Mining Claims


Thousands of abandoned mining claims are out there

Mining Claims for Sale, Lease or Trade

Owning your own mining claim is one of life's great adventures. Its that chance to find the big gold knowing its all yours. Or maybe you just want a place to do a little prospecting and camping with friends or family. If you scroll to the bottom of the page you'll see a listing of some big nuggets found in Sierra County, California. Those are some good reasons to own your own mining claim. A mining claim can provide you with a lot of memories. You don't have to buy a claim, you can stake your own. All the information you need is on this website. We can provide assistance, custom maps, and even the field work required to locate your own claim. We watch over 330,000 claims across the west and we're able to spot the good claims long before the information becomes public. We've mapped mining claims in Sierra and Plumas county goin back 125 years. We know where every vacant parcel is, we know when people file new claims and we know when they forfeit their current claims. If you want claims, or claim information you're at the right place. Drop us a note at info@SierraRivers.com.

MINING CLAIMS FOR SALE

Sierra County Claims Coming Soon

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I'm down to one claim for sale, in Oregon. It's a friends claim and he just doesn't have the time to do anything with this old hardrock mine. It's in a good area and has a lot of tailing laying around. I might (might) sell two claims this summer. I'm just having a hard time finding the time to do anything with them. The two claims are in Sierra County, California and have everything you could ever want on a claim, except gold just laying around the ground. You can drive right to them, about 5 cars can fit in the camping area, there's seasonal water and remnants of old mining activity everywhere. As best as I can figure it the gold is in the high benches, but I'm probably going to take another summer to figure that out. My real curiousity is whether the benches are original gravel, or whether it is tailings from drift mines. Hopefully I'll find the time to do enough work this summer to figure it out. If you're interested you can email me and you could sample them this summer.

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A good days work
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Out prospecting the canyons
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Dog not included

Claims for Sale

Looking for your own mining claim? Or just looking? Mining claims and the potential to find your own gold are one of life's greatest adventures. Almost every creek in the mountains of Sierra County has some gold in it. Some of these creeks, and canyons, had enormous amounts of gold. Any claim in the Downieville area is likely to be pretty good. You're not going to pick gold up off the bedrock like they did in 1851, but with some hard work and patience you'll find gold.

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Sierra County

MAYBE COMING SOONSierra County Placer Claim

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Sierra County

MAYBE COMING SOONSierra County Placer Claim

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Old Workings

REDUCED! Oregon Lode MineGreenhorn District

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Older Listings

It's not just a mining claim

Robert Service described it best when he wrote "It isn’t the gold that I’m wanting, So much as just finding the gold." Here's the link to "Spell of the Yukon" if you want to read the whole poem. The pictures below capture the reward of owning a mining claim, beyond just finding gold. It's standing in camp on a cold morning with a hot cup of coffee and watching the sun come up over the mountains. It's taking a break from shoveling and looking at a sky so blue it seems impossible. It's sitting around with your friends in the evening and talking about gold, and rumors of gold. Even a bad mining claim is better than watching YouTube videos about mining. Get yourself a claim and go make some memories. The gold you find isn't always measured in dollars.

SixteenToOne hoist highbanking panning shaft Camp Highbanking Four Inch Two Inch Mine Hardrock Gold small dredge lupine nevada Mine Portal Rubber Boa Dalton in Mine Mining Camp Nevada Outback lewis Cactus Hoist frame New Mine Silver Smelter Drift mine Camp Nevada cabin spider 2.5 quartz door newt At Creek Cleanup Panning Cons dream creek moon Canyon

Big Nuggets of Sierra County

A short list of some big nuggets found in Sierra County. For most of them we know exactly where they were found.
The Big Jake

June, 2024. I was there the day Big Jake was found. The cobble weighed over 7lbs. The finder doesn't want to break it up, he estimates 6 ounces, I think it's more like 14. Right now it's a door stop. There's a picture of the Big Jake on the gold page.

