Service Has Its Rewards ©2009

I was recently looking over some old papers and photos, and remembered an interesting weekend that I had back in around 2001.

   Getting some time off work, I decided it would be fun to spend it mining in the Rocky Bar area of south central Idaho.  I was a member of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association, a small Utah club that had two groups of good claims in the Rocky Bar area.  These claims totaled five claims on three creeks.  I also had two of my own claims in Wide West Gulch, just upstream of the club claims, and there were several areas on my claims had been fairly productive in the past.  With all these claims, I figured that I should have plenty to do.

           

   Gold was discovered on the Feather River in 1863, and the town of Rocky Bar quickly grew to support the new mines.  Rocky Bar, Idaho, is located about 40 miles east of Mountain Home, just to the north of Anderson Ranch Reservoir. 

   While there is little left of town (particularly, the south half where the owner has sold off the buildings one by one to discourage visitors), it was at one time a thriving town with over 2,500 residents and the county seat.  Rumor is that it was a candidate for the Idaho Territorial Capital.^[1]  Most of the gold found here was load gold, but there was a lot of placer gold found as well.  Most of the area creeks contain gold, including Bear Creek, which runs through Rocky Bar, Steele Creek, Red Warrior creek, and Elk Creek.  The Feather River, which has its own rich gold history, is formed from the confluence of Bear Creek Elk Creek. 

   While most of the gold in the region is fine, coming in the form of small granules similar in appearance to sugar grains, Bear Creek does have some coarse gold as well as the occasional nugget.  Elk Creek is also known for have some larger pieces of gold.

   After getting out of bed just a little too early for a day off, packing the truck and trailer—including my wife and son (and car seat too) into the small cab (it was a small, 2wd Toyota pick-up)—we were off to Idaho.  It was a long, slow and crowded drive, although it was other wise uneventful.

   When we arrived, we first set up camp on a club claim that sat next to Red Warrior Creek named NUPA 1.  This claim has one of the best camping sites in the entire area.  The campsite is set back off the road, surrounded by trees for privacy, and has a nice, sandy bottom for a tent.  Firewood is also plentiful.  Red Warrior is also known for fine, sugar grain sized granules of gold—and if you dig in the right place, they can be fairly plentiful.  While Red Warrior Creek does have some nice gold, I had my mind on another place that would give me better odds on a nugget.  

Sluicing Red Warrior Creek.

   The first place that I thought I would try prospecting was on the Los Kelios Group—this was a group of claims that began just above the junction of Bear Creek and Red Warrior Creek.  This claim then followed the creek north through a narrow canyon, around a tight horseshoe bend where it joined with Elk Creek, flowing south, to make the Feather River.  The claims then continued down stream for anther ½ mile.  This is a very large claim block formed by 3 rich gold bearing creeks.  (Unfortunately, a year or so later, the club lost the claims—something to do with a missing signature on an Affidavit of Assessment.)  The place I specifically had in mind was a small hill to the east of the road that was cut on the east by Red Warrior Creek and the north by Bear Creek.

   Climbing the hill, I found a spot out on the point above rivers that was already cleared to bedrock.  It looked good, so I hauled several buckets of dirt down to the creek to pan out.  I found that by breaking up the bedrock I could get some large flakes, but I couldn’t find anything of quantity.   I spent the rest of the afternoon there, still finding the occasional large flake—and once in a while a small one.  Giving this spot up, I headed back to camp.  Before retiring for the evening, I tried sluicing some of the gravel in Red Warrior Creek.  I did this with some optimism, as this had been quite rewarding the last two times I had been here.  This time, however, was different.  After sluicing the gravel for about 15 minutes, I cleaned the sluice and found just one small piece of gold.  Yeah. 

   Trying to increase my yield, I decided to work a different spot on the second day.  I went up to one of my personal claims, but with spring run-off over, most of the places that I usually work were too far away from water. 

   I then decided to work the bottom end of the Los Kelios claims, since rumors held that this was a rich area.  After almost an hour of climbing hills, crossing rivers, and pushing through brush, I made it to Pinto Creek, which marks the bottom end of the Los Kelios claims.  I set up my sluice, and went to work.  The gold I was finding was OK—it was granular, like on Red Warrior Creek, but the pieces were quite a bit larger in size.  Unfortunately, before I could really get going, a thunderstorm blew in over the mountain.  After only an hour and a half there, I packed up and headed out.  Two days were shot, and I still didn’t have much gold.

   By the morning of the third day, I was very discouraged.  I walked over to Red Warrior Creek to look around.  The best gold on this claim was found on the high bars.  Old-timers had ground sluiced the area, and we found that by digging into the rock piles, we could often find virgin dirt that the old timers had missed.  Often they would start stacking rock on top of gold bearing gravel so as to clear a channel for the water to flow, but as the working progressed, it wasn’t worth their time to go back and move the rocks to get to the gold beneath them.  Because of this there were some very rich pockets found under these rock piles.  One miner that I know pulled out about ¼ oz. of gold from one 5 gallon bucket of this gravel.   Due to the good gold, this claim was one of the club favorites. 

 

 Stairs cut into the bank leading up to the old highbar deposit above Red Warrior Creek.

 In fact, there was one elderly couple that used to camp there for most of the summer, spending most of their time mining the high bar and generally taking care of the claims.  They were a very friendly couple, always ready and willing to show you around.  They would help greenhorns learn to pan, show you where to dig, and show you their gold.  They always had a nice full vial or two to show.  They were also very conscientious about cleaning up the claims, mucking out the creek when the sluice tailings filled it up, and making the area look generally undisturbed.

   Earlier in the season, during a club outing, a forest ranger noticed the club members up on the high-bar and stopped to see what they were doing.  This ranger, who was actually visiting from a neighboring Ranger District, came to be affectionately known as “Annie Oakley” to the club members.  “Annie Oakley” because they could not remember her name; and “Annie Oakley” because of the way she walked around with her hand on her gun, while threatening what she would do with any of the miners who did not comply with her requests.   She told the members that they would need to quit digging until they had secured a formal Plan of Operations.  Many of the miners who had been working the claim objected to her request, as they were only using hand tools (pans, shovel and sluices—and a self contained gold  buddy)—and that under the 1872 mining laws, as well as the CFR’s, hand tools were legal, and that they did not need a Plan of Operations.  They complained that they only needed a Plan of Operations if they were to bring in equipment, which they had not done. Annie Oakley (still with her hand on her gun) told the miners that she didn’t give a damn about the mining laws or Congress, and that if they did not comply immediately, she would start issuing citations, and making arrests if necessary.  She nailed several other groups in the area on the same day, including my partner on our personal mining claims.  As we later found out, she had been transferred from another Ranger District (the Idaho City District, if my memory serves me) because of her attitudes toward mining, and just happened to be on loan to our district that day.

