Everything below comes straight from the federal record (USGS MRDS) — every documented gold occurrence, prospect and producer in California, mapped and readable for free. Not the famous names retold: the actual filed records, including the quiet ground between the famous districts.
Open the live California gold map → Get a free spot report
Principal recorded commodities: Gold (22,759) · Silver (2,631) · Copper (2,623) · Sand and Gravel, Construction (2,480) · Chromium (2,220) · Manganese (1,579).
The counties with the most recorded gold occurrences — each links into the live map of that ground (claims, creeks, roads and geology on):
| County | Gold records | Producers |
|---|---|---|
| Calaveras County | 2,498 | 1,044 |
| El Dorado County | 2,377 | 522 |
| Nevada County | 2,005 | 946 |
| Siskiyou County | 1,862 | 924 |
| San Bernardino County | 1,592 | 509 |
| Mariposa County | 1,263 | 631 |
| Placer County | 1,159 | 537 |
| Sierra County | 1,028 | 599 |
| Tuolumne County | 1,017 | 418 |
| Trinity County | 979 | 477 |
Sites the federal record lists with medium or large production — proven ground worth a careful, legal look at the country around it:
| Site | County | Status | Recorded size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atolia District | Kern, San Bernardino | Past Producer | Large |
| Black Bear | Siskiyou | Past Producer | Large |
| Brown | Calaveras | Past Producer | Large |
| Brown Bear Mine | Trinity | Past Producer | Large |
| Carson Hill Gold Mining Co. | Calaveras | Past Producer | Large |
| Castle Mountain Mine | San Bernardino | Producer | Large |
| Champion Con Qtz | Nevada | Past Producer | Large |
| Empire Mines Co. | Nevada | Past Producer | Large |
The free map shows every dot above. The $5 spot report reads one spot in depth — gold sources, drainage, geology, access and an expert read — and includes a 7-day pass to every member layer. No account needed.