The data below represent everything available in the MBMG Abandoned and Inactive Mines (AIM) database.

Sites Table
AIM Id Name Alternate Name District County
GR003636 GARNET (FIRST CHANCE, BEAR GULCH) GARNET GRANITE
MRDS AMLI MILS Latitude Longitude Datum
300390466 46.8239 -113.3431
Township Range Section QSection UTM Northing UTM Easting UTM Zone UTM Datum
12N 14W 3 DBBB 5188040 321281 12
Average Elevation Elev Units Land Owner 250K Quad 100K Quad 24K Quad
F BUTTE MISSOULA EAST ELEVATION MOUNTAIN
Property Type Update Date Who Updated
PLACER 4/6/1995 JEW
Commodities Table
Commodities Identified
BARIUM
Agency Info Table
Information
Agency: BLM
Region District: BUTTE
Ranger District:
Forest Service Tract:
Watershed Code:
Forest or Resource Area: MISSOULA
Owner: M
Impact:
Report: MT DEQ Historical Narratives:The Garnet mining district was one of the earliest to be established in the Montana Territory. It was contemporary with the mines at Bannack, Virginia City, Butte, Silver Star and Philipsburg. Preceding the discovery of the lode deposits in the Garnet district was the discovery of placer deposits in 1865 at the confluence of Bear Creek and the Clark Fork, an area subsequently known as Bearmouth. Another small mining camp called Beartown sprang up about six miles up the creek. By 1868 Beartown was described as several stores, saloons, gambling houses, a blacksmith shop and other businesses typical of mining camps. A school was built in 1881 (Sahinen 1935; Lyden 1948; Meyer 1992). The Bearmouth placer district around Beartown was reported to have produced more than $7,000,000 in placer gold by 1917. The placers were narrow, but rich, with some mines producing as much as $1,200 per foot. This concentration made the placer gravels suitable for "coyote" or drift mining. Miles of flumes brought water to work the placers and in one place an oxbow ridge was cut by a short tunnel for a flume. In 1896, thirty five placer miners worked together to construct a million gallon tank to water their chronically dry claims. The gold in the Bear Creek placers derives from the lode deposits in Garnet and Top o' Deep (Mining World 1910; Pardee 1918; Kauffman and Earll, 1963). In 1939 a Yuba dredge began working the gravels of Bear Creek. The dredge, operated by the Star Pointer Exploration Company, was electric powered and had 85 six cubic foot buckets. Production again came to a halt during World War II when the government closed down non essential gold mines as part of the war effort. Some production resumed following the war but by the early 1950s the productive period of the Garnet district appeared to be at an end, with last recorded ore shipments occurring in 1955.
Screening Criteria Table
Information
Mill Tailings: N
Adit Discharge: N
Metal Leaching: N
Water Erosion: N
Residence: N
Hazardous Materials: N
Open Adit: N
Visit: N
Comments: MBMG GEOLOGIST: JACK WATSON (DID NOT VISIT; QUESTIONABLE LOCATION)
Mining Methods Table
Years Dredge dry land Dredge float Ground sluicing Boom dam Drifting Hydraulic Pan rocker Long Tom Mercury
1865-2011 Y Y
Placer Table
Information
Gold: Y
Silver:
Titanium:
Rare Earth Elements:
Sapphire:
Garnet:
Tungsten:
Platinum:
Magnetite:
Hematite:
Pyrite:
Commodity Ref: Lyden, C.J., 1948, The Gold Placers of Montana, MBMG Memoir 26, 152 p.
Geologic Source:
Geologic Source Ref:
Lag:
Transported: Y
Type Comments: Gulch.
Type Ref: McCulloch, Robin, Lewis, Bob, Keill, Don, and Shumaker, Matthew,, 2003, Applied gold placer exploration and evaluation techniques, MBMG Special Publication 115, 267 p.
Unknown:
Fine:
Coarse:
Comments:
Size Ref:
Finess: 0.906
Fineref: McCulloch, Robin, Lewis, Bob, Keill, Don, and Shumaker, Matthew,, 2003, Applied gold placer exploration and evaluation techniques, MBMG Special Publication 115, 267 p.
Spoil pile:
Wash pile:
Wash over:
Wash under:
Waste Ref:
Year Discovered: 1865

End of report. Retrieved 5/3/2024 12:26:50 PM.

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