   After this exchange, the club submitted a Plan of Operations—and were promptly told that they did not need one for what they were doing, but that since they had already submitted the application, they would need to stop working the high bar until it was approved.

   Because we weren’t supposed to dig on the high bar until the Plan of Operations was approved, there was not that much that I could do on this claim.  Remembering the older couple who had worked hard to keep the creek mucked out, I noticed that the creek was full of sand and rocks.  I decided that since I didn’t have a place to mine, I could at least clean out the creek and try and build the banks up a little with the sediments.  After 20 or 30 minutes of digging, I heard the shovel scrape on bedrock.  Like any good prospector, I sampled the bedrock—and am glad I did.  I found a half a dozen pieces in the first pan, so I took a second pan.  The results were the same.  I panned for about 20 minutes, before I finally put my trusty sluice to work.  It was nice, with the sluice just down stream from where I was digging, I didn’t have to carry gravel—or sort out rocks—just clean up the gold.  When I finished up with this area three hours later, I probably had several pennyweights of fine gold (I didn’t have a scale and couldn’t weight them).  I also found several nice pieces of fairly coarse gold—including one very nice picker.  As I write this, I am remembering a prominent writer who once told me that there was no gold in Red Warrior Creek.  “Not enough gold to fill a tooth” was his exact quote.   I won’t mention names.  I just wonder how much more I could have gotten with a dredge (and in how much less time). 

   I poked around for another day and a half before heading home.  Yes, I did get a little more gold, but nothing compared to what I found at that spot in Red Warrior Creek when I decided to muck it out.  Maybe I am off the mark a little bit, but I think that this is just one of the benefits of service.  If I hadn’t decided to clean out the stream, I would probably have headed home without enough gold to fill a tooth.  All I know is that I am glad that I took the time to try and make the claim a little better for everyone—it sure paid off for me.

This is an old photo of me taking a break while working in Red Warrior Creek.

I was recently looking over some old papers and photos, and remembered an interesting weekend that I had back in around 2001.

   Getting some time off work, I decided it would be fun to spend it mining in the Rocky Bar area of south central Idaho.  I was a member of the Northern Utah Prospectors Association, a small Utah club that had two groups of good claims in the Rocky Bar area.  These claims totaled five claims on three creeks.  I also had two of my own claims in Wide West Gulch, just upstream of the club claims, and there were several areas on my claims had been fairly productive in the past.  With all these claims, I figured that I should have plenty to do.

           

   Gold was discovered on the Feather River in 1863, and the town of Rocky Bar quickly grew to support the new mines.  Rocky Bar, Idaho, is located about 40 miles east of Mountain Home, just to the north of Anderson Ranch Reservoir. 

   While there is little left of town (particularly, the south half where the owner has sold off the buildings one by one to discourage visitors), it was at one time a thriving town with over 2,500 residents and the county seat.  Rumor is that it was a candidate for the Idaho Territorial Capital.^[1]  Most of the gold found here was load gold, but there was a lot of placer gold found as well.  Most of the area creeks contain gold, including Bear Creek, which runs through Rocky Bar, Steele Creek, Red Warrior creek, and Elk Creek.  The Feather River, which has its own rich gold history, is formed from the confluence of Bear Creek Elk Creek. 

   While most of the gold in the region is fine, coming in the form of small granules similar in appearance to sugar grains, Bear Creek does have some coarse gold as well as the occasional nugget.  Elk Creek is also known for have some larger pieces of gold.

   After getting out of bed just a little too early for a day off, packing the truck and trailer—including my wife and son (and car seat too) into the small cab (it was a small, 2wd Toyota pick-up)—we were off to Idaho.  It was a long, slow and crowded drive, although it was other wise uneventful.

   When we arrived, we first set up camp on a club claim that sat next to Red Warrior Creek named NUPA 1.  This claim has one of the best camping sites in the entire area.  The campsite is set back off the road, surrounded by trees for privacy, and has a nice, sandy bottom for a tent.  Firewood is also plentiful.  Red Warrior is also known for fine, sugar grain sized granules of gold—and if you dig in the right place, they can be fairly plentiful.  While Red Warrior Creek does have some nice gold, I had my mind on another place that would give me better odds on a nugget.  

Sluicing Red Warrior Creek.

   The first place that I thought I would try prospecting was on the Los Kelios Group—this was a group of claims that began just above the junction of Bear Creek and Red Warrior Creek.  This claim then followed the creek north through a narrow canyon, around a tight horseshoe bend where it joined with Elk Creek, flowing south, to make the Feather River.  The claims then continued down stream for anther ½ mile.  This is a very large claim block formed by 3 rich gold bearing creeks.  (Unfortunately, a year or so later, the club lost the claims—something to do with a missing signature on an Affidavit of Assessment.)  The place I specifically had in mind was a small hill to the east of the road that was cut on the east by Red Warrior Creek and the north by Bear Creek.

   Climbing the hill, I found a spot out on the point above rivers that was already cleared to bedrock.  It looked good, so I hauled several buckets of dirt down to the creek to pan out.  I found that by breaking up the bedrock I could get some large flakes, but I couldn’t find anything of quantity.   I spent the rest of the afternoon there, still finding the occasional large flake—and once in a while a small one.  Giving this spot up, I headed back to camp.  Before retiring for the evening, I tried sluicing some of the gravel in Red Warrior Creek.  I did this with some optimism, as this had been quite rewarding the last two times I had been here.  This time, however, was different.  After sluicing the gravel for about 15 minutes, I cleaned the sluice and found just one small piece of gold.  Yeah. 

   Trying to increase my yield, I decided to work a different spot on the second day.  I went up to one of my personal claims, but with spring run-off over, most of the places that I usually work were too far away from water. 

   I then decided to work the bottom end of the Los Kelios claims, since rumors held that this was a rich area.  After almost an hour of climbing hills, crossing rivers, and pushing through brush, I made it to Pinto Creek, which marks the bottom end of the Los Kelios claims.  I set up my sluice, and went to work.  The gold I was finding was OK—it was granular, like on Red Warrior Creek, but the pieces were quite a bit larger in size.  Unfortunately, before I could really get going, a thunderstorm blew in over the mountain.  After only an hour and a half there, I packed up and headed out.  Two days were shot, and I still didn’t have much gold.

