..._--._ 145

Climate and vegetation.________-___--_-__--_------__----_---_- 146

Location and topography of the Takilma-Waldo district.-__----__----. 148-

Geology______..._._...___..____ . ..__..._..._. 148

Distribution of rocks.___-_-_-.---_-_-___.---_--___-__--___-.._ 148

Sedimentary rocks..______________________________________.-L___ 14g

Paleozoic rocks.__-_---_-__----------__-_---_--_---..---.- 14&

Jurassic rocks__-_----------------------------------------- 149

Galice formation.____._--_-----__--____________.._-._- 149>

Cretaceous rocks-_-----_----------------------__-_-_------ 15Q

Horsetown (?) formation--...__________________________ 150

Tertiary rocks._--__--_-___---_----__------_---_---__----_ 152

Conglomerate__ ______-------___--____-_________._-__ 152

Quaternary rocks.__________-__--____-_-__-__--___.___-___ 154

Llano de Oro formation.--..---.----...---.-----...---. 154

Alluvial fan of Rough and Ready Creek________________ 155-

Gravel deposits of the East Fork of the Illinois River...... 155

Igneous rocks_.__--_---_-___-------_-----_-__-_____..__.-_._ 15ft

Greenstones __--------_-_------_--------___--__________--_ 156

Metabasalt.. _ ________________________________________ 157

Metagabbro.___-_-_____-___---__--__________..___.___ 158

Serpentine-___--------___--__------_--___________________ 159

Deformation__________________________________________________ 161

Ore deposits._____________________________________________________ 162

Classification _________________________________________________ 162

Copper mines_______________________________________________ 162

General features.__________________________________________ 162

Copper deposits in greenstone.__------_-______________,-___ 163

Queen of Bronze mine.________________________________ 163

Waldo mine.--_.-_____--___-'_______________..___.____ 167

Lilly mine__-_--'-____----.--_____________.._.__.____ 168

Lyttle mine._________________________________________ 168

Origin of the deposits in greenstone.......__._..__.___.__ 1691

Copper deposits in serpentine..______________________________ 170

Cowboy mine_______________________________________ 170

Future outlook for the copper mines.................________ 177

m
IV CONTENTS

Ore deposits Continued. Page

Chromite deposits..__________________-__-___-,__--__--_____--_ 177

Esterly mine.____________________________________________ 178

Owens mine______________________________________________ 178

Placer deposits._____________________-__-.___-__--...________-_ 178

History and production.___________________________________ 178

Mining methods. ___--._-___--_---___-__-..-__..__---__-__-_ 179

Classification of placers._______________ ._._._________._.___ 180

Tertiary placers..-.-----------._.--______-______.-._-_____ 180

General features.___-___-___-___---___________--__-.-_ 180

High Gravel mine.-..___________..__-----___ 183

Cameron mine-_--___--_--__---_---------------------- 184

Platerica mine._______________________________________ 185

Quaternary placers__----------_-----------__--__-__- ______ 185

Llano de Oro mine_--_____-__-__------_----_--__-__--_ 186

Deep Gravel mine..___-__-_--___-_______-___-_-_-_--__ 188

Fry Gulch .______--_.-___--.--__-_.---------------- 189

Reserves of placer gravel-.-.-------------------.------------ 190

Blue Creek district________.____________...._-----___ 190

Geology....__...______________._------ _ _.... 190

Turner (Albright) mine._________....__._..._..______ 192
ILLUSTKATIONS

Page

PLATE 9. Index map of southwestern Oregon and northwestern California. _______________________________________________ 150

10. Topographic map of Takilma-Waldo district, Oreg., and

vicinity._____________________________________________ 150

11. Geologic map of Takilma-Waldo district, Oreg______________ 150

12. A, Cretaceous conglomerate and sandstone lenses; B, Spheroidal weathering in Cretaceous sandstone ________________ 150

13. A, Tertiary conglomerate resting on greenstone at High Gravel 

mine; B, Tertiary conglomerate with sandstone lenses at 

Platerica mine________________________________________ 150

14. A, Gravel of Llano de Oro formation resting on Tertiary 

conglomerate at Llano de Oro mine; B, Serpentine bedrock 

at Llano de Oro mine__-_________-________-____-_____-- 150

15. Plan of north-end workings of Queen of Bronze mine._______ 166

16. A, Tabular body of sulphide ore terminated by a fault, Queen

of Bronze mine; B, Boulder ore from Cowboy mine._-_-_._ 166

17. A, Bt Photomicrographs of ore from Queen of Bronze mine___ 166

18. Plan and sections of part of Cowboy mine------------------ 174

19. A, B, Photomicrographs of ore from Cowboy mine._________ 174

20. A, B, Photomicrographs of ore from Cowboy mine._________ 174

21. A, Chromite deposit in serpentine, Llano de Oro mine; B, 

Hydraulic elevators used to lift water and tailings from 

placer pits, Llano de Oro mine; C, Undercurrents for saving 

fine gold and platinum, Llano de Oro mine.--.---___._-__- 182

22. A, Leached outcrop at Turner mine; B, Quartz-zeolite veinlets

in Tertiary conglomerate, Platerica mine.________________ 182

FIGURE 22. Section illustrating relation of Tertiary conglomerate to bedrock series, Takilma-Waldo district, Oreg_______________ 153

23. Sections through Hampshire stope on D level of Queen of

Bronze mine_-_-_-_-_--__-___-_______._____________-_ 165

24. Plan of part of workings of Waldo mine.________________ 167

25. Geologic map of Blue Creek district_____-____--__________ 191

26. Map showing relation of part of underground workings to

leached outcrops at Turner mine.______________________ 193

v

GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE TAKILMA-WALDO 

DISTRICT, OREGON, INCLUDING THE BLUE CREEK 

DISTRICT ______

By PHILIP J. SHENON

ABSTRACT

Two areas and their included mineral deposits, situated in Josephine County, 

southwestern Oregon, are described in this report. They lie within the Klamath 

Mountains, a region which is made up for the most part of rugged ridges 'trending in various directions but which, when viewed from, higher summits, resembles a dissected plateau and is known as the Klamath peneplain. Rocks of 

both igneous and sedimentary origin are abundant in the districts described. 

The marine sedimentary rocks of the areas comprise a thick series of Carboniferous strata, with some interbedded volcanic rocks, and portions of the 

Galice formation, of Jurassic age, and of an Upper Cretaceous formation. The 

rocks of fluviatile origin include Tertiary conglomerate, Pleistocene valley fill, 

termed the " Llano de Oro formation," and somewhat later Pleistocene gravel 

and alluvium, in part glacial debris. Recent gravel is found along the present 

streams. The igneous rocks include several varieties of greenstone of probable 

Paleozoic and Mesozoic age and serpentine of late Jurassic or early Cretaceous 

age.

The Takilma-Waldo area contains some of the most productive mines in 

Oregon. Copper deposits have produced ore worth $1,700,000; and gold and 

platinum, with a minimum value of $4,000,000, have been mined from placers. 

Chromite deposits have produced a small tonnage. Four of the described copper deposits are in formations designated greenstone; one is in serpentine. All, 

however, are close to greenstone-serpentine contacts, and, as indicated by their 

mineral constitution, all are high-temperature deposits. The ore occurs as disconnected bodies of irregular outline ranging in size from mere stringers to deposits containing as much as 10,000 tons. In greenstone the ore minerals do 

not form solid bodies within the limits of the deposits but arg interspersed 

with bands and irregular areas of altered rock, much after the manner of mineralized shear zones; in serpentine they occur as " boulderlike" bodies surrounded by slickensided wall rock. Oxidation and enrichment extend only to 

shallow depths. The prevailing hypogene ore minerals are pyrite, chalcopyrite, 

cubanite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, and, in the serpentine deposit, cobaltite. Minerals of later origin are iron oxides, malachite, azurite, cuprite, chrysocolla, and 

chalcocite. The gangue in the greenstone deposits is principally altered wall 

rock, quartz, and calcite. Calcite has been introduced later than the sulphides 

and in some places in sufficient amounts to deplete the grade of the ore. Serpentine, calcite, epidote, and quartz are the abundant gangue minerals in the 

serpentine deposit. Two very large leached outcrops occur in greenstone at the 

Turner (Albright) mine. Pyrite and some chalcopyrite have been found in 

tunnels beneath the leached outcrops, but sufficient prospecting has not been 

done to determine the worth of the property. No ore is known to have been 

shipped from the vicinity.

141
142 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

Three kinds of placer deposits occur in the Takilma-Waldo district Tertiary conglomerate, residual surface mantle derived from the weathering of the 

Tertiary conglomerate, and re-sorted deposits in gulches or on flats on or 

below areas of Tertiary conglomerate. The re-sorted deposits are the most 

valuable, although considerable gold and platinum have been mined from 

deposits of the other kinds. The gold and platinum in the Tertiary conglomerate are distributed more or less evenly throughout the formation, but 

in the re-sorted placers they occur principally on or near bedrock. Field 

relations indicate that the Tertiary conglomerate is a stream deposit and that 

most of the gold and platinum in the other placers of the district have been 

derived from it. Field evidence also indicates that most of the gold and 

platinum in the Tertiary conglomerate were transported in the boulders, to 

be later liberated by weathering. Furthermore, transportation of portions of 

the weathered conglomerate by rain wash and streams caused concentration 

of the gold and platinum along bedrock in the re-sorted placers.

The copper mines of the Takilma-Waldo district appear capable of producing a considerable future tonnage but, because of the high mining and transportation costs, can be worked at a profit only when the demand for copper is 

strong. Very little ore is blocked out in any of the mines and yet some can 

be seen in most of the stopes. Largely because of the irregular outline of 

the deposits and because the ore shoots terminate abruptly, mining and 

development proceed more or less simultaneously, and hence very little ore is 

proved in advance of mining. Because of the nature of the deposits, projections of ore bodies as a basis for tonnage estimates of ore in place are extremely 

hazardous and not reliable. New ore bodies will most likely be found even 

below the deepest level if the price of copper should rise sufficiently to justify 

prospecting.

Because of its low gold content, it is doubtful whether the Tertiary conglomerate should be classified among the reserve placer deposits. If, however, at some future time exceptionally low costs should prevail, much of the 

formation might prove workable. The existing remnants of the formation 

contain many million cubic yards of material. The re-sorted (Llano de 

Oro) gravel is to be regarded as the chief source of future placer production. 

Information given by reports of trustworthy engineers and from other reliable 

sources indicates that areas of this formation aggregating several hundred 

acres contain enough gold to be profitably mined. In 'addition, there is much 

ground that is probably gold bearing, and the areas of known and probable 

value together aggregate at least a thousand acres. The deposit ranges from 

a few feet to 80 feet or more in depth, and its volume probably equals or 

exceeds that of the Tertiary formation. In the prospected areas, information 

indicates that the gold content ranges generally from 10 to 60 cents a cubic 

yard, with streaks that are much richer.

INTRODUCTION

Field work and acknowledgments. This report presents the results 

of investigations undertaken as a part of the cooperative survey of 

the mineral resources of Oregon by the State Mining Board and the 

United States Geological Survey. The field work upon which the 

report is based was done under the supervision of J. T. Pardee, 

during July and part of August, 1930, by P. J. Shenon, assisted by 

Duncan Johnson and Aubrey Walker. This party mapped in detail
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTEICT, OREGON 143

over 33 square miles in the Takilma-Waldo district and a small area 

in the Blue Creek district and investigated the copper mines of 

both districts and the placer and chromite deposits near Takilma 

and Waldo.

It is a pleasure to acknowledge the courtesies extended by all with 

whom the writer came into contact during the course of the field 

work. Messrs. E. H. Messenger, C. D. Cameron, Kameel Khoeery, 

and J. L. Eggers, of Takilma; G. M. Esterly, of Waldo; and Edward 

Turner, of O'Brien, all gave information and generous amounts of 

their time. Others, too numerous to mention, cooperated in many 

ways.

Location and transportation facilities. So far as mining is concerned, the districts described in this report are located in one of the 

most productive parts of Oregon. Notable amounts of copper have 

come from the mines near Takilma, and the placers near Waldo have 

been and still are the largest producers of gold and platinum in 

the State.

The portions of southwestern Oregon described are in Josephine 

County, just north of the California boundary. (See pi. 9.) The 

main line of the Southern Pacific Railroad runs through Grants 

Pass, 40 to 50 miles northeast of the mapped areas, and a branch 

line has been extended southward from that city, so that Takilma 

is now only 27 miles from a shipping point. Excellent paved highways serve as main arteries for truck haulage and automobile travel 

throughout most of southwestern Oregon, and Crescent City, a 

California seaport, appears to offer an outlet for some of the 

products of the region.

Literature and maps. The areas covered in this report are 

included in the Kerby quadrangle, a topographic map of which has 

been published by the United States Geological Survey on a scale of 

1 to 125,000, or about 2 miles to the1 inch, with a contour interval of 

100 feet. The following list includes the principal papers bearing 

directly on the geology and ore deposits of the described areas:

Browne, J. R., Report upon the mineral resources of the States and Territories west of the Rocky Mountains for 1866, p. 141, 1867; idem for 1867, 

pp. 576-596, 1868.

Diller, J. S., Mineral resources of southwestern Oregon: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 546, 1914.

Diller, J. S., and Kay, G. F., Mineral resources of the Grants Pass quadrangle 

and bordering districts, Oreg.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 380, pp. 48-79, 1909.

Hornor, R. R., Notes on the black-sand deposits of southern Oregon and 

northern California: U. S. Bur. Mines Tech. Paper 196, pp. 29-33, 1918.

Kellogg, A. E., Placer mining in Oregon: Eng. and Min. Jour., vol. 108, pp. 

90-91, 1919.

Kellogg, A. E., Auriferous gravels of southwest Oregon: Min. Jour., Phoenix, 

Ariz., vol. 11, No. 20, pp. 3-6, 54-55, March 15, 1928.
144 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PAET 1

Kellogg, A. E., Origin of the copper in southwestern Oregon: Min. Jour.. 

Phoenix, Ariz., vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 9-10, June, 1928.

Kellogg, A. E., Llano de Oro placers, Waldo district, Oreg.: Min. Jour., 

Phoenix, Ariz., vol. 12, No 4, pp. 9-11, July 15, 1928.

Nicol, J. M., Placers of Waldo, southern Oregon: Min. and Sci. Press, vol. 

99, pp. 122-124, July 24, 1900.

Parks, H. M., and Swartley, A. M., Handbook of the mining industry of 

Oregon alphabetical list of properties; description of mining districts: Mineral 

Resources of Oregon, vol. 2, No. 4, Oregon Bur. Mines and Geology, 1916.

Smith, W. D., and Packard, E. L., The salient features of the geology of 

Oregon: Oregon Univ. Bull., vol. 16, No. 7, July, 1919.

Winchell, A. N., Petrology and mineral resources of Jackson and Josephine 

Counties, Oreg.: Mineral Resources of Oregon, vol. 1, No. 5, Oregon Bur. Mines 

and Geology, 1914.

GEOGRAPHY OF THE KLAMATH REGION

BELIEF AND DRAINAGE

The portions of southwestern Oregon covered in this report lie 

entirely within the Klamath Mountains, as defined by Diller 1 and 

later described by Diller,2 Anderson,3 and others. The region is for 

the most part extremely rugged and is characterized by a strong 

relief, which in places exceeds 3,500 feet within a distance of 2 miles. 

Altitudes range from over 5,000 feet on the higher peaks to sea level 

along the coast. The Klamath Mountains, which lie partly in 

California and partly in Oregon, extend north and south for over 

200 miles and average about 80 miles in width. They lie west of the 

Cascade Range and between the coast ranges of Oregon and those of 

California. (See pi. 9.) The north and south boundaries are not 

well defined but are dependent largely upon the greater age and 

more complex geologic history of the Klamath Mountains; the 

eastern boundary is defined principally by the edges of the lavas of 

the Cascade Range.

The Klamath Mountains of Oregon are drained, for the most part, 

by the Rogue and Chetco Rivers and their tributaries. The Rogue 

River rises west of Crater Lake, near the crest of the Cascade 

Range, and flows westward by a circuitous course to the Pacific 

Ocean. It is joined by Bear Creek, the Applegate and Illinois 

Rivers, and numerous smaller tributaries. The Chetco River rises 

about 10 miles west of Kerby, close to the boundary line between 

Josephine and Curry Counties, and flows westward to the ocean 

through steep and rugged canyons.

1 Diller, J. S., Tertiary revolution in the topography of the Pacific coast: U. S. Geo'l. 

Survey Fourteenth Ann. Rept, pt. 2, p. 408, 1894.

3 Diller, J. S., Topographic development of the Klamath Mountains: U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 196, pp. 9-66, 1902.

8 Anderson, F. M., The physiographic features of the Klamath Mountains: Jour. 

Geology, vol. 10, pp. 144-169, 1902.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 145 

TOPOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF THE KLAMATH MOUNTAINS

The Klamath Mountains include several ridges and groups of 

ridges trending in various directions and with but little semblance 

to orderly arrangement. However, when viewed from the higher 

summits they present a strikingly uniform outline against the sky 

and, like so many other mountains that appear extremely rugged 

from the valleys, resemble a dissected plateau. The high summit 

areas, which in many places truncate upturned rocks of several ages, 

are remnants of an old erosion surface that Diller 4 has termed the 

Klamath peneplain. In general, the old surface rises gradually 

from north to south and from west to east. The altitude is about 

2,000 feet near the mouth of the Kogue Kiver but increases to over 

4,000 feet 25 miles inland. The irregular groups of subranges and 

peaks that have received individual names for example, the Siskiyou Mountains are primarily residual ridges which divided the 

drainage of the principal streams during the development of the 

peneplain. Anderson 5 has expressed the belief that the transverse 

ridges are the result of cross folding after the drainage of the region 

had become established but, although faulting and folding have 

clearly played an important part in the development of the Klamath 

Mountains, sufficient evidence has not yet been presented to prove 

that most of the subranges within the mountains are other than 

groups of residual ridges formed by the normal erosion of an uplifted 

land mass. Faulting has probably accentuated the relief above the 

old surface in some places, but in the areas of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon that have been studied the old 

rocks maintain a remarkably persistent north-northeast strike, and 

almost everywhere the old peneplain abuts against mountains, some 

of which rise several thousand feet above it.

