The Alder Gulch - Virginia City is a gold and garnet mine located in Madison county, Montana at an elevation of 5,200 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: 5,200 Feet (1,585 Meters)
Commodity: Gold, Garnet
Lat, Long: 45.32389, -112.00167
Map: View on Google Maps
Satelite View
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Alder Gulch - Virginia City MRDS details
Site Name
Primary: Alder Gulch - Virginia City
Commodity
Primary: Gold
Primary: Garnet
Location
State: Montana
County: Madison
District: Virginia City District
Land Status
Not available
Holdings
Not available
Workings
Type: Surface
Ownership
Owner Name: Cominco Resources International Ltd. (1994, Vancouver, British Columbia)
Production
Year: 1959
Time Period: 1863-1959
Mined: 81.000 mt
Material type: gold
Deposit
Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Placer Au-PGE
Operation Type: Unknown
Year First Production: 1863
Year Last Production: 1925
Discovery Year: 1863
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
Physiographic Detail: Tobacco Root Mountains
Mineral Deposit Model
Model Name: Polymetallic veins
Model Name: Placer Au-PGE
Orebody
Not available
Structure
Type: R
Description: Tobacco Root Batholith, Laramide Folds And Faults
Alterations
Not available
Rocks
Not available
Analytical Data
Not available
Materials
Ore: Gold
Ore: Almandine
Comments
Comment (Economic Factors): 1863-1866 ESTIMATED THAT PLACERS YIELDED $30,000,000 FROM ALDER GULCH AND ITS TRIBUTARIES (LYDEN, 1948). 1866-1906 ANOTHER $10,000,000 IN GOLD PRODUCED FROM ALDER GULCH (LYDEN, 1948). TOTAL PRODUCTION WAS 2,500,000 OUNCES. 1898- CONREY PLACER MINING COMPANY ORGANIZED. OVER 37 MILLION CUBIC YARDS WERE PLACERED USING SIX CONNECTED-BUCKET DREDGES. DREDGING OPERATIONS HERE WERE DISCONTINUED IN THE 1920'S. 1935-1937 HUMPHREY?S GOLD CORPORATION RECOVERED 19,591.7 FINE OZ GOLD USING A DRY-LAND DREDGE. COMINCO COMPLETED FEASIBILITY AND MARKET RESEARCH STUDIES OF THE GARNET CONTENT OF THE GOLD TAILINGS IN 1994 AND WAS ABOUT TO MAKE THE PRODUCTION DECISION. IN EARLY 1995, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO COMMENCE GARNET MINING IN MID-1995.
Comment (Deposit): GRAVITY CONCENTRATION; ?A SHALLOW TROUGH BENEATH THE AXIS OF THE (ALLUVIAL) FAN MAY REPRESENT THE CHANNEL OF THE STREAM BEFORE IT WAS AGGRADED WITH BOWLDERS AND GRAVEL. THE TROUGH CONTAINS BOWLDERS OF UNUSUAL SIZE AND AN INCREASED AMOUNT OF GOLD? (WINCHELL, 1914).
Comment (Deposit): SOURCE OF GOLD BELIEVED TO BE VEINS IN VIRGINIA CITY DISTRICT, ESPECIALLY KERSARGE AND LUCAS LODES.
Comment (Exploration): 1863-1866 ESTIMATED THAT PLACERS YIELDED $30,000,000 FROM ALDER GULCH AND ITS TRIBUTARIES (LYDEN, 1948). 1866-1906 ANOTHER $10,000,000 IN GOLD PRODUCED FROM ALDER GULCH (LYDEN, 1948). TOTAL PRODUCTION WAS 2,500,000 OUNCES. 1898- CONREY PLACER MINING COMPANY ORGANIZED. OVER 37 MILLION CUBIC YARDS WERE PLACERED USING SIX CONNECTED-BUCKET DREDGES. DREDGING OPERATIONS HERE WERE DISCONTINUED IN THE 1920'S. 1935-1937 HUMPHREY?S GOLD CORPORATION RECOVERED 19,591.7 FINE OZ GOLD USING A DRY-LAND DREDGE. COMINCO COMPLETED FEASIBILITY AND MARKET RESEARCH STUDIES OF THE GARNET CONTENT OF THE GOLD TAILINGS IN 1994 AND WAS ABOUT TO MAKE THE PRODUCTION DECISION. IN EARLY 1995, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO COMMENCE GARNET MINING IN MID-1995.
Comment (Production): IN LATE 1994, PRODUCTION OF GARNET WAS EXPECTED TO BEGIN IN LATE 1995.
Comment (Reserve-Resource): ORE CONSISTS OF ALLUVIAL AU TAILINGS.
Comment (Reserve-Resource): THERE IS A RELATIVELY LARGE VOLUME OF VIRGIN GRAVEL IN RUBY VALLEY BELOW ALDER GULCH BUT DEPTH OF PAY, LOW GRADES, AND HIGH LAND PRICES HAVE DISCOURAGED EXPLOITATION
Comment (Location): UTM COORDINATES OF INTERSECTION OF GRANITE CREEK AND ALDER GULCH.
Comment (Development): DREDBING OPERATIONS HERE WERE DISCONTINUED IN THE 1920'S. COMINCO COMPLETED FEASIBILITY AND MARKET RESEARCH STUDIES OF THE GARNET CONTENT OF THE GOLD TAILINGS IN 1994 AND WAS ABOUT TO MAKE THE PRODUCTION DECISION. IN EARLY 1995, THE DECISION WAS MADE TO COMMENCE GARNET MINING IN MID-1995.
Comment (Deposit): ALMANDINE OCCURS IN THE LOOSE, CLAY-FREE TAILINGS FROM EARLY 20TH CENTURY GOLD DREDGING OPERATIONS.
Comment (Workings): FROM 1863-1899 GRAVELS WORKED BY SLUICE BOXES, PANS, AND ROCKERS. DREDGING FROM 1899-1922. SLUICING AND DRYLAND DREDGING 1922-1942, AND 1946-1948
References
Reference (Deposit): INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1994, ... AS COMINCO EVALUATES ALDER GARNET, IN WORLD OF MINERALS: NO. 324, P. 28.
Reference (Deposit): INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1995, COMINCO TO START ALDER GARNET OPERATION, IN WORLD OF MINERALS: NO. 329, P. 15.
Reference (Reserve-Resource): INDUSTRIAL MINERALS, 1994.
Reference (Deposit): LYDEN, C.J., 1948, THE GOLD PLACERS OF MONTANA: MONTANA BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY MEMOIR 26, P. 80-83
Reference (Deposit): COMINCO TO START ALDER GARNET OPERATION, IN WORLD OF MINERALS: NO. 329, P. 15
Reference (Deposit): WINCHELL, A.N., 1914, MINING DISTRICTS OF THE DILLON QUADRANGLE, MONTANA AND ADJACENT AREAS: U.S GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 574, P. 57
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.
