Alder Gulch - Virginia City

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

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.

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.