Mike Horse Mine

The Mike Horse Mine is a zinc, lead, and silver mine located in Lewis and Clark county, Montana at an elevation of 5,669 feet.

About the MRDS Data:

All mine locations were obtained from the USGS Mineral Resources Data System. The locations and other information in this database have not been verified for accuracy. It should be assumed that all mines are on private property.

Mine Info

Satelite View

MRDS mine locations are often very general, and in some cases are incorrect. Some mine remains have been covered or removed by modern industrial activity or by development of things like housing. The satellite view offers a quick glimpse as to whether the MRDS location corresponds to visible mine remains.

Site Name

Primary: Mike Horse Mine

Commodity

Primary: Zinc
Primary: Lead
Primary: Silver
Secondary: Copper
Secondary: Gold

Location

State: Montana
County: Lewis and Clark
District: Heddleston District

Land Status

Land ownership: National Forest
Note: the land ownership field only identifies whether the area the mine is in is generally on public lands like Forest Service or BLM land, or if it is in an area that is generally private property. It does not definitively identify property status, nor does it indicate claim status or whether an area is open to prospecting. Always respect private property.

Holdings

Type: Patented

Workings

Type: Underground

Ownership

Owner Name: Asarco (American Smelting And Refining Co.)
Home Office: 120 Broadway, New York, N.Y.

Owner Name: Anaconda Company
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Delaware
Info Year: 1977

Owner Name: N. Rogers Mining Co,
Home Office: Box 1719, Helena, Mt.

Production

Not available

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: porphyry copper
Operation Type: Underground
Year First Production: 1915
Discovery Year: 1898
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: M

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Northern Rocky Mountains

Mineral Deposit Model

Not available

Orebody

Form: LENSES & SHOOTS (fissure veins)

Structure

Type: R
Description: Lewis Overthrust, Boulder Batholith

Type: L
Description: Local Faulting Has Displaced Diorite Sill And Fractured Ore Body

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration: pyritization

Alteration Type: L
Alteration: propylitic

Alteration Type: L
Alteration: sericitic
Alteration Text: Seriticization

Rocks

Name: Diorite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Neoproterozoic

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Polybasite
Ore: Enargite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Galena
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Calcite

Comments

Comment (Workings): WORKINGS IN 1933 INCLUDED 3 ADITS, TUNNELS 1, 2, AND 3, SPACED THROUGH A VERTICAL RANGE OF ABOUT 300 FT.

Comment (Deposit): SUBSTANTIAL PRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT FROM 1940 TO 1952

References

Reference (Deposit): Unpublished Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology File Data

Reference (Deposit): REYNER AND TRAUERMAN, 1949, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Memoir 31, p.53.

Reference (Deposit): Miller, R.N., 1973, Unpublished Reprint, Geology of the Heddleston Cu-Mo Deposit L&

Reference (Deposit): GEACH, 1966, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 58, P.26

Reference (Deposit): GEACH, 1964, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 46, P.20

Reference (Deposit): CROWLEY,1961, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 25, P.25

Reference (Deposit): YOUNG, ET AL.,1962, Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 30, P.28

Reference (Production): USBM MINERALS YEARBOOKS

Reference (Deposit): ROBERTSON, F., 1956, GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING BY SOIL ANALYSES IN MT, MT BUREAU OF MINES & GEOLOGY BULL. 7.

Reference (Deposit): PARDEE AND SCHRADER, 1933, METALLIFEROUS DEPOSITS OF THE GREATER HELENA MINING REGION, U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULL. 842.

Principal Gold Districts of Montana

In Montana, 54 mining districts have each have produced more than 10,000 ounces of gold. The largest producers are Butte, Helena, Marysville, and Virginia City, each having produced more than one million ounces. Twenty seven other districts are each credited with between 100,000 and one million ounces of gold production. Read more: Principal Gold Districts of Montana.