Golden Sunbeam Mine

The Golden Sunbeam Mine is a gold and silver mine located in Custer county, Idaho at an elevation of 7,303 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

Name: Golden Sunbeam Mine

State: Idaho

County: Custer

Elevation: 7,303 Feet (2,226 Meters)

Commodity: Gold, Silver

Lat, Long: 44.44, -114.74111

Map: View on Google Maps

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Satelite image of the Golden Sunbeam Mine

Golden Sunbeam Mine MRDS details

Commodity

Primary: Gold
Primary: Silver
Tertiary: Copper
Tertiary: REE

Location

State: Idaho
County: Custer
District: Yankee Fork

Land Status

Land ownership: Private
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
Type: Located Claim

Workings

Type: Surface

Ownership

Owner Name: James L Hora - Sunbeam Mining Corp. (See "O"Comments)
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Idaho
Info Year: 1986

Owner Name: Great Lakes Minerals Inc
Percent: 20.00
Home Office: Canada
Info Year: 1996
Years: 1994 - 1997

Owner Name: Hecla Mining Co.
Percent: 80.00
Home Office: Idaho
Info Year: 1996
Years: 1991 - 1997

Owner Name: Hecla Mining Co.
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: 6500 North Mineral Drive Suite 200 Coeur d'Alene ID 83815-9408
Info Year: 1997
Years: 1997 -

Owner Name: Long Lac Minco
Home Office: Canada
Info Year: 1973

Owner Name: Vernon Taylor
Home Office: Colorado
Info Year: 1973

Owner Name: Jason Vaught
Info Year: 1973

Production

Year: 1995
Mined: 1255188.000 mt
Material type: Ore Mined
Description: Ore Production 1255188 Mt Ore Mined
Year: 1995
Mined: 1773746.000 mt
Material type: Ore Milled
Description: Ore Milled 1773746 Mt
Year: 1996
Mined: 1586207.000 mt
Material type: Ore Milled
Description: Ore Milled 1586207 Mt
Year: 1994
Mined: 80413.000 mt
Material type: Ore Milled
Description: Ore Milled 80413 Mt Ore

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Plant Type: Leach
Plant Subtype: Hydromet
Operation Type: Underground
Mining Method: Open Pit
Milling Method: Carbon-In-Pulp-Merrill-Crowe
Year First Production: 1903
Discovery Year: 1879
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: L

Physiography

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

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Hot-spring Au-Ag

Orebody

Name: Grouse Creek
Form: IRREGULAR, LENSES, SEAMS

Structure

Type: L
Structure: Gouge

Type: L
Structure: Brecciation

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration: Silicification

Alteration Type: L
Alteration: Sericitized

Rocks

Name: Tuff
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Oligocene

Name: Tuff
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Oligocene

Name: Quartzite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Pennsylvanian

Name: Quartzite
Role: Associated
Age Type: Associated Rock
Age Young: Oligocene

Analytical Data

Analytical Data: AG - AU RATIO OF 2.5: 1, SOME SAMPLES OF BIG STOPE ORE ASSAYED $50 - 100/TON, ORE AVG. $2-4/TON.
Analytical Data: AVG. GRADE OF 540 ASSAYS: $1.14/TON

Materials

Ore: Gold
Ore: Argentite
Ore: Arsenopyrite
Ore: Electrum
Ore: Pyrargyrite
Ore: Silver
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Quartz

Comments

Comment (Deposit): Discovery Year: 1879, RESTAKED 1937

Comment (Deposit): The Main Ore Body, A Mineralized Stockwork, Is Named the Big Stope.

Comment (Geology): The Sunbeam and Grouse deposits lie in the mountainside above the mill complex, and are hosted in Eocene volcanic rocks within the Custer graben, a major, northeast-trending, tectonic depression. The Custer graben forms part of the trans-Challis fault system, a 140-mile-long by 40-mile-wide zone defined by regional, high-angle faults, grabens, and cauldron subsidence features. The ash flow tuffs in the Sunbeam pit are intruded by rhyolite flow domes and post-mineralized dikes. Mineralization occurs along silicified and argillized zones of hydrothermal-fault breccias, controlled by northeasterly trending structures. Ore minerals include native gold, electrum, pyrargyrite (ruby silver), pyrite, and arsenopyrite. The central part of the deposit is higher in grade than either the top or the bottom. The geology of the Grouse differs from Sunbeam in that a carbonaceous black shale overlies the ash flow tuffs, with rhyolitic flow domes intruding at a much deeper level. Mineralization predominates in the hydrothermal-volcanic breccias and in the basal portion of the sedimentary unit that caps the sequence.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Mining Operations Were Suspended In the Second Quarter of 1997.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): 12/31/95 Reserves Are Considered Preliminary Because of the Ongoing Mine Plan Evaluation, Which Could Result In Changes In the Ore Reserves Estimate. Reserves As Reported In Bib. Ref. Were Divided By 0.80 (80%) To Get the Total Resreves of the Property.