AGE AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE KLAMATH MOUNTAINS

Diller ° has pointed out that the key to the age of the Klamath 

peneplain is to be found in the Neocene sediments derived from the 

Klamath region and laid down along the seaward border during the 

process of peneplanation. These sediments are well exposed in a 

number of places along the Oregon and northern California coasts 

and have been determined by Dall as belonging to the Empire formation (later Miocene). More recent correlations of the Empire 

formation tend to reduce the age of the peneplain and consequently

4 Diller, J. S., Topographic development of the Klamath Mountains : U. S. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 196, p. 15, 1902.

6 Anderson, F. M., Physiography of the Klamath. Mountains: Jour. Geology, vol. 10. 

p. 150. 1902.

6 Diller, J. S., op. cit. (Bull. 196), pp. 30-41.
146 CONTRIBUTION'S TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

the age of the Klamath Mountains and hence affect the age assignment of the older auriferous gravel in southwestern Oregon, for that 

is dependent, in a large measure, upon the age assigned to the 

Klamath peneplain.

In 1922 Howe 7 correlated the Empire formation with the standard 

section as worked out in California and stated that the Empire 

formation of Oregon is clearly of lower Pliocene age. On this basis, 

then, the age of the Klamath peneplain is more properly assigned 

to the early Pliocene, and hence the uplift of the present Klamath 

Mountains began during or after the middle Pliocene.

The uplift was not accomplished in one cycle but in stages interrupted by periods of relative stability. The first major uplift 

resulted in the cutting of broad older valleys, which in some localities are now perched as much as 2,000 feet above the present streams. 

A later great uplift caused younger valleys to be cut, in many places, 

within the older valleys. In a few places the old drainage was 

partly diverted by the later movements, so that some of the old channels are found at a distance from the present stream valleys. Erosion has removed the ancient gravel of most of the old channels, 

but in a few places for example, near Takilma and above the 

Klamath River in California 8 the gravel still remains and locally 

contains enough gold to be minable. Terraced forms along the present stream valleys show that the region has been unstable even during 

relatively recent geologic time, whereas the narrow V-shaped canyons of the present rivers indicate that the last major period of uplift may still be in progress.

Glacial lakes, oversteepened rock walls, moraines at higher altitudes, and gravel deposited by swift glacial streams at lower altitudes 

show that valley glaciers were developed in the higher mountains at 

some time after the cutting of the narrow valleys, although at no 

place does the glacial erosion dominate the topography. The slightly 

weathered condition of the boulders and the small amount of erosion 

that has taken place in these regions since the ice melted indicate that 

the glaciation in the Klamath Mountains probably occurred late in 

the Pleistocene epoch.

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION

Southwestern Oregon has a mild, pleasant climate characterized 

by warm, dry summers and cooler winters with considerable rainfall. 

Light snowfalls in the valleys soon disappear; heavier snows in the

7 Howe, H. V., Faunal and stratigraphic relationships of the Empire formation, Coos 

Bay, Oreg.: California Univ. Dept. Geol. Sci. Bull., vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 85-114, 1922. 

8 Diller, J. S., op. cit. (Bull. 196), p. 50.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 147

mountains lie for longer periods. The rainfall varies considerably 

in different parts of the region, even at points with similar altitudes. 

The following climatic data from three stations within a radius of 

40 miles, taken from the publications of the United States Weather 

Bureau, give an idea of the general climatic conditions in the 

principal valleys.

Average precipitation, in inches, at Hertford, Grants Pass, and Waldo, Oregon,

1920-80

[Altitude: Medford, 1,398 feet; Grants Pass, 956 feet; Waldo, 1,583 feet]

Station

Waldo...............

Jan.

1.67

3.48

"6.55

Feb.

1.74

4.08

"5.84

Mar.

1.30

2.12

"4.93

Apr.

0.99 i m

"3.52

May

n 8<i

.86

"2.07

June

0.80

.69

.83

July

0.14

01

.02

Aug.

0.30

.12

.20

Sept.

0 76

88

1 38

Oct.

1.67

2.95

"5.78

Nov.

2.72

3.91

7.60

Dec.

3.04

4.82

.9.54

Annual

15.97

25 74

48. 2e

0 Data not complete.

Average temperature, in degrees FahrenJieit, at Medford, Grants Pass,

Waldo, Oregon, 1920-30

Station '

Waldo.. ..........

Jan.

38.0

40.6

"36.3

Feb.

42.3

45.1

o4fl fi

Mar.

46.3

49.2

aAA O

Apr.

52.3

"48.1

May

58 7

59.7

af\d Q

June

fie Q

66.1

"62.5

July

72.3

71.6

68.2

Aug.

70.5

70.7

67 6

Sept.

62.7

63.2

60.5

Oct.

53.5

54.5

"50.7

Nov.

44.9

45.8

"43.5

Dec.

37.6

39.9

"37.8

Mean

annual

53.66

54.90

51.24

" Data not complete.

With the exception of the alluvium-filled valleys, most of southwestern Oregon is covered by dense growths of timber, extending: 

from the mountains to the edges of the valley floors. By far the 

larger part of the trees are conifers. Douglas fir, cedar, and hemlock are the most abundant; sugar pine, yellow pine, silver fir, red 

fir, and spruce are more sparsely distributed. Oak, ash, maple, 

mountain mahogany, aspen, cottonwood, and balsam are the more 

abundant broad-leaved trees. The undergrowth on the timberedl 

slopes is dense, in many places almost impenetrable and consists 

principally of buck brush, chinquapin, dogwood, willow, alderr 

laurel, yew, madrona, vine maple, soft maple, salal, huckleberry,, 

rhododendron, manzanita, chaparral, ferns, and young conifers. 

The thickness of the growth depends considerably on the underlying: 

rocks. Areas underlain by serpentine, for example, support only a 

scanty growth of timber but are usually covered with scattered! 

bunches of manzanita and chaparral. Grass and plants of many 

varieties grow .in profusion, and, where cultivated, the land is- exceptionally productive.
148 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

LOCATION AND TOPOGRAPHY OF THE 

TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT

The Takilma-Waldo district, as mapped, includes over 33 square 

miles in Josephine County just north of the California boundary. 

Takilma is the principal town, though Waldo, now deserted, was 

once a thriving mining town. Waters Creek, on the California & 

Oregon Coast Kailroad 27 miles to the northeast, is the nearest shipping point. Splendid highways connect Takilma with Grants Pass, 

40 miles to the northeast, and with Crescent City, a California seaport 45 miles to the southwest.

The relief near Takilma is moderate. (See pi. 10.) The ridge 

tops to the southwest rise about 1,400 feet above the valley floor, 

and Mount Hope, 2 miles southeast of Takilma, rises 2,750 feet above 

the valley. The district is drained by the East and West Forks of 

the Illinois River. The East Fork rises about 6 miles south of the 

California boundary and the West Fork near the line. At first both 

flow through narrow canyons, but about 4 miles north of the State 

line they come into broad flat valleys, and about 11 miles north of the 

line they join to form the Illinois River. This stream continues to 

flow northward through a wide valley for an additional 5 miles and 

then enters another narrow, rugged gorge through which it flows the 

remainder of its course to the Rogue River.

GEOLOGY

DISTRIBUTION OE ROCKS

Rocks of igneous and sedimentary origin are about equally abundant in the Takilma-Waldo district. (See pi. 11.) Sedimentary 

rocks prevail in the northwestern part of the mapped area, whereas 

igneous rocks are more abundant in the southeastern part. In addition to consolidated sediments of Paleozoic, Jurassic, Cretaceous, and 

late Tertiary ages, there are deposits of unconsolidated gravel which 

have been laid down both before and after the advent of mountain 

glaciation. The igneous rocks include a thick series of greenstones 

of probable Paleozoic age and later intrusive peridotite, now for the 

most part altered to serpentine. Granodiorite and other related 

igneous rocks are found in adjacent areas.

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS 

PALEOZOIC ROCKS

Paleozoic rocks of sedimentary origin crop out in a belt about a 

mile wide which extends from the north end of the Takilma area to 

a point within half a mile of the California boundary. This belt is 

not composed entirely of sedimentary strata but contains a small proportion of interbedded igneous rocks. The sediments have under-
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT,. OREGON 149

gone considerable metamorphism and to-day consist principally of 

chert, argillite, quartzite, fine-grained quartzitic conglomerate, and 

lentils of limestone. The chert contains abundant remains of microscopic radiolarians, which, as pointed out by Diller,9 afford proof 

of the oceanic origin of the material. Limestone lentils are numerous 

in the Paleozoic formations of southwestern Oregon and, because of 

their economic value, have in the past been described in considerable 

detail. Diller called attention to four belts in which limestone lenses 

occur. These belts extend for many miles in southwestern Oregon 

and northwestern California, although none of the individual lenses 

are over one third of a mile in length, and few are over 200 feet in 

width. One lens crops out near Takilma in the NW. ^ sec. 25, T. 40 

S., K. 8 W. It belongs to Winchell's " west belt ",10 which, upon 

fossil evidence, he considered to be of probable Carboniferous age.

Where fresh, the Paleozoic conglomerates are dark grayish green, 

but at the surface they are commonly bleached to a light brown. 

They are prevailingly fine grained, although in some of the beds the 

pebbles exceed an inch in length. The conglomerates grade into 

and are interbedded with even-grained and coarse pebbly quartzites. 

Rock fragments and quartz pebbles constitute the bulk of the coarser 

grains in the quartzites, and much of the material could properly 

be classified as graywacke. All the conglomerates and quartzites 

are well indurated, and in many places flattened quartz grains and 

much chlorite along slickensided surfaces reflect the intense metamorphism to which the rocks have been subjected.

The cherts are dense, light or dark gray rocks which tend to break 

into tabular blocks along joint surfaces. In the field they appear to 

be composed almost entirely of dense noncrystalline silica, but the 

microscope shows that they contain a large percentage of radiolarians 

and some quartz veinlets. Interbedded with the conglomerates 

and cherts are some layers of argillite. They are fine grained, 

have a tabular cleavage, and when breathed upon give off a strong 

clay odor. Because they tend to disintegrate readily, the argillite 

outcrops are less conspicuous than those of conglomerate and chert.

JURASSIC BOCKS

GALICE FORMATION

Rocks called by Diller a portion of the Galice formation crop out 

in sees. 4 and 16, T. 41 S., R. 8 W., and along the creek bottoms in 

sees. 29 and 31, T. 40 S., R. 8 W. Fossils found near the Almeda

8 Diller, J. S., Mineral resources of southwestern Oregon: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 546, 

p. 15, 1914.

10 Winchell, A. M., Petrology and mineral resources of Jackson and Josephine Counties, 

Oreg.: Mineral Resources of Oregon, vol. 1, No. 5, p. 36, Oregon Bur. Mines and Geology, 

1914.
150 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

mine, near Galice, and 011° Cow Creek show that this formation occurs 

at about the same horizon as the Mariposa slate of the Mother Lode 

region in California.11 The rocks of this formation as exposed in 

the Takilma-Waldo area include fine-grained conglomerate, argillite, 

slate, and sandstone. In other localities Diller reports variously 

colored chert, and mica and hornblende schists.

The sandstones are prevailingly light gray and in most places thinbedded. Both fine-grained conglomerate and pebbly sandstone are 

abundant, and where the beds are steeply inclined the larger fragments are well oriented and in places flattened by pressure and 

adjustments that affected the rocks during deformation. Quartz 

grains predominate, although various kinds of rock fragments are 

present, including quartzite, argillite, slate, and some intensely altered fragments that may originally have been greenstone. Calcite 

and fine-grained quartz are abundant.

The argillites and slates are differentiated on the basis of cleavage. 

The slates split into thin laminae along planes independent of the 

original bedding; the argillites are more massive and split along 

bedding planes. Both are dark grayish green or black and finegrained. Carbonaceous material is abundant in some of the shales, 

and in a few places poorly preserved fossil remains are found.

CRETACEOUS BOCKS

HORSETOWN(?) FORMATION

Rocks of Cretaceous age, classed by Diller as Horsetown, crop out 

in the northwestern part of the Takilma-Waldo area. The fossil 

evidence does not definitely place them in either the upper Horsetown 

or lower Chico, but for convenience they are described under the 

name originally given to them. The Cretaceous rocks near Takilma 

are remnants of a once widespread formation that Diller 12 states may 

have formed a continuous blanket on the older rocks over almost 

the whole of the Klamath Mountains. Winchell 13 feels that the 

evidence for such a widespread distribution is insufficient, and Anderson ]4 holds that there was a considerable land mass in this region 

during late Cretaceous time and that no connection existed between 

the Sacramento Valley and the Cretaceous basin of southern Oregon 

during the deposition of the Chico rocks. Whether or not the California and Oregon basins were connected, the available information 

indicates that at least parts of the present Klamath Mountains were 

probably not submerged during the late Cretaceous.

"Diller, J. S., op. cit. (Bull. 546), p. 17. 

"Idem, p. 18.

13 Winchell, A. M., op. cit., p. 34.

14 Anderson, P. M., The physiographic features of the Klamath Mountains: Jour. 

Geology, vol. 10, p. 152, 1902.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

124° 123 122°

BULLETIN 846 PLATE 9 

121°

OREGON i ^/ \

L I F^O R-N'I^A-/ * 

.<&\)

" > \ce. JZ1

10 _ | 0____________________| SOMiles

INDEX MAP OF SOUTHWESTERN OREGON AND NORTHWESTERN CALIFORNIA, SHOWING PHYSIOGRAPHIC DIVISIONS.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

R. 9 W. 123°40' _____R. 8W.

BULLETIN 846 PLATE 10

R. 7 W, . 123°30'

;«i1 scis^ sope

f

<£' 'W^^^'i/'! ' £§»&&* Stalio11- x ^^,^."j..«^>v:_ s

 ». x. :, ' _ J . v,.? - -rJ % -«"_ --- ..

r i. "i I' ,'^ '. i^^^j^^i^^^mmt^^ NE,

Part of U. S. Geological Survey 123°40' Lith. A. Hoen & Co., Inc. 123°30' 

map of Kerby quadrangle.

TOPOGRAPHIC MAP OF AREA INCLUDING TAKILMA-\VALDO DISTRICT, OREGON

Scale 125000

5 Miles

2 O 3- 5 Kilometers

feet.

1938
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY R. 8 W. BULLETIN 846 PLATE 11

EXPLANATION

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS IGNEOUS ROCKS

Placer mine debris Chiefly serpentine and 

serpentinized peridotites.

Alluvium or stream 

valleys; in part of fluvio 

glacial origin. Includes 

some areas of Recent 

alluvium.

Chiefly greenstone. 

Principally altered 

basalt and gabbros.

Glacial moraine

Strike and dip

Llano de Oro formation

(Poorly sorted clay ana sand with

small rock fragments and lenses Mine and prospect / COWBOY!

I MtNEX^

? ' \ L r >jt;£AST COBOY 

°/' "~A^ v M//VF I

OWfMS CHROME

Coarse conglomerate

with sandstone beds

iniinniiiiiiMiim 

Cut on drain ditch

Horsetown Ditch tunnel (?) formation

(Coarse, well-indurated conglomerate and interbedded sandstone

lenses near base. Almost entirely

grayish green, arkosic sandstone

in upper part weathers buff)

Galice formation

(Fine-grained conglomerat

sandstone, slate, and argillite)

Conglomerate, quartzite, argillite,radiolarian 

chert, and lentils of 

limestone.

GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, JOSEPHINE COUNTY, OREGON

1933
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 846 PLATE 12

A. CRETACEOUS CONGLOMERATE AND SANDSTONE LENSES 700 FEET NORTH OF 

O'BRIEN BRIDGE, IN SW. }4 SEC. 19, T. 40 S., R. 8 W.

Zi. SPHEROIDAL WEATHERING IN CRETACEOUS SANDSTONE ALONG HIGHWAY IN 

NW. J4 NE. U SEC. 29, T. « S., R. 8 W. ,
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 846 PLATE 13

A. TERTIARY CONGLOMERATE RESTING ON GREENSTONE AT HIGH GRAVEL MINE.

Photograph by J. H. Maxson.

B. TERTIARY CONGLOMERATE WITH SANDSTONE LENSES AT PLATERICA MINE.

Photograph by J. T. Pardee.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 846 PLATE 14

A. GRAVEL OF LLANO DE ORO FORMATION RESTING ON TERTIARY CONGLOMERATE

AT LLANO DE ORO MINE. 

Photograph by G. M. Esterly.

. >4£-! *,"' " " "* ' * -' ' ' "

B. SHRPK.NTINE HEDROCK AT LLANO DE ORO MINE. 

Pholograph by G. M. Esterly.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 151

The lower beds of the Cretaceous rocks exposed near Takilma 

are largely coarse conglomerates with some interbedded sandstones; 

the upper beds are almost totally sandstones. (See pi. 12.) The 

conglomerates grade upward into massive sandstone beds, which 

in places are fossiliferous. The conglomerates are composed principally of boulders and pebbles of dark-gray quartzitic sandstone 

and lesser amounts of slate, greenstone, and granitic rocks. Some 

of the boulders have diameters exceeding a foot but average less 

than 6 inches. Conglomerate beds somewhat resembling in appearance those of the gold-bearing Tertiary rocks are exposed along the 

West Fork of the Illinois River about 1,500 feet east of the mouth 

of Rough and Ready Creek. No information was obtained regarding their gold content, although some small cuts in the SW. % sec. 

