Abstract The Calistoga Mining District, is one of three districts in the northern California Coast Ranges, where epithermal precious metals deposits have been economically mined. The district produced over 1.5 million ounces of silver (with lesser amounts of gold, copper and lead) intermittently over a 76 year period. The Palisade and Silverado mines were the two producers of the district. Precious metals enrichment is associated with northeast-striking, en echelon quartz + chalcedony + adularia vein systems, hosted by flows and pyroclastic rocks of die Tertiary Sonoma Volcanics. Basement rocks are part of the Mesozoic and early Cenozoic Franciscan Complex, composed largely of tectonized marine sediments and dismembered ophiolite. Silver dominates gold by 74:1, and occurs in various sulfides, sulfosalts and selenides. Gold occurs in its native state, but is rarely macroscopic. In addition, this system is highly enriched in Cu, Sb, Zn, Pb, As and Ba, and contains anomalous concentrations of Se, Cd, Hg, Te, Ga, Tl, Mo and Bi. Veins formed at +200 m depths, along dilational segments of normeast-striking (sinistral) conjugate Reidel shears, associated with a zone of San Andreas-style dextral wrench faulting. The zone of alteration and vein propagation is restricted to a corridor 1.5 km wide by 14.5 km long. This corridor appears to be structurally related to a local dilatiuaal jog in a 305°-striking dextral shear zone. The orientation of the optimal plane of extension was approximately 196° (right hand rule), dipping 74°. Because the volcanic pile has deformed as a homogeneous medium, a comparison of 595 vein and shear joint attitudes, taken in the Silverado and Palisade vein systems, provides a means of determining finite strain ellipsoid axes for vein formation. Based on these data, the orientation of Z is calculated to be 202°, plunging 18° and X at 106°, plunging 16°. Because of scatter in the data, the above axes are assigned error limits of ±15°. These values do not take into account the possibility of post-mineral rotation. Fluid inclusion geothermometry indicates that this was a boiling system, with temperatures averaging 212° and 249° for the Palisade and Silverado veins, respectively. The mineralizing fluids were low salinity (-1.0 wt. % NaCl equivalent), NaCl-dominated, and possibly enriched in CO2. They are believed to be evolved meteoric waters, chemically and isotopically similar to those of the Geysers and McLaughlin systems. Metals were presumably transported as bisulfide and (to a lesser extent) chloride complexes. Precipitation was triggered by CO2 and H2S partitioning in response to fault-induced increases in vertical permeability.

Abstract Hot springs along Sulphur Creek in Colusa County, California, have been recognized for about 130 years. Several researchers have proposed that the hot spring fluid there is derived from mixing of “connate” or “evolved connate” water which is derived from ancient seawater deposited in the Mesozoic sedimentary rocks. This water, which is similar in composition to Complexion Spring, mixes with meteoric water to form Wilbur Springs and other hot spring waters along Sulphur Creek. A δD - δ 18 O plot shows that Complexion Spring really does not plot along this trend; it must be isotopically modified to plot along the trend. Tuscan Springs, which is located 140 km NNE of Wilbur Springs, just NE of Red Bluff, has chemical and isotopic characteristics which are similar to the Sulphur Creek hot springs. Tuscan Springs vent from the Chico Formation of the Great Valley sequence and indicate that Tuscan Springs and Wilbur Springs are both derived from waters originating in the Great Valley sequence. Also δ 11 B correlates well with Cl, δD and δ 18 O, which originate in the Great Valley sequence, suggesting a similar source for the higher d 11 B values. Chemical geothermometry of the Sulphur Creek hot springs indicates a reservoir temperature of ~ 180 °C. This temperature agrees with measured homogenization temperatures from fluid inclusion which range from 150 to 180 °C. The calculated cation geothermometer temperatures are affected by the presence of dissolved Mg, even though the concentrations appear low.

