What are these black stripes on the hill?

[OwenT]

I posted this here because the subject is in a gold producing area and I wanted to know if whatever causes these stripes are associated with gold in any way. They only show up on two other hills, all within 1.5 miles of each other, and only on the S and E facing slopes.

 

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[bobw53]

I'm voting for bushes combined with shadows in the washes.

Down in the bottom left, it looks like black dots in a row, that says bushes to me.

In google earth you can scroll back in time to earlier images.. See what those show.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Now that's some strange looking topography to say the least. If I had to guess I'd say erosion over a volcanic vent that had been covered up or something like that. Without being able to see it first hand it's hard to be sure of anything. Have you been able to get out to the location yet? Any obsidian or lava rocks there?

 

[Clay Diggins]

Those are shadows. Shadows do not indicate gold.

Heavy Pans

 

[ratled]

Reminds of the folds near Parkfield CA caused by the fault movement.

ratled

 

[OwenT]

Haven't been there, just doing some armchair travelling, historical imagery shows the exact same patterns back to '94, which leads me to believe that they're not shadows because the pictures weren't all taken on the same dates and probably not at the same times. Not vegetation either I think because they aren't concentrated in gullys but on the open face of the slope. I do think it's some sort of mineralization, you may be onto something with the volcanoes because the area has some geothermal activity and I just found out that there is basalt around.

 

[Got_4by4]

Why not share the location so we might see for ourselves and reach a concensus?

 

[SpecJet]

You can see formations similar to this on the west slope of the Sheep Creek range, just north of Battle Mountain Nevada.

 

[OwenT]

This place is pretty close the there actually. Dutch Flat, near the Southern end of the Hot Springs range, Humboldt Co, NV

 

[SpecJet]

The Dutch Flat Placers, that's the spot I was researching that came to mind when I saw your picture.
Just couldn't remember exactly where it was.
There's some interesting history on that area.

 

[OwenT]

The Dutch Flat Placers, that's the spot I was researching that came to mind when I saw your picture.
Just couldn't remember exactly where it was.
There's some interesting history on that area.

Interesting? I'm interested. Mining, or just in general? Care to share?

 

[OwenT]

Just read some more on the actually mining part of the area and it mentioned a stock (that's like an old volcano's neck right?) around the source of the gold.

 

[goldog]

Fingerprints.

 

[SpecJet]

Have a look at this link.
https://gisweb.unr.edu/flexviewers/MiningDistricts/
Search the Winnemucca district.
Quite a few documents that are worth reading on early developments and attempts to mine the area on a large scale back in the day.
I remember reading about an early attempt to bring in a bucket line dredge from the yuba gold fields and put it to work there.
That was about the same time the famous Manhattan Gulch placers were being successfully worked with a dredge.

I have yet to put any boots on the ground there.

 

[OwenT]

Awesome stuff. I can't believe I hadn't run into that application yet, looks pretty nice. There isn't stuff like that for other states is there?

 

[SpecJet]

I've found that Nevada and Alaska go the extra mile to get the information out to those seeking it, as it should be.
Other states, not so much. It's there, you just have to dig a little harder to find it. In some cases, the only way to get information at a certain level is to visit
the state office that archives the data.

Nevada has been scanning old mining district files for years, but now I'm finding that some files that used to be available on their old system, are not available on this new map based website.
In a few cases I've found the report I was looking for but not the geologic maps/drawings that were available previously.

I'm hoping that they'll eventually be added back.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I've found that Nevada and Alaska go the extra mile to get the information out to those seeking it, as it should be.
Other states, not so much. It's there, you just have to dig a little harder to find it. In some cases, the only way to get information at a certain level is to visit
the state office that archives the data.

Nevada has been scanning old mining district files for years, but now I'm finding that some files that used to be available on their old system, are not available on this new map based website.
In a few cases I've found the report I was looking for but not the geologic maps/drawings that were available previously.

I'm hoping that they'll eventually be added back.

Hope is not a plan. I suggest calling the office of your state legislator. They have staff who can help you file a request for the information so at least you get it.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Arizona has great support and resources for miners. Their Geological Survey is the best - very active. Some of the largest mines in the world are here and there is still room for independent miners. A perfect combination - money and opportunity!

If you need information on Arizona try the AZGS:

Mining Collections - HUGE and growing daily.

Mining Publications

And one of my favorite people in the industry Lee Allison the Arizona State Geologist has a very active geology and mining blog.

Sometimes it's just a matter of looking around.

Heavy Pans

 

[SpecJet]

Agreed, Kevin.
After looking up a couple other spots that I was researching a few years back, I'm finding more missing info.
And now, thanks to Clay's open placer heat maps from another thread, those areas have more open ground available.

 

[SpecJet]

That mining collections link is awesome Clay. It always amazes me that with all the research that I do, people find things that I've totally missed.