1978 



LiMESrONK IN 1 HE COAST RANGES 



nous. The beds are poorly defined but appear to strike 

 generally northwest and to dip nearly vertically. The 

 enclosing v\all rocks are pillow basalt. The attractive 

 appearance of the rock may make it marketable for an 

 ornamental garden or construction stone. The deposit 

 is undeveloped. 



Kiclitcr (Rickter) deposit, l.ocation: NE'/SE'X 

 sec. 1 1, r. 1 N., R. 1 W., H., 2 miles southwest of Rio 

 Dell; Scotia l.'i-minute quadrangle. Ownership: W. G. 

 Fritz and A. and O. Richter, Rio Dell (1963). 



The Richter deposit is situated just west of the crest 

 of a northwest-trending ridge and is readily accessible 

 by road from Rio Dell. Lov\- limestone outcrops and 

 float cover an area roughly 600 feet long in a northeast 

 direction by 1.^0 to 200 feet wide. The pattern of out- 

 crops suggests that the deposit is gently dipping. It is 

 associated with siltstone and calcareous sandstone of 

 the Pullen Formation of late Miocene to early Plio- 

 cene age (Ogle, 195.3, p. 82). The limestone is charac- 

 teristically buff colored, hard, fossiliferous, 

 bituminous, sandy, and silty. Chemical analyses made 

 by Matti Tavela and Lydia Lofgren from samples ob- 

 tained by this writer in 1963 show the limestone to be 

 somewhat impure: 



Sample CiO MgO SiO,. Al,.0, Fc.O, K.O P.O. 



Ign. 

 loss 



R-1. 

 R-2. 



48.1% 0.73% 9.2% 0.?0% 1,0 % 0.20% 0.06% 39.7% 

 4.'>.2 0.81 7.4 1.2 0.78 0.25 0.06 41.6 



Development of the deposit is limited to a single 

 quarry /.'i-by-Z.^ feet with a maximum face of 10 feet. 

 Minor amounts of limestone were produced for agri- 

 cultural purposes beginning about 191. ^. There has 

 been no recent production. Ihe limestone deposit ap- 

 pears to be a thin cap, and reserves are probably small. 



Other references: Averill, 1941, p. 517; Logon, 1947, p. 238. 



White Woman deposit. Location: NF.y, .sec. 29, T. 

 4 S., R. 5 E., H., 9 miles east of Garberville and I'/, 

 miles east-northeast of Harris; Alderpoint l.^-minute 

 quadrangle. Ownership: A. A. Smith, Harris (1963). 



Small exposures of Franciscan limestone are report- 

 ed at intervals for a quarter of a mile. The largest of 

 these forms a cliff 35 feet long and 10 feet high (Ave- 

 rill, 1941, p. 518). The deposit consists of Calera-type 

 limestone and thin chert interbeds. The limestone is 

 typically dense, fine crystalline, light dove grav to pale 

 grayish brown, and apparently high in calcium. A 

 sample submitted by the owner was analyzed by the 

 Division of Mines and Geology laboratory staff in 

 1963 and showed the following chemistry; 



Sample CiO MgO SiO,. AI.O, Fe,0, h.O PXK Ims 

 WW-l .. 53.8% 0.30% 2.5% 0.44% 0.23% 0.06% 0.07% 45.0% 



The deposit has never been worked. There appears 

 to be little economic potential, as reserves are un- 

 doubtedly small and the deposit is poorly situated 



with regard to transportation, accessibility, and mar- 

 kets. 



Other reference: Logon, 1947, p. 239. 



MENDOCINO DISTRICT (A-2) 



Ihe largest known limestone deposit in the north- 

 ern Coast Ranges is the Fashauer Ranch deposit of 

 western Mendocino ('ouniy. The deposit is un- 

 developed, as are the Fisher Ranch and Usal deposits. 

 Only the (^inan Ranch deposit has been worked, 

 with total production to 1968 amounting to about 700 

 tons of agricultural limestone. 



Fashauer Ranch deposit. Location: N'VV'X sec. 2, 

 T. 14 N., R. 16 W., M.D., 6 miles east-southeast of Elk; 

 Navarro 15-minute quadrangle. Ownership: Anthony 

 and Francis Fashauer, Greenwood Road, Elk (1962). 



The Fashauer Ranch limestone is exposed in a poor- 

 ly accessible area just south of an east tributary of 

 Greenwood Creek at an elevation of 700 feet. It consti- 

 tutes a northwest-trending deposit, possibly 600 feet 

 long by 200 to 300 feet wide. Although poorly strati- 

 fied, the deposit appears to dip steeply southwest into 

 the hill. The limestone is pale grayish brown, faintly 

 mottled, finely crystalline, bituminous, fractured, and 

 cut by veinlets of calcite and quartz. No chert beds 

 were noted in the deposit, although the limestone and 

 surrounding graywacke may be part of the Franciscan 

 Formation. Smaller liinestone bodies similar to the 

 Fashauer Ranch deposit are said to exist on nearby 

 ranches. Chemical analyses made of five samples taken 

 over a length of 200 feet across the strike of the deposit 

 by L'.S. Steel Company indicate the limestone to be of 

 uniform quality (personal communication with the 

 owners, 1962). All of the samples showed at least 54% 

 CaO and averaged 1.55% SiO^, 0.65% MgO, 0.20% 

 Fe;0,, and 0.45% AljO,. Three random samples col- 

 lected along the northeast side of the deposit and 

 analyzed by Lydia Lofgren in 1962 show similar 

 chemistry; 



Ign. 

 Simple CaO MgO SiO, AIO, Fe.-O, P,.0, loss 



Fas-1 54.50% 0.43% 1.42% 0.10% 0.13% 0.03% 43.18% 



Fas-2 53.25 0.85 2.86 0.12 0.11 0.03 42.30 



Fas-3 54.00 0.51 181 0.21 0.19 0.03 42.88 



There has been no development of the deposit, prin- 

 cipally because of its inaccessibility and distance from 

 markets. It appears to contain one of the largest re- 

 serves of good quality limestone in the northern Coast 

 Ranges, probably in the order of 1 to 2 million tons. 

 However, more prospecting is needed to determine 

 the size, distribution, and presence or lack of such 

 deleterious materials as chert interbeds in the lime- 

 stone. 



Fisher Ranch deposit. Location: NW'/ sec. 36, T. 

 22 N., R. 15 VV., M.D., 2 miles north of Laytonville; 

 Laytonville 15-minute quadrangle. Ownership; .Mar- 

 shall and Pauline C. Fisher, Laytonville (1953). 