Comment (Economic Factors): Mill Prod Is Saleable Bullion No Transportation Record Requi Milling Ore Operation. Expected Start of Production In 1st Qtr. of 1989. Estimated Annual Au Output of 41,000 Oz. 1988 Reserve= 254,254 Cont. Oz. Au. Recovery Estimated At 93% Au and 70% Ag.

Comment (Deposit): Two Distinct Ore Deposts: Grouse Creek & Sunbeam: Area Has Been In Gold/Silver Production On and Off Since 1903. Most Recent Operating History; Mine Started Dec 1994.

Comment (Production): Mining ended in April 1997 due to higher than expected operating costs and lower than expected operating margins, primarily because the ore occurred in thinner, less continuous structures than had been originally expected.

Comment (Geology): Fractures Trend From N 70 Deg W To N 70 Deg E and Dip 55 Deg NE To 75 Deg Nw.

Comment (Workings): 5 Tunnels , 6000 Ft Trenches and Holes; Open Pit Operation In 1988

Comment (Development): 4 Patented, 3 Unpatented Claims; 450 Ton Mill

References

Reference (Deposit): LOCKARD, D. W., 1970, EVALUATION OF THE GOLDEN SUNBEAM DEPOSIT, CUSTER COUNTY, IDAHO: MOSCOW, IDAHO, UNIV. OF IDAHO MS THESIS, 78 P.

Reference (Deposit): ANDERSON, A. L., 1949, SILVER - LEAD DEPOSITS OF THE YANKEE FORK DISTRICT, CUSTER COUNTY, IDAHO: IDAHO BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY PAMPHLET 83, 37 P.

Reference (Production): HECLA MINING COMPANY, 1995 FORM 10-K REPORT, P8.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): HECLA MINING COMPANY, 1995 ANNUAL REPORT, P20.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): HECLA MINING COMPANY, 1996 FORM 10-K REPORT, P19.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): HECLA MINING COMPANY, 1996 ANNUAL REPORT, P22.

Reference (Deposit): UMPLEBY, J. B., 1913, SOME ORE DEPOSITS IN NORTHWESTERN CUSTER COUNTY, IDAHO: USGS BULL. 539, 104 P.

Reference (Deposit): U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 877, 1937, P.

Reference (Deposit): GABARDI, J.A., 1987, MINERAL REPORT FOR PATENT APPLICATION, SUNBEAM MINING CORP.: U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE, CHALLIS NATIONAL FOREST, MINERAL SURVEY 3651A, SERIAL NUMBER 1-20585, 28 P.

Reference (Deposit): U.S. BUREAU OF MINES OPEN-FILE REPORT MLA 6-91, 1991, TABLE A-3, NO. 468, P. 216.

Reference (Deposit): THE MINING RECORD VOL 106, #35, "GROUSE CREEK MINE DEDICATION", P2.

Reference (Deposit): THE MINING RECORD VOL 106, #35, "GROUSE CREEK MINE PRODUCES 35,197 OZ. GOLD IN FIRST HALF. P1.

Reference (Deposit): THE MINING RECORD. V106/N4. "COURT RULES ON OPERATIONS IN IDAHO NATIONAL FORESTS. DEC. 25, 1995. P1.

Reference (Deposit): RANDOL MINING DIRECTORY, 1994/95, U.S. MINES & MINING COMPANIES, P271.

Reference (Deposit): RANDOL MINING DIRECTORY, 1996/97, U.S. MINES & MINING COMPANIES, PP. 197, 198.

Reference (Deposit): THE MINING RECORD, VOL., 107, #46, NOV., 13, 1996, P6. "HECLA TO CLOSE GROUSE CREEK".

Reference (Deposit): STILES, C. A., 1976 , GEOLOGY AND ALTERATION OF THE WEST FORK MAYFIELD CREEK AREA, CUSTER COUNTY, IDAHO: MOSCOW, IDAHO, UNIV. OF IDAHO M.S. THESIS, P. 103 - 106.

Reference (Deposit): ROSS, C. P., 1927 , ORE DEPOSITS IN THE TERTIARY LAVA IN THE SALMON RIVER MOUNTAINS, IDAHO: IDAHO BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY PAMPHLET 25 , 20 P.

Reference (Deposit): MINING JOURNAL, MARCH 27, 1987, P. 237.

Reference (Deposit): 1927 OTHER IDAHO BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY PAMPH 25

Reference (Deposit): 1949 RECON IDAHO BUREAU OF MINES AND GEOLOGY PAMPH 83

Reference (Deposit): 1966 DIREXPL USBM, LOCKARD MS THESIS

Reference (Production): UMPLEBY, J. B., 1913, USGS BULL. 539, P. 87.

Idaho Gold

"Where to Find Gold in Idaho" 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 Idaho. Read more: Where to Find Gold in Idaho.