Galice Creek (located in Josephine County) and its tributaries
were important placer gold producers, especially in regard to
the “Old Channel Mine” gravels which form a terrace to the west
of the creek and 600 feet above it. Placer gold was discovered
on Galice Creek in 1854, and significant amounts of gold were
produced. The Old Channel hydraulic pit on the high terrace was
started in 1860 and ultimately became almost 2,000 feet wide and
100 feet deep, the largest such pit in the State of Oregon. It
is reported that over 50,000 ounces of gold were produced from
the pit. The gravels averaged about .007 ounce of gold per cubic
yard and a lot of good ground remains to be mined. There are a
number of old lode gold mines in the Galice district, and those
mineralized zones supplied most of the placer gold deposits
found in the area. The Galice district, including Mount Reuben,
had a total production of around 268,000 gold ounces. The local
placer operations include the Ankeny Mine, Courtney Mine,
Carnegie Mine, Ca