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Golden Chest Mine

Past Producer in Shoshone county in Idaho, United States with commodities Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, Zinc, Tungsten
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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. Ownership information
  17. Production statistics
  18. Reserves and resources
  19. Workings at the site
  20. Links to other databases
  21. Bibliographic references
  22. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10009910
MRDS ID D003186
Record type Site
Current site name Golden Chest Mine

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Geographic coordinates: Elevation UTM Precision Relative position Point location
-115.83435, 47.6332 (WGS84) 869
(click for info)
-115.83622, 47.61857 (WGS84) 906 On east side of Reeder Gulch near confluence with Prichard Creek

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Shoshone(county)

Idaho(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Murray(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Thompson Falls(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Wallace(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Upper Coeur d'Alene(hydrologic unit)

Spokane(hydrologic accounting unit)

Kootenai-Pend Oreille-Spokane(hydrologic subregion)

Pacific Northwest(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Idaho Panhandle National Forests(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Idaho Shoshone

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Boise 049N 005E 4 Idaho

Commodities

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

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Gold Ore
Sphalerite Ore
Galena Ore
Scheelite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Quartz Gangue
Arsenopyrite Gangue
Pyrite Gangue
Ankerite Gangue
Sericite Gangue
Chlorite Gangue
Albite Gangue
Apatite Gangue
Specularite Gangue
Rutile Gangue

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 273
USGS model code 36a
Deposit model name Low-sulfide Au-quartz vein
Mark3 model number 27

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Meta-Argillite
    Rock unit name Prichard Formation
    Rock description Prichard Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic
  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Prichard Formation
    Rock description Prichard Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Neoproterozoic

Nearby scientific data

(1) -115.83435, 47.6332
ListMap
(2) -115.83622, 47.61857
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Regional
Structure description Trout Creek Anticline strikes N15E, axial plane dips 56-85W
Type of structure Regional
Structure description Thompson Pass Fault, vertical, right-lateral movement.

Ore body information

  • Name Katie-Dora Vein
    Thickness 244
    Length 91
    Width 0.46
  • Name Idaho Vein
    Strike 50-60NW
    Dip 50-60NW
    Length 274
    Width 2.1
  • Name Paymaster Pocket
  • Name Clagett Vein
    Length 122
    Width 0.8
  • Name Klondyke Vein
    Strike 25-55S
    Dip 25-55S
    Thickness 152
    Length 91
    Width 6
  • Name Hanging Wall Klondyke Vein
    Length 23
    Width 0.3

Comments on the ore body information

  • Orebodies are quartz-ribboned sulfide veins parallel to bedding formed by replacement along bedding faults prior to the East Kootenay orogeny (800Ma) during a tectonic event (rifting?) that produced bedding parallel foliation in the host Prichard Formation argillite. These N15E shallow-dipping veins parallel axes of local synclines and anticlines.
  • A shoot of scheelite ore in the Klondike vein was 23 meters long on strike and mined to a vertical depth of about 107 meters depth. The mineralized zone was up to 4.5 meters wide. The vein material here consisted mostly of quartz, with irregular stringers of scheelite, abundant pyrite, and lesser chalcopyrite and galena.

Controls for ore emplacement

  • Ore shoots localized in pitching folds.

Comments on the geologic information

  • Prichard Formation consists of mudstone, siltstone, and fine-grained sandstone which have been metamorphosed to argillite, siltite, and quartzite, respectively. Rocks exposed in the mine are thought to represent the Lower Prichard.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Past Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1883
Mining method Open Stope
Year of first production 1885
Year of last production 1974
Plant type Beneficiation (Mill)
Plant subcategory Gravity
Milling method Gravity
Production years 1885-1889, 1891-1895, 1897-1898, 1900, 1902-1904, 1923, 1932-1934, 1938-1941, 1946-1949, 1969, 1974