   By the morning of the third day, I was very discouraged.  I walked over to Red Warrior Creek to look around.  The best gold on this claim was found on the high bars.  Old-timers had ground sluiced the area, and we found that by digging into the rock piles, we could often find virgin dirt that the old timers had missed.  Often they would start stacking rock on top of gold bearing gravel so as to clear a channel for the water to flow, but as the working progressed, it wasn’t worth their time to go back and move the rocks to get to the gold beneath them.  Because of this there were some very rich pockets found under these rock piles.  One miner that I know pulled out about ¼ oz. of gold from one 5 gallon bucket of this gravel.   Due to the good gold, this claim was one of the club favorites. 

 

 Stairs cut into the bank leading up to the old highbar deposit above Red Warrior Creek.

 In fact, there was one elderly couple that used to camp there for most of the summer, spending most of their time mining the high bar and generally taking care of the claims.  They were a very friendly couple, always ready and willing to show you around.  They would help greenhorns learn to pan, show you where to dig, and show you their gold.  They always had a nice full vial or two to show.  They were also very conscientious about cleaning up the claims, mucking out the creek when the sluice tailings filled it up, and making the area look generally undisturbed.

   Earlier in the season, during a club outing, a forest ranger noticed the club members up on the high-bar and stopped to see what they were doing.  This ranger, who was actually visiting from a neighboring Ranger District, came to be affectionately known as “Annie Oakley” to the club members.  “Annie Oakley” because they could not remember her name; and “Annie Oakley” because of the way she walked around with her hand on her gun, while threatening what she would do with any of the miners who did not comply with her requests.   She told the members that they would need to quit digging until they had secured a formal Plan of Operations.  Many of the miners who had been working the claim objected to her request, as they were only using hand tools (pans, shovel and sluices—and a self contained gold  buddy)—and that under the 1872 mining laws, as well as the CFR’s, hand tools were legal, and that they did not need a Plan of Operations.  They complained that they only needed a Plan of Operations if they were to bring in equipment, which they had not done. Annie Oakley (still with her hand on her gun) told the miners that she didn’t give a damn about the mining laws or Congress, and that if they did not comply immediately, she would start issuing citations, and making arrests if necessary.  She nailed several other groups in the area on the same day, including my partner on our personal mining claims.  As we later found out, she had been transferred from another Ranger District (the Idaho City District, if my memory serves me) because of her attitudes toward mining, and just happened to be on loan to our district that day.

   After this exchange, the club submitted a Plan of Operations—and were promptly told that they did not need one for what they were doing, but that since they had already submitted the application, they would need to stop working the high bar until it was approved.

   Because we weren’t supposed to dig on the high bar until the Plan of Operations was approved, there was not that much that I could do on this claim.  Remembering the older couple who had worked hard to keep the creek mucked out, I noticed that the creek was full of sand and rocks.  I decided that since I didn’t have a place to mine, I could at least clean out the creek and try and build the banks up a little with the sediments.  After 20 or 30 minutes of digging, I heard the shovel scrape on bedrock.  Like any good prospector, I sampled the bedrock—and am glad I did.  I found a half a dozen pieces in the first pan, so I took a second pan.  The results were the same.  I panned for about 20 minutes, before I finally put my trusty sluice to work.  It was nice, with the sluice just down stream from where I was digging, I didn’t have to carry gravel—or sort out rocks—just clean up the gold.  When I finished up with this area three hours later, I probably had several pennyweights of fine gold (I didn’t have a scale and couldn’t weight them).  I also found several nice pieces of fairly coarse gold—including one very nice picker.  As I write this, I am remembering a prominent writer who once told me that there was no gold in Red Warrior Creek.  “Not enough gold to fill a tooth” was his exact quote.   I won’t mention names.  I just wonder how much more I could have gotten with a dredge (and in how much less time). 

   I poked around for another day and a half before heading home.  Yes, I did get a little more gold, but nothing compared to what I found at that spot in Red Warrior Creek when I decided to muck it out.  Maybe I am off the mark a little bit, but I think that this is just one of the benefits of service.  If I hadn’t decided to clean out the stream, I would probably have headed home without enough gold to fill a tooth.  All I know is that I am glad that I took the time to try and make the claim a little better for everyone—it sure paid off for me.

This is an old photo of me taking a break while working in Red Warrior Creek.

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The Rocky Bar Mining District©2009

                                       My son and I working a productive high-bar in Wide West Gulch.

   A goodly portion of my mining experience has been in and around Rock Bar, Idaho, and over the years I have had many wonderful expierences there.  I have had some great finds, met some great people, and camped in some the prettiest places on earth—all right there around Rocky Bar. 

   While it is mostly gone now, Rocky Bar was once a thriving town of some 2,500 inhabitants that supported the load gold mines in the surrounding hills.  It was a real boom town and was even reportedly a candidate to be the territorial capital of Idaho, ultimately losing out to Boise. [i] 

   While it was predominantly the load mines that supported the town, Rocky Bar got its start in 1863 with the discovery of widespread placer gold in the area creeks.   This gold came in the form of small granules, similar to salt or sugar grains, with the occasional nugget.  While early production numbers are unavailable, the placer mines of the area produced 58,447 ounce between 1889 and 1942 (remember, most of the placering was done in the 1860’s and 70’s).[ii]  Not bad. I have seen nuggets up to about 1/3^rd of an ounce come out of Bear Creek.

  

   Rocky Bar sits on the north slope of Horse Ranch Mountain, and while the most productive placers were found in Bear Creek, below Rocky Bar, most of the creeks on the south, east and north sides of the mountain contain placer gold—and were worked commercially in the past.  Specifically, it was Wide West Gulch on the south, fed by Chinaman’s Creek;  with Red Warrior Creek on the east side (Wide West flows into Red Warrior Creek)—and several side gulches coming off of Horse Ranch Mountain also enrich Red Warrior Creek with gold.  To the north, in addition to Bear Creek, the Steele Creek/Blakes Gulch area have rich placers, as does Elk Creek, with its own mining camp of Spanish Town.

   Red Warrior Creek empties into Bear Creek, which then flows north through a narrow rocky canyon.  This river canyon then takes a hard turn back to the south, merges with Elk Creek and forms the Feather River.  Due to the large number of gold bearing creeks that flow into the Feather River in the Rock Bar area, the Feather River is rich in gold, and has had a rich mining history of its own.  Near the town of Featherville (about 5 miles south of Rocky Bar, where the paved road ends), the Feather river has been dredged commercially buy a large bucket line dredge.  The river here is deep and wide, with abundant water—especially after it merges with the S. Fork of the Boise—and there was a large, low-grade placer deposited here that was perfectly suited for the dredges.  The piles of gravel remain as proof of the riches produced in the area.