Abstract Manifestations of a major thermal anomaly in the Geysers-Clear Lake area of northern California include the late Pliocene to Holocene Clear Lake Volcanics, The Geysers geothermal field, abundant thermal springs, and epithermal mercury and gold mineralization. The epithermal mineralization and thermal springs typically occur along high-angle faults within the broad San Andreas transform fault system that forms the western boundary of the North American plate in this area. The young volcanic rocks overlie Mesozoic marine rocks of the Great Valley sequence which have been thrust above the coeval Franciscan Complex and penecontemporaneously dropped back down along low-angle detachment faults. Many of the waters of the region are non-meteoric as defined by their isotopic signature. One type of isotppically shifted water emerges from or near Great Valley sequence rocks and is the most chloride rich. It is interpreted to be evolved connate in origin. A second type, evolved meteoric water has moderate chloride contents, high boron contents, and high B/Cl ratios and is found locally in Franciscan rocks, notably at the Sulphur Bank mercury mine where it probably results from near-closed-system, repeated boiling of meteoric water in host rocks that also contribute organic components to the water. At the Sulphur Bank mine fracturing of otherwise impermeable Franciscan rocks by faulting has created a localized zone of permeability in which thermal water boils repeatedly with limited venting to the surface. Boron-rich fluids were apparently present at depth in The Geysers when intrusion of silicic magma occurred because the concealed intrusion of felsite is surrounded by a halo of tourmaline-bearing hornfels. The volume of this poorly dated early to middle Quaternary intrusive body probably exceeds the 100 km 3 of erupted Clear Lake Volcanics. Similar intrusions may have occurred in the eastern part of the area at Wilbur Springs and the McLaughlin mine, where gold deposition and evidence of hydrothermal phenomena suggest more magmatic activity than is indicated by small exposed bodies of early Quaternary basaltic lava. The Clear Lake Volcanics are the present locus of volcanism in the northern Coast Ranges and other volcanic centers are progressively older to the south. Geophysical data suggest that a large silicic magma body may be centered north of The Geysers steam field providing the heat for the geothermal field. Geothermal power production has peaked at The Geysers and pressure declines indicate significant depletion of the fluid resource. The vapor-dominated field evolved from a pre-existing hydrothermal system within fractured, otherwise impermeable Franciscan metamorphic rocks. A deep water table of saline fluid has been postulated to be present under the steam field, but no chloride-rich water has been found at drillable depth. We propose that recently discovered, isotopically shifted steam in the northwest Geysers area indicates the presence not of deep connate water but rather of boiled-down, boron-rich Franciscan evolved meteoric water. This water is likely to be present in limited quantities and will not provide a significant hot water resource for geothermal power production at The Geysers or from the main Clear Lake volcanic field.

Abstract Numerous late Tertiary and Quaternary volcanic centers are scattered in the vicinity of the San Andreas Fault system across the northern California Coast Ranges (Fig. 1). These volcanic rocks are characterized by a clear age progression. The youngest volcanic rocks are found in the Clear Lake volcanic center (2.1-0.01 Ma) (Donnelly-Nolan et al., 1981). To the south, volcanic rocks become progressively older. In an area about 60-70 km north of Clear Lake, seismic tomography suggests an “unerupted magma chamber” marked by relatively low crustal velocity similar to that under Clear Lake (Benz et al., 1992). A number of causes have been suggested for the Coast Ranges volcanism. Hearn et al. (1981) proposed that the volcanism resulted from northward motion of the North American plate over a hotspot relatively fixed in the mantle. However, the trend of the Coast Ranges volcanism is difficult to reconcile with the relative motion of the North American plate derived from global inversion of plate kinematics (Minster et al., 1974). An origin of arc-volcanism is also unlikely, since volcanic rocks in the northern Coast Ranges were erupted within 50-60 km of the plate boundary, whereas the Cascades arc-volcanism typically occurs about 300 km inboard of the plate boundary (Fox et al., 1985). Most workers relate the Coast Ranges volcanism to thermal perturbations associated with the northward migration of the Mendocino triple junction (MTJ) (Dickinson and Snyder, 1979; McLaughlin et al., 1981; Furlong, 1984; Johnson and O’Neil, 1984; Fox et al., 1985; Liu and Furlong, 1992). Both

