Gold Hunter Mine

The Gold Hunter Mine is a lead, zinc, and silver mine located in Shoshone county, Idaho at an elevation of 4,012 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

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Site Name

Primary: Gold Hunter Mine
Secondary: Hunter Ranch Property

Commodity

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

Location

State: Idaho
County: Shoshone
District: Hunter

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

Not available

Workings

Type: Underground

Ownership

Owner Name: Hecla Mining Co.
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Years: 1991 -

Owner Name: Hecla Mining Co.
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Years: 1975 - 1977

Owner Name: Hunter Lease
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Mullan, Idaho
Years: 1933 - 1947

Owner Name: Independence Lead Mines Co.
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Wallace, Idaho
Years: 1929 -

Owner Name: Hecla Mining Co.
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
Years: 1981 -

Owner Name: Day Mines, Inc
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Wallace, Idaho
Years: 1962 - 1981

Owner Name: Gold Hunter Mining Co.
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Wallace, Idaho
Years: 1955 - 1962

Owner Name: Gold Hunter Mines, Inc.
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Chicago, Illinois
Years: 1925 - 1955

Owner Name: Gold Hunter Mining & Smelting Co
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: St. Paul, Minnesota
Years: 1887 - 1925

Production

Year: 2005
Time Period: 1887-1954
Mined: 3089926.000 mt
Material type: Ore Treated
Year: 2005
Time Period: 1997-2003
Mined: 965483.000 mt
Material type: Ore Milled

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Producer
Deposit Type: HYDROTHERMAL VEIN AND REPLACEMENT
Plant Type: Beneficiation (Mill)
Plant Subtype: Flotation
Operation Type: Underground
Milling Method: Flotation
Year First Production: 1887
Discovery Year: 1884
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
Years of Production:
Organization:
Significant: Y
Deposit Size: S

Physiography

General Physiographic Area: Rocky Mountain System
Physiographic Province: Northern Rocky Mountains
Physiographic Detail: Coeur D'Alene Mountains

Mineral Deposit Model

Model Name: Polymetallic veins

Orebody

Name: Gold Hunter Vein
Form: PINCH AND SWELL

Structure

Type: L
Description: Gold Hunter vein is hosted by a small fault sympathetic to the Osburn Fault immediately south of the mine.

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration Text: Sericite; Disseminated carbonate forms halos around veins.

Rocks

Name: Quartzite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Neoproterozoic

Name: Quartzite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Neoproterozoic

Name: Quartzite
Role: Host
Age Type: Host Rock Unit
Age Young: Neoproterozoic

Analytical Data

Not available

Materials

Ore: Chalcopyrite
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Ore: Galena
Gangue: Arsenopyrite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Barite
Gangue: Siderite
Gangue: Quartz
Trace: Diaphorite
Trace: Boulangerite
Trace: Stibnite

Comments

Comment (Development): In 1991, Hecla Mining Co. discovered several mineralized structures 260 meters below the old Gold Hunter workings. From 1992 to 1993, the new deposit was explored via the Lucky Friday 4050 level. From 1994 to 1996, Hecla developed the deposit via the Lucky Friday 4900 level and subsequently began mining in 1997. So far, all ore extracted has been on Independence Lead Mines Co. ground.

Comment (Deposit): GEM-GOLD HUNTER MINERAL BELT ABOUT 30,000 FT LONG. THREE NEARLY PARALLEL LODES IN GOLD HUNTER MINE: NORTH LODE STRIKES N 85 DEG W; MIDDLE AND SOUTH LODES STRIKE W TO S 80 DEG W

Comment (Workings): LENGTH WORKINGS A 1962 FIGURE. WORK AT DEPTH OF 700 FT BELOW SEA LEVEL ( 1976 )

Comment (Ownership): Hunter Ranch is a unitization of the Gold Hunter and Clear Grit Groups, owHunter Ranch is a unitization of the Gold Hunter and Clear Grit Groups, owned by Day Mines, Inc. with the eastern portion of the Independence Lead Mines Co. property efffected in 1965. Taken over in 1981 by Hecla Mining Co. through merger with Day Mines, Inc.