Dredging on Bear Creek.

   The placer mines in and around Rocky Bar also have a long and varied history.  The first miners came in and worked the easily accessible placers—working both the creek bottoms and the numerous high bar deposits found along the creek.   A high bar deposit is formed when a creek or river cuts a river valley, depositing its gold bearing materials on the bottom of the valley.  The river then cuts a new, more narrow river valley, leaving remnants of the old river valley high and dry.  On large river systems, high-bar deposits can be found hundreds to as much as a thousand feet above the current river elevation.  Often as not though, the high bars are found tens to a hundred feet above the current river elevation.  This is especially true on small river/creek systems.   I don’t have production numbers on what these early placer miners found, but given the extensiveness of the workings, what they found was substantial.  When the Anglo miners finished up, the Chinese came in and re-worked many of the areas.  Some neatly stacked rows of rocks indicate their workings.

This stone wall was likely the result of Chinese miners.  They were generally neat and orderly.

   To work the high bar deposits, a canal was built along the slopes above the high-bars, then the water was channeled down and across the high-bar, where it would wash away the mud, soil, and lighter materials, leaving the gold and other heavies behind.  Workers would sift through the mud, pulling out the rocks and large boulders by hand—usually putting them in large stacks at the side of the workings.  These sacks of rocks were often used to guide or channel the flowing water to the areas that they needed to work.  Large piles of well washed and sorted rocks (there is little or no sand or gravel in the pile) are indicative of ground sluicing—especially if they are on relatively flat lying rock. 

   Often when these miners would start their ground sluicing operations, they did not have well cleaned bedrock to start on, so they would make their rock pile on top of un-worked material.  This is also true when they changed the direction in which they were working.  When this happened, it was generally unproductive to go back and move the rock pile for the limited amount of ore that was found beneath it.  Mining is a numbers game—they needed to move large amounts of material, and it just wasn’t cost effective to work an area that small—especially as the water was probably being diverted to a different location by the time it was feasible to move the rocks.

   What this means is that by sampling beneath rock piles, it is possible to find small pockets of very rich, virgin dirt that was missed by the old timers.  While this principle applies to virtually all mining areas, it seems to be especially productive in the high-bars in the Rocky Bar area.  One of the identifiers of the rich virgin dirt would be a rusty red, very fine grained sand/clay that is often found on bedrock in un-worked areas. 

   Another thing to look for in the Rocky Bar area is un-worked high-bars.  The GPAA once had a claim in the area, just below Rocky Bar, and it was known for a high-bar deposit that  producing very large amounts of gold, including nuggets.  This claim was high above the river, to the south side, and had apparently never been worked.  It was, of course, a very popular claim.  People were working the heck out of it—they were loading buckets from a very large hole, and packing the material down to the creek to work.  In the end, the Forest Service revoked the claim in order to prevent further damage to the forest.  One lesson to learn from this is FILL IN YOUR HOLES.  Clean up and restore your work area when you are done.  This was a good claim that was open for a lot of people to work—and a few careless people ruined it for every one.  This is not isolated to the large clubs either—if you leave big holes on your claim or favorite work site, the Forest Service may come in and close you down too. 

This is my camp on Red Warrior Creek.

   After the placers were worked, the attention of the miners turned to the load mines of Rocky Bar.  The ore around Rocky Bar originates in quartz veins that trend generally east-west.  While these veins are predominantly quartz with some gold, they do also contain a small amount of sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and pyrite.  And, while most of the gold was free-milling, there was also some bound with the sulfides. The load mines in the Rocky Bar area were very profitable, and continued producing through the 1900’s.  Again, early production numbers are not known, but between 1889 and 1942, the area load mines produced 381,396 ounces of gold.ii  They were good enough, in fact, that after the town burned to the ground in 1892, it was rebuilt—though the towns slow decline followed the fire

   By the 1930’s, most of the areas load mines were closed—but Great Depression kept interest in the area high.  The placers in the area were re-visited—and the smaller streams and creeks were “doodlebugged.”  A gentleman name Floyd, one of the owners of Rocky Bar, mentioned that a small dredge, know as a doodlebug, worked the area streams in the 1930’s.  As best as I can tell, it was something like a small bucket-line dredge—though I haven’t been able to find pictures or much detail on the dredge. 

   I don’t know how many doodlebugs were at work, but apparently Red Warrior Creek was worked up to Wide West Gulch.  Wide West Gulch was then doodle-bugged up to Chinaman Creek.  To the north, Bear Creek was doodle-bugged from the confluence with Red Warrior Creek up to what was then the city limit at Rocky Bar.   While, for the most part, you don’t see the large rock piles common of the large dredges, there are a few.  More commonly, many of the doodle-bugged areas can be identified by swampy conditions.  Thick willows and other wet vegetation growing in low-lying areas.  In the case of Wide West Gulch, much of the area is actually a low-lying, overgrown swamp.  No production numbers are known for these doodlebugs.

   While the doodlebugs have worked the area hard, the area creeks can still be productive when dredged.  In the past, the area was open to dredging with the states recreational dredging permit—however, in the early 2000’s, the area was taken off the states recreations dredging list due to the endangered “Bull Trout”.  While the area creeks are closed on the recreational dredge list, it is possible to get a stream alteration permit that will allow you to dredge by filing individually with the state.  This permit will take 1-2 years to approve, with the new Forest Service rules, also requires that you submit a Plan of Operations with it.  It is a real pain, but could be worth your time.  In most of Bear Creek and Red Warrior Creek, bedrock is relatively shallow—particularly where it has been doodlebugged—with one to two feet of overburden.  This makes dredging fairly easy and efficient.  There are spots, however, where it does get deeper—I once spent a week working through about five feet of overburden.  The gold was OK, but it was all on bedrock and it took a long time to move five feet of overburden with a 3” dredge.  Up near Rocky Bar, in areas where the doodlebug didn’t go, bedrock is much deeper.  I punched a whole some 7’ straight down through ‘hard as cement’ clay, literally picking my way down with a 6’ bar.  It took two days, my hole was only 2-3 feet wide, and I never hit bedrock.  And I only got one piece of gold (a small nugget)—which I accidentally dropped in the dirt and lost while doing a clean up.  Floyd, the guy who owns half of Rocky Bar, told me that he had used an excavator to work the bedrock just up stream of where I was dredging, and that bedrock was 14’ down.  From what I have seen, the gold on bedrock where the doodlebug didn’t go is very good, but it is a lot of work getting down to it.

Some of the GOLD recovered.  The vial has one gram of sugar grain sized fines.  Another 1/2 ounce went to the refinery.