8 1/2 ounces and counting

December, 2025. Some people are gold magnets. I know one such person. After spending a year not metal detecting he went out one Saturday in December and found a 250lb boulder loaded with gold. The first chunk which was blasted from the whole, has produced over 8 ounces of gold. There's still plenty of rock left. The weekend before his friend, with zero metal detecting experience, found a 2.5 ounce piece near the boulder. So about $45,000 in gold in one week. Check out the picture of the boulder on the gold page.

2 Ounce Cobble

November, 2025. A friend found a late season cobble which likely holds over 2 ounces of gold. After a long, hot summer of a gram here, and a gram there, he hit a nice piece. There's a a picture on the gold page of the cobble.

1 Ounce Cobble

It continues to surprise me just how much gold is found in these mountains every year. Just when you think it's all worked out, pieces keep being found. A friend of mine found a cobble in November with about an ounce of gold in it. If you've read the above then you starting to conclude a one ounce cobble isn't that rare.

The Monumental Nugget

January 26, 1906 Mountain Messenger. In 1869 a man named William Farish prospected the hill near the Sierra Buttes mine where there was a seam of decomposed quartz. During the summer $30,000 (1,500 ounces) was taken from the seam, but the crevice pinched out and no further gold was found. Later that same year Winstead was passing by the old cut and decided to give the bottom of the shaft another try. He had been carrying a crow bar and he dug a hole as deep as he could with the bar. He took the dirt home, panned it out and found enough gold to return the next day for another try. Winstead, and his old partners who originally located the claim, relocated the claim and started digging again. The next day he hit solid gold at the bottom of the crevice and took out a 103 pound slab of gold of which 97 pounds were pure gold. An additional 25 pounds of gold was taken out beside it, and during the course of the year nearly 3,000 ounces were dug from the small vein by hand.

41 pounds from Kanaka Creek

July 27, 1867 Mountain Messenger reported some Chinese mining on Kanaka Flat, in Sierra County found a nugget of pure gold weighing 41 pounds.

Massive Nugget Found at Chips Flat

March 15, 1883 Sierra County Tribune. A 1,161 ounce nugget was found at the Rainbow Quartz Mine at Chips Flat in Sierra County.

Another Huge Nugget found in French Ravine

March 15, 1883 Sierra County Tribune. A 532 ounce nugget was found in 1855 in French Ravine. It was found within a quartz boulder, the weight of the quartz was not calculated in the weight of the gold.

Giant Nugget from French Ravine

March 15, 1883 Sierra County Tribune. A nugget weighing 432 ounces was found in French Ravine in 1851.

More from French Ravine

March 15, 1883 Sierra County Tribune. In 1851 miners working the ravine found a 296 ounce nugget of solid gold. In 1860 miners found a 93 ounce nugget.

Big Nugget from Little Grizzly Diggins

March 15, 1883 Sierra County Tribune. In 1869 miners working the Little Grizzly Diggins found a 101 ounce nugget in the gravels.

Smiths Flat Nuggets

March 15, 1883 Sierra County Tribune. In 1866 a 143 ounce nugget was take nfrom Smith's Flat. Just two years earlier, in 1864, a 140 ounce nugget was recovered from the same place. In 1861 a 80 ounce nugget was found at Smith's Flat.

Mountain House Nugget

March 15, 1883 Sierra County Tribune. In 1864 a 94 ounce nugget was found at the Hope Claim near Mountain House.

Big Nuggets from Live Yankee Claim

March 15, 1883 Sierra County Tribune. The Live Yankee Claim at Forest City has produced a lot of nice nuggets over the years. During a 8 year period from 1854 to 1862 twelve nuggets were found ranging in size from 30 ounces to 170 ounces. Do the quick math on that and you get a minimum of 360 ounces in 12 nuggets.

Forest City Area was a Big Producer

March 15, 1883 Sierra County Tribune. During a 8 year period from 1856 to 1862 a number of nuggets weighing from 30 to 100 ounces were found at the Oregon claim.

Oriental Mine Nuggets

March 15, 1883 Sierra County Tribune. The Oriental Mine, near Alleghany, still produces today, but big nuggets have been found in that mine for a long time. A 563 ounce nugget was found in the mine in the 1880s.