17, T. 40 S., R. 8 W., may represent an attempt to wash them. Sandstone makes up the bulk of the Horsetown (?) formation. It is massive, is grayish green where fresh, and during weathering has a 

strong tendency to develop spheroidal structure (pi. 12, B). Concretions filled with .loose brown sandy material are numerous. The 

sandstone is remarkably even-grained over considerable areas, and 

in most places bedding is not readily discernible. Angular quartz 

and some feldspar grains, for the most part less than 0.10 millimeter 

long, constitute about 30 per cent of the prevailing sandstone, and 

highly altered material, in part chloritized rock fragments, makes 

up the remainder. The following fossils from the sandstone were 

identified by T. W. Stanton:

15411. Lot 1. Sandstone, Logan cut, near quarter corner between sees. 9 

and 10, T. 40 S., R. 8 W.:

Pecten operculiformis Gabb.

Pteria sp.

Meekia sp.

Pleuromya papyracea Gabb.

Solecurtus? sp.

Undetermined pelecypods.

Lunatia sp.

15412. Lot 2. Sandstone, road cut near quarter corner between sees. 20 

and 29, T. 40 S., R. 8 W.:

Pecten operculiformis Gabb.

Inoceramus sp., fragments.

Leda sp.

Meekia? sp.

Pleuromya papyracea Gabb.

Corbula sp.

Undetermined pelecypods.

According to Mr. Stanton,

These fossils belong to a Cretaceous fauna whose stratigraphic classification 

has not been finally decided, though it is either upper Horsetown or lower Chico. 

The particular area from which these collections came was mapped by Diller

165255 33 2
152 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

as Horsetown in United States Geological Survey Bulletin 546, 1914, on paleontologic evidence practically identical with that contained in the above collections. The fact must be admitted, however, that even in the Sacramento 

Valley, which is the type area of both the Horsetown and the Chico, the boundary between these two formations is not very definite and as applied has probably varied at different localities. When 'finally adjusted it will probably be 

found that the fauna represented by these collections belongs only below or 

above the boundary and not on both sides of it. Meanwhile it makes little 

difference whether this sandstone in southwestern Oregon is called Horsetown 

or Chico.

TERTIARY ROCKS

CONGLOMERATE

Several bodies of a gold-bearing conglomerate occur in the northern part of the Takilma-Waldo district, chiefly on the divide between 

the East and West Forks of the Illinois Eiver, from the Cameron 

mine northward for a distance of about 4 miles. Evidently these 

bodies are the erosion remnants of a once continuous formation that 

had a maximum thickness of at least 400 feet between Alien and 

Sailor Gulches.

The conglomerate is made up of well-rounded cobbles and boulders 

in a, ttiatrix of sandy clay. A few of the boulders are as much as 

3 feet in diameter, but most are less than 1 foot. Weathering has 

decomposed the formation to such an extent that most of the cobbles 

fall to pieces when released from the mass.

The cobbles and nuclei of boulders that remain firm consist mainly 

of greenstones, but a few are of chert or other fine-grained siliceous 

sediments. The matrix is abundant, and in places, particularly the 

lower part of the formation, there are lenslike bodies of sandstone. 

(See pi. 13, B.)

The conglomerate rests on a surface that in different places is 

 eroded across greenstone (pi. 13, A), serpentine, and Cretaceous 

sandstone. Near the Cameron and Osgood mines this surface is 

about 600 feet higher than the valleys adjacent to it. Northward the conglomerate occupies successively lower positions, until 

at the Llano de Oro mine part of it is lower than the present East 

Fork Valley. Still farther north on a hill southeast of the Logan 

 ut, a patch is 100 feet or more above the adjacent valley.

Deformation of the Tertiary conglomerate by faulting is clearly 

shown at the Cameron placer cut, where the formation is cut off on 

the south by an east-west fault that dips 65° N. The fault plane, 

accompanied by gouge and slickensides, is well exposed, and the 

conglomerate is indicated to be downthrown on the north at least 

200 feet. Exposures at the Osgood and Platerica mines show several 

small faults that cut both the conglomerate and the bedrock. These 

fractures pass through the boulders and cobbles instead of around
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 153

them, a fact that indicates the matrix to have been firmly cemented 

when the deformation occurred. In sec. 21, T. 40 S., R. 8 W-, on the 

south side of the Deep Gravel mine, a pit worked by Charles Johnson in 1925 exposes a small isolated body of the Tertiary conglomerate resting unconformably on Cretaceous sandstone. The conglomerate at this place dips at a moderate angle westward. The 

successively lower positions of the bodies of conglomerate on the 

north side of Alien Gulch and south of the Llano de Oro mine are 

interpreted as most .probably due to faulting. (See fig. 22.)

Diller 15 believed the conglomerate under consideration to be a 

marine deposit of Cretaceous age. His interpretation was based 

on the apparent relation of the rocks exposed in the Logan cut, near 

the quarter corner between sees. 15 and 16, T. 40 S., R. 8 W. At that 

locality (pi. 11), the conglomerate is exposed at the east side of

Tertiary ft 

conglomerate y

1,500

Tertiary/ 

longlomera

Bedrock series "7"11 ' Bedrock series /

5,000 'Feet

FIGURE 22. Section illustrating relation of Tertiary conglomerate to bedrock, 

Takilma-Waldo district, Oreg.

Carroll Slough and lies on a serpentine bedrock. West of the 

slough is a low ridge of Cretaceous sandstone. If the conglomerate 

persists in the direction of its dip it must pass beneath the sandstone, and if their relations are conformable the conglomerate is of 

course the older. At present (1930) the contact of the two formations is concealed by an accumulation of tailings and a natural 

deposit of alluvium along the west side of the slough. Whether the 

contact was actually in view at the time of Diller's examination or 

concealed, as at present, is not known. In the light of additional 

facts observed in the more recent examination, it is concluded that 

despite the apparent relation of the formations at the Logan mine, 

the conglomerate is a river deposit resting unconformably on the 

Cretaceous sandstone. The evidence on which this interpretation 

is based consists of (1) lack in the conglomerate of the assortment 

characteristic of beach deposits; (2) a linear arrangement of the 

conglomerate bodies (pi. 11) that suggests a main stream flowing 

north.or south with a west branch joining it at Butcher Gulch (Deep 

Gravel mine); (3) remnants of the conglomerate resting on the

15 Diller, J. S., Mineral resources of southwestern Oregon; U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

546, pp. 93-95, 1914.
154 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

Cretaceous sandstone at places near the Deep Gravel mine, particularly in the Johnson pit of 1925, where the unconformable relation 

of the conglomerate and sandstone is actually in view. It should 

be noted that the exposure last mentioned and some others near the 

Deep Gravel mine were not to be seen when Diller last visited the 

region.

The conglomerate, which is unconf ormably overlain by Pleistocene 

alluvium, herein named the Llano de Oro formation, is moderately 

deformed and deeply weathered and is therefore considered to be 

as old as Tertiary. A tentative correlation is suggested between the 

Tertiary conglomerate of the Takilma-Waldo district and the Miocene gold-bearing gravel of Trinity River, California, described by 

Diller 16 as river deposits formed in old valleys eroded deeply in 

the Klamath peneplain. As described, those deposits are not unlike, 

the Tertiary conglomerate in texture, cementation, and weathering.

QUATERNARY ROCKS

LLANO DE ORO FORMATION

At the Llano de Oro mine the Tertiary conglomerate passes unconformably beneath a deposit of alluvium (pi. 11) that extends 

northward beyond the limit of the district. The deposit here named 

the Llano de Oro formation makes a low terrace bordering the East 

Fork of the Illinois River and at the extreme north of the district 

occupies the entire space between that stream and the West Fork. 

Thence it extends up the West Fork as a bordering terrace to 

Butcher Gulch and beyond. In addition, it occupies the small 

valley of Butcher Gulch up to the head of the Deep Gravel mine 

and floors two or more tributary valleys farther south, including 

the one beyond Indian Hill that leads up to Waldo. Small bodies, 

of alluvium that have been mined in Sailor, Alien, and Scotch 

Gulches are thought to be included with the same deposit.

The Llano de Oro formation consists mainly of poorly assorted 

clay and sand with small rock fragments and lenses of gravel. It, 

contrasts strongly with the later Pleistocene gravel described below. 

It is of the type produced by slow and uninterrupted erosion and 

probably represents the early part of the Wisconsin stage of Pleistocene time. It is of interest to note that miners are reported to have, 

found human implements in this gravel, and at least one of the 

reports seems to be fairly well authenticated. This is a granite 

mortar that, as described by Kemp, was found in the Deep Gravel 

mine at a depth of 80 feet.17

18 Diller, J. S., The auriferous gravels of the Trinity River Basin, Calif.: U. S. Weol. 

Survey Bull. 470, pp. 11-29, 1910.

17 Kemp, J. F., Recent interesting discovery of human implements in an abandoned riverchannel in southern Oregon [abstract] : New York Acad. Sci. Annals, vol. 17, pp.. 

606-608, 1907.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 155 

ALLUVIAL FAN OF ROUGH AND READY CREEK

A coarse bouldery deposit along Rough and Ready Creek forms a 

large alluvial fan which has crowded the West Fork of the Illinois 

River into the Llano de Oro formation on its right bank, thus forming a cliff-like terrace from 30 to 50 feet high. The boulders and

 cobbles are composed chiefly of peridotite and other basic rocks, as 

shown in a cut on the Redwood Highway about a mile south of 

the creek crossing. The material is weathered to a deep-red clay 

:soil, and the coarser-textured rocks are surrounded by completely 

softened shells from 1 inch to several inches thick. This exposure 

is on a small ridge that apparently marks the original top of the 

.alluvial fill. Adjacent areas have been lowered 20 or 30 feet by 

stream erosion that occurred mostly after the rocks had been 

weathered as described, and in these areas the material appears 

relatively fresh.

The size of the deposit and the number of very large boulders in 

the gravel indicate that the material was deposited by a stream much 

larger than the present one. The sequence of events indicated 

namely, rapid deposition of alluvium followed by a moderate degree 

of weathering and later erosion by a clarified stream suggests that 

the original deposit was transported by a stream derived from melting glaciers. This idea is supported by the fact that a cirquelike 

basin containing a small lake is shown by the United States Geological Survey topographic map of the Kirby quadrangle at the head of 

one of the forks of Rough and Ready Creek. It is concluded that the 

deposit is of late Pleistocene age, but the degree of weathering indicates it to be probably somewhat older than the latest Wisconsin.

GRAVEL DEPOSITS OF THE EAST FORK OF THE ILLINOIS RIVER

Rather coarse alluvium, correlated here with the deposit on Rough 

and Ready Creek, fills the valley of the East Fork of the Illinois 

River and some of its tributaries in the vicinity of Takilma. In it 

are well-developed terraces, usually less than 10 feet high, but two in 

particular are fairly continuous. This deposit, like the alluvial fan

 of Rough and Ready Creek, fills a valley in part eroded in the Llano 

de Oro formation. The boulders are principally greenstones, serpentine, and granitic rocks, with lesser amounts of quartzite, argillite, 

and chert. Like the deposit on Rough and Ready Creek, this gravel 

is believed to have been transported, in part at least, by streams 

derived from melting glaciers during late Pleistocene time. At the 

mouths of the upper tributary valleys the boulders are very large 

and the material poorly sorted. Furthermore, cirques with lakes 

occur at the headwaters of the East Fork, and a small moraine deposited by a glacier in the same drainage basin is found near the 

south border of the district.
156 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

IGNEOUS BOCKS

Igneous rocks are most abundant in the southeastern part of the 

Takilma-Waldo district. They include greenstones of several varieties and serpentinized peridotite (or serpentine). Granodiorite float 

was found in sec. 1, T. 41 S., E. 8 W., although no outcrops were 

seen. The greenstones include dense porphyritic and fragmental 

metabasalts, medium-grained metagabbro, porphyritic metagabbroy 

and probably meta-andesite and metadiorite. The serpentine and 

greenstones were mapped separately, but because of the thick soil in 

most places no attempt was made to differentiate the varieties of 

greenstone.

GREENSTONES

The term " greenstone" has been applied to fine and medium 

grained altered igneous rocks which, owing to the development of 

considerable chlorite and epidote, are characterized by a green color. 

These rocks are of particular interest in southwestern Oregon, because many of the economically important ore deposits are enclosed in 

them. Two varieties prevail in the Takilma-Waldo district a very 

fine grained altered basalt (or metabasalt) which in most places 

partly retains a well-developed basaltic texture, and a mediumgrained altered gabbro (or metagabbro) of similar composition, 

Porphyritic metabasalt and altered fragmental rocks of basaltic 

composition are less abundant.

The greenstones have undergone considerable metamorphism, which 

has resulted in the formation of a new mineral assemblage. Analyses show the rocks to be considerably more calcic than the composition of the feldspars would indicate, and in some of them there is 

good textural evidence of recrystallization. No feldspars were found 

to be more calcic than Ab70 , and yet the analyses indicate a basaltic 

composition. Diller 18 has also noted the lack of agreement between 

the analyses of the greenstones and the composition of their feldspars 

in the vicinity of Eiddle, Oreg., and several writers have discussed in 

detail the effect of dynamothermal metamorphism upon the mineral 

composition of rocks.

The age of the greenstones in the Takilma-Waldo district can not 

be definitely fixed. Part of them at least are interbedded with the 

Paleozoic sedimentary rocks, and, as pointed out by Diller,19 others 

are of Mesozoic age. All are intruded by serpentine which is believed to be of pre-Chico age.

"Diller, J. S., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Riddle folio (No. 218), p. 5, 1924. 

19 Diller, J. S., Mineral resources of southwestern Oregon: TJ. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 546, 

p. 10. 1914.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 157 

METABASALT

Metabasalts are the most abundant greenstones in the TakilmaWaldo district. Their flow structure shows that some are interbedded with sedimentary rocks and no doubt some are intrusive into 

the sedimentary rocks, but by far the greater part occur as a separate 

unit made up of flows and fragmental material. Grayish green is 

the prevailing color, but in some places abundant epidote and quartz 

impart a mottled pistachio-green color to the rocks. A light-gray 

rock, occurring in sees. 2 and 13, T. 41 S., R. 8 W., and resembling 

fine-grained quartzite is proved by the microscope to be of igneous 

origin and is hence mapped with the metabasalt.

Most of the metabasalts have a basaltic texture, although some are 

porphyritic. Lath-shaped feldspars, with average cross sections of 

about 0.5 by 0.8 millimeter, constitute about 60 per cent of the fresher 

rocks. The mineral composition of the remaining 40 per cent varies 

in different places but includes augite, diopside, clinoenstatite, ilmenite, magnetite, pyrite, chlorite, epidote, uralite, leucoxene, saussurite, 

clay minerals, and limonite. Sericite is present in small amounts. 

Hornblende is abundant in some of the porphyritic greenstones.

The feldspars have undergone hydrothermal alteration but are 

relatively much fresher than the ferromagnesian minerals. Sodic 

plagioclase is the most 1 'abundant feldspar. It varies somewhat in 

composition in the different metabasalts of the Takilma-Waldo district but is not known to be more calcic than Ab70 and averages about 

Ab85 . Orthoclase accounts for less than 5 per cent of the rock. Little or no primary quartz is present, but some quartz formed by the 

breaking down of other minerals is generally evident, and in some 

places considerable quartz, as well as calcite and pyrite, has been introduced. Green fibrous chlorite, epidote, and uralite are the most 

abundant dynamothermal minerals. Some clay minerals and limonite have been formed by processes of surface weathering.

Near the ore deposits the metabasalts are changed to a mass composed chiefly of green chlorite, fine-grained quartz, calcite, and sulphides. The following analysis is representative of the prevailing 

metabasalts of the district. It corresponds closely with an analysis 

of a rock from the " north end adit, Queen of Bronze mine " which 

Winchell 20 has termed auganite.

20 Winchell, A. N., Petrology and mineral resources of Jackson and Josephine Counties, 

Oreg.: Mineral Resources of Oregon, vol. 1, No. 5, p. 51, Oregon Bur. Mines and Geology, 

1914.
158 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PAKT 1

Composition of metabasalt from the SW. % SW. % sec. 36, T. 40 S., R. 8 W.

TaTcilma, Oreg.

[J. O. Fairchild, analyst]

Analysis

Si02 .- -----------

AhOs- - - -

FeO.. .............

MgO. ...........

CaO-_ .............

NazO. ..........

KjO. . .............

HjO+ ............ .

H2 0-._ ... -

Ti02 _ ....... ... .

P2 05 .. ... ......

S(total). .-..- .. ..

MnO. .............

- 49. 31

. 13.72

2.84

10.64

5.50

6.30

4 44

.53

3.29

.37

2.57

.19

.21

.14

100. 05

Norm (III.5.3.4.)

Albite... ... ... ....... ......

Pyrite. . -------------------

HzO+.. ...................

HsO--. - ........

.. 0.00

.. 2.78

. 37. 20

. 16. 12

. 11.90

. 13. 44

. 4.18

. 4.86

.31

.72

. 3.29

.37

Mode (estimated)

Pyrite---- --------------

0

Sfl

?,

1?