   Rocky Bar is a truly beautiful area, and one with a lot of history.   While it is a great place to visit, you must remember that most of the area is under claim.  If you wish to work in the Rocky Bar area, there are several clubs that have claims in this area.  Otherwise, contact claim owners and get written permission before working the area creeks.

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[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Bar,_Idaho, 2009.

[ii] W.W. Stanley, 1968, Gold in Idaho, Pamphlet No. 68, Idaho Bureau of Mines p. 26-28.

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Rocky Bar, Idaho.  A right turn at the intersection will take you to Atlanta, another old mining town.

                                       My son and I working a productive high-bar in Wide West Gulch.

   A goodly portion of my mining experience has been in and around Rock Bar, Idaho, and over the years I have had many wonderful expierences there.  I have had some great finds, met some great people, and camped in some the prettiest places on earth—all right there around Rocky Bar. 

   While it is mostly gone now, Rocky Bar was once a thriving town of some 2,500 inhabitants that supported the load gold mines in the surrounding hills.  It was a real boom town and was even reportedly a candidate to be the territorial capital of Idaho, ultimately losing out to Boise. [i] 

   While it was predominantly the load mines that supported the town, Rocky Bar got its start in 1863 with the discovery of widespread placer gold in the area creeks.   This gold came in the form of small granules, similar to salt or sugar grains, with the occasional nugget.  While early production numbers are unavailable, the placer mines of the area produced 58,447 ounce between 1889 and 1942 (remember, most of the placering was done in the 1860’s and 70’s).[ii]  Not bad. I have seen nuggets up to about 1/3^rd of an ounce come out of Bear Creek.

  

   Rocky Bar sits on the north slope of Horse Ranch Mountain, and while the most productive placers were found in Bear Creek, below Rocky Bar, most of the creeks on the south, east and north sides of the mountain contain placer gold—and were worked commercially in the past.  Specifically, it was Wide West Gulch on the south, fed by Chinaman’s Creek;  with Red Warrior Creek on the east side (Wide West flows into Red Warrior Creek)—and several side gulches coming off of Horse Ranch Mountain also enrich Red Warrior Creek with gold.  To the north, in addition to Bear Creek, the Steele Creek/Blakes Gulch area have rich placers, as does Elk Creek, with its own mining camp of Spanish Town.

   Red Warrior Creek empties into Bear Creek, which then flows north through a narrow rocky canyon.  This river canyon then takes a hard turn back to the south, merges with Elk Creek and forms the Feather River.  Due to the large number of gold bearing creeks that flow into the Feather River in the Rock Bar area, the Feather River is rich in gold, and has had a rich mining history of its own.  Near the town of Featherville (about 5 miles south of Rocky Bar, where the paved road ends), the Feather river has been dredged commercially buy a large bucket line dredge.  The river here is deep and wide, with abundant water—especially after it merges with the S. Fork of the Boise—and there was a large, low-grade placer deposited here that was perfectly suited for the dredges.  The piles of gravel remain as proof of the riches produced in the area.

Dredging on Bear Creek.

   The placer mines in and around Rocky Bar also have a long and varied history.  The first miners came in and worked the easily accessible placers—working both the creek bottoms and the numerous high bar deposits found along the creek.   A high bar deposit is formed when a creek or river cuts a river valley, depositing its gold bearing materials on the bottom of the valley.  The river then cuts a new, more narrow river valley, leaving remnants of the old river valley high and dry.  On large river systems, high-bar deposits can be found hundreds to as much as a thousand feet above the current river elevation.  Often as not though, the high bars are found tens to a hundred feet above the current river elevation.  This is especially true on small river/creek systems.   I don’t have production numbers on what these early placer miners found, but given the extensiveness of the workings, what they found was substantial.  When the Anglo miners finished up, the Chinese came in and re-worked many of the areas.  Some neatly stacked rows of rocks indicate their workings.

This stone wall was likely the result of Chinese miners.  They were generally neat and orderly.

   To work the high bar deposits, a canal was built along the slopes above the high-bars, then the water was channeled down and across the high-bar, where it would wash away the mud, soil, and lighter materials, leaving the gold and other heavies behind.  Workers would sift through the mud, pulling out the rocks and large boulders by hand—usually putting them in large stacks at the side of the workings.  These sacks of rocks were often used to guide or channel the flowing water to the areas that they needed to work.  Large piles of well washed and sorted rocks (there is little or no sand or gravel in the pile) are indicative of ground sluicing—especially if they are on relatively flat lying rock. 

   Often when these miners would start their ground sluicing operations, they did not have well cleaned bedrock to start on, so they would make their rock pile on top of un-worked material.  This is also true when they changed the direction in which they were working.  When this happened, it was generally unproductive to go back and move the rock pile for the limited amount of ore that was found beneath it.  Mining is a numbers game—they needed to move large amounts of material, and it just wasn’t cost effective to work an area that small—especially as the water was probably being diverted to a different location by the time it was feasible to move the rocks.

   What this means is that by sampling beneath rock piles, it is possible to find small pockets of very rich, virgin dirt that was missed by the old timers.  While this principle applies to virtually all mining areas, it seems to be especially productive in the high-bars in the Rocky Bar area.  One of the identifiers of the rich virgin dirt would be a rusty red, very fine grained sand/clay that is often found on bedrock in un-worked areas. 

   Another thing to look for in the Rocky Bar area is un-worked high-bars.  The GPAA once had a claim in the area, just below Rocky Bar, and it was known for a high-bar deposit that  producing very large amounts of gold, including nuggets.  This claim was high above the river, to the south side, and had apparently never been worked.  It was, of course, a very popular claim.  People were working the heck out of it—they were loading buckets from a very large hole, and packing the material down to the creek to work.  In the end, the Forest Service revoked the claim in order to prevent further damage to the forest.  One lesson to learn from this is FILL IN YOUR HOLES.  Clean up and restore your work area when you are done.  This was a good claim that was open for a lot of people to work—and a few careless people ruined it for every one.  This is not isolated to the large clubs either—if you leave big holes on your claim or favorite work site, the Forest Service may come in and close you down too. 

This is my camp on Red Warrior Creek.

