Drumlummon Mine - Montana
Location & Background
The Drumlummon Mine is located near Marysville, Montana, about 25 miles west of the Montana state capital, Helena (the "Drumlummon"). The Philipsburg Mill, where Drumlummon feedstock is currently being processed, is located in Philipsburg, Montana, about 114 road miles from the Drumlummon.
The Drumlummon Mine was originally operational between 1883 and 1910. It was financed by the Rothchilds of England and proved to be one of the largest producers of gold and silver in the western United States. The Drumlummon is reported to have produced $29,000,000 (US) of gold and silver at historical prices (US $20 per ounce Gold).
The Drumlummon was shut down and flooded at the deeper levels in 1910 when the operators lost a court case alleging that they had mined onto a neighbouring property owned by the St. Louis Company. It was shown that the main Drumlummon vein had strayed 160 feet over into the adjacent property and had been mined without an agreement between the Drumlummon operators and the owner of the neighbouring property.
The Drumlummon court case went on for 20 years, including 5 appeals to the Montana and US Supreme Courts which were ultimately lost by the Drumlummon operators. At the final appeal to the US Supreme Court in 1910 there were 12 lawyers present and the cumulative legal costs are reported to have been in excess of $400,000, an exorbitant price at the turn of the century.
After losing the final appeal, the Drumlummon operators were forced to hand over control of the Drumlummon mine to the St. Louis Company. This company lacked mining expertise and instead of mining the deposit, leased it out to tributors. Between 1923 and 1929 a reported 90,995 tons were mined in this fashion, and another 68,662 tons were reported to have been mined between 1946 and 1951 before the mill used by the operators burned down.
The Drumlummon has previously been developed down to the 1,600 foot level with 2 shafts. Substantial areas of the mine had remained flooded since 1910 and effectively had been "out of bounds" for exploration since that time. In 2007 RX Gold & Silver began an exploration program, initially from the surface then from underground after rehabilitation of the 400 level Adit. The present underground workings include a decline from surface to the 650 elevation and internal ramps to access various underground levels.
Ownership & Ground Positions
RX Gold & Silver has consolidated the Drumlummon mine claims, including the former neighbours claims (St. Louis Company) and several additional claims along the strike and surrounding the mine.
RX Gold & Silver holds a 100% interest in the Drumlummon mine subject to a 2% Net Smelter Royalty. This interest includes the original, contiguous, surveyed patented mineral claims covering all of the former Drumlummon workings as well as the approximately 290 acres of property formerly owned by the St. Louis Company that were subject to the early twentieth century legal battle. The Company has also acquired or staked additional claims adjacent to and along the strike from the Drumlummon mine and now holds 48 patented mining claims and 144 staked claims totalling 3,240 acres. An agreement was signed in 2010 to acquire an additional 22 patented and 50 staked claims (approximately 100 acres) in the area to the southwest of the Drumlummon Mine known as Bald Butte. This area has seen gold production in the past and contains a significant molybdenum resource which was drilled by previous owners.
General Geology & Mineralization
The Drumlummon mine is a "bonanza" style epithermal deposit which is characterized by very high grade gold and silver.
The deposit is related to Tertiary dacitic dikes and hosted by the Cretaceous Marysville stock and hornfelsed Precambrian sediments. The mineralization occurs as quartz fissure veins and silicified breccia in structures focused along the eastern margin of the stock. The primary ore minerals are native gold and silver sulfosalts.
Work Programs
In 2007 and 2008 RX Gold & Silver rehabilitated the 400 foot level in preparation for underground diamond drilling which commenced in the spring of 2008 and continues today.
In November, 2008 the company released its first resource estimate from the underground core drilling of the newly discovered Charly Vein, located east of the old workings. In accordance with National Instrument (NI) 43-101, Timothy J. Beesley, P.Eng. of T.J. Beesley Geological Services Inc. calculated initial inferred resources of 155,518 tons containing 70,707 oz. of gold and 1,915,560 oz. of silver as summarized in the table below. View the November, 2008 NI43-101 technical report.
400E |
Estimated |
Grade Au |
Ounces of |
Grade Ag |
Ounces of |
A |
67,284 |
0.39 |
26,192 |
12.2 |
820,166 |
B |
39,740 |
0.53 |
21,097 |
7.3 |
291,053 |
C |
48,494 |
0.48 |
23,414 |
16.6 |
804,341 |
Total |
155,518 |
|
70,703 |
|
1,915,560 |
Drilling continued during 2009 on the Charley Veins and in an area of the former workings on the Drumlummon Vein known as D Block. Throughout 2009 the Company reported the results of underground drilling and confirmed significant gold and silver values remain in the hanging wall and footwall of the old workings with mineralized intersections of up to 32 feet, gold values of up to 5 ounces per ton ("opt") and silver values of up to 149 opt (Refer to News). An update to the above resource estimate will be completed by Q1 2012.
In the 1980's prior operators reported the presence of 160,000 tons of mineralized material in the D-Block zone, below the 400 foot level, grading 0.4 opt gold and 4.0 opt silver. These figures are historical in nature, are not NI 43-101 compliant, and should not be relied upon by investors.
It was observed by the Drumlummon Project Manger that "the original operators of the mine used mercury amalgamation to recover the gold, a practice commonly used at that time. As a result, it appears they intentionally left behind most of the gold which was associated with areas of higher grade silver as the silver would hamper the gold recovery."
In December, 2009 the Company commenced dewatering the former underground workings down to the 600 foot level, having successfully obtained the necessary permitting from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality ("DEQ"). Montana DEQ - Drumlummon Mine Dewatering Approval and Stipulations.
In 2010 the Company drove an underground decline to the 500 foot level in order to access the Charly Veins and the D Block zones, conduct test mining on the Charly Veins and D-Block zones, complete metallurgical testing, and continue to outline the resource through underground drilling and drifting.
Bulk metallurgical test work was conducted in 2010 at the mill facility in Philipsburg, Montana, which showed recoveries exceeding 92% for gold and 87% for silver.. In June, 2010 the Company produced 1,206 ounces of gold and 33,717 ounces of silver by milling an average of 175 tpd under the test milling program (Refer to News - July 15, 2010. In July, 2010 the Company produced 1,378 ounces of gold and 20,981 ounces of silver by milling an average of 182.5 tpd under the test milling program.
In November, 2010 RX Gold & Silver announced the start of a new decline from an external portal on the northern slope of Drumlummon Ridge to cross the Castletown vein workings on the 600 level and connect the two headings into a main underground ramp, or decline. This decline established a second, larger route into the mine that will allow the entry of larger mechanized equipment, provide a second haul route for removal of ore and waste from the mine, and promote increased airflow for mine ventilation. These factors are all expected to positively impact future operational efficiency.
The decline was driven from an external portal established 1,250 feet east and 70 feet lower than the Maskelyne Tunnel, which had previously been the only accessible mine entry. Work advanced from both ends of the decline/tunnel, with one excavation team working from the external portal and the other team working from the internal ramp (collared on the 400 level, south of the #1 shaft).
The center lines of the two tunnels were within inches of each other when they met at the breakthrough point. The decline has a total distance of 4050 ft (1.2 km) and accesses the hanging wall side of the vein systems at the Drumlummon mine. This allows the operators at RX Gold & Silver to continue exploration and develop headings for future mining activities.
View Video of Charly Vein Underground with Montana Governor
On May 18, 2011 the Company announced that it had leased the Philipsburg Montana gravity/flotation mill owned by Contact Mining Company on a month-to-month basis until December, 2011. The RX Gold & Silver had previously leased this mill in 2010 to conduct test milling programs. The Philipsburg Mill is located in Philipsburg, Montana, about 114 miles by road from the Drumlummon Mine. Refer to the Philipsburg Mill page for additional information.
In December, 2011 the company submitted an operating permit application to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The complete permit application may be viewed on the DEQ website by clicking here.
Details of the mine blast on May 13, 2012
Mr. Jim Atkinson, P. Geo. is the qualified person responsible for preparing scientific and technical information that is posted on this website.