3

6

1

21

ion

METAGABBRO

Metagabbro crops out in irregular areas and is probably intrusive 

into the metabasalts. It is a medium to a fine grained rock in which 

the light and dark minerals appear megascopically to be in about 

equal proportions. The microscope generally shows the less altered 

rock to consist principally of lath-shaped plagioclase and pyroxene 

minerals, and their alteration products, in proportionate amounts of 

about 5 to 4. Lath-shaped oligoclase, averaging about 0.7 by 0.3 

millimeter in cross section, is the prevailing feldspar. The pyroxene constituents vary somewhat from place to place. Augite prevails, 

but clinoenstatite is in places abundant. Hornblende occurs in 

lesser amounts and reaches a maximum of about 10 per cent. Original 

quartz is sparsely distributed throughout the rock but does not exceed 5 per cent and in most places is present in proportions of less 

than 1 per cent. Ilmenite (partly altered to leucoxene) makes up 

over 5 per cent of some of the metagabbros. In places it has developed 

beautiful skeletal patterns. The metagabbro has everywhere undergone dynamothermal alteration. Chlorite is the most abundant recognizable alteration product, but epidote and sericite occur in smaller 

amounts. The f erromagnesian minerals have undergone the greatest 

changes, although some sericitization and alteration to a very fine 

grained product are usually evident in the feldspars. Like the 

metabasalts, the metagabbro near ore bodies is changed to a rock 

composed principally of chlorite, fine granular quartz, calcite, and 

sulphides.

The following analysis of a metagabbro from Long Gulch, in the 

NW. % sec. 16, T. 41 S., E. 8 W., illustrates the composition of these 

rocks from the Takilma-Waldo district:
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTEICT, OREGON 159

Composition of metagabbro from the NW. y± sec. 16, T. 41 S., R. 8 W., TakllmaWaldo district, Oregon.

[J. Q. Fairchild, analyst]

Analysis

Si02 ... 

Al2 0s 

FeO - ............

MgO ... ....

CaO. ......... ...

Na2 0. ....... .......

K2O... ....... ......

H2 0-.._. ........

H2 0+........... ....

Ti02 ......._. ....

C02 - 

P2 05 .. ..............

S...... .......... .... CrzOs. ..

MnO. ..............

. 49.60

. 14.10

. 1.77

. 8.40

. 8.34

. 7.10

. 2.96

. 1.05

. .34

. 3.37

. 1.25

. .80

. .18

. .05

. .05

. .14

99.50

Norm (III.5.3.4)

Albite-.. .. ..............

Pyrite ____________

H2 0+....._. __..._._.._.._.

H2 0........ ...............

. 0.00

. 6.12

. 25. 15

. 21. 96

. 6.77

. 27. 20

. 2.04

. 2.55

. 2.28

.31

. 1.80

.12

. 3.37

.34

100. 01

Mode (estimated)

1

5

35

10

10

1

5

10

R

?,

1

Ifi

100

<=

Volcanic gas equals 1.9 milliliters per gram of rock.

SERPENTINE

Serpentine (or serpentinized peridotite) crops out in large areas 

in southwestern Oregon and northern California. It is abundant 

near Takilma, where it incloses copper and chromite deposits and is 

the probable source of platinum found in. the placer mines. Hence it 

is of considerable economic interest. The outcrops are as a rule 

fairly well defined by sparse vegetation and a dark-red soil, although 

red soil is also developed by the weathering of greenstones, particularly near serpentine contacts. In general the outcrops are 

more rounded than those of the other consolidated rocks, but in 

places they are rough. The serpentine is black or very dark green 

and is generally characterized by slick curved faces. Serpentinization is well advanced in all the peridotite rocks near Tatnlma, but 

in the less altered rocks both enstatite and olivine occur. Crystals 

of bastite (altered enstatite) are usually visible in hand specimens. 

Antigorite, the platy variety of serpentine, is the most abundant 

mineral, although chrysotile, the fibrous variety, is common, particularly along fractures. Iddingsite is present in small amounts, 

and magnetite and chromite are disseminated through the serpentine 

as grains and irregular patches. In some places chromite is found 

in bodies large enough to be minable under favorable conditions. 

Lenses of diopside, some several feet long, are not uncommon.

Serpentine is usually derived from the hydrothermal alteration of 

peridotite or other ultrabasic igneous rocks. Benson 21 has ad21 Benson, W. N., The origin of serpentine, a historical and comparative study: Am. 

Jour. Sci., 4th ser., vol. 46, pp. 693-729, 1918.
160 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

vanced the view that the larger antigorite and chrysotile serpentine 

masses are due to the alteration of pyroxene peridotites through the 

agency of magmatic waters belonging to the same cycle of igneous 

activity as the ultrabasic rocks themselves. Keep 22 deduced from 

field evidence the hypothesis that the serpentinization of the ultrabasic rocks of the asbestos deposits of Shabani, Southern Khodesia, 

was due to the action of the magmatic waters accompanying the 

intrusion of the (later) granite batholith of the Lundi Native Reserve. Wells 23 treated olivine, in the laboratory, with various water solutions of Na2C03 , NaHCO3 , NaCl, Na2SO4 , K2CO3 , K2SO4 , 

water glass, and CO2 at temperatures of 100° to 600° C. and pressures 

of 1 to 310 atmospheres, but did not produce serpentine. He is inclined, therefore, to think that the hydrothermal alteration of 

olivine to serpentine is a late magmatic process taking place at 

temperatures exceeding 520° C.

The peridotites of the Takilma-Waldo district have been subjected, 

during several periods, to intense thermal and dynamic processes, 

but the evidence available at this time is not sufficient to warrant a 

statement as to which process or processes caused the serpentinization. 

No large bodies of intrusive igneous rocks younger than the serpentine crop out in this area, although, as such bodies crop out in adjacent areas, they are probably not far beneath the surface in the 

Takilma-Waldo district. Hydrothermal alteration has certainly 

been a factor in the formation of the serpentine, as such alteration is 

most complete near the ore deposits, but because the peridotite rocks 

have been subjected to intense deformation after their intrusion, 

dynamothermal processes should not be ignored as a possible factor 

in the serpentinization.

The age of the serpentine at Takilma is not very closely defined. 

It is tentatively classified as late Jurassic or early Cretaceous. The 

Horsetown(?) formation is believed to lie unconformably over the 

serpentine because at no place was serpentine observed cutting it, but 

no markers are known in this district by which the lower limit may 

be fixed.

In the Riddle region Diller 24 has assigned the serpentine to the 

late Jurassic or early Cretaceous, whereas in the Port Orford region 

serpentine cuts the Myrtle formation, of Lower Cretaceous age, and 

does not intersect the Arago formation, of Eocene age, and therefore, 

the intrusion in the Port Orford region was believed by Diller 25 to 

have occurred some time during the later portion of the Cretaceous.

22 Keep, F. E., The geology of the Shabani mineral belt, Belingwe district: Southern 

Rhodesia Geol. Survey Bull. 12, p. 82, 1929.

28 Wells, F. G., The hydrothermal alteration of serpentine: Am. Jour. Scl., 5th ser.,

vol. 18, pp. 35-52, 1929.

24 Diller, J. S., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Riddle folio (No. 218), p. 4, 1924. 

25 Diller, J. S., U. S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Port Orford folio (No. 89), p. 4, 1903.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 161

DEFORMATION

The geologic structure of southwestern Oregon is very complex, 

and, because detailed information is lacking in much of the region, 

it has been described only in a general way. The strata older than 

the Cretaceous in general strike north-northeast and dip southeast at 

steep angles. Diller 26 has called attention to the fact that the beds 

increase in age to the southeast, whereas normally the reverse order 

should hold, and states that the apparent reversal of the natural 

order is due either to folding and overturning of the strata or to 

faulting, by which the older rocks are made actually or apparently 

to overlie the younger. He further states that both folding and 

faulting very probably have contributed to the complex structure 

and that the most evident line of faulting noted in the region crosses 

it from northeast to southwest in the vicinity of Waldo and Kerby, 

where the Jurassic strata appear to pass beneath the Devonian. 

Hershey's reconnaissance map of Del Norte County, Calif.,27 shows 

a fault, the Orleans fault, extending north and south across the 

Klamath Mountains for a distance of about 50 miles. According to 

his map the fault should cross the Oregon boundary near the western 

edge of the Takilma-Waldo district, apparently in line with the 

faulting noted by Diller. Although it can not be definitely stated 

that the Orleans fault crosses the Takilma area, there is definite 

evidence that the Horsetown (?) formation is in fault contact with 

serpentine just west of Waldo. Normally, the lower portions of the 

Horsetown (?) formation in the Takilma-Waldo district are largely 

coarse conglomerate beds, which grade upward into sandstone. However, just west of Waldo, where the formation is in contact with 

serpentine, the conglomerate beds are missing and the serpentine is 

in direct contact with the sandstone. Deformation has affected the 

older rocks during several periods. The most intense deformation 

was associated with the mountain-building epoch at the end of the 

Jurassic. Later deformation followed the deposition of the Horsetown (?) formation, which in places is faulted and considerably 

folded, although less so than the older rocks. Still later deformation 

is evident in the gently deformed Tertiary conglomerate near Takilma and in folded Tertiary rocks in areas outside of the Takilma 

district. Hershey 28 described two post-Cretaceous periods of deformation in the Klamath Mountains of California, one in the early 

Tertiary and one at the beginning of the Quaternary.

28 Diller, J. S., U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 546, pp. 21-22, 1914.

27 Hershey, 0. H., Del Norte County geology: Min. and Sci. Press, vol. 102, p. 468, 

1911.

28 Hershey, 0. H., Structure of the southern portion of the Klamath Mountains, Calif.: 

Am. Geologist, vol. 31, No. 4, p. 232, 1903.
162 COISTTKIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

ORE DEPOSITS

CLASSIFICATION

The ore deposits of the Takilma-Waldo district include lodes and 

placers. Both have been very productive in the past, and the information gathered during the present investigation indicates that both 

will continue to produce abundantly in the future when there is a 

demand for their products. During comparatively recent years the 

lode mines have been credited with a production of about $1,700,000, 

and the minimum production of the placer mines, including that of 

the early days, is estimated at $4,000,000. The lode deposits have 

produced chiefly copper. One small chromite deposit has been mined 

and is credited with a small production, and several other small 

chromite deposits are known to exist. The placer mines, which contain both gold and platinum, have in recent years been the most 

productive in the State.

COPPER MINES 

GENERAL FEATURES

Copper deposits have been known in the Takilma district since 

the early sixties, but very little ore was produced until after 1900. 

Six productive mines and several prospects near Takilma are located 

within a narrow zone extending north and south for over 3 miles on 

the east side of the East Fork of the Illinois River. All the deposits have been found close to greenstone-serpentine contacts, and 

most of them in greenstone. The Cowboy deposit, which is enclosed 

in serpentine, is the principal exception. The copper deposits occur 

as irregular bodies and lenses and, except where oxidized near the 

surface, consist of sulphides that have been deposited in and along 

fractures of the enclosing rocks. The hypogene (primary) sulphides 

include chalcopyrite, cubanite (copper-iron sulphide), sphalerite, 

pyrite, pyrrhotite, and, at the Cowboy mine, cobaltite (cobalt-arsenic 

sulphide). The sequence of mineralization is not the same in all the 

deposits, but the sulphide minerals are everywhere associated with 

altered wall rocks, quartz, and calcite as gangue materials. Oxidation and sulphide enrichment have been important processes only 

close to the surface. Postmineral movements are made evident in 

all the mines by slickensided surfaces and displacements of ore 

bodies.

Because the deposits in greenstones differ in several respects from 

those enclosed in serpentine, they are discussed separately. The 

Queen of Bronze, Waldo, Lilly, and Lyttle mines are included in the 

first group; the Cowboy is the only important deposit in serpentine.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON" 163

COPPER DEPOSITS IN GREENSTONE

QUEEN OF BRONZE MINE

LOCATION AND HISTOEY

The Queen of Bronze mine is in the NW. % sec. 36, T. 40 S., R. 

8 W., about iy2 miles by road east of Takilma, on a prominent 

ridge between Elder Creek and the East Fork of the Illinois River, 

at an altitude of about 2,400 feet. A winding road, easily passable 

except during periods of heavy rains, connects the mine with 

Takilma.

Copper was discovered in the Takilma district 2a in 1860 by a 

miner named Hawes, and the Queen of Bronze mine was located 

October 22,1862. by P. Androit. Little development work was done, 

however, until 1903, when C. L. Tutt and associates, of Colorado 

Springs, bought the property. Their company, known as the Takilma Smelting Co., erected a smelter of the semipyritic type in 1904. 

It had a capacity of 100 tons a day and operated more or less continuously until 1910. More than 20,000 tons of ore, with an average 

copper content of 8% per cent, was smelted,30 and in 1907 the mattes 

from the smelted ores contained about 40 per cent of copper. Lessees 

shipped a few thousand tons of ore during the period from 1910 to 

1916. In April, 1916, the property was sold to John Twohy, John 

Hampshire, and others, with Hampshire acting as trustee. They operated continuously, under the direction of Roy B. Clark, until 1919, 

when the price of copper became too low for profitable mining. 

During this period of 3 years, according to G. E. Stowell, mining 

engineer, the mine shipped 183 cars (9,992.3 tons) of ore varying in 

metal content from 5.16 to 16.33 per cent of copper and from 0.04 to 

0.44 ounce of gold to the ton. From 1918 to 1928 lessees made intermittent shipments. John Hampshire obtained a lease on the property 

in June, 1928, and Operated until May 31, 1929, when the Queen of 

Bronze Mining Co. was incorporated. The new company continued 

to ship ore until May, 1930, when operations were suspended because of the low copper market. During the period from June, 1928, 

to May, 1930, 1,552.941 tons of ore was shipped.31 On the basis of 

the above figures, the total production of the Queen of Bronze mine 

is estimated at about 35,000 tons of ore with a gross value of approximately $1,350,000.

29 Browne, J. R., Mineral resources of the States and Territories west of the Rocky 

Mountains for 1866, p. 141, 1867.

M Diller, J. S., Mineral resources of southwestern Oregon : U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 

546, p. 83, 1914.

sl Pohlman, Edward (secretary Queen of Bronze Mining Co.), letter of April 24, 1931.
164 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1 

DEVELOPMENT AND MINING METHODS

Ore has been mined at the Queen of Bronze from what are known 

as the north-end workings and south-end workings. They are about 

1,100 feet apart. The north-end workings (pi. 15) include over 7,000 

feet of drifts and crosscuts, a large open pit, numerous stopes, and.several hundred feet of raises and winzes, all of which are restricted to a 

roughly circular area about 500 feet across and most of which, with 

the exception of some openings on the upper levels, are accessible. 

The deepest level is about 225 feet below the open pit. The larger ore 

bodies at the north end were mined from stopes known as the Johnson, McCauley, East, Stevens, Messenger, Cameron, Twohy, Hampshire, Staisy, and Erwin stopes. The McCauley stope, the largest, 

was followed for a vertical distance of about TO feet and at its greatest horizontal extent measured approximately 40 by 50 feet. The 

open cut has an outline measuring roughly 80 by 150 feet. The 

south-end workings are less extensive and include about 800 feet of 

crosscuts on two levels, in addition to an open cut, stopes, and a 

shaft 109 feet deep. None of these workings are now accessible.

The larger ore bodies are mined by square-setting and partial 

filling. The smaller stopes are supported by stulls, and at least one 

ore body was mined by shrinkage stoping. The square-set method 

allows rough sorting underground and is better adapted to mining 

the large irregular-shaped ore bodies and for supporting the slickensided rocks near them. After rough sorting underground the ore 

is trammed to outside bins and from them drawn to sorting tables, 

where the low-grade material is discarded and the ore of shipping 

grade is dropped to loading bins.

GEOLOGY '

The ore at the Queen of Bronze mine occurs as disconnected bodies, 

irregular in outline, and ranging in size from mere stringers to 

deposits containing as much as 10,000 tons. The ore minerals do 

not form a solid body within the limits of the deposits but are interspersed with bands and irregular areas of altered wall rock, much 

after the manner of a mineralized shear zone. The more persistent 

bodies strike approximately east, some trending a little north of 

east and some a little south of east. Dips vary greatly, but the rake 

of the deposits, with exception of the Hampshire ore body, is to the 

south. The Hampshire ore body (fig. 23) rakes to the west. The 

deposits everywhere show effects of intense postmineral faulting. 

Slickensided surfaces and brecciated rock are conspicuous within 

the ore bodies and in the enclosing rocks, but are much less evident

away from the mineralized areas. Drag effects and crushing are

pronounced near faults in some of the more tabular deposits. (See 

pi. 16, A.)
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 165

The ore is enclosed in greenstone, including both metabasalt and 

metagabbro, and is found near the contacts with serpentine but was 

not observed within serpentine. Next to the ore the original characteristics of the greenstones are usually obliterated by processes 

which have changed the rocks to a mass of chlorite, quartz, and 

calcite containing disseminated sulphides. Very little sericite was 

observed in thin sections.

Oxidation extends as much as 100 feet below the surface, but sulphide minerals prevail below 50 feet. Surface processes have produced high-grade oxidized ore near the surface, and sulphide 

enrichment undoubtedly was an important process at shallow depths, 

though it has not contributed greatly to the copper content below a 

depth of 100 feet.

Before sorting, the ore in some of the stopes, as indicated by samples taken by G. E. Stowell, mining engineer, has a metal content

s.

LONGITUDINAL SECTION CROSS SECTION 

SO o 50

FIGDRE 23. Sections through Hampshire stope on D level of Queen of Bronze mine

of 4 to 7" per cent of copper and 0.04 to 0.1 ounce of gold to the ton. 

The average copper content of the oxidized ores near the surface 

was considerably higher and according to Kay 32 was over 10 per cent. 

A sample taken by Mr. Stowell across 5 feet of the ore in the East 

stope assayed 4.8 per cent of copper and 0.04 ounce of gold to the 

ton. Another sample from the same stope taken across 7.8 feet assayed 4.0 per cent of copper and 0.10 ounce of gold to the ton. A 

sample across 6 feet in the top of the east end of the same stope 

assayed 4.7 per cent of copper and 0.08 ounce of gold, and a sample 

across 7.5 feet on the sill floor directly below assayed 7.0 per cent of 

copper and 0.06 ounce of gold. A sample across 12 feet of ore in 

the south drift of the 50 level assayed 5.4 per cent of copper and 

0.06 ounce of gold. A " bunch " of ore 3 feet wide from the top of 

the stope above the 70 level assayed 6.4 per cent of copper. If these 

assays represent the average metal content of the ore in place, it follows that considerable waste is readily eliminated by sorting, as the 

shipping ore in the past has averaged about 8.3 per cent of copper 

and about 0.13 ounce of gold and 0.16 ounce of silver to the ton.