   After the placers were worked, the attention of the miners turned to the load mines of Rocky Bar.  The ore around Rocky Bar originates in quartz veins that trend generally east-west.  While these veins are predominantly quartz with some gold, they do also contain a small amount of sphalerite, galena, chalcopyrite and pyrite.  And, while most of the gold was free-milling, there was also some bound with the sulfides. The load mines in the Rocky Bar area were very profitable, and continued producing through the 1900’s.  Again, early production numbers are not known, but between 1889 and 1942, the area load mines produced 381,396 ounces of gold.ii  They were good enough, in fact, that after the town burned to the ground in 1892, it was rebuilt—though the towns slow decline followed the fire

   By the 1930’s, most of the areas load mines were closed—but Great Depression kept interest in the area high.  The placers in the area were re-visited—and the smaller streams and creeks were “doodlebugged.”  A gentleman name Floyd, one of the owners of Rocky Bar, mentioned that a small dredge, know as a doodlebug, worked the area streams in the 1930’s.  As best as I can tell, it was something like a small bucket-line dredge—though I haven’t been able to find pictures or much detail on the dredge. 

   I don’t know how many doodlebugs were at work, but apparently Red Warrior Creek was worked up to Wide West Gulch.  Wide West Gulch was then doodle-bugged up to Chinaman Creek.  To the north, Bear Creek was doodle-bugged from the confluence with Red Warrior Creek up to what was then the city limit at Rocky Bar.   While, for the most part, you don’t see the large rock piles common of the large dredges, there are a few.  More commonly, many of the doodle-bugged areas can be identified by swampy conditions.  Thick willows and other wet vegetation growing in low-lying areas.  In the case of Wide West Gulch, much of the area is actually a low-lying, overgrown swamp.  No production numbers are known for these doodlebugs.

   While the doodlebugs have worked the area hard, the area creeks can still be productive when dredged.  In the past, the area was open to dredging with the states recreational dredging permit—however, in the early 2000’s, the area was taken off the states recreations dredging list due to the endangered “Bull Trout”.  While the area creeks are closed on the recreational dredge list, it is possible to get a stream alteration permit that will allow you to dredge by filing individually with the state.  This permit will take 1-2 years to approve, with the new Forest Service rules, also requires that you submit a Plan of Operations with it.  It is a real pain, but could be worth your time.  In most of Bear Creek and Red Warrior Creek, bedrock is relatively shallow—particularly where it has been doodlebugged—with one to two feet of overburden.  This makes dredging fairly easy and efficient.  There are spots, however, where it does get deeper—I once spent a week working through about five feet of overburden.  The gold was OK, but it was all on bedrock and it took a long time to move five feet of overburden with a 3” dredge.  Up near Rocky Bar, in areas where the doodlebug didn’t go, bedrock is much deeper.  I punched a whole some 7’ straight down through ‘hard as cement’ clay, literally picking my way down with a 6’ bar.  It took two days, my hole was only 2-3 feet wide, and I never hit bedrock.  And I only got one piece of gold (a small nugget)—which I accidentally dropped in the dirt and lost while doing a clean up.  Floyd, the guy who owns half of Rocky Bar, told me that he had used an excavator to work the bedrock just up stream of where I was dredging, and that bedrock was 14’ down.  From what I have seen, the gold on bedrock where the doodlebug didn’t go is very good, but it is a lot of work getting down to it.

Some of the GOLD recovered.  The vial has one gram of sugar grain sized fines.  Another 1/2 ounce went to the refinery.

   Rocky Bar is a truly beautiful area, and one with a lot of history.   While it is a great place to visit, you must remember that most of the area is under claim.  If you wish to work in the Rocky Bar area, there are several clubs that have claims in this area.  Otherwise, contact claim owners and get written permission before working the area creeks.

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[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Bar,_Idaho, 2009.

[ii] W.W. Stanley, 1968, Gold in Idaho, Pamphlet No. 68, Idaho Bureau of Mines p. 26-28.

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Rocky Bar, Idaho.  A right turn at the intersection will take you to Atlanta, another old mining town.

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The Bingham Canyon Copper Mine ©2010

 

View of Rio Tinto's Bingham Canyon Mine from the Bingham Visitors Center.

 

   About 30 miles to the south west of Salt Lake City lies the world famous Bingham Canyon Copper Mine.  Its products include copper, gold, silver, molybdenite and sulfuric acid. By all accounts, it is one of the richest mines in the history of man (fourth richest, to be exact).  It has been mined continuously for more than 100 years—almost 150 years if you count the silver mines in the district around it.  The mine is huge.  So big, in fact, that when you look at it, you lose all sense of scale.  What started out as a large mountain is now a hole that measures about 2 ¾ miles across and more than ¾ mile deep.  They have literally moved a mountain. 

   In the case of Bingham Canyon, about 38 M.A. (Million Years Ago), magma from deep within the earth pushed up through the country rock (mostly quartzite, but with two large limestone units and several marley siltstone beds) and formed a monzonite stock.  (Monzonite (MZ) is similar to granite, but with little or no QZ.)  Some time later—probably on the order of several hundred thousand years—another intrusion pushed through.  This dike was quartz monzonite porphyry (QMP).  The intrusion of the QMP locally fractured the host rocks, including the QZ and MZ, allowing the mineral rich hydrothermal fluids from off the QMP to flow through the cracks and fissures in the QZ and MZ.  As the hot fluids cooled, they left behind the minerals that they had carried, forming a large, relatively rich copper deposit.  The dominant copper minerals found at Bingham are chalcopyrite and bornite.  Most of the  gold—and all that is currently produced at the copper mine—is found locked up within the bornite. 

   Shortly after the deposition of the copper, there was another mineralizing event, more prominent at depth, where fluids rich in molybdenite created a second economic deposit.  While molybdenite (moly) has long been found in the copper ores, a very large deposit of molybdenite has recently been identified below the copper ore.  Molybdenite, which is currently valued at about $18/lb, has long been a very profitable byproduct for the mine, and is used in a variety of industrial applications where among other uses it is used to harden steel and as a high end lubricant. 

   The geology of Bingham Canyon has become the standard for the porphyry type copper mine.  This model includes the zoning of minerals— copper mineralization in the center, surrounded by pyrite, with a lead-zinc halo on the outside.  The free-milling gold found in the placers of the district likely originated in the lead-zinc mines around the periphery, where free gold has been noted.  Similarly, we find corresponding alteration patterns at Bingham—an argillic/sericitic (clay) alteration—thought to be the youngest alteration—at the center, in and around the intrusive quartz monzonite porphyry.  Then we have the potassic alteration halo around it.  The potassic halo is thought to be related to the hydrothermal fluids that carried the copper, and includes minerals such as biotite, phlogopyte and potassium feldspar, and a significant increase in copper minerals (bornite and chalcopyrite) can be seen well in these potassicly altered zones.  The potassic alteration is surrounded by a larger zone of propylitic alteration.  The propylitic alteration was the earliest and largest alteration event, and is seen in the monzonite host rocks of the area.  Its dominant minerals assemblages include actinolite, diopside, chlorite and some epidote, as well a fair bit of magnetite.  The two large limestone units have also been large contributors to the mines copper production as they were altered to skarn mineral assemblages.  These skarns range from wollastonite/marble to garnet to massive sulfides.  These skarns also include relatively high percentages of chalcopyrite, bornite and gold. 