Abstract Epithermal precious-metal and mercury deposits are present in the Sonoma and Clear Lake volcanic fields of central California and several hot springs in the Clear Lake volcanic field are presently depositing mercury and gold. The deposits and hot springs are associated with late Miocene to Holocene volcanic centers developed above a zone of thin crust and hot asthenosphere termed a slab window (Dickinson and Snyder, 1979, Benz and others, 1992) as the end of Pacific plate subduction was marked by the passage of the Mendocino triple junction along the California coast. Mercury deposition is actively occurring at the Sulphur Bank mercury mine, but no precious metals are present there because the geothermal system is vapor-dominated. In the water dominated geothermal systems at Wilbur Springs (Peters, 1990, Donnelly and others, 1993) and springs near the Cherry Hill gold deposit, both cinnabar and gold are being deposited (Pearcy and Petersen, 1990). Transport of mercury and gold is in a fluid which also contains high concentrations of petroleum and associated methane and CO2 derived from thermal degradation of organic matter in sedimentary rocks (Peabody, 1989). Chemical and isotopic analysis of oxygen and deuterium of the hot springs indicate that three types of fluid are present: moderate chloride, isotopically heavy, evolved formation fluid equilibrated with oceanic sedimentary rocks; evolved meteoric water; and isotopically light meteoric water (Peters, 1990,1991, Sherlock and Jowett, 1992, and Donnelly-Nolan and others, 1993). High concentrations of Hg, As, Sb, Au, and Ag occur in precipitates from hot springs composed dominantly of the isotopically heavy fluid, but not in the moderate-temperature, oxidized springs that are mixtures of these two fluid types (Peters, 1990, Donnelly-Nolan and others, 1993). The McLaughlin gold deposit (initial reserves of 2.9 million oz of gold) is economically the most important deposit in the Clear Lake and Sonoma volcanic fields. This precious metal-mercury hydrothermal system developed within and adjacent to andesitic vents and dikes emplaced along the Stony Creek fault zone (Lehrman, 1986). Gold occurs in opal, chalcedony, and quartz veins, and the highest gold values typically occur in amber to brown opal containing petroleum. Gold occurs in several sites within the petroleum-bearing opal: as a filling of 2050 micron- diameter oval voids representing large fluid inclusions; as 2-4 micron size crystals that coalesce to form dendrites of gold along primary vein banding; and in syneresis cracks which cut the vein banding. Oxide phases of Ga, In, Sn, and Ni are present within the petroleum-bearing opal. The isotopically heavy McLaughlin ore fluid plots in the field of andesitic magma volatiles (Hedenquist and Aoki, 1990, Giggenbach, 1987) and evolved formation waters (Sherlock and Jowett, 1992) suggesting that these two components are present Andesitic vents and dikes at the McLaughlin gold deposit suggest that a larger intrusion underlies the area and provided the heat source for the hydrothermal system. Andesitic vents along the Stony Creek fault provided a conduit for volatiles degassing from the intrusion to become entrained within the hydrothermal fluid composed of gas-oil-field water derived from the Great Valley sequence. The McLaughlin gold deposit reflects the complex interaction of three types of fluid each transporting a different elemental suite: evolved gas-oil field formation water transporting petroleum, Ga, In, Sn, Ni, and Hg; andesitic magmatic fluid transporting Au, Ag, Hg, Sb, and As; and near-surface meteoric water. Prospective areas for precious metal hot-spring deposits occur in the volcanic-structural environment above the thin crust and hot asthenosphere within the slab window in the Coast Ranges and parts of the Great Valley sequence where blind thrusts and associated faults are intruded by Pliocene to Holocene intrusive rocks. Mercury deposits with little or no gold content form along major structures from gas-oil field fluids with little or no magmatic component in the fluid and contain petroleum, Ni, Ga, In, Sn, and other transition elements. Epithermal gold deposits contain a significant magmatic component characterized by Au, Ag, As, Sb, and Hg as well as a gas-oil- field fluid component characterized by petroleum and transition metals. Both deposit types may occur along the same structures.

Abstract The discovery of the McLaughlin hot-spring type gold deposit in the old Knoxville mercury district sparked considerable interest and research into the origin and relation of mercury and epithermal gold mineralization in the California Coast Ranges Province. Silica-carbonate mercury mineralization occurs throughout the Coast Ranges, from Santa Barbara County in the south to Lake and Colusa counties in the north (Fig. 1). Since their discovery in the mid 1800’s California’s Coast Ranges mercury deposits have produced over 50% of the total production for the United States, and two of the mines, the New Almaden mine in Santa Clara County and the New Idria mine in San Benito County, rank as the fifth and sixth largest producing deposits in the world respectively (Bailey and others 1973). Prior to the discovery of the McLaughlin gold deposit in 1978, lode gold production from the Coast Ranges was very minor with an estimated total of about $750,000, with two thirds of this production from the Palisade and Silverado mines in the Calistoga silver-gold district (Clark, 1976). Notable quantities of lode gold have been produced from only two other areas; the Los Burros district in south western Monterey County where mesothermal gold-bearing quartz veins occur in Franciscan Complex rocks; and, from the Knoxville and Sulfur Creek mercury mining districts where gold was produced as a byproduct. The McLaughlin and Cherry Hill epithermal gold deposits (Fig. 1) were subsequently discovered in the Knoxville and Sulfur Creek mining districts respectively. Current reserves at the McLaughlin mine are