85 Diller, J. S., and Kay, G. F. Mineral resources of the Grants Pass quadrangle and. 

bordering districts, Oreg.T U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 380, p. 79, 1909.
166 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

MINERALOGY

The mineralogy of the ore is comparatively simple. The hypogene 

sulphide minerals include pyrite, chalcopyrite, and, in much smaller 

amounts, pyrrhotite and sphalerite. The proportion of each varies 

considerably from place to place, and as a result rough sorting is 

practiced underground to eliminate the material high in pyrite and 

low in chalcopyrite. Textural relations indicate that two generations of pyrite are present. Older massive pyrite is cut by welldefined fractures containing chalcopyrite, whereas the younger pyrite occurs as disseminations or as grains in more or less parallel 

arrangement along irregular fractures in chalcopyrite, as shown in 

plate IT, A. Supergene chalcocite is present near the surface, where 

it replaces hypogene sulphides. The supergene replacement has been 

selective, chalcopyrite being replaced to a much greater extent than 

pyrite. The abundant oxidation products include malachite, azurite, 

cuprite, iron oxides, and chrysocolla; tenorite and native copper have 

also been reported.33 The sulphides follow fractures in the quartz, 

whereas the calcite cuts both quartz and sulphides and, in places, is 

abundant enough to deplete the grade of the ore seriously. (See 

pi. IT, £.)

ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS

The largest ore shoot had a vertical extent of about TO feet, but 

most of the stopes are less than 50 feet high. The horizontal outlines of the ore bodies are irregular and vary greatly at different 

altitudes. Projections of the ore bodies as a basis for tonnage estimates of ore in place are therefore hazardous and not reliable.

Many faults cut and displace the ore bodies, and it seems likely 

that the numerous disconnected shoots represent segments of larger 

and more continuous deposits. Gouge-filled faults and stringers containing quartz, calcite, and sulphides become increasingly numerous 

toward the larger ore bodies and if used in conjunction with wallrock alteration should serve as a guide toward mineralized areas.

Ore bodies probably exist in some of the unexplored areas. Kecent 

prospecting has proved the presence of good-sized deposits as deep 

as the D (lower) level, and the type of mineralization does not 

indicate that other ore bodies are not present, even below this level. 

Winchell 34 states that " the apparent relation of the ore bodies to 

the present erosion surface suggests that they owe their final position 

to the work of downward percolating surface waters." This is interpreted to assume that the present position of the ore bodies is largely

83 Diller, J. S., and Kay, G. F., op. cit, P- 77.

84 Winchell, A. N., Geology and mineral resources of Jackson and Josephine Counties,

Oreg.: Mineral Resources of Oregon, vol. 1, No. 5, pp. 73, 257, OvegOU Bill1. MlflflS 

and Geology, 1914.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 846 PLATE 15

PLAN OF NORTH-END WORKINGS OF QUEEN OF BRONZE MINE.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 846 PLATE 16

A. TABULAR BODY OF SIJLl'HIDh; OKK (s) TEHMliN ATUI) BY A FAULT ON LEACH LEVEL, 

QUEEN OF BRONZE MINE.

g. Greenstone.

B. BOULDER ORE FROM COWBOY MINE.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SUKVEY BULLETIN 846 PLATE 17

..-; .*' <)

. .^"' -..V ;v'° 

-..,"> : 'JI "^ "'.- >' ,-v-:.^- -

 ?^- ^V ',;/ '- . ^/*^^

' *. »' /^ v _". I

 :' »T

v"XjTC

A. PYRITE (\\HITK) IN ORIENTED ALINEMENT AND SCATTERED THROUGH 

CHALCOPYRITp; (LIGHT GRAY).

Rlack areas are holes. Polished seelion, parallel light, enlarged 100 diameters.

B. SULPHIDE VEIN (s) CUTTING QUARTZ (q) AND FRAGMENTS OF CHLORITIZED 

GREENSTONE (9) AND IN TURN CUT BY VEINLETS OF CALCITE (c).

Thin section, crossed nicols, enlarged 28 diameters.

PHOTOMICROGRAPHS OF ORE FROM QUEEN OF BRONZE MINE.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 167

/

// // // </

ii

due to sulphide enrichment. Sulphide enrichment has 

undoubtedly been an important process near the surface, 

but evidence of it is lacking in the deposits below a depth 

of 100 feet. The wall-rock alteration, the presence of 

pyrite, chalcopyrite, and pyrrhotite as the principal ore 

minerals, and the absence of chalcocite or other supergene (secondary) copper minerals in the deeper ore 

bodies confirm the hypogene origin of these deposits. 

Therefore little change in the mineral composition or 

metal content of the ore can be expected for at least 

several hundred feet below the zone of enrichment.

WALDO MINE

The Waldo mine is in the SW. % sec. 36, T. 40 S., R. 8 

W., about a mile east of Takilma and half a mile south 

of the Queen of Bronze mine. The property is developed 

through several tunnels, which are now inaccessible. 

The property, under option to the Queen of Bronze Mining Co. in 1930, is owned by the Waldo Smelting & Mining Co. No complete production records of the Waldo 

mine are known to be available, although considerable of 

its ore was treated at the Takilma smelter, and it is said 

that shipments from this mine were made through 

Grants Pass after the smelter ceased operating.

The ore is found near the contact of serpentine and 

greenstone. Near the mine a roof pendant of greenstone, 

about 500 feet across, is surrounded on all sides 

by serpentine, and numerous smaller isolated 

blocks of greenstone occur in the serpentine 

near the contact. According to Winchell 35 the 

ore on one of the levels had a vaguely veinlike form 

(fig. 24), trending about N. 60° E. and dipping 

about 45° SE., whereas in a stope 30 feet above the 

strike was apparently N. 70° W. and the dip 50° SW. 

At a higher level the ore occurred in a well-defined 

fissure striking N. 75° E. and dipping 55° SE. The 

ore on the dump more nearly resembles that of the 

Cowboy mine than the Queen of Bronze ore. It 

is commonly rounded and enclosed in slickensided 

gouge. Chalcopyrite is the principal ore mineral. 

No cubanite was found in the samples collected. 

Pyrrhotite tends to follow incipient fractures and is 

more abundant than at the Queen of Bronze, but pyrite is less abun85 Winchell, A. N., op. clt., p. 253. 

165255 33 3
168 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

dant. Malachite, azurite, and iron oxides are the most common 

oxidation products.

LILLY MINE

The Lilly mine is in the SE. 14 sec. 35, T. 40 S., K. 8 W., about 2 

miles by road southeast of Takilma. The property, consisting of 

eight claims, was located in 1897 by Kameel Khoeery, of Takilma, 

who sold it to the Knob Hill Mining Co. in 1910. It was relocated 

by Mr. Khoeery in 1911, and a half interest was sold to Mrs. Charlotte 

Johnson, also of Takilma, in 1915. According to Mr. Khoeery the 

mine has produced about 300 tons of copper ore which contained 

from 16 to 28 per cent of copper. Part of the ore was mined from 

open cuts and part from underground openings. A tunnel several 

hundred feet long and with several crosscuts has been driven in the 

direction of the open cuts.

The ore occurs as irregular bodies in greenstone rocks that are 

completely surrounded by serpentine. The ore mined from the 

open cut was partly oxidized, but only hypogene sulphides have 

been found in the lower tunnel. The ore from the lower tunnel is 

much like the ore from the Cowboy mine and is composed principally 

of chalcopyrite, cubanite (copper-iron sulphide), pyrrhotite, and 

sphalerite in a gangue of altered greenstone, quartz, and calcite. 

Quartz has preceded the sulphide minerals. Chalcopyrite and 

cubanite occur as irregular masses and as lathlike intergrowths. 

Pyrrhotite in irregular veinlets cuts the intergrowths of cubanite 

and chalcopyrite and is therefore considered to be somewhat younger. 

Sphalerite is present in small amounts, but its textural relationship 

was not determined.

LYTTLE MINE

The Lyttle mine is on the north side of Page Creek in the SW. % 

sec. 1, T. 41 S., R. 8 W., at an altitude of about 2,700 feet. By road 

the property is about 3 miles southeast of Takilma, and in an air line 

it is a mile directly south of the Waldo mine.

Most of the ore was mined through a glory hole, now about 110 

feet long by 80 feet wide and 20 feet deep. Maps show that an 

upper tunnel, 160 feet long, was driven under the glory hole. At 

approximately 100 feet from the portal.an inclined winze was sunk 

which is said to be in ore at a depth of 60 feet. These workings 

are now caved and inaccessible. A lower tunnel, at a considerable 

distance below the upper workings, is 570 feet long. From it a raise, 

53 feet long, has been run toward the bottom of the 60-foot winze 

on the level above but has not connected.

The Lyttle mine is said to have produced 1^500 tons of ore? part of

which was smelted at Takilma. The property is now owned by the 

Queen of Bronze Mining Co.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 169

The ore is found in greenstone not far from a serpentine contact. 

The greenstone in the vicinity of the mine is completely surrounded 

by serpentine, and much serpentine was cut in the lower tunnel. 

The ore deposit appears to be similar to those at the Queen of 

Bronze mine, although the mineralogy more nearly resembles that 

of the Cowboy ore. Chalcopyrite, cubanite, and pyrrhotite are the 

principal sulphide minerals. Malachite, azurite, and iron oxides 

can be observed in the open pit and in the dumps.

ORIGIN OF THE DEPOSITS IN GREENSTONE

The evidence indicates that the deposits in greenstone were formed 

in and along fracture zones by hot ascending solutions. The presence 

of abundant chlorite, fine-grained quartz, and disseminated hypogene 

sulphides in the greenstone wall rocks enclosing the ore affords 

evidence of alterations by hot mineral-bearing solutions during the 

process of ore deposition. Pyrrhotite, found in all the mines, and 

cubanite, found in some of them, indicate that the deposits were 

formed at high temperatures and at considerable depth. Schwartz 8(t 

has concluded, on the basis of laboratory experiments, that deposits 

in which the intergrowth of chalcopyrite and cubanite is found were 

formed above 400° C. and probably above 450° C.

Structurally, the deposits are related to fractures that were developed in greenstones much after the fashion of shear zones. Mineralizing solutions, high in silica and magnesia, ascended through 

the fractures to form first ^principally chlorite and quartz. After 

fracturing, hypogene sulphides were introduced, for the most part in 

areas that had previously .undergone silicification. -Another period 

of fracturing followed the deposition of the sulphides, and the 

fractures were healed by calcite, which also replaced the rock outward from the fractures. This calcite was introduced late in the 

history of the ore deposits and in some of the mines is plainly 

visible cutting faults that offset the ore. Oxidation and sulphide enrichment are the processes that have more recently prevailed. They 

have, however, been active only near the surface and have taken no 

part in the formation of most of the ore. Winchell's view 37 that 

the position and form of the ore bodies seem to be due to the work 

of meteoric (surface) waters is not substantiated by available evidence. Because of postmineral movements, the original outlines of 

the deposits are uncertain. Faulting has obliterated their original 

shape, but in some of the mines, particularly the Queen of Bronze, 

several of the segments have marked tabular characteristics.

38 Schwartz, G. M., Intergrowths of chalcopyrite, and cubanite experimental proof of 

the origin of intergrowths and their bearing on the geologic thermometer: Econ. Geology, 

vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 44-61, 1927.

87 Winchell, A. N., op. cit, p. 73.
170 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

COPPER DEPOSITS IN SERPENTINE

COWBOY MINE 

LOCATION AND DEVELOPMENT

The Cowboy mine (pi. 18) is in the NE. % sec. 11, T. 44 S., R. 

8 W., 3 miles by road southeast of Takilma, at an altitude of about 

2,600 feet on a steep slope overlooking Page Creek. A serviceable 

road has been built as far as the lower tunnel, but ore from the upper 

and principal workings must be hauled on sleds for about an eighth 

of a mile over a rough course.

The ore body is developed through tunnels and by various raises, 

stopes, and winzes. About 2,000 feet of tunnels have been driven 

350 feet on the upper level, 200 feet on the intermediate level, 500 

feet on level 2, about 100 feet at the East Cowboy, and, largely 

during 1930, 850 feet on the lower (No. 3) tunnel. Tunnel 3 was 

driven with the hope of intersecting the west ore body 200 feet below 

the present stopes, but at the time of the writer's visit, in August, 

1930, it had not reached its objective.

According to E. H. Messenger, the superintendent, a Mr. Strong 

discovered ore on what is now known as the East Cowboy about 1900 

and excavated ore from an open pit. However, little work was done 

prior to 1903, when C. L. Tutt and associates, of Colorado Springs, 

Colo., purchased the property. The Queen of Bronze Mining Co., 

the present owner, acquired the mine in 1916 and, although the property has been leased at various times, has mined most of the ore produced. From 1916 to 1919 a total of 842 tons of ore was mined, and 

it is reported that ore was treated at the Queen of Bronze smelter 

between 1906 and 1910. However, most of the production is credited 

to the period from 1928 to 1930, when 75 cars were shipped. Mr. 

Messenger estimates a total production of about 100 cars, or, roughly, 

5,000 tons. The value of the total production is estimated at $300,000.

GEOLOGY

The ore bodies at the Cowboy mine are found near the contact of 

greenstone and serpentine. The prevailing greenstones in the vicinity of the ore bodies are even-grained and fragmental varieties of 

metabasalt and medium-grained metagabbro. A highly altered greenish rock with large white phenocrysts, tentatively classed as metadiorite, has recently been exposed in the lower tunnel. Numerous 

masses of greenstone are included in the serpentine near the contact, 

many of them have been found underground. The serpentine

v
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 171

is normally dark green and, in general, has a high luster. Near the 

ore bodies, however, it contains much calcite and has a stony appearance resembling that of the altered greenstones.

The ore occurs along a fault zone in serpentine as a series of slightly curved lenslike bodies separated and surrounded by dark grayishgreen gougy material consisting principally of fine-grained, felted 

antigorite (serpentine). The fault zone, in places from 6 to 8 feet 

wide, extends to the north and south beyond the ore limits. The 

lenses of ore are composed of rounded lumps of massive sulphide 

minerals or serpentine lumps with sulphide stringers, but, although 

the ore as mined resembles blocks of serpentine, it is easily distinguished by its greater weight. (See pi. 16, B.) In general, the ore 

lenses strike north and dip 45°-65° E. The angle of dip has increased 

with depth. The maximum length of the series of ore lenses is about 

170 feet, and the thickness ranges from that of thin stringers to 7 or 8 

feet. Oxidation and enrichment have occurred to a noteworthy extent only near the surface. An increase in copper content in the ore 

mined from the open pit was undoubtedly caused by sulphide enrichment, but the process has not added materially to the copper content below a depth of 50 feet.

The abundant hypogene sulphides are cobaltite, chalcopyrite, 

cubanite. sphalerite, and pyrrhotite. Chalcocite occurs as a supergene 

sulphide, and malachite, cuprite, tenorite, hematite, and limonite are 

the more common oxidation products. In order of abundance the 

gangue minerals are serpentine, calcite, quartz, and epidote. With 

the exception of serpentine the gangue minerals are not readily visible in hand specimens, although postsulphide calcite is in some places 

evident along fracture surfaces. The microscope shows, however, 

that calcite constitutes a considerable part of the ore and of the wall 

rocks next to the ore.

The cobaltite resembles pyrite in hardness and crystal outline but 

differs from it in color. Although microchemical tests reveal considerable iron in the cobaltite, the crystal form and lack of anisotropism distinguish it from glaucodot (a cobalt-iron-arsenic sulphide). Cubanite and chalcopyrite differ considerably in color and 

degree of anisotropism. Pyrrhotite resembles cubanite but is readily 

distinguished from it in polished sections by a greater relief. 

Sphalerite is fairly abundant and is readily distinguished by its gray 

color. In addition, it almost everywhere contains oriented blebs of 

chalcopyrite or pyrrhotite.'
172 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

The succession in the deposition of the sulphide minerals is the 

normal one as defined by Lindgren despite the fact that repetition 

occurs. There appears, however, to be a reversal in the succession 

of the gangue minerals. According to Lindgren 38 the normal order 

of mineral deposition in deposits of this general class is silicates, 

quartz, carbonates and other gangue minerals, cobaltite, pyrrhotite, 

sphalerite, and chalcopyrite. The order of formation as actually determined is serpentine, calcite, epidote, quartz, cobaltite, sphalerite, 

chalcopyrite and cubanite, pyrrhotite, sphalerite, and calcite. The 

succession was thrice interrupted by fracturing once after the 

deposition of the gangue minerals, again after the formation of 

the cobaltite, and again after the deposition of the sulphides but 

before tho deposition of the later calcite. Serpentine was formed 

before the deposition of the older calcite, because veinlets of this 

calcite clearly cut felted plates of the serpentine, thus illustrating 

that serpentinization had taken place, in part at least, before the 

deposition of the ore. Epidote appears to have formed after the 

older calcite, possibly in part from the reaction of hydrothermal 

solutions upon it. Quartz veinlets clearly cut the epidote, and 

veinlets of sulphides, in turn, cut all three of these gangue minerals. 

(See pi. 20.) The sulphides have replaced calcite more readily 

than the other gangue minerals, and in most places this differential 

replacement of calcite is very noticeable. Cobaltite was the first 

sulphide mineral deposited. A period of fracturing followed, and 

then later sulphides were introduced, for the most part along the 

fractures. (See pi. 19, A.) Sphalerite is the first sulphide known 

to have formed after the cobaltite. If other sulphides preceded the 

sphalerite the evidence of them in the ores studied has been completely destroyed. Chalcopyrite and cubanite formed after the 

sphalerite and, where associated, they occur as bladelike intergrowths. Of the two, chalcopyrite is considerably more abundant. 

Pyrrhotite succeeded the cubanite and chalcopyrite. It occurs as 

irregular masses, as veinlets in or along grains of older minerals, 

as lentils in chalcopyrite and cubanite, and as oriented blebs and 

laths in sphalerite. The blebs and laths were certainly formed by 

replacement along cleavage directions in the sphalerite, as they 

occur only where sphalerite is known to be replaced by pyrrhotite. 

(See pi. 19, B.) At other places oriented blebs of chalcopyrite 

are numerous, but blebs and laths of pyrrhotite are missing. Lentils 

of pyrrhotite cut intergrowths of cubanite and chalcopyrite at 

various angles and in some places are parallel to the intergrowths.

M Lindgren, WaMemar, Magmas, dikes, and VeiDg ! Am. IflSt. MID, Met. Eflg, 

vol. 74, p. 88, 1927.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 173

Some of the lentils merge into irregular-shaped masses, others 

terminate at grain boundaries, and still others appear isolated 

within grains of cubanite and chalcopyrite. Veinlets of pyrrhotite 

cut chalcopyrite and are numerous along grain boundaries of 

sphalerite and of cubanite and chalcopyrite. Some veinlets clearly 

cut across twinned crystals of chalcopyrite. The more massive 

bodies of pyrrhotite replace cobaltite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite, 

whereas the pyrrhotite in turn is replaced by a later generation of 

sphalerite. This sphalerite, the last of the sulphides to form, replaces both chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite, and veinlets and masses 

of it transverse the boundaries of these two minerals. Fracturing 

followed the deposition of the later sphalerite, and at some time 

later calcite was introduced along the fractures.

The proportions of the different sulphides vary greatly from 

place to place. In general, the shipping ore is said to average about 

14 percent of copper, $1 in gold to the ton, considerable zinc, and 

a little silver. A sample reported by G. E. Stowell, mining engineer, 

as taken " in the Rose stope across a lens measuring 3 feet by 10 

feet" assayed 15.1 percent of copper and 0.08 ounce of gold and 8 

ounces of silver to the ton. No analyses are known to have been 

made of the run-of-mine ore for cobalt, nickel, zinc, arsenic, or the 

platinum group. A partial analysis of one of the " boulders" 

containing little or no visible cobaltite, made by E. T. Erickson in 

the chemical laboratory of the United States Geological Survey, 

showed copper 18.65 per cent, zinc 0.24 per cent, cobalt 0.15 per cent, 

arsenic 0.11 per cent, nickel 0.11 per cent, and chromium 0.04 per cent. 

Tests were made of metals of the platinum group (osmium, ruthenium, iridium, rhodium, palladium, and platinum), but they were 

not found even in small amounts (less than 0.01 to 0.02 ounce to 

the ton).

The ore bodies at the Cowboy mine resemble the " boulder " deposits in serpentine, described by Hershey 39 in northern California 

and by Butler and Mitchell 40 in Curry County, southwestern Oregon, 

but differ from some of them in mineral constitution. Some of the 

deposits described by Hershey and by Butler and Mitchell contain 

magnetite and chalcocite as the principal metallic minerals and bornite, native copper, chromite, and oxidation products .in smaller 

amounts. Other deposits described by Butler and Mitchell 41 contain

88 Hershey, O. W., Primary chalcocite in California: Min. and Sci. Press, vol. 96, pp. 

429-430, 1908.

40 Butler, G. M., and Mitchell, G. J., Preliminary survey of the geology and mineral 

resources of Curry County, Oreg.: Mineral Resources of Oregon, vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 54-58, 

Oregon Bur. Mines and Geology, 1916.

"Idem, pp. 100-105.
174 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite as the principal ore minerals and, as described, appear to resemble the Cowboy deposit very closely. In all 

the deposits described by Hershey and by Butler and Mitchell little 

or no quartz or calcite is reported. Butler and Mitchell apparently 

believe that the ore minerals in the " boulder " deposits described by 

them were originally distributed throughout the igneous rocks but 

have been segregated in the positions now found during the changes 

accompanying the serpentinization of the containing rocks.42 For 

the deposits in northern California Hershey 43 says:

Perhaps the molten rock came into contact with and absorbed rocks containing 

ordinary copper deposits, thus deriving an unusual copper constituent which 

was widely disseminated in certain portions of the peridotite and related basic 

rocks but during serpentinization became segregated with the iron minerals. 

However, it remains an open question as to whether the segregation was connected with the solidification of the magmas or with the subsequent 

serpentinization.

The presence of cobaltite, pyrrhotite, and chalcopyrite in a basic 

igneous rock and the apparent scarcity of quartz, calcite, or other 

gangue minerals characteristic of veins is at once suggestive of a 

deposit formed by magmatic segregation. The mineral association 

undoubtedly indicates that the ore was formed at high temperatures 

and at considerable depth, but the fact that the sulphides have been 

introduced into calcite, epidote, and quartz, which, as shown by the 

microscope, are abundant, points to another mode of origin that is, 

to a hydrothermal deposit originating under conditions of high temperature and at considerable depth but in and along fractures. According to Schwartz 44 the presence of chalcopyrite and cubanite intergrowths indicates a temperature of formation above 400° C. and 

probably above 450° C.

The mineral assemblage in the Cowboy ore, in the light of present 

knowledge, points quite definitely to a deep-seated origin. The 

source of the ore minerals, however, can only be surmised. Granitic 

rocks have been intruded into the serpentine in areas closely adjacent to Takilma and no doubt are not far beneath the surface in the 

Takilma vicinity, although none were found at the surface. These 

later granitic rocks are believed by most investigators to be the source 

of many ore deposits in southwestern Oregon, particularly of the 

gold-quartz veins. However, the occurrence of copper deposits in 

very close association with serpentine, or in greenstone at or close

"Butler, G. M., and Mitchell, G. J., op. cit.

"Hershey, 0, W., op, cit,, p, 430,

44 Schwartz, G. M., Intergrowths of chalcopyrite and cubanite experimental proof of 

the origin of intergrowths and their bearings on geologic thermometers: Econ. Geology, 

vol. 22, No. 1, p. 80, 1927.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL StJEVEY BULLETIN 846 PLATE 18

NORTH

80'

E. 4

/

W.

MO;/ LEVEL

EXPLANATION

INTERMEDIATE LEVEL

J MO.2 LEVEL /* 

Cross section through ore body along" A-A'

Greenstone , largely

meta-andesite and metadiorite

Ore

Raise Winze

so 100 Feet __,. , , Strike and dip

ELEV. 26OO

PLAN AND SECTIONS OF PART OF COWBOY MINE.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 846 PLATE 19

A. CHALCOPYRITE (cp) AND SPHALERITE (sp) ALONG FRACTURES IN COBALTITE 

(cob); PYRRHOTITE (po) CUTTING INTERGROWTHS OF CHALCOPYRITE AND 

CUBANITE (cufc).

h. Holes. Polished section, parallel light.

B. SPHALERITE (GRAY) CONTAINING PYRRHOTITE (WHITE) ALONG VEINLETS AND 

AS TINY BLEBS ORIENTED IN CLEAVAGE DIRECTIONS.

Black spots are holes. Polished section, parallel light.

PHOTOMICBOGBAPHS OF ORE FROM COWBOY MINE.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 84fi PLATE 20

A. SULPHIDE VEINLET (s) CUTTING VKINLETS OF OLDER CALO1TE (c) IN SERPENTINE («r). 

Thirl section, parallel light.

B. QUARTZ VEINLETS (q) CUTTING EPIDOTE (e). 

s, Sulphides. Thin section, parallel lighl,

PHOTOMICROGRAPHS OF ORE FROM COWBOY MINE.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTKICT, OREGON 175

to serpentine contacts, is so general that Diller 45 felt that the serpentine had much to do in producing the ore deposits, although he 

points out that the serpentine itself rarely contains bodies of ore 

except copper.

The shape of the original ore bodies is not easily interpreted. 

Tiny sulphide stringers and disseminations are found in the wall 

rocks next to the more massive sulphide ore, and stringers usually 

extend for some distance beyond the termination of the ore lenses.' 

It is therefore believed that the original ore bodies were roughly 

lens-shaped but that the lens shape has been accentuated by postmineral movements. The strongest postmineral movements were 

probably an accompaniment of the general deformation of the region, 

although the processes attending serpentinization, which is essentially a hydration process producing a considerable increase in 

rock volume, may have contributed to the stresses causing the movements, at least locally. Movements resulting from stresses, whatever their origin, normally cause adjustments along numerous irregular fractures in serpentines, but where harder rocks are included 

in the serpentine the adjustments would tend to follow fractures 

passing around the more resistant bodies. Well-defined, slickensided fractures of this type can be observed in the Cowboy mine next 

to the ore bodies and around greenstone inclusions. Attempts have 

been made to follow these fractures away from the ore bodies, particularly the well-defined hanging-wall fracture on the No. 2 and 

intermediate levels, but without success, owing to the fact that the 

fracture tends to lose its identity a short distance from the ore.

The principal events in the genesis of the ore at the Cowboy mine 

may be outlined as follows: After the peridotite rocks had become 

solid and while these rocks were deeply buried, fractures or lines of 

weakness developed parallel to the greenstone-peridotite contact. 

Ore-bearing solutions, derived either from the parent magma or 

from a younger intrusive body, in places forced their way along the 

fractures, or lines of weakness, and deposited gangue and ore minerals. Calcite appears to have been introduced first, followed by 

epidote, which may have developed partly by the reaction of the hot 

solutions with the introduced calcite. Quartz was next introduced. 

After the deposition of the quartz, stresses within the rocks caused 

fracturing, and the fractures controlled in a large measure the deposition of the sulphides that followed. Cobaltite was the first sulphide introduced. It was fractured, and the later sulphides were 

introduced along the fractures. Sphalerite was the first sulphide to

«Diller, J. S., op, cit. (Bull. 546), p. 20.
176 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

form after the cobaltite. It was followed without interruption by 

chalcopyrite, cubanite, pyrrhotite, and sphalerite. The cubanite was 

probably deposited as a solid solution in chalcopyrite but separated 

out during cooling as bladelike intergrowths when the proper temperature was reached. The occurrence, late in the series, of pyrrhotite followed by sphalerite indicates a recurrence of higher temperature before the succession was completed. Fracturing followed the 

deposition of the sulphides, and the younger calcite was introduced 

along the fractures. Eventually the deposits were exposed by erosion, which recently has kept pace fairly well with oxidation and enrichment, as there is very little evidence of either below a depth of 

50 feet.

ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS

At the Cowboy mine, as at the Queen of Bronze, very little reserve 

ore is blocked out, owing in large measure to the nature of the deposit. Development and mining of necessity proceed simultaneously, 

because of the irregular outline of the ore bodies. In other words, it 

is necessary to mine the ore in order to delineate its outline. The 

present ore shoot has been followed downward on its dip for about 

170 feet. Within this distance six major lenses were found, and it 

seems likely that with further prospecting downward others will be 

discovered. The ore body on level 2 is shorter horizontally than on 

the levels above, but there is no reason to suspect that the ore will 

end abruptly at this point. The feasibility of further prospecting 

down the dip, however, will depend largely upon the demand for 

copper. Thus far, prospecting has not revealed a series of lenses in 

horizontal alinement on level 2, despite the fact that the prospecting 

has been done along the fault in which the ore occurs. However, 

if the genesis of the deposit is correctly interpreted, there is no reason to believe that other ore lenses do not exist at the Cowboy mine 

in the unexplored ground in the immediate vicinity of the proved ore. 

Recent work on the East Cowboy has disclosed oxidized copper ore of 

good grade, and this deposit appears worthy of further prospecting 

when the copper market justifies the expenditure.

The mineralization at the Cowboy mine is of the deep-zone type, 

and as oxidation and enrichment have occurred only near the surface, 

the ore cannot be expected to differ greatly from that on level 2 for 

another several hundred feet, providing it should continue downward for that depth. Furthermore, the mineralogy and metal content of undiscovered ore bodies in the immediate vicinity, if they 

exist, should not differ greatly from those of the bodies already 

known.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 177 

FUTURE OUTLOOK FOR THE COPPER MINES

The copper deposits of the Takilma-Waldo district have been the 

most productive of the Oregon copper mines. They are credited 

with a gross production of about $1,700,000 and appear capable of 

producing a considerable future tonnage, but because of the high 

mining and transportation costs they can be worked at a profit onty 

when the demand for copper is strong. Very little ore is actually 

blocked out in any of the mines, and yet some can be seen in most of 

the stopes. Largely because of the irregular outlines of the deposits 

and because the shoots terminate suddenly, mining and development 

proceed more or less simultaneously, and hence very little ore is 

proved in advance of mining. The better ore has probably been 

mined out of the known ore bodies, but if the origin of the deposits is 

interpreted correctly there is reason to believe that undiscovered ore 

bodies exist above the deepest workings in several of the mines and, in 

some of them, even deeper than any of the present workings. The 

actual depth to which the ore deposits will extend, however, is uncertain. Most of the deposits in the region are enclosed in greenstones 

near serpentine contacts, and it is therefore evident that the depth 

to which these deposits may be expected to continue depends a great 

deal upon the depth to which the greenstone extends. At some of 

the mines the greenstones exist as shallow roof pendants and therefore cannot be expected to extend far vertically. Other mines are 

enclosed in larger roof pendants, and still others are in greenstone 

bodies that have not been isolated by the intrusion of serpentine. 

The last-mentioned bodies can be expected to extend deeper, and 

hence the likelihood is greater that the ore will continue to a greater 

depth. For those deposits which may extend downward for some 

distance, very little change can be expected in the mineralogy of the 

primary ore for several hundred feet below the shallow zone of 

enrichment.

CHROMITE DEPOSITS

Small deposits of chromite are known in several places near 

Takilma, and development work has been done on some of them. 

All occur as irregular bodies in serpentine or as irregular-shaped 

surface boulders which clearly have been derived from serpentine 

areas. Chromite deposits have been mined north of French Flat, 

in the NW. *4 sec. 22, T. 40 S., R. 8 W., and in the NE % sec. 11, T. 41 

S., R. 8 W., and irregular bodies of chromite were disclosed in the 

serpentine bedrock in pit 2 of the Llano de Oro mine (pi. 21, A). 

Several large boulders of chromite occur along the road between Takilma and the Queen of Bronze mine and in other places. The total
178 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

production of chromite in the Takilma-Waldo district is estimated 

at about 1,000 tons, which has come almost entirely from the Esterly 

mine.

ESTERLY MINE

The Esterly mine is about 2 miles northwest of Takilma, in the 

NW. % sec. 22, T. 40 S., R. 8 W. The ore has been mined from a 

trench about 50 feet long and from several open pits. The larger 

openings are now inaccessible because of water. The mine was 

worked in 1918 by George Barton and is said to have produced 

about 1,000 tons of ore.46

The ore occurs as irregular bodies in serpentine and, as indicated 

by the trend of the openings, has a strike of about N. 20° E. The 

ore is typically mottled green and black and is composed principally 

of chromite and serpentine. Because of the inaccessibility of the 

mine openings, very little field evidence is available regarding the 

origin of the chromite. Thin sections show veinlets of fibrous antigorite cutting the chromite, but this evidence in itself is not sufficient, 

especially in view of the more recent studies,47 to conclude that all 

or most of the chromite at the Esterly mine is of early magmatic 

origin.

OWENS MINE

The Owens chromite mine is in the NW. % sec. 11, T. 41 S., R. 8. W. 

It is reached by a trail connecting with the East Fork road at the 

Owens farm. The deposit is opened by a tunnel about 40 feet long. 

Only a few tons of ore have been mined. A.small body of serpentine 

crops out at the mine and is surrounded on all sides by fine-grained 

greenstone. The chromite occurs as two small lens-shaped bodies, 

one near the face of the drift and one about 15 feet from the portal.

PLACER DEPOSITS 

HISTORY AND PRODUCTION

Placer mining began in the region of Takilma in the spring of 

1853, with the discovery of gold on Althouse Creek. At about the 

same time sailors are said to have abandoned a ship on the coast and 

traveled overland to the " Sailor Diggings," near Takilma.48 Raymond 49 quotes Doctor Watkins, a physician of long residence in 

the community, as follows:

A ditch was dug some 15 miles long at a cost of some $75,000 or $80,000 to 

bring water to the rich placers of this vicinity and when fairly well under

40 Esterly, G. M., personal communication.

47 Sampson, Edward, May chromite crystallize late ?: Econ. Geology, vol. 24, No. 6, 

pp. 632-641, 1929. Ross, C. S., Is chromite always a magmatic segregation product?: 

Idem, pp. 641-645. Fisher, L. W., Origin of chromite deposits: Idem, pp. 691-721.

48 Winchell, A. N., op. clt, p. 241.

48 Raymond, R. W., Mines and mining in the States and Territories west of the Rocky 

Mountains for 1869, p. 213, 1870.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 179

way paid for itself the first year. It paid heavy dividends to its stockholders 

for 10 or 12 years, and many parties who live sumptuously every day owe their 

fortune to their connection with the Sailor Diggings Ditch Co.

An early-day mining town, Allentown, located near the mouth of 

Alien Gulch, flourished for several years. Names of some of its early 

inhabitants are still legible on tombstones in an old graveyard a few 

hundred feet southeast, of the Platerica mine pit. With the exhaustion of the more readily mined and richer gravel, mining activity 

declined until 1878, when work was started on the Deep Gravel mine. 