   It may be hard to believe, but the now famous Kennecott Copper Mine at Bingham Canyon, Utah had a rough and rocky start.  It has one of the most unusual histories in modern mining.  In fact, it is the mine that almost wasn’t. 

   Most western mining districts started with the discovery of placer gold.  As the placers were developed and worked out, prospectors turned their attention to the load deposits from which the placers were formed.  Bingham was, in fact, backwards.  It was the load deposits (silver-lead veins) that were found first, with attention turning to the placers some time later.

   Ken Krahulec of the Utah Geological Survey has done a tremendous job in compiling the history of Bingham Canyon, which he published in a Society of Economic Geologists paper entitled: History and Production of the West Mountain (Bingham) Mining District.  The following paragraphs describing the discovery and development of Bingham Canyon should be attributed to him.[1] 

Light colored beds (folded) are the Commercial Limestone, source of some of the mines high grade deposit.

   Erastus Bingham and his sons were Mormon pioneers that came west with Brigham Young and settled with him in the Salt Lake Valley.  In 1848, they settled the mouth of what is now Bingham Canyon with a small ranching operation

   While working on the upper slopes of the canyon, the Bingham’s found some rich specimens of galena, a lead ore that is often rich in silver.  They excitedly took some samples and headed for Brigham’s place.  Upon seeing the samples, Brigham Young told him to leave the minerals alone, instead encouraging the people to focus on farming and the industries that the people in the Salt Lake Valley would need to survive.  

   The Bingham’s stayed in the canyon for several more years, waiting for the chance to get back to their prospects.  In time, they moved to settle the Ogden area, and the mineral discovery was forgotten. 

   In the 1860’s, Colonel Conner arrived in Utah with a contingency of troops that had come largely from the goldfields of California.  He was charged with putting down the Mormon problem, and figured that the easiest way to do that was to make a large mineral discovery and let the flood of prospectors dilute the Mormon population.  In their off-duty hours, he encouraged these prospectors to search the local hill for minerals.  This policy led to the discovery of several large ore-bodies, including Alta and Bingham Canyon. 

   In the fall of 1863, George Ogilvie re-discovered the silver rich galena on the slopes above Bingham Canyon while logging on the high slopes, and the rush was on.  The West Mountain Mining District was formed on Dec. 17, 1863.  This area was very remote, and according to Heikes[2], the area mines were not well developed for several years due to both a lack of transportation and a mill to reduce the ores.  It wasn’t until 1868, when the railroad came to the canyon, that the first carload of copper ore was sent to be processed.  

   Even with the railroad, the mines struggled.  The area had “vast reserves of very low grade copper,”[3] but it was of  too low a grade to profitably mine.  The profitable copper mines of the day generally worked ores containing 10-15% copper—or greater—while the ores of Bingham Canyon contained only 2% copper.  Most of the lead-silver mines had the same problem.  They just could not work the mines economically.

View of the copper mine from Clipper Peak.  Salt Lake City can be seen in the Background.

   It was not until 1896, when the Highland Boy mine began working a high grade vein, that there was any significant copper production in the Bingham Canyon area.  In 1899 Daniel C. Jackling released a study showing that the copper could be mined profitably if the production levels were increased dramatically above what was currently being done in the underground mines.  He proposed using large steam shovels to work the low grade (about 2%) ore in an open pit mine, and locomotives to haul the ore to a crusher.  He convinced the Utah Copper Company to invest in his ideas, and open pit operations began.  In 1906, the Boston Consolidated Mines opened their own open pit mine, following the lead of the Utah Copper Company.   By 1910, it became apparent that neither the Utah Copper Company nor Boston Consolidated Mine could continue to grow because of the other.  There just wasn’t room. [4]  They merged, forming the company that would latter become the Utah Copper Consolidated Corporation.  In 1936, Kennecott Copper bought out Utah Copper Consolidated, and formed the Kennecott Utah Copper Company.

   Interestingly, Mr. Jackling had also approached the president of General Electric about investing in his mine, since GE was a large user of copper, and they were looking to gain control of a good source of copper.  It is said that the president of GE—after looking at the reserve numbers of the Utah Copper’s Bingham Canyon Mine—could not accept the numbers as credible, they were so large.[5]  He walked away . . . big mistake!!!

   As the mine continued to grow, technology was able to lower the cost of production and expand the mines reserves.  The railroad hauled the ore until it was replaced in the late 1970’s with large haul trucks.  An in-pit crusher was installed, making a conveyor system feasible.  A tunnel was cut, and a three mile conveyor built to run from the crusher, through the tunnel, and across Copperton to the mill.  A large pipeline was also installed to move the copper concentrates the 18 miles from the Copperton Mill and Concentrator to the smelter at Magna.  All of these improvements allow the Bingham Canyon mine to operate at an average ore grade of about 0.6% Cu.  By 1981, Kennecott Utah Copper was struggling due to low copper prices and sold out to Standard Oil.  In 1986, Standard Oil built a new mill and concentrator just outside of Copperton, at a cost of about $350 million.  BP bought all of Standard Oils holdings in 1987.  Rio Tinto, the current owner, bought it from BP in 1989.  In 1995, Rio Tinto invested $880 million to build a new smelter.  This new smelter is the cleanest and most efficient smelter in the world.

   Rio Tintos’ Kennecott Copper Mine produces an estimated 13% of all the copper used in the US.  In fact, according to the USGS, the Bingham Canyon was the largest producer of copper in the US during 2009 with 25% of all us production.[6]  (Before 2009, it has held the number two spot behind Freeport’s Morenci copper mine for several years).  It has been so important to prosperity and security of the United States that during World War II, it was producing as much as one-third of all the copper used by Allied Forces.[7]

Trucks and a drill pattern ready for blasting.

   While the current mine plans forecasts an end of mining in about 2019, Bingham Canyons’ future remains bright.  Company officials are looking at an expansion, that if approved, will extend the mine life until about 2036.  There are also several possible opportunities for underground mining—both in some rich copper-gold skarn deposits on the north side of the pit, as well as the deep molybdenite that has been evaluated for possible block-cave mining methods.  Currently, they are also building a $270 million autoclave at the Copperton Concentrator to process the molybdenum and rhenium recovered from its flotation cells. 

