The Red Boy Mine is a gold and silver mine located in Grant county, Oregon at an elevation of 5,000 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
Elevation: 5,000 Feet (1,524 Meters)
Commodity: Gold, Silver
Lat, Long: 44.79583, -118.47667
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Mine Description
The Red Boy mine is at the head of Congo Gulch 5 miles southwest of Granite. Development of this mine began about 1890. The period of greatest activity was from 1893 through 1903, although work was continued through 1914 (figure 27). The Red Boy mine is developed by about 5000 feet of drifts and crosscuts from three adits and a 300-foot shaft. Swartley (1914, p. 192) shows a plan of the workings.
The country rock is argillite that dips about 15° W. and is cut by numerous highly altered felsite dikes. The dikes are probably premineral but formed in zones of weakness where postmineral movement occurred.
At least five veins have been explored, the Red Boy, Monarch, Blaine, Concord, and Congo. The Red Boy and Monarch yielded nearly all of the ore produced by the mine. The other three, which were worked mainly during the later years of the mine's operation, are said to have been well defined, but few shoots that would pay to mill were found (Pardee and Hewett, 1914, p. 113).
The Red Boy and Monarch veins were explored for distances of 1000 feet and 900 feet respectively. Each has been stoped for a horizontal distance of about 800 feet. Good ore values are said to have held to a depth of only about 300 feet.
The Red Boy vein strikes nearly due north and dips about 80° W., whereas the Monarch strikes N. 30° E., and dips 50° to 55° W. The two join near the south end of the workings, and a short distance farther south are offset an unknown distance along a broad fault zone that contains one of the felsite dikes.
The veins consist of crushed argillite traversed by a great number of veins and stringers of quartz. Width of the crushed zones ranges from 3 to 15 feet. The values, which were generally best toward the footwall, were mainly in the quartz and consisted chiefly of free gold alloyed with much silver, the bullion being 515 to 525 fine. Sulfides, mainly fine pyrite, which made up about 5 percent of the mill ore, were largely contained in the argillite rather than in the quartz. According to data collected by the operators and presented by Pardee and Hewett (1914, p. 113), the combined areas of stopes on the Red Boy and Monarch veins up to January 1, 1902 was 437,000 square feet and the yield 83,000 tons, indicating an average stoping width of 28 inches. The return from this tonnage was $666,322.10 or $8.00 to the ton.
Source: Gold and Silver in Oregon, State of Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, 1968
Red Boy Mine MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Red Boy Mine
Secondary: May Queen
Secondary: Mineral Wonder
Secondary: Jay Bird
Secondary: Red Boy
Secondary: Poor Boy
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Tertiary: Mercury
Tertiary: Arsenic
Tertiary: Copper
Location
State: Oregon
County: Grant
District: Greenhorn District
Land Status
Not available
Holdings
Not available
Workings
Type: Underground
Ownership
Owner Name: Brandenthaler Estate, A.
Years: 1980 -
Production
Not available
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1890
Discovery Year: 1890
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S
Physiography
General Physiographic Area: Intermontane Plateaus
Physiographic Province: Columbia Plateau
Physiographic Section: Blue Mountain Section
Physiographic Detail: Greenhorn Range
Mineral Deposit Model
Not available
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Type: R
Description: Ne Trending Blue Mountains Uplift
Type: L
Description: Fault Terminates Veins On South
Alterations
Not available
Rocks
Name: Mafic Intrusive Rock
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Cretaceous
Name: Mafic Intrusive Rock
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Late Cretaceous
Name: Mafic Intrusive Rock
Role: Associated
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Early Triassic
Analytical Data
Analytical Data: NATIVE GOLD CONTAINED ABOUT 45 PERCENT AG
Materials
Ore: Silver
Ore: Cinnabar
Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Gold
Ore: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz
Comments
Comment (Deposit): Discovery Year: 1909; 1916 MAJOR DISCOVERY
Comment (Development): ECON.COM: OXIDIZED TO 2000 FEET
Comment (Workings): MOST AU-CU ORE IN FISSURE DEPOSITS IN TINTIC QTZITE PB-AG ORE IN OXIDIZED LIMESTONE REPLACEMENT (OPHIR LS) HIGH TEMP; HEAVY TIMBERING NECESSARY.
Comment (Deposit): MINES IN DISTRICT: NORTH LILLY, EUREKA LILLY 32,000 FEET OF PALEOZOIC SEDIMENTS COMPLEXLY FOLDED AND FAULTED RICHEST ORE IN "POT HOLE" (DOWN DROPPED) STRUCTURES
Comment (Production): ITEMS 8 AND 9: BASED ON ESTIMATED OUTPUT OF 1 MILLION DOLLARS AND RECORDED RETURN OF $8/TON.
Comment (Workings): RED BOY VEIN STRIKES N AND DIPS 80 DEG W ITEMS 8 AND 9: BASED ON ESTIMATED OUTPUT OF 1 MILLION DOLLARS AND RECORDED RETURN OF $8/TON.
Comment (Deposit): THIS RECORD MERGES CONSV. RECORDS ( M015085 AND M 015086 ); USGS RECORD ( PETERSON - M054908 ) AND DELETES THEM FROM OREGON FILE.
References
Reference (Deposit): BROOKS, H. C., AND RAMP, L, 1968, GOLD AND SILVER IN OREGON: ORE. DEPT. OF GEOL. AND MIN. IND. BULL. 61, P. 107, 117
Reference (Deposit): 1914 RECON ORE. BUREAU OF MINES, GEOL.
Reference (Deposit): 1916 RECON ORE. BUREAU OF MINES, GEOL.
Reference (Deposit): OREGON DEPT. OF GEOL. AND MIN. IND., 1941, OREGON METAL MINES HANDBOOK, GRANT, MORROW, AND UMATILLA COUNTIES: BULL. 14-B, P. 60
Reference (Deposit): LORAIN, S. H., 1933, GOLD MINING AND MILLING IN NORTHEASTERN OREGON: U.S.B.M. INF. CIRC. 7015, P. 15
Reference (Deposit): BROOKS, H. C., 1963 , QUICKSILVER IN OREGON: OREGON DEPT. OF GEOLOGY AND MINERAL INDUSTRIES, BULL 55 , P. 216 .
Reference (Deposit): 5) MERCURY IN OREGON, 1965 , USBM 1 C 8252
Reference (Deposit): 1901 RECON LINDGREN: 22ND ANN. REPORT, USGS
Reference (Deposit): 1941 ORE. DEPT. GEOL., MIN. IND.
Reference (Deposit): 1960 COMPILE KOSCHMANN AND BERGENDAHL: PROF. P. 610
Reference (Production): BROOKS AND RAMP, 1968, P. 107, 117
Reference (Deposit): 6) FREDERICK, F., 1945 , S
Oregon Gold
"Where to Find Gold in Oregon" looks at the density of modern placer mining claims along with historical gold mining locations and mining district descriptions to determine areas of high gold discovery potential in Oregon. Read more: Where to Find Gold in Oregon.
