Tiger-Poorman Mine

Past Producer in Shoshone county in Idaho, United States with commodities Lead, Silver, Zinc, Gold, Copper
Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Public Land Survey System information
  6. Commodities
  7. Materials information
  8. Mineral occurrence model information
  9. Host and associated rocks
  10. Nearby scientific data
  11. Geologic structures
  12. Ore body information
  13. Controls for ore emplacement
  14. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  15. Mining district
  16. Land status
  17. Ownership information
  18. Production statistics
  19. Workings at the site
  20. Links to other databases
  21. Bibliographic references
  22. General comments
  23. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10105998
MRDS ID W026650
Record type Site
Current site name Tiger-Poorman Mine
Alternate or previous names Poorman Mine, Tiger Mine

Comments on the site names

  • A consolidation of the Tiger and the Poorman mines, effected late in 1895. History of the two mines prior to consolidation included in this record.

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Geographic coordinates: Elevation UTM Precision Relative position Point location
-115.81292, 47.52377 (WGS84) 1156 At Burke, on west side of Canyon Creek
(click for info)
-115.81292, 47.52377 (WGS84) 1188 At Burke, on east side of Canyon Creek
-115.81292, 47.52377 (WGS84) 1155 At Burke, on west side of Canyon creek
-115.81292, 47.52377 (WGS84) 1174 At Burke, on east side of Canyon Creek

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Shoshone(county)

Idaho(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Burke(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Thompson Falls(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Wallace(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

South Fork Coeur d'Alene(hydrologic unit)

Spokane(hydrologic accounting unit)

Kootenai-Pend Oreille-Spokane(hydrologic subregion)

Pacific Northwest(hydrologic region)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Idaho Shoshone

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Boise 048N 005E 10,11 W2NWSW Idaho

Comments on the location information

  • Tiger and Poorman shafts now filled with waste rock. Poorman mill and Tiger mill burned down in 1896, and were replaced by the Tiger-Poorman mill (no longer extant) on the site of the old Tiger mill.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Lead Primary
Silver Primary
Zinc Critical Secondary
Gold Secondary
Copper Secondary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Tetrahedrite Ore
Ankerite Gangue
Hematite Gangue
Magnetite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Pyrrhotite Gangue
Quartz Gangue
Siderite Gangue
Silver Trace
Cerussite Trace

Analytical data

Result ORE AVERAGES ABOUT 6% PB, 3 OZ/TON AG

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 85
USGS model code 22c
Deposit model name Polymetallic veins
Mark3 model number 46

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Burke Formation
    Rock description Burke Formation
  • Host or associated Associated
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Meta-Argillite
    Rock unit name Prichard Formation
    Rock description Prichard Formation

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Granite Peak Syncline
Type of structure Local
Structure description O'Neill Gulch Fault, A reverse fault which moved Prichard Fm up against Burke Fm
Type of structure Local
Structure description Tiger-Poorman Lode

Ore body information

  • Name Tiger-Poorman
    General form PINCH AND SWELL
    Strike N 60 DEG W
    Dip 80 DEG SW
    Plunge direction NW
    Thickness 777.24M
    Length 548.64M
    Width 4.57M
    Depth to top 1234.44M
    Depth to bottom 457.2M

Comments on the ore body information

  • The Tiger-Poorman orebody, bounded on the east by the O'Neill Gulch reverse fault, (N-S 75E) and possibly by another N-S fault with a steep easterly dip to the west, consisted of 5 individual ore shoots, oriented in echelon, and offset by small faults. Between the 2000 and 2200 levels, when the vein passed into the Prichard Formation, the ore broke up into short, narrow shoots of low grade, too poor to mine profitably.