   The silver-lead-zinc mines around the outer edge of the porphyry had fortunes similar to the copper mining.  With advances in transportation, machinery and other technology at the turn of the century, the silver-lead-zinc mines in the district were able to operate at a profit.  The Lark and US Metals mines were able to work through out most of the 20^th century, with the Lark mine closing in 1971.  Interestingly, it was not the lack of available ore that closed the Lark Mine.  When it closed, it still had some very profitable ore in reserve—instead, it closed because of new environmental regulations that forced the company to shut down its smelter.  Because they had no smelter, and it was too costly to ship the ore to the few remaining smelters for processing (out of state and/or out of the country), they were forced to shut down the mine. (Much of the silver-lead-zinc industry has the same problem today.  You can find and mine a profitable deposit, but will be forced to send the ore out of the country to be processed—typically making it unprofitable).  Anaconda also worked the copper-gold skarns found underground to the west of the copper mine in the 1980’s.  The Kennecott Copper Mine has since bought out all these underground mines, including the Lark, US Metals, and Anaconda.

The Mine dumps at the top of the photo are from the old silver-lead-zinc mines in the district.

   The gold placers were discovered in 1864, one year after the discovery of the argeniferous galena.  It is not known who discovered the placers, but their discovery is what fueled the early development of the canyon.  In fact, in the early days, the only profitable mines in the canyon were the placer mines.  Copper nuggets were often found in the creek, but because copper only sold for about 12 cents a pound, it was often considered a nuisance and thrown aside. [8]

   Between 1864 and 1871, more than $1,000,000 in gold was pulled from the canyon, and another $500,000 between 1871 and 1920 (figured at $35/ounce).[9]  Because many of the placers in the canyon were buried under deep overburden, many of the placer mines were underground drifts along the bedrock.  The gold placers were found in a rusty red, iron stained pay layer just above bedrock.  Much of the gold was also stained red from the iron staining, and black nuggets were not uncommon in the district.   The gold is of a fairly high karat, running about .890 fine.  There are still some deep placer deposits in and around Bingham Canyon, such as those at Bear Gulch, that could be worked economically if they weren’t buried under hundreds of feet of waste dump.  Bingham Canyon was by far the richest placer in Utah, and the only major placer camp in the state.

   At the junction of Dry Fork and Bingham Canyon—at what was probably the richest placer claim in the area—Pete and Dan Clay were able to mine about $100,000 dollars of gold.  This total includes the largest gold nugget ever found in Utah, which weighed in at 7.75 ounces.[10]  There is still gold mined Bingham Canyon, only now it is load gold that is mined.  Even with the low grade of gold in its ores, Bingham Canyon is still a major gold producer—producing over 550,000 Troy ounces in 2009.  

   The towns that grew in Bingham Canyon also had an interesting history.  With the discovery of galena in 1863, the Bingham area was soon blanketed in claims—and Bingham Canyon quickly grew to be one of the largest cities in the state.  Bingham Canyon (town) was also known as the longest city in the state, being (for the most part) one street wide and 5 miles long.  Other towns also sprang up in the canyon, both above and below Bingham Canyon, from Leadmine (Frog Town) that supported smelters at the bottom of the canyon to Highland Boy, supporting the Highland Boy Mines in the Silver-Lead district on the slopes high above the canyon.  High above the canyon, on the other side of the mountain, was the town of Galena, among others, as well as the railroad town of Dinkieville.   

   It was interesting to note that during most of the 1860’s and 70’s, raw sewage from the homes and business in Bingham Canyon was dumped directly into Bingham Creek, yet there was no problem with odor or disease.  In fact, the stream ran clear and clean looking.  The copper sulfides dissolved in the water acted as a disinfectant, killing all of the bacteria.[11]

   Like its beginnings, the demise of Bingham Canyon city was also backwards.  Most mining towns die when the mines play out—but Bingham Canyon died when it was discovered its rich ores were located beneath the area towns.  One by one, the mine gobbled up the towns as it continued to grow.  First went Galena and Highland Boy, then Carr Fork.  By 1971, the mine was at the foot of Bingham Canyon (town).  The town was dis-incorporated, sold, and by 2000, had been completely buried under a thousand feet of waste dump.

   With the exception of Leadmine, which has a bar and 3 houses that survive, all of the towns in the canyon have been either mined away or buried under a thousand feet of waste dump.   Copperton is the only surviving copper camp.  It was built at the mouth of the canyon in the 1920’s as a place for the company’s management to live.

Inside the Bingham Canyon Visitors Center.

   The Bingham Canyon mine is one of Northern Utah’s biggest tourist attractions.  Every year between April and October, Rio Tinto operates a Visitors Center and Museum.  The Visitors Center overlooks the mine and has exceptional samples of the regions minerals, maps and histories.  There are photos and videos documenting the rich history of the now deceased towns.   Next door, the Copperton Lion’s Club operates a small gift shop.  Rio Tinto charges $5 per car to visit the mine ($25 for mini-tour busses and $50 for the full sized ones.  According to Kennecott’s website (http://www.kennecott.com/), school buses, veterans groups, Boy Scouts in uniform and county senior citizen programs are let in at no charge.   ALL of the proceeds are donated to local charities.

 

View of Rio Tinto's Bingham Canyon Mine from the Bingham Visitors Center.

 

   About 30 miles to the south west of Salt Lake City lies the world famous Bingham Canyon Copper Mine.  Its products include copper, gold, silver, molybdenite and sulfuric acid. By all accounts, it is one of the richest mines in the history of man (fourth richest, to be exact).  It has been mined continuously for more than 100 years—almost 150 years if you count the silver mines in the district around it.  The mine is huge.  So big, in fact, that when you look at it, you lose all sense of scale.  What started out as a large mountain is now a hole that measures about 2 ¾ miles across and more than ¾ mile deep.  They have literally moved a mountain. 

   In the case of Bingham Canyon, about 38 M.A. (Million Years Ago), magma from deep within the earth pushed up through the country rock (mostly quartzite, but with two large limestone units and several marley siltstone beds) and formed a monzonite stock.  (Monzonite (MZ) is similar to granite, but with little or no QZ.)  Some time later—probably on the order of several hundred thousand years—another intrusion pushed through.  This dike was quartz monzonite porphyry (QMP).  The intrusion of the QMP locally fractured the host rocks, including the QZ and MZ, allowing the mineral rich hydrothermal fluids from off the QMP to flow through the cracks and fissures in the QZ and MZ.  As the hot fluids cooled, they left behind the minerals that they had carried, forming a large, relatively rich copper deposit.  The dominant copper minerals found at Bingham are chalