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Montanore

Prospect in Sanders county in Montana, United States with commodities Copper, Silver, Lead
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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. Alteration
  9. Mineral occurrence model information
  10. Host and associated rocks
  11. Nearby scientific data
  12. Geologic structures
  13. Ore body information
  14. Controls for ore emplacement
  15. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  16. Mining district
  17. Mineral rights holdings
  18. Land status
  19. Ownership information
  20. Reserves and resources
  21. Workings at the site
  22. Links to other databases
  23. Bibliographic references
  24. General comments
  25. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10048814
MRDS ID MP90044
Record type Deposit
Current site name Montanore
Alternate or previous names Rock Lake Project, Noxon

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Ore Body
Geographic coordinates: -115.64363, 48.07487 (WGS84)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Sanders(county)

Montana(state)

United States(country)

North America(continent)

Land(continent)

USGS map quadrangles

Elephant Peak(quadrangle 1:24,000 scale)

Libby(quadrangle 1:100,000 scale)

Kalispell(quadrangle 1:250,000 scale)

Hydrologic units (watersheds)

Middle Kootenai(hydrologic unit)

Kootenai(hydrologic accounting unit)

Kootenai-Pend Oreille-Spokane(hydrologic subregion)

Pacific Northwest(hydrologic region)

Federal lands

Kootenai National Forest(National Forest)

National Forest FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Cabinet Mountains Wilderness(Wilderness)

Wilderness FS(Type of land area)

FS(Federal land areas administered by FS)

Geographic areas

Country State County
United States Montana Sanders
United States Montana Lincoln

Public Land Survey System information

Meridian Township Range Section Fraction State
Montana Principal 27 N 31 W 19, 30 Montana

Comments on the location information

  • Original political location in record was Lincoln county. However, lat/long plotted in adjacent Sanders county. Original coordinates were: lat/long NAD27 48-4-48N 115-38-24W (48.08 -115.64); UTM N<blank> E<blank> Z<blank>; PLSS line# : Meridian- <blank>, TWNSHP <blank>, RNG <blank>, Sect <blank>, Sect_fract <blank>. The deposit is centered in Sanders county but does extend into Lincoln county so Sanders was added to the list and promoted to first place. The new coordinates came from Boleneus et all, 2005. The patented mineral estate is mostly if not all in Sanders County, but the access tunnel starts in Lincoln County.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Silver Primary
Lead Tertiary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Bornite Ore
Chalcopyrite Ore
Galena Ore

Alteration

  • (Local) calcite

Mineral occurrence model information

Model code 200
USGS model code Unassigned
Deposit model name Sediment-hosted Cu, Revett
Mark3 model number 64

Host and associated rocks

  • Host or associated Host
    Rock type Metamorphic Rock > Metasedimentary Rock > Quartzite
    Rock unit name Revett Formation
    Stratigraphic age (youngest) Mesoproterozoic
    Stratigraphic age (oldest) Mesoproterozoic

Nearby scientific data

Ore Body (1) -115.64363, 48.07487
ListMap

Economic information

Geologic structures

Type of structure Local
Structure name Rock Lake Fault

Ore body information

  • Name Unnamed zone 1
    General form tabular
    Thickness 9.14M
  • Name Unnamed zone 2
    General form tabular
    Thickness 36.27M

Controls for ore emplacement

  • stratabound

Comments on the geologic information

  • Extentive discussion of the geology is found on pages 26-34 of Ristorcelli and Fitch (2005). Geologic maps and cross-section figures are included.

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Underground
Development status Prospect
Commodity type Metallic
Deposit size Large
Significant Yes
Discovery year 1983
Discoverer Initial outcrop discovered by T. Hayes (Asarco Inc.) in 1978. A second discovery was made by T. Henricksen and J. Ebisch in 1983. U.S. Borax and Chemical Co. staked and drilled in 1983-4. \n

Mining district

District name Noxon
District name Cabinet Mountains Area

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Minerals Only

Land status

Ownership category National Wilderness
Area name Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, Kootenai National Forest

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Mines Management, Inc.
    Interest 100
    Home office Spokane, Washington
    Year 2009
    Last year 2009
  • Type Owner
    Owner Noranda

Comments on the ownership information

  • The Montanore deposit is patented mineral estate within a wilderness.

Reserves and resources

  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 2005
    Measured 3652326mt ore
    Indicated 70288670mt ore
    Inferred 31824000mt ore
    Remarks Reported in English units. Measured 4,026,000, 1.85 Oz/t Ag, Indicated 77,480,000, 2.05 oz/t Ag, Inferred 35,080,000, 1.85 oz/t Ag.
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper Cu 0.7376 wt-pct Copper Primary 2005
    Silver Ag 55.95 g/mt Silver Primary 2005
  • Type In-situ
    Estimate year 1998
    Total resources 136000000mt ore
    Remarks Resource from Long (1998) repeated in Boleneus and others (2005). Original resource reported in English units. Resources 150,000,000 short tons, Zone 1: 0.50% Cu, 2 oz/t Ag; Zone 2: 0.65% Cu, 1.67 oz/t Ag. Resource Detail only contains Zone 1 grades.
    Commodity Subtype Grade units Group Importance Year
    Copper Cu 0.5 wt-pct Copper Primary 1998
    Silver Ag 56.4 g/mt Silver Primary 1998

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • The grades for the NI 43-101 data are calculated weighed averages.
  • The resource estimate is reported to be prepared in Accordance with Canadian Nation Instrument 43-101 by Mine Development Associates for Mines Management. and was reported filed by Mines Management on March 6, 2006 and is available at www.Sedar.com. I did not find this document at Sedar, so can't verify the numbers. They do look reasonable though.
  • From Ristorcelli and Fitch (2005, p. 23-24): Six historic resource estimates were made (Salisbury & Associates Reserves 1987; Regan Reserves 1987; Regan Reserves 1988 (June 24); Saunders Reserves 1990; Saunders Reserves 1994). none of these could be classified utilizing present-day CIM standards. Likely the reason for the considerable change in tons between the 2005 estimate and the previous estimates is that previous estimates included material outside the extralateral rights, which at that time were controlled by the then-operating companies.

Workings at the site

  • Type of workings Underground
    Name of workings Libby Creek Adit
    Length 4267.2M

Reference information

Bibliographic references

General comments

Subject category Comment text
Deposit SEDIMENT-HOSTED CU, REVETT

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 31-JUL-1995 Sachiko Tanikawa U.S. Geological Survey
Editor 10-SEP-2008 Schruben, Paul U.S. Geological Survey Fixed lat/long - county disagreement.
Updater 23-JUL-2009 Causey, J. Douglas U.S. Geological Survey

Beyond USGS

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

Maps centered on this site