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Tiger-Poorman Lode, A Fault Which Strikes N 60 Deg W, Dips 80 Deg SW

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1884
Discoverer JOHN CARTON; ALMEDA SEYMOUR
Mining method Filled Stopes - Timber With Subsequent Fill
Year of first production 1888
Year of last production 1952
Plant type Beneficiation (Mill)
Plant subcategory Gravity
Milling method Gravity
Production years 1888-1919, 1941, 1943, 1951-1952; 1961

Mining district

District name Lelande

Land status

Ownership category Private

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Tiger Mining Company
    Interest 100
    Home office Burke, Idaho
    Year 2004
    First year 1884
    Last year 1895
  • Type Owner
    Owner Coeur d'Alene Silver-Lead Mining Company
    Interest 100
    Home office Butte, Montana
    Year 2004
    First year 1887
    Last year 1895
  • Type Owner
    Owner The Consolidated Tiger and Poorman Mining Company
    Interest 100
    Home office Spokane, Washington
    Year 2004
    First year 1895
    Last year 1899
  • Type Owner
    Owner Buffalo Hump Mining Company
    Interest 100
    Home office New York
    Year 2004
    First year 1899
    Last year 1901
  • Type Owner
    Owner Empire State-Idaho Mining and Development Company
    Interest 100
    Home office New York
    Year 2004
    First year 1901
    Last year 1903
  • Type Owner
    Owner Federal Mining and Smelting Company
    Interest 100
    Home office New York
    Year 2004
    First year 1903
    Last year 1920
  • Type Owner
    Owner Hecla Mining Company
    Interest 100
    Home office Coeur d'Alene, Idaho
    Year 2004
    First year 1920

Comments on the ownership information

  • Owned and operated Tiger mine, purchased from original locator
  • Owned and operated Poorman mine
  • Consolidation of the Tiger Mining Co. and Coeur d'Alene Silver-Lead Mining Co.
  • Present (2004) owner

Production statistics

  • Year 1983
    Period 1901-1961
    Material ORE
    Ore mined 1024024mt
    Accuracy Accurate
    Description Cp_Grade: ^1.2 Oz/Ton Ag, 5.3% Pb
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Silver Silver 82618121g 81g/mt

Comments on the production information

  • Zinc, copper, and gold only recovered from small quantities of dump material worked in the 1940s and 1950s

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reserves exhausted when mine closed in 1908. Production since 1908 came from clean-up of underground workings and surface dumps by lessees. Hecla explored the western end of the 300 and 600 levels from the Tiger shaft in 1928 for a reported body of zinc-rich ore. Such ore would not have been mined before 1908 due to inability to handle the zinc. No such orebody was found. Possibilities for additional ore are restricted to the area west of the western boundary of the Tiger-Poorman orebody, although a modest amount of drifting found no ore in that direction.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings Tiger Shaft
    Overall depth 671M
  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings Poorman Shaft
    Overall depth 305M

Comments on the workings information

  • The Tiger Mine waa originally developed by four short adits, the Poorman by three short adits, each 100 feet long.

Comments on development

  • The Tiger lode was discovered by prospectors searching for placer gold on Canyon Creek. They found float of lead-silver ore and traced it to the vein. The Poorman was located the next day, the two claims covering almost all of the orebody. The Tiger and Poorman were operated independently, as the Tiger Mining Co. and the Coeur d'Alene Silver-Lead Mining Co., respectively, until consolidated as the Consolidated Tiger and Poorman Mining Co. in 10/1895. The mine(s) operated continuously from 1887, with several changes in ownership, until 10/1908, when the Federal M&S Co. permanantly closed the mine due to exhaustion of ore. Leasers operated the mine until 11/1920 when purchased by Hecla Mining Co. Hecla explored the west end of the 300 and 600 levels in 1928 for zinc-rich ore but found none. Some ore shipped from surface dumps in 1940s and 1950s. Shafts now filled with waste rock and surface plant removed. Workings are flooded and inaccessible.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit DEPTHS TO TOP, BOTTOM, ABOVE EXPRESSED IN ELEVATION. IN THE TAMARACK-MARSH MINERAL SUBBELT.
Deposit ARGILLITE BEDDING NEARLY FLAT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-FEB-1975 Miller, Pat J. U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 17-OCT-1975 Kauffman, John D. U.S. Bureau of Mines
Updater 30-DEC-2004 Long, Keith R. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

External references