Lucky Friday Mine

The Lucky Friday Mine is a lead and silver mine located in Shoshone county, Idaho at an elevation of 3,445 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: Lucky Friday Mine
Secondary: Golden Hunter Mine ( old MAS# 0160790063)
Secondary: Gold Hunter

Commodity

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

Location

State: Idaho
County: Shoshone
District: Hunter District

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: Located Claim
Type: Patented

Workings

Type: Underground

Ownership

Owner Name: Hecla Mining Co.
Company ID: 1000088
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: 6500 North Mineral Drive Suite 200 Coeur d'Alene ID 83815-9408 United States
Info Year: 1996
Years: 1964 -

Owner Name: Lucky Friday Silver-Lead Mines Co.
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Wallace, Idaho
Years: 1939 - 1964

Owner Name: Lucky Friday Mining Co.
Percent: 100.0
Home Office: Wallace, Idaho
Years: 1913 - 1936

Owner Name: Lucky Friday Mines Co.
Percent: 100.0
Years: 1905 - 1913

Production

Year: 1996
Mined: 170800.000 mt
Material type: Ore milled
Year: 2010
Time Period: 1942-2010
Material type: 147 milllion oz Ag, 1.1 million tons Pb/Zn combined. Hecla 2010 AR, p. 6.
Year: 1995
Mined: 144128.000 mt
Material type: Ore milled
Description: Ore Production 144128 Mt Ore Milled
Year: 1993
Mined: 162911.000 mt
Material type: Ore milled
Description: Ore Production 162911 Mt Ore Milled
Year: 1994
Mined: 113385.000 mt
Material type: Ore milled
Description: Ore Production 113385 Mt Ore Milled
Year: 1992
Mined: 158912.000 mt
Material type: Ore milled
Description: Ore Production 158912 Mt Ore Milled
Year: 1991
Mined: 138028.000 mt
Material type: Ore milled
Description: Ore Production 138028 Mt Ore Milled

Deposit

Record Type: Site
Operation Category: Past Producer
Deposit Type: Hydrothermal vein and replacement
Plant Type: Beneficiation (Mill)
Plant Subtype: Flotation
Operation Type: Underground
Mining Method: Caving Methods - Longwall Caving
Milling Method: Flotation
Year First Production: 1942
Year Last Production: 2001
Discovery Year: 1880
Discovery Method: Ore-Mineral In Place
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: Polymetallic veins

Orebody

Form: Tabular

Structure

Type: L
Structure: Hook Anticline
Description: Hook Anticline, plunges 75 degrees, hosts vein

Alterations

Alteration Type: L
Alteration: Bleaching

Rocks

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: Galena
Ore: Sphalerite
Ore: Tetrahedrite
Gangue: Pyrite
Gangue: Siderite
Gangue: Quartz
Trace: Matildite
Trace: Pyrargyrite
Trace: Polybasite
Trace: Bournonite
Trace: Jamesite
Trace: Arsenopyrite
Trace: Pyrrhotite
Trace: Greenockite
Trace: Cerrusite
Trace: Limonite

Comments

Comment (Deposit): 5-16-97: Hecla Approved Plans To Double Ag Output. The Expansion Wll Be Fuelled By The Development Of The Gold Hunter Vein (1500 M NW Of The Lucky Friday Vein). The Gold Hunter Vein Is Nearly Twice The Grade And Width Of The Lucky Friday Vein And Will Allow The Company To Increase Ag Production To Over 4 Moz By 1998. In 1996, The Operation Produced 1.9 Moz. The New Vein Will Be Mined Using Overhand Cut-And-Fill. In Addition, Hecla Plans To Upgrade Its Backfill Plant And Expand Its Concentrate Storage Facilities. Total Proven And Probable Ag Reserves At The Lucky Friday Mine Are 18.5 Moz. Property Includes The Golden Hunter Mine (Past Producer) Mas Seq# 0160790063.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): 86 Brook-Hunt & Ilzsg Data. Hecla 1989 10k Has 458,800 St At 16.1 Oz Ag, 14.4% Pb, And 2.4% Zn.

Comment (Reserve-Resource): 1996: Measured Grades: Ag=401 G/Mt; Pb=11.6%; Zn=1.8%. 1996: Indicated Grades (From New Area): Ag=290 G/Mt; Pb=4.1%; Zn=Not Given In The Phone Call (0? Or Unknown?) All Tonnage And Assay Values Are Based On Dry Tonnes Total Metal Recovery Is 105% Vs Reserves, Total Tonnage Recovered Is 130% Vs Reserve Reserve Tonnages Only Are Quoted In Hecla Published Figures. Grades Are Computed Back Through Metal Recovered And Recovery Factors. As The Recovery Of Cu And Au Are Unknown This Method Could Not Be Employed For These Commodities. They Were Therefore Carried Through At 100%.

References

Reference (Production): Yearly Hecla Annual Reports (1983 - present)

Reference (Deposit): Straam Engineers, Inc. Capital And Operating Cost Estimating System Handbook. Bumines Contract No. Jo255026, 1979.

