Marietta Mine

The Marietta Mine is a silver and gold mine located in Madison county, Montana at an elevation of 7,720 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: Marietta Mine  

State:  Montana

County:  Madison

Gallery: View 2 Marietta Mine Photos

Elevation: 7,720 Feet (2,353 Meters)

Commodity: Silver, Gold

Lat, Long: 45.21722, -111.96028

Map: View on Google Maps

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.


Satelite image of the Marietta Mine

Mine Description

Discovered on June 2, 1903, by William Hill, John A. Anderson, and Bert Ferguson, and patented on August 21, 1935, the Marietta mine explores two veins: the Marietta vein, which trends slightly northeast, dips east 350 to 400 and is 2 to 2.5 ft thick, and the Metallic vein, which strikes N 450 E, 350-500 SE and is about 5 ft thick. The same veins or vein systems appear to be explored in the Irene, High Up, and Greenback mines to the northeast. They are lenticular quartz veins, with quartz boudins and free gold, auriferous pyrite, arsenopyrite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and stibnite (?). The mine developed separate ore shoots on the two veins, with strike lengths of 300 to 350 ft, and stopes reaching 200 to 300 ft above the crosscuts and drifts on the veins. The veins were oxidized to a depth of about 300 ft. In 1938, average assays of the ore ranged from $9 Au per ton to $10.79 Au per ton. Assays of ore remaining in the mine in 1938 averaged 0.21 to 0.34 opt Au and 1.2 to 3.7 opt Ag.

The Marietta and Metallic veins were mined separately. The Marietta vein is opened by an east-to southeast-trending crosscut that intersected the vein at the 740-ft point, and drifts were run on the vein for about 460 ft north and 100 ft south. A stope about 400 ft long and 120 to 160 ft high was mined mainly above the north drift. An inclined winze about 75 ft deep was sunk on the vein near the crosscut entrance, and drifts run 140 ft on the vein at the 70-ft level.

The Metallic vein was cut in the Marietta crosscut about 160 ft beyond the Marietta vein, and drifts were run along it for 720 ft to the northeast and 690 ft to the southwest. The vein was stoped 60 to 80 ft above the northeast drift for a length of about 150 ft, and a raise extended to the surface. A winze was also sunk about 195 ft on the incline near the southwest end of the drift, and levels and stopes extended to both the northwest and the southeast on the vein at the 110-ft and 195-ft levels, totaling about 300 ft on each level. Another winze was sunk about 95 ft beneath the 195 level, but the vein at this level was not developed.

The Metallic vein also was intersected in an adit that crosscut about 100 ft to the vein. A drift was run along the vein about 270 ft to the northwest, and the vein was stoped to the surface. The total production from the Marietta mine is unknown. The mine was a significant producer from 1919 to 1922 and in the 1930s (figs. 19,20). Its last known production was in 1938. From 1935 to 1938, the mine yielded 25,332 tons of ore valued at more than $200,000. Most of this ore came from the stopes on the Metallic vein where it is cut in the Marietta crosscut, and from the stope to the surface in the Metallic adit. The total yield from the mine is probably between $400,000 and $500,000.

Source: The Gold Mines of the Virginia City Mining District, Madison County, Montana. Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology. Bulletin 133, 2004

Marietta Mine MRDS details

Site Name

Primary: Marietta Mine
Secondary: Marietta and Metallic


Commodity

Primary: Silver
Primary: Gold


Location

State: Montana
County: Madison
District: Virginia City Region - Browns Gulch District.


Land Status

Not available


Holdings

Not available


Workings

Not available


Ownership

Not available


Production

Not available


Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Operation Type: Unknown
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: N
Deposit Size: S


Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Northern Rocky Mountains
Physiographic Detail: Gravelly Range


Mineral Deposit Model

Not available


Orebody

Not available


Structure

Not available


Alterations

Not available


Rocks

Name: Gneiss
Role: Host
Age Type: Associated Rock Unit
Age Young: Late Cretaceous

Name: Gneiss
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock
Age Young: Late Cretaceous


Analytical Data

Not available


Materials

Ore: Galena


Comments

Comment (Location): LOCATED ON NORTH SIDE AT EAST END OF BARTON GULCH.

Comment (Workings): PRODUCTION FROM TWO VEINS, THE METALLIC VEIN AVERAGING 5 FT. IN WIDTH, AND THE MARIETTA VEIN WHICH AVERAGES 2 - 2 1/2 FT. MILL WAS PRESENT ON SITE.


References

Reference (Deposit): LORAIN, 1937, GOLD LODE. MINING - TOBACCO ROOT MOUNTAINS, U.S. BUREAU MINES INF. CIRC. 6972

Reference (Deposit): MBMG MEM 9, P. 49.

Reference (Deposit): MBMG MEM 15, P. 51.

Reference (Deposit): 1933 RECON MBMG MEM

Reference (Production): LORAIN, 1937, U. S. B. M. INF. CIRC. 6972.


Principal Gold Districts of Montana

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.