Mining district

District name Summit

Ownership information

  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Golden Chest Mining Co.
    Interest 100
    Home office Murray, Idaho
    First year 1884
    Last year 1904
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner The Golden Chest Mining Co.
    Interest 100
    First year 1904
    Last year 1910
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Golden Chest Mining and Milling Co.
    Interest 100
    First year 1910
    Last year 1931
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Golden Chest Consolidated Mining Co.
    Interest 100
    First year 1931
    Last year 1934
  • Type Owner-Operator
    Owner Golden Chest Mining and Concentrating Co.
    Interest 100
    First year 1934
    Last year 1941
  • Type Owner
    Owner Golden Chest, Inc.
    Interest 100
    First year 1968
    Last year 1999
  • Type Owner
    Owner Paymaster Resources, Inc.
    Interest 100
    Home office Murray, Idaho
    First year 1999
  • Type Lessee/Operator
    Owner Golden Chest Leasing Co.
    Interest 100
    Home office Murray, Idaho
    First year 1932
    Last year 1932
  • Type Lessee/Operator
    Owner Cominco American Resources Inc.
    Interest 100
    Home office Spokane, Washington
    First year 1983
    Last year 1987
  • Type Lessee/Operator
    Owner Newmont Exploration, Inc.
    Interest 100
    Home office Denver, Colorado
    First year 1987
    Last year 1990
  • Type Lessee/Operator
    Owner New Jersey Mining Co.
    Interest 100
    Home office Kellogg, Idaho
    First year 2003

Production statistics

  • Year 1983
    Period 1902-1949
    Material Ore Treated
    Ore mined 55977mt
    Accuracy Accurate
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major smelter recovery Gold Gold 369000g 7g/mt

Comments on the production information

  • Production reported by Mitchell and Bennet (1983) using production reported to U.S. Bureau of Mines. Chavez (1990) gives total production from 1885 as about 65,000 ounces (2 metric tons) of gold, similar to an estimate by William Wylie of $1,400,000 in bullion (67,731 ounces gold at $20.67 per ounce) reported by Shenon (1938). A small amount of tungsten ore was mined, starting with 50 tons in about 1905.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Name Open Pit Bulk Minable Drill Indicated Geologic Resource
    Estimate year 1989
    Total resources 4320000mt ore
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Gold 1.68 g/mt Gold Major 1989

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • Reported in Chavez (1990) who also reports a possible offset of the Katie-Dora vein with more than 90,000 metric tons of material with 7 grams per ton gold. Chavez (1990) claims no potential for increasing these resources, however, Engineering and Mining Journal for June, 1989, reports a potential for 8 to 10 million additional tons material with 2 grams per metric ton gold.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings Total level workings
    Length 4000M

Comments on the workings information

  • Estimated by Shenon (1938) from old mine maps.

Comments on development

  • Scheelite discovered in veins in 1898 by Chester J. Keenan.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    Ransome, F.L., and Calkins, F.C., 1908, The geology and ore deposits of the Coeur d'Alene district, Idaho: US Geological Survey Professioal Paper 62 , 203 p.

  • Reserve-Resource

    Chavez, Joel, 1990, Golden Chest project, exploration summary, Shoshone County, Idaho: Newmont Exploration Ltd., Helena, Montana, 15 p.

  • Deposit

    Kennan, C.J., 1916, Preliminary report on the Golden Chest mine, 21 p. [International Archive of Economic Geology, Laramie, Wyoming, Thayer Lindsley Files, TL 46-10]

  • Production

    Mitchell, V.E., and Bennett, E.H., 1983, Production statistics for the Coeur d'Alene mining district, Shoshone County, Idaho, 1884-1980: Idaho Geological Survey Technical Report 83-3, 33 p.

  • Deposit

    Gibson, Layton Scott, 1986, Geology and genesis of gold-bearing quartz veins on Ophir Mountain, near Murray, Shoshone County, Idaho: Tucson, University of Arizona, MS thesis.

  • Deposit

    Shenon, Philip J., 1942, Bedding vein deposits near Murray, Idaho, in Newhouse, W.H., ed., Ore deposits as related to structural features: Princeton Univ. Press, p. 159-160.

  • Deposit

    Shenon, Philip J., 1938, Geology and ore deposits near Murray, Idaho: Idaho Bureau of Mines and Geology Pamphlet 47, 43 p.

  • Deposit

    Auerbach, Herbert S., 1908, Tungsten ore deposits of the Coeur d'Alene: Engineering and Mining Journal, v. 86, no. 24, p. 1146-1148.

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 01-FEB-1978 Hasler, J. William U.S. Geological Survey
Reporter 26-SEP-1996 Western Field Operations Center U.S. Bureau of Mines
Updater 08-MAR-2005 Long, Keith R. U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Current status (per MSHA)

StatusActive since 01/09/2018
MSHA mine ID1000414
Mine name (MSHA)Golden Chest Mine
Current operatorIdaho Strategic Resources Inc
Current controller (parent)Grant A Brackebusch
Mine typeUnderground (Metal / non-metal)

Inferred by coordinate + name similarity (1416 m, 1.00 match). Confirm against MSHA if precision matters — non-USGS-curated cross-references may occasionally point at a neighbouring mine.

Open MSHA's Mine Data Retrieval System for inspections, accidents, and violations for this mine.

External references

Maps centered on this site