After a short time production again gradually declined until 1901, 

when the introduction of hydraulic elevators made possible the 

profitable working of the gravel of French Flat by hydraulic 

methods. In recent years the placer production of the TakilmaWaldo district has come chiefly from the Llano de Oro mine. Considerable unworked areas have been prospected on Llano de Oro 

ground, and these are reported to carry gold and platinum in 

sufficient amounts to yield a profit for several years.

No figures are available on the production of the placers of the 

Takilma-Waldo district before 1878, although undoubtedly the richest 

ground was worked prior to that time. The known placer production 

since 1878 is, in round figures, about $1,000,000. In the absence of 

authentic records of the early-day production, a. rough estimate of the 

minimum production may be based on the extent of the ground that 

was worked and the costs of operation at the time. In addition to 

stream alluvium at Waldo and in Alien, Sailor, and other gulches, 

the early miners worked the surface material on the adjacent slopes, 

particularly the areas on or adjoining the patches of Tertiary conglomerate. Second-growth timber including trees 50 to 60 years 

old covers most of this mined ground and fixes rather definitely 

the time elapsed since that mining period. All accounts agree that 

the gulch placers were ric'h, which in those days meant that with 

primitive methods such as rocking and ground sluicing each miner 

could produce at least $4 to $10 a day by uncovering 1 or 2 square 

yards of bedrock. On this basis $2 a square yard is assumed as a safe 

estimate of the minimum yield. The areas observed to have been 

worked over during the early period aggregate at least 300 acres, 

or 1,500,000 square yards, from which the gold produced is estimated 

to be at least $3,000,000. The total minimum production up to the 

present time is therefore estimated at $4,000,000.

MINING METHODS

The shovel and rocker of the early days, with a capacity of 3 to 5 

cubic yards of gravel a day, have been supplanted in the TakilmaWaldo district by large-scale methods whereby hundreds of cubic 

yards of gravel is washed daily. Hydraulic giants are used entirely
180 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

for mining. Water for their operation is brought in ditches for long 

distances, from the East Fork of the Illinois Kiver. From one 

ditch a nozzle pressure of over 300 feet is obtained. Sufficient water 

is available for only about 7 months of each year, however, and 

hence the mines are worked continuously day and night during the 

mining season. The broken material loosened from the gravel banks 

by the giants is washed through sluice boxes and undercurrents 

(pi. 21, <7), where the gold is collected with quicksilver or in a 

concentrate. In the more favorably situated mines the discarded 

gravel (tailings) is carried away by the natural run-off of the water, 

but in mines where there is but little grade it is lifted by hydraulic 

elevators (pi. 21, B] and distributed over the ground selected for 

tailings dumps.

CLASSIFICATION OF PLACERS

The placers are classified as Tertiary and Quaternary deposits. 

The Tertiary deposits are composed principally of cemented boulders 

and sandy material derived from the erosion of older rocks. In 

places the unweathered Tertiary formation contains sufficient gold 

to be minable, but in general the gold content is small. Weathering 

and leaching have, however, enriched the conglomerate near the 

surface and produced a mantle containing a relatively high gold 

content. This material, before it was mined out, covered a considerable area.. Most of this ground was mined 50 or 60 years ago and 

is said to have been very productive. The most valuable placer deposits remaining in the region are the Quaternary deposits, which 

have been derived in part through the reworking of the Tertiary 

conglomerate by erosional processes that have caused a reconcentration of the gold. Almost if not quite all the richest of the reworked 

placers are located on or below areas of Tertiary conglomerate where 

streams or rain wash have transported and re-sorted the material. 

(See pi. 11.) Valuable Quaternary deposits have thus been formed 

at the Llano de Oro and Deep Gravel mines and in several small 

gulches traversing or receiving wash from the Tertiary conglomerate for example, in Sailor, Alien, Fry, and Scotch Gulches. The 

small gulches were worked out by the early-day miners, but considerable areas of the transported deposits remain unworked at the 

Llano de Oro and Deep Gravel mines, and with the mining methods 

now in use, a steady production may be expected to continue from 

them for a number of years.

TERTIARY PLACERS

GENERAL FEATURES

The Tertiary placer mines of the Takilma-Waldo district are all in 

the Tertiary conglomerate. This formation is found in the north-
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 181

western part of the district, but, owing to faulting and erosion, only 

remnants of it are now present. The remnants have a linear distribution over a distance of 4 miles. Although the origin of practically 

all the placer gold in the district can be traced to this formation, only 

a small portion of it has been mined in place. The early-day 

miners must have produced considerable gold by mining the residual 

surface mantle over the conglomerate, but no reliable estimates of 

this production are available. Exclusive of the mantle material and 

the re-sorted gravel, the Tertiary conglomerate has probably produced gold worth $100,000.

The Tertiary conglomerate is composed for the most part of large, 

highly altered boulders in a sandy matrix. Sandstone beds occur 

in the lower part of the formation but are scarce in the upper part. 

The formation is cut by many joints and some faults, and veinlets 

filled with quartz and calcite are fairly numerous. Several different 

types of bedrock underlie the conglomerate. The most southerly 

outcrops are underlain by greenstones; those in the northern part of 

the district are underlain principally by serpentine and Horseto wn(?) sandstone. In general, the bedrock is regular in contour 

and very well suited for placer mining. The greenstone bedrock is 

colored purple and is greatly decomposed for several inches below 

the contact with the Tertiary conglomerate. A short distance beyond 

the limits of the overlying formation, however, the greenstones appear to be free from alteration. The intense alteration of the bedrock directly beneath the conglomerate formation is apparently connected with the intense alteration of the boulders within the formation. At some time past the rocks near the surface were apparently 

subjected to deep secular decay. The weathering agencies probably 

penetrated the porous Tertiary formation with relative ease, and in 

most places the underlying bedrock was attacked. A thick mantle of 

soil was thus formed on the bedrock beneath the conglomerate as 

well as beyond its limits, but, where this soft, altered material was 

not protected by the overlying beds, it was removed by erosion. 

Some of the overlying boulders may also have contained sufficient 

sulphide minerals to liberate considerable sulphuric acid when attacked by oxygenated surface waters. If so, this sulphuric acid 

could have attacked other boulders as well as the underlying bedrock.

Gold and platinum are distributed throughout the Tertiary conglomerate but probably are slightly more abundant near bedrock. 

Those more familiar with the mining conditions estimate that the 

gold content of the formation averages from 2% to 3 cents a cubic 

yard. The gold is angular and flaky, and much of it is coated with 

a black film, apparently silica and iron oxide. Chromite, magnetite, 

limonite, hematite, ilmenite, epidote, zircon, and other heavy miner-
182 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

als occur in the concentrates with the gold and platinum. According to J. T. Logan, the ratio of platinum to gold is 1 to 75.50

Several ideas have been expressed regarding the origin of the gold 

and platinum, but, because it is difficult to prove them definitely, 

owing to the very small amount of these metals in a large volume 

of conglomerate, it is quite probable that differences of opinion will 

continue. Some operators believe that the gold has been ^derived 

from the quartz stringers which cut the Tertiary formation (pi. 

22 B). If enough of the gold and platinum were derived from the 

stringers to make this source worthy of mention, the distribution 

should be related to the stringers. In other words, the highest gold 

and platinum content would be expected in or near the stringers, 

and a less amount away from them. This question was discussed 

with several of the operators familiar with the occurrence of the 

gold and platinum, and most of them stated that they had noticed 

no particular concentration of gold near the stringers. Furthermore, assays of the stringers did not show even a trace of gold or 

platinum. An acceptable explanation for the origin of the gold 

must take several conditions into account. (1) The gold and platinum are distributed throughout the formation; (2) there is apparently but little concentration along the bedrock; (3) most of the 

gold and platinum is flaky and angular in outline; (4) the boulders 

are softened by decay, and most of them are broken up during mining operations; (5) the gold appears to be more abundant where 

the boulders are most completely softened.

Under normal conditions, gold and platinum gravitate toward 

the bottom of the gravel as it moves downstream with the currem% 

and as a result the richest ground in placer deposits is generally 

found at or near bedrock. As this is not true, or true only to a 

minor extent, of the Tertiary conglomerate, the gold and platinum 

must have remained suspended in the gravel as it moved downstream, or they must have been introduced after the gravel came 

into place, or they must have been enclosed in the boulders when 

the boulders were deposited, to be later liberated when the boulders 

disintegrated. Because the gold and platinum in the Tertiary 

conglomerate are not abnormally fine, it seems reasonable to assume 

that they should have gravitated downward during transportation,. 

but this has happened only to a very slight extent, if at all. The 

objections to the hypothesis that the gold and platinum have been 

introduced after the deposition of the gravel have already been stated. 

The explanation that most of the gold and platinum were liberated by the disintegration of the boulders is best supported by the

R. R., Notes on the black-sand deposits of southern Oregon and northern 

California: U. S. Bur. Mines Tech. Paper 196, p. 31, 1918.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 846 PLATE 21

A. CHROMITE DEPOSIT (DARK) IN SERPENTINE IN NO. 2 PIT, LLANO DE ORO MINEB. HYDRAULIC ELEVATORS USED TO LIFT WATER AND TAILINGS FROM PLACER 

PITS, LLANO DE ORO MINE.

C. UNDERCURRENTS FOR SAVING FINE GOLD AND PLATINUM, LLANO DE ORO MINE. 

All photographs by G. M. Esterly.
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 846 PLATE 22

A. LEACHED OUTCROP AT TURNER MINE.

B. QUARTZ-ZEOLITE VEINLETS IN TERTIARY CONGLOMERATE, PLATERICA MINE.

Photograph by J. T. Pardee. ; .' - '' - L
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON . 183

known conditions. The greenstones in southwestern Oregon are 

widely mineralized, and rich gold deposits have been found in 

them in many districts. Evidence of mineralization in the form of 

sulphides, principally pyrite, was seen in every thin section of 

greenstone studied, and in some of them sulphides were fairly 

abundant. It therefore does not seem unreasonable to expect the 

boulders of greenstone to carry a few cents in gold to the cubic 

yard. In addition, serpentine or other basic rocks are generally believed to be the most common source of platinum. The complete 

disintegration of the serpentine rocks in the Tertiary formation 

could easily account for the small amount of platinum present. 

The liberation of these metals, which is well accomplished in the 

Tertiary conglomerate, seems to be the critical factor. The relationship between the degree of alteration and the amount of gold 

and platinum available appears to be borne out by the observations 

of some of the operators that the highest metal content is found 

in areas of most complete rock decay.

HIGH GRAVEL MINE

The High Gravel (Osgood) mine is at the head of Alien Gulch, in 

sees. 33 and 34, T. 40 S., K. 8 W., near the drainage divide between 

the East and West Forks of the Illinois River, and is owned by 

F. H. Osgood, of Seattle, Wash. The mine includes several pits 

covering an area of approximately 150,000 square yards. Water for 

mining is taken from the East Fork some distance south of the 

Oregon boundary and is brought to the cuts through the Osgood 

ditch. The tailings are removed by natural run-off. The mine has 

been worked at different times by W. J. Logan, C. D. Cameron, an 

English syndicate, and others. Logan and Cameron leased the 

property during the period 1912-1917 and in the first 3 years took out 

$13,700 and in the last 2 years $2,000. Mr. Cameron 51 estimated 

the total production of all the cuts of the High Gravel mine, excluding the old workings along the bottoms of Alien and Scotch 

Gulches, at about $90,000.

The gold at the High Gravel mine is found in the Tertiary conglomerate, which is well exposed in several different banks and is 

composed mostly of poorly sorted boulders in a sandy matrix. Bedding is not plainly visible except in the lower part of the formation. The lower beds are sandy and have a purplish tint; the upper 

part of the formation exposed in the cuts is tan-colored and composed principally of large, poorly sorted boulders and sandy material. Distinct joints and veinlets occur throughout the formation. 

The conglomerate rests upon greenstone bedrock in several places.

51 Cameron, C. D., personal communication. 

165255 33 4
184 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

(See pi. 13, A.) In the most westerly cut the contact strikes about 

N. 10° E. and dips about 20° E. At the High Gravel mine, as elsewhere, the conglomerate is composed of highly altered yet firmly 

cemented boulders of various types. Because of the induration attempts have been made to loosen the banks with explosives before 

hydraulicking, but according to reports this proved too costly for 

economical mining. The bedrock has a purplish tint and is highly 

decomposed wherever it is exposed beneath the conglomerate. It 

is cut by numerous fractures and small veins.

According to Mr. Cameron, the gold is distributed throughout 

the Tertiary conglomerate but is more abundant near the surface, 

where the formation is exposed to weathering. Much of it is coated 

with black material which makes amalgamation difficult. Mr. 

Cameron estimates the average gold content in the Osgood pits at 

about 3 cents a cubic yard.

CAMERON MINE

The pit here called the Cameron mine is near the head of Scotch 

Gulch, in the SW. % sec. 34, T. 40 S., R. 8 W. It is owned by 

F. H. Osgood, of Seattle, Wash., but has been worked principally 

by lessees, chiefly J. T. Logan, C. D. Cameron, C. H. White, E. N. 

Bayse, and C. P. Johnson. A pit roughly 400 by 500 feet has been 

excavated by hydraulic giants. Water for the operation of the 

giants is supplied by the Osgood ditch, which takes water from the 

East Fork of the Illinois River south of the Oregon-California 

boundary. The tailings are removed by natural run-off. Most of 

the mining was done during the period 1924-27 although some gold 

was produced prior to 1909. The total production is estimated at 

about $9,000 $1,500 before 1909 and $7,500 during the period 

1924-1927. 52

The gold occurs in Tertiary conglomerate. As elsewhere, the 

lower beds are sandy and dark purple, and the upper exposed beds 

are light tan and consist principally of large, well-indurated 

boulders. Bedrock is not exposed beneath the conglomerate at the 

Cameron mine, but at the south side of the pit greenstones of the 

bedrock series are in fault contact with it. The fault that has 

dropped the conglomerate into contact with the greenstone strikes 

east and dips about 65° N., whereas the bedding in the conglomerate 

strikes N. 10° E. and dips 14° W. Boulders of greenstone, argillite, 

a talcky-appearing rock that is probably decomposed serpentine, and. 

granitic rocks are most abundant in the conglomerate. The boulders 

are all well rounded and, for the most part, are highly decomposed. 

Even the granitic rocks readily fall to pieces when broken from their

62 Cameron, C. D., and White, C. H., personal communication.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 185

matrix. The matrix is principally sandstone, but the deposit is 

sufficiently indurated to make hydraulic mining difficult.

The gold is flat and flaky, and because much of it is covered with 

a black coating, amalgamation is difficult. According to C. H. 

White, the gold is distributed throughout the Tertiary beds but 

appears to be more abundant in areas of intense alteration. Mr. 

White estimates that the Tertiary formation in the Cameron mine 

contains on an average from 2% to 3 cents in gold to the cubic yard.

PLATERICA MINE

During the winter and spring of 1929-30 a small cut was excavated by the Platerica Mining Co. in the NW. ^4 sec. 34 and the 

SW. % sec. 27, T. 40 S., R. 8 W., near the head of Alien Gulch, about 

a mile west of Takilma. The gravel is mined by hydraulic giants, and 

the tailings are disposed of by natural run-off. Shallow workings 

southeast of the Platerica pit were excavated by early-day miners.

The Platerica Mining Co. has worked the lower beds of the Tertiary conglomerate, which where exposed in the pits is composed 

largely of greatly altered, rounded boulders in a sandy matrix. 

Numerous joints and some faults cut the conglomerate. Near the 

center of the cut an east-west normal fault, dipping about 45° N., 

has dropped the conglomerate into contact with the greenstone bedrock. The bedrock has a purplish tint, is greatly decomposed, and 

is traversed by numerous veins filled with quartz, epistilbite, and 

calcite. An assay of the material from the veins showed they contained no gold. According to J. L. Eggers, superintendent of operations, the gold occurs throughout the Tertiary conglomerate but is 

more abundant near bedrock. Here, as elsewhere, a large percentage 

of the gold is coated with black material. Much of it is collected 

in a black-sand concentrate along with chromite, magnetite, hematite, platinum, and other heavy minerals. It is reported that the 

hematite contains gold, although none was seen in polished sections 

of it. ' Mr. Eggers states that the conglomerate above bedrock 

averages about 2^ cents in metallic content to the cubic yard.

QUATERNARY PLACERS

Quaternary deposits have produced most of the gold and platinum 

in the Takilma district. Nearly all the valuable deposits have 

formed just below outcrops of Tertiary conglomerate, and the highest gold and platinum contents have been found closest to or on the 

conglomerate. These relationships are so consistent that there is 

little doubt as to the principal source of these metals in the Quaternary deposits. In general, there are three different types of Quaternary placers (1) those formed on slopes below outcrops of Tertiary 

conglomerate where the gold is associated with very little gravel,
186 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

(2) deposits in narrow gulches traversing Tertiary conglomerate, 

and (3) transported deposits to which the Tertiary and other formations have contributed material. Deposits of the first group were 

largely worked out during the early days, so that little is known 

regarding their productivity. Good examples occur in the SE. ^4 sec. 

21 and the SW. % sec. 10, T. 40 S., R. 8 W., where the gold collected 

on serpentine bedrock. Deposits of the second type are well illustrated by the placers of Sailor and Alien Gulches. They were richly 

productive but, like the deposits of the first group, were worked by 

the early-day miners, and hence little is known of the amount of gold 

they produced. Most of the gold and platinum in recent years has 

come from the deposits of the third group, illustrated by the Llano 

de Oro and Deep Gravel mines and portions of Fry Gulch.

LLANO DE ORO MINE

The Llano de Oro mine, formerly the Logan, Simmons & Cameron 

mine, has for many years been the most productive gold-platinum 

placer in Oregon. The property includes over 3,000 acres of land in 

sees. 8, 9, 10, 15,16, 21, 22, and 27, T. 40 S., E. 8 W., although practically all of the mining has been confined to the S. % sec. 15, the S. % 

sec. 22, and the N. % sec. 27. The property is operated by George M. 