Reference (Deposit): Umpleby And Jones, Jr. Geology And Ore Dposits Of Shoshone County, Idaho. USGS Bulletin 732, 1923, 156 Pp.

Reference (Deposit): Ransome And Calkins. The Geology And Ore Deposits Of The Coeur D'Alene District, Idaho. USGS P.P. 62, 1908, 203 Pp

Reference (Deposit): Staff, Lucky Friday Mine. Cut-And-Fill Stoping At Lucky Friday Mine. Ch. 6 In U.G. Mining Methods Hdbk. Sme-Aime 1982, Pp. 554-557.

Reference (Deposit): Steckly And Lemons. A Method For Updating Cost Estimates For The Minerals Availability System. Unpubl. Bumines Rep., Ifoc, May 1976.

Reference (Deposit): Shenon And Mcconnel. The Silver Belt Of The Coeur D'Alene District, Idaho: Id Bumines And Geol. Pamphlet No. 50, 1939, 9 Pp.

Reference (Deposit): Mining Engineering. Hecla'S Silver-Lead Mines Provide A Study In Contrasts, July 1976, Pp. 59-60, 356-5, 356-6.

Reference (Deposit): Mckinstry, Deepest Single Lift Shaft In North America Nears Completion. Min. Eng., Oct. 1983, Pp. 1391-1396.

Reference (Deposit): Leep, Geologic Features Of The Star-Morning And Lucky Friday Mines In Idaho'S Coeur D'Alene District. Pres. At Aime 16th Annual Int. Miner. Con., Vail, Co, July 18, 1980, 10 Pp.

Reference (Deposit): Hobbs, S. W., And Others, 1965 , Geology Of The Coeur D'Alene District, Shoshone County, Idaho: USGS Prof. Paper 478 , 139 P.

Reference (Deposit): ----. Joint Proxy Statement-Prospectus For Merger With Ranchers Exploration And Development Company. June 11, 1984, Pp. 48-55, 71.

Reference (Deposit): Hecla Mining Company. Annual Report. 1976, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983.

Reference (Deposit): ----. Lucky Friday Mine. Unpubl. Pamphlet, 1981, 4 Pp.

Reference (Deposit): Hecla Mining Compay. Form 10-K Report To The Sec. Dec. 31, 1983.

Reference (Deposit): Gross, The New Lucky Friday Mine. Pres. At The 1984 Pacific Northwest Met. And Miner. Conf., Portland, Or, Apr. 30- May 2, 1984, 14 Pp.

Reference (Deposit): Gott, And Cathrall, Geochemical-Exploration Studies In The Coeur D'Alene District, Idaho And Montana: USGS Pp 1116, 1980, 63 Pp.

Reference (Deposit): Fryklund, Ore Deposits Of The Coeur D'Alene District, Shoshone County, Idaho: USGS P.P. 445, 1964, 103 Pp.

Reference (Deposit): E & Mj. Programming New Growth In The Coeur D'Alene, Apr. 1980, Pp. 62-66; Part 2, May 1980, Pp. 94-99.

Reference (Deposit): Day, H. C. The Coeur D'Alene Mining District In 1963. Id Bureau Of Mines And Geol. Pamphlet 133, 1963, 104 Pp.

Reference (Deposit): Mining Journal, 5-16-97, P.394.

Reference (Deposit): Marks, Cut-And-Fill And Square-Set Stoping Costs For Smaller Orebodies. Ch. 8 In Mineral Industry Costs. Nwma 1982, Pp. 115-121.

Reference (Deposit): The Mining Record, Dec., 4, 1996, P8, V107, #49, P19.

Reference (Deposit): Brakenbusch, Silver Shaft Development. Pres. At Nwma Short Course, Spokane, Wa, Nov. 28-30, 1983.

Reference (Deposit): The Mining Record, Sept., 4, 1996, P11.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): Hecla Mining Co., 1989, Form 10k, 3/19/90

Reference (Reserve-Resource): Hecla Minco, 1983, Annual Report For Fy 1983.

Reference (Reserve-Resource): Hecla Mining Co. 1985 Annual Report

Reference (Production): Hecla Mining Company, 1995 Annual Report, P19.

Reference (Deposit): Crandell, & Others. Designing Lucky Friday'S Silver Shaft. E & Mj, Apr. 1981, Pp. 68-73.

Reference (Deposit): Crandell, The Silver Shaft Project At The Lucky Friday Mine. Paper Pres. At The Nwma Convention, Spokane, Wa, 1980.

Reference (Deposit): Campbell, Guidebook To The Geology Of The Coeur D' Alene Mining District. Id Bumines And Geol. Bulletin 16, 1961, 37 Pp.

Reference (Deposit): Wahler, W. A., And Associates. Summary Of Hydraulic Backfill Operations In Selected Underground Mines, Coeur D'Alene District, Idaho. Bumines Contract No. Ho242026, May 1976.

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.