Randsburg and The El Paso Range: California Desert Gold Nuggets

Although this region was prospected as early as the 1860s, no significant finds were made at that time. It was not until placer gold was discovered in 1893 in Goler Wash, in the El Paso Mountains 15 miles to the north west, that there was any mineral production. Numerous short-lived dry-washing camps soon sprang up in various locations along the El Paso range. As a result of this activity, the Yellow Aster mine, the most important hard rock mine at Randsburg, was discovered in 1895. Other discoveries were made, and the rich ore recovered in these early operations led to a gold rush. The district was named for the famous Rand district in South Africa.  In early years the ore was shipped out of the area for treatment, but a 100-stamp mill was erected at the Yellow Aster mine in 1901 and other mills were built soon after-ward. During the early days some difficulty was encountered in concentrating the placer gold found near Randsburg because of the presence of "heavy spar" or scheelite (an important ore of tungsten).

If you would like to read more information on placer mining in general, and some instructions on how to find your own gold, be sure to check out some pages from my website on gold mining located here:

Metal Detecting For Gold

Drywashing Placer Mining Methods

Ore Deposits: Most of the lode-gold deposits are found in veins which occur along faults, except at the Yellow Aster mine, where the gold is in a series of closely spaced veinlets in zone of brecciation. The majority of the gold deposits are in the schist, which is more widespread than the quartz monzonite, and nearly all are in an area where the rocks have been colored a pale red by iron oxides. The veins at Randsburg are not oriented in any specific direction, but usually have a well-defined hanging wall.  The ore bodies most commonly occur in the vein footwalls, usually at or near vein intersections or in sheared and brecciated zones. The ore consists of quartz veins with iron oxide-stained brecciated and silicified rock containing native gold in fine grains and varying amounts of sulfides. The sulfides increase at depth, but the gold values decrease. Most mining has stopped where unoxidized sulfides were found in the veins, and the maximum depth of development is 600 feet. Milling ore contains from 1/7 to 1/4 ounce of gold per ton. The higher-grade ore nearly always occurs in pockets near the surface.

Placers:  Most of the placer gold from the Randsburg area has been recovered from dry placers at Stringer or in the Rand Mountains north of Randsburg. The Stringer area is the source of the largest nugget that the author knows to have been recovered with a metal detector in the lower 48 states of the US. It weighs in at 156 ounces. Gold from the Randsburg area is rough and shows little sign of wear – it is assumed to be derived from the many small quartz stringer veins around the Stringer and Rand Mountains area.

In the El Paso Range, gold occurs in modern ravines and stream beds as well as benches above the ravine floor. A series of placers are found along this mountain range, from Last Chance and Bonanza canyons on the west to Summit Diggings on the east. Many of these areas are popular with modern prospectors and are regularly worked by prospectors with dry washers and metal detectors. Many of the placers in the El Paso range have issues with hot basalt rocks which make them difficult to work. Gold from the El Paso Range is usually flat, smooth and apparently water worn.