23 ounce nugget found in quartz vein near Sierra City

December 10th, 1904 Mountain Messenger. The Mountain Messenger reported a 23 ounce nugget found in an exposed outcropping of quartz near Sierra City.

80 ounce nugget near Gold Lake

A man named Robert Locke discovered an 80 ounce nugget in his quartz mine in the 1950's.

7 Ounce Nugget Found While Crevicing

In February, 1963, a man prospecting along the Yuba River found a 7 ounce nugget on the bank of the river.

Hunter finds 28 ounce Nugget

A man hunting in the vicinity of the Sierra Buttes discovered a quartz piece with 28 ounces of gold.

40 pound Nugget Found At Hayes-Steelman Mine

In July, 1886, a 39.75 pound of pure gold was found in the Hayes-Steelman Mine near Sierra City.

90 Ounce Nugget Found Near Gibsonville

In 1862 a 90 ounce nugget was found near Gibsonville, in Sierra County.

Big Nuggets Near Gibsonville

In 1863 two nuggets were found in the placer diggings near Gibsonville. One nugget weighed 32 ounces and the other weighed 14 ounces. A few months later another nugger weighing 46 ounces was found.

Big Nugget from Howland Flat

In 1869 a nugget of 100 ounces was found in placer diggins near Howland Flat.

150 ounce nugget near Gibsonville

In 1863 a 150 ounce nugget was found in a drift tunnel near Gibsonville

Gold Boulder from the Monte Cristo Mine

In 1860 a gold and quartz boulder weighing 48 pounds was found in the Monte Cristo placer mine near Downieville.

250 ounce nugget from Whiskey Diggins

A 160 pound nugget was found in the hydraulic pit near Whiskey Diggins (near Gibsonville). The boulder contained 250 ounces of gold.

60 pound nugget found near Slate Creek

In 1901, Chinese working a claim near Howland Flat, on Slate Creek found a 61 pound nugget of pure gold in the placer workings.

Big Nugget from Onion Valley

In 1908 miners working a hydraulic operation near Onion Valley found a 62 ounce nugget.

7 pound Nugget found north of Downieville

In 1851 a 7 pound nugget was found on Lavezolla Creek.

90 ounce Nugget found west of Downieville

In 1888 a 90 ounce nugget was found in a small ravine west of Downieville.

195 pound nugget found within 2 miles of Downieville

In 1853 three miners working a placer claim east of Downieville uncoverd a pure gold nugget weighing 195 pounds.

38 Ounce Nugget Found near Downieville

In 1894 miners working a canyon within 2 miles of Downieville uncovered a 38 ounce nugget from a placer deposit.

Largest Nugget Ever - Found near Downieville

In 1852 two miners working a small ravine near Downieville unearthed a 277 pound nugget while working a shallow drift cut. The nugget was laying on top of the bedrock, but was so heavy the miners cut it into 4 parts to carry it. Because the nugget had been cut into pieces it is considered undocumented and consequently it is not considered the biggest nugget ever found.

7 Ounce Nugget Found in Crevice

In 1899 a man searching crevices in a ravine 1 mile from Downieville found a 7.5 ounce nugget.

Big Nuggets from White Bear Mine

The White Bear Mine, a couple miles from Downieville, has produced some nice nuggets in its time including a 28 ounce nugget, followed by a 20, 12 and 11 ounce nuggets all with the span of a couple of weeks in 1904.

Nice Nuggets from Ravines near Downieville

The small ravines near Downieville have produced a lot of nice nuggets over time, most of them undocumented, but the ones which made the newspaper included a 17 ounce nugget found in a ravine by a lady panning; a 30 ounce nugget from a ravine on the Downie River in 1906; a 7 ounce nugget from a ravine 3 miles from Downieville; In 1906 a 9 ounce nugget was taken from placer diggings at the Monte Cristo; In 1971 a man crevicing near the Downie River found a pocket of gold nuggets weighing over 5 ounces; In 1965 a man working the cracks of a high bench near Pauley Creek found a ten ounce nugget.

8 Pound Nugget Found Above Downieville

In 1926 a solid gold nugget weighing over 8 pounds was found at the head of a canyon not more than 2 miles from Downieville.