Esterly, of Waldo.

The first important work on the Llano de Oro property was done 

south of the highway near the center of sec. 27 by early-day miners. 

C. H. White, who was acquainted with one of the miners, states that 

they mined gold worth $80,000 from this place. Later George Simmons, Frank Ennis, and Theodric Cameron took $110,000 out of Carroll Slough.53 J. T. Logan mined the gravel on French Flat from 

1907 to 1917, when the property was sold to G. M. Esterly. Mr. 

Esterly has worked the property almost continuously, during the 

mining seasons, up to the present time. He estimates the production 

in gold and platinum since 1917 at about $225,000 and the total production of the entire property at about $500,000.

Since 1907 most of the work at the Llano de Oro mine has been 

confined to the vicinity of French Flat. Four pits have been excavated, covering in all an area of over 30 acres. The depths of the 

pits vary considerably from place to place. For example, the depth 

to bedrock in pit 3 is about 8 feet on the west side and about 18 feet 

on the east side, whereas the average depth of the Logan or no. 1 pit 

is more than 30 feet, and at one place in it the tailings were elevated 

50 feet. The company owns three ditches known as the upper, middle, 

and lower, together with three water rights to 500, 518, and 1,100

58 Historical data furnished by C. D. Cameron and G. M. Esterly.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 187

miner's inches from the East Fork of the Illinois Kiver.54 The total 

length of the ditches is over 15 miles. During the mining season, 

which averages about 7 months yearly, sufficient water is available 

to operate 2 giants in the pits, 2 hydraulic elevators, and 1 giant for 

stacking tailings. When the plant is operating steadily from 15,000 

to 30,000 cubic yards of gravel, depending largely upon the seasonal 

water supply, is washed each month.

Both the Tertiary conglomerate and the Quaternary Llano de Oro 

formation have been worked at the Llano de Oro mine, but the latter 

has been by far the most productive. In only one place on Llano de 

Oro ground, in the SW. % sec. 15, has the Tertiary formation been 

washed for its gold content. At this place the formation is well exposed in several cuts, where it can be seen resting upon serpentine 

in fault contact. The fault, which in part defines the eastern boundary of the Tertiary formation, strikes north and dips 65° W., whereas the normal contact dips 20° W.

The Llano de Oro formation consists of gravel, sand, and clay, 

is in general poorly sorted, and ranges in thickness from less than 

1 foot near the edges to nearly 50 feet, but within the prospected 

areas on French Flat averages about 18 feet. Few boulders with 

diameters exceeding 6 inches are present. The bedrock varies at 

different localities. At several places it is Tertiary conglomerate; at 

other places serpentine or Horsetown (?) sandstone. The gold and 

platinum are concentrated near bedrock, although prospect holes 

show that some gold is distributed throughout most of the formation.

Most of the gold is angular and is associated with platinum chromite, magnetite, ilmenite, hematite, limonite, epidote, zircon, and 

other heavy minerals. Chromite was abundant enough in some of the 

areas of serpentine bedrock to be troublesome in the sluice boxes. The 

platinum occurs as flattened scales with rounded corners, which range 

in size from tiny grains to pieces over 2 millimeters in cross-section. 

Picked grains of platinum from the concentrate were analyzed by E. 

T. Erickson of the chemical laboratory of the United States Geological Survey, who reports that " the sample consists largely of platinum 

and ruthenium with smaller proportions of iridium and osmium. A 

small quantity of gold and slight quantities of palladium and rhodium 

were also detected." According to Mr. Esterly, platinum accounted 

for one tenth of the value of the clean-ups when it was worth $110 an 

ounce. In other words, the ratio of platinum to gold in the mined 

areas on French Flat is about 1 to 50.

In 1921 L. A. Levensaler, mining engineer in charge of prospecting 

for Mr. Esterly, estimated that the unmined gravel on French Flat

"Hornor, R. R., op. cit., p. 29.
188 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

within the prospected areas would average about 18 cents to the cubic 

yard. According to Mr. Levensaler, the value of the ground worked 

by J. T. Logan in the upper (No. 1) pit averaged 22^ cents a cubic 

yard, and that worked by Mr. Esterly at the other places in the same 

pit averaged 33^/2 cents a cubic yard. Kay 55 states that the gold 

content of the gravel mined in Carroll Slough was about 12^ cents 

a cubic yard.

DEEP GRAVEL MINE

The Deep Gravel mine is in Butcher Gulch, in sees. 16, 17, 20, and 

21, T. 40 S., R. 8 W. Four deep pits covering a total area of approximately 50 acres and shallow pits covering well over 15 acres constitute the principal workings. The deep pits are designated, from 

north to south, Joe Smith Gulch, Wadleigh No. 2, Weimer, Wadleigh No. 1, and Johnson pits. The mine was first worked about 

1874 by George and Walter Simmons. W. J. Weimer and sons purchased the property in 18T8. In 1900 the ownership passed to the 

Deep Gravel Mining Co., in which Mr. Weimer retained an interest. 

In 1911 the Waldo Consolidated Mining Co. obtained an option on 

the property, but when the payments were not completed the ownership reverted to the Deep Gravel Mining Co. A. E. Reams, of Medford, Oreg., at present owns two thirds of the stock and acts as the 

representative of the company. Mr. Weimer stated that until 1908 

about $130,000 had been expended on the property and it had produced $250,000.56 Since 1907 the mine has produced about $26,316 in 

gold.57 The Deep Gravel Mining Co. owns 350 acres of patented 

placer land, 410 acres of land held by mineral location, and a water 

right to take 2,800 inches of water from the East Fork of the Illinois 

River at a point a short distance west of Takilma.68

Most of the production of the Deep Gravel mine has come from 

the Llano de Oro formation, but recently Charles Johnson, of Takilma, excavated a small cut in Tertiary conglomerate in the S*4 sec. 

21. The Tertiary formation is here almost identical in appearance 

with the exposures at the Cameron mine, in Scotch Gulch. The lower 

beds are purplish conglomerate and sandstone; the upper beds are 

tan conglomerate composed of poorly sorted, coarse boulders which 

are fairly well indurated with sandy material. Like those at the 

Cameron mine, the boulders of the Tertiary conglomerate in the 

Johnson cut are for the most part highly decomposed. On the west 

they are in fault contact with Cretaceous sandstone.

B5 Diller, J. S., and Kay, G. F., Mineral resources of the Grants Pass quadrangle and 

bordering districts, Oreg.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 380, p. 74, 1909. 

M Kay, G. F., op. cit., p. 74.

51 Data supplied, by Victor C, Heifces, of the United States Bureau Qf Mines, and published with permission o.f owner. 

wHornor, R. R., op. cit., p. 32.
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTEICT, OREGON 189

At the Deep Gravel mine, as elsewhere, the Llano de Oro formation is composed of gravel, sand, and clay and except in the lower 10 

feet contains but few boulders over 6 inches in diameter. Stratification is well shown in some places. The thickness of the formation 

ranges from less than 1 foot near the edges to over 80 feet. Joe Johnson, of Takilma, assisted in the sinking of two prospect pits south of 

Mr. Potter's house. According to Mr. Johnson, the shafts passed 

through sand and clay containing lenses of fine gravel and at about 

70 feet entered sandstone bedrock. A 2-foot layer of gravel on bedrock prospected very well, but above this layer the gold was sparsely 

distributed. So far as known, the bedrock in the various pits is either 

Cretaceous sandstone or Tertiary conglomerate. According to Kay 59 

the bedrock in Joe Smith Gulch was 30 feet below the stream bed 

of the West Fork of the Illinois River, and hence hydraulic elevators 

were necessary to lift the gravel after the coarse gold had been removed on the riffles of a short sluice. After being elevated, the gravel 

was washed through another sluice 400 feet long in which the finer 

gold was collected. According to Kay 60 the average value of the pay 

gravel over a period of five years was about 25 cents to the cubic 

yard.

FRY GULCH

Fry Gulch is in sees. 28 and 33, T. 40 S., R. 8 W. Much of the 

gravel in it was worked in the early days, but some unworked ground 

remains. Two northward-trending branches of Fry Gulch join near 

the quarter corner between sees. 28 and 33. Both branches, as well 

as the main gulch for about 1,500 feet below the junction, have been 

mined. The east branch heads at the High Gravel mine, and the 

gold in it was clearly derived from the Tertiary conglomerate. The 

west branch heads near a flat summit close to the quarter corner of 

sees. 32 and 33. The boulders in it are similar to those in the east 

branch, but the source of the gold is not known, although it probably 

came from a patch of the Tertiary conglomerate, now completely 

eroded. Like Sailor Gulch and other small gulches receiving the 

wash from the Tertiary conglomerate, Fry Gulch was undoubtedly a 

rich placer, but, because much of the mining was done in the early 

days, no records of production are available.

In 1930 A. L. Bailey was working in a small cut near the mouth of 

the west branch. The gravel in the cut is composed of dark-red 

sand with pebbles of greenstone, serpentine, granitic rocks, sandstone, hematite, and chromite. The material is principally sand, and 

only a few of the boulders exceed 6 inches in diameter. Patches of 

imworked material of this sort extend up the west branch for about

00 Kay, G. F., op. cit., p. 73. 6° Idem, p. 74.
190 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

2,500 feet. The bedrock in Bailey's cut is Cretaceous sandstone, but 

in the east branch and farther up the west branch the gravel rests 

upon serpentine. According to J. L. Eggers, the production from 

about 1,650 cubic yards of gravel in Bailey's upper cut was $1,000, 

or about 60 cents a cubic yard.

RESERVES OF PLACER GRAVEL

Under present conditions it is doubtful whether the Tertiary conglomerate should be classified as among the reserve placer deposits. 

If, however, at some time exceptionally low costs should prevail, 

much of the formation might prove to be workable. Existing remnants within the area mapped aggregate a square mile or more and 

evidently contain many million cubic yards of material. The Llano 

de Oro gravel is to be regarded as the chief source of future placer 

production. Information given by the reports of trustworthy engineers and from other reliable sources indicates that areas of this 

formation aggregating several hundred acres contain enough gold 

to be profitably mined. In addition there is much ground that is 

probably gold-bearing, and the areas of known and probable value 

together aggregate at least 1,000 acres. The deposit ranges from 

less than a foot to 80 feet or more in depth, and its volume probably 

equals or exceeds that of the Tertiary. The largest remaining body 

adjoins the Llano de Oro and Logan (Carroll Slough) mines. 

Smaller areas remain in Butcher Gulch and in Fry Gulch below 

Waldo. In the prospected areas, the available information indicates 

that the gold content ranges generally from 10 to 60 cents a cubic 

yard, with streaks that are much richer.

BLUE CREEK DISTRICT

GEOLOGY

The geologic map of the Blue Creek district (fig. 25) includes about 

4 square miles situated approximately 5 miles southwest of Takilma. 

Although most of the mining in this district has been done at the 

Turner (Albright) mine, the mapped area includes several other 

prospects.

The rocks of the area have been grouped into four units the

Galice formation, of Jurassic age; greenstones of Paleozoic or Mesozoic age; serpentine of Cretaceous age; and recent alluvium. The 

Galice formation, of sedimentary origin, occupies about one-third 

of the area mapped; greenstones and serpentine, of igneous origin, 

occupy most of the remainder. Small areas of recent alluvium occur

along the larger streams,

The Galice formation near the Turner mine consists principally 

of sandstones (partly arkosic), slates and argillites, fine-grained con-
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 191

glomerates, and some interbedded greenstones. The conglomerates 

resemble those found near Takilma. The sandstones are firmly 

indurated, in most places massive, and prevailingly gray or reddish. 

The red color is probably due to surface weathering. The Blue 

Creek trail crosses a thick series of these red and gray sandstones 

immediately east of the quarter corner between sees. 10 and 11, T. 

41 S., R. 9 W. The slates and argillites are fine-grained dark-gray 

to black rocks. They strike north of east and, for the most part, 

dip at steep angles to the southeast. The slates and argillites are

R. 9 W.

EXPLANATION

Topography from U.S.GS. 

map of kerby quadrangle

0 £ o

UI O tf)

Tunnel

x 

Prospect

FIGUEE 25. Geologic map of the Blue Creek district

differentiated on the basis of cleavage. The slates split into thin 

laminae along planes independent of the original bedding, whereas 

the argillites are more massive. Upon fossil evidence Diller 61 has 

assigned the rocks of the Galice formation to the Jurassic period.

The greenstones consist of fine and medium grained rocks of prevailing dark grayish-green color, shown by the microscope and 

chemical analyses to be principally highly altered basalt and gabbro, 

which, because of intense alteration, have in this report been termed 

metagabbro and metabasalt. None are coarse-grained, and all show 

 evidence of recrystallization.

The metagabbro is a medium grained granular rock in which the 

dark minerals appear, in hand specimens, to be much more abundant 

than the light minerals. The microscope, however, shows them to be

61 Diller, J. S., Mineral resources of southwestern Oregon: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 546. 

p. 17, 1914.
192 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

about equally divided. All the minerals are greatly altered, the 

feldspars enough so to make their exact determination difficult. The 

plagioclase feldspar in the sections studied is everywhere partly 

altered to a very fine grained saussuritic product. Orthoclase, if 

present, occurs in minor amounts. Augite is largely altered to 

hornblende, biotite, and chlorite. The rock is very similar in appearance to the metagabbro of the Takilma district and, like that 

rock, is believed to have been intruded into the finer-grained 

greenstones and subsequently altered with them by dynamothermal 

processes.

The metabasalt is very fine grained, is dark grayish green to 

almost black, and near the ore bodies commonly has a greasy appearance. In thin sections the less altered portions of the metabasalts 

have pronounced basaltic textures, whereas the more altered areas 

are granular aggregates containing principally feldspar, epidote, 

chlorite, and saussuritic material too fine grained to classify. Some 

small patches of partly altered augite are usually visible. The 

green color of these rocks is due largely to the presence of chlorite 

and epidote. The evidence at hand indicates that the metabasalts 

were for the most part formed as flows.

Serpentine is the most widespread of the rocks near the Turner 

mine. As elsewhere in southwestern Oregon, it is dark green to almost black and is cut by many fractures, most of them with slick, 

greasy-appearing surfaces. In this vicinity, as in many other places, 

the serpentinization of the original rock is nearly complete. The 

texture and remnants of olivine and bastite (altered enstatite) indicate that the original rock was a peridotite composed largely of 

these two minerals. The serpentine, as at Takilma, is believed to 

have been intruded during late Jurassic or early Cretaceous time.

Considerable recent gravel and alluvium has been deposited along 

Elk Creek and its larger tributaries, Blue and Dwight Creeks. The 

gravel is composed of sand and pebbles derived from the erosion of 

the consolidated rocks of the region and includes various greenstones, 

slate, quartzite, argillite, chert, sandstone, several coarse-grained 

igneous rocks, and serpentine.

TURNER (ALBRIGHT) MINE

The Turner or Albright mine is just north of the California line, 

45 miles southwest of Grants Pass, and 2% miles by trail from the 

Redwood Highway. Between the highway and the mine the trail 

gains 1,200 feet in altitude. Waters Creek, the nearest railroad point, 

is 35 miles to the northeast. The property was located about 35 

years ago and now belongs to Edward Turner and James Albright.

It includes, according to Mr. Turner, three claims in sec. 15 and 260 

acres of patented ground in sec. 16, T. 41 S., R. 8 W. Nine tunnels
TAKILMA-WALDO DISTRICT, OREGON 193

with numerous crosscuts have been driven which, in all, have a total 

length of over 3,000 feet. (See fig. 26.) No production has been 

reported.

300 Feet

FIGCBE 26. Map showing relation of part of underground workings to leached outcrops

at Turner mine

Two large bodies of porous iron-stained rock or " gossans ", enclosed in fine-grained greenstone, crop out at the Turner mine. One
194 CONTRIBUTIONS TO ECONOMIC GEOLOGY, 1933, PART 1

is about 80 feet wide and can be traced on the surface for 900 feet. 

The other averages about 20 feet in width and is well defined on 

the surface for over 300 feet. (See pi. 22, A.) Both gossans crop 

out prominently, but the narrower one is much more conspicuous 

because of the fact that it rises 30 to 50 feet above its surroundings. 

The larger gossan is partly prospected by tunnels 5 and 6. Both 

tunnels are near the surface and run through soft brown oxidized 

material and iron-stained greenstone. Some pyrite occurs near the 

face of tunnel 5, but the oxidation is elsewhere nearly complete. 

The smaller gossan is composed of porous brown, highly silicified 

material, which in places contains cores of unoxidized pyrite. In 

other places practically all of the iron has been removed, and there 

remains a cavernous white residuum composed principally of silica 

ribs. However, because of the abundant silica, a prominent outcrop 

has been maintained in spite of the thorough leaching. Beautiful 

specimens of the type of gossan described by Locke 62 as " botryoidal 

jaspery limonite " have been mined from one of the workings known 

as the " picture rock" tunnel. Sulphides are exposed in several 

tunnels beneath the smaller gossan. Of these, pyrite is by far the 

most abundant, although considerable chalcopyrite is associated with 

it in tunnels 2 and 3. In spite of the fact that the development work 

has thus far shown a high proportion of pyrite in the sulphide ore, 

the presence of considerable chalcopyrite with the pyrite at the face 

of tunnel 3, and below in tunnel 2, seems to justify more exploration 

on these levels. Because silicification makes the rock hard to mine by 

hand methods, work was stopped in the tunnels in the two places 

appearing most favorable for prospecting. An extension of tunnel 

3 another 200 or 300 feet would add a great deal of information as to 

the probable worth of the property.

63 Locke, Augustus, Leached outcrops as guides to copper ore, p. 138, Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins Co., 1926.

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