Comment (Development): From 1975 to 1977, Hecla Mining Co. searched for a downward extension of the Gold Hunter vein on the Hunter Ranch property via the Lucky Friday mine workings, but not having taken into accoun the rake of the Gold Hunter orebodies, found nothing.

Comment (Production): Production data to 1954 from Hecla Mining Co. records and other sources.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): Proven and probable reserves reported by Hecla Mining Co. in its 2003 annual report.

Comment (Orebody): Outcrop of the Gold Hunter vein is 1 kilometer long and 23 meters wide consisting of gossan.

Comment (Deposit): DAY MINES' GOLD HUNTER AND CLEAR GRIT GROUPS OF CLAIMS COMPRISING 181.2 ACRES UNITIZED IN 1968 WITH 227.9 ACRES OF THE EASTERN PORTION OF INDEPENDENCE PROPERTY ON A 50 - 50 BASIS. HECLA OPERATES HUNTER RANCH PROPERTY (OWNED BY DAY MINES) UNDER A 50 - 50 JOINT-OPERATING AGREEMENT. ABOT'S SILVER REEF CLAIMS ARE ALSO UNITIZED WITH THE GOLD HUNTER IN THE DIA (DAY INDEPENDENCE ABOT) PROJECT.

Comment (Location): IN HUNTER GULCH BETWEEN INDEPENDENCE LEAD MINES CO. AND ABOT MIN. CO.

Comment (Production): Production data since 1997 from Hecla Mining Co. and Independence Lead Mines Co. annual reports.

Comment (Orebody): The upper portion of the vein, mined out by 1947, was an ore zone hosted by Wallace Formation quartzite up to 610 meters long and 76 meters wide. Individual ore shoots were up to 91 meters long and 12 meters wide. This ore zone frayed out below the 1700 (518 meter) level. The ore zone was bounded to the wast by a fault and terminated abruptly to the west.

References

Reference (Deposit): Linforth, F.A., and Billingsley, Paul, 1916, Report on the Gold Hunter mine, Shoshone County, Idaho: Butte, Montana, Anaconda Copper Mining Co., 7 p. [Anaconda Collection 21703.01]

Reference (Deposit): Linforth, F.A., 1924, Report on Gold Hunter mine, Shoshone County, Idaho: Butte, Montana, Anaconda Copper Mining Co., 7 p. [Anaconda Collection 21703.01]

Reference (Deposit): Smith, E. Percy, 1913, Report on the property of the Gold Hunter Mining & Smelting Company, 21 p.

Reference (Deposit): UMPLEBY, J. B., AND JONES, E. L., JR., 1923 , GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF SHOSHONE COUNTY, IDAHO: USGS BULL. 732 , 156 P.

Reference (Deposit): FRYKLUND, V. C., JR., 1964 , ORE DEPOSITS OF THE COEUR D'ALENE DISTRICT, SHOSHONE COUNTY, IDAHO: USGS PROF. PAPER 445 , 103 P.

Reference (Deposit): RANSOME, F. L., AND CALKINS, F. C., 1908 , THE GEOLOGY AND ORE DEPOSITS OF THE COEUR D'ALENE DISTRICT, IDAHO: USGS PROF. PAPER 62 , 203 P.

Reference (Deposit): Anderson, R.L., 2000, Geology of the Gold Hunter mine, Coeur d'Alene mining district, Shoshone County, Idaho: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 32, no. 5, p. 2.

Reference (Deposit): RANSOME, F. L., 1905 , ORE DEPOSITS OF THE COEUR D'ALENE DISTRICT, IDAHO: USGS BULL. 260 , P. 274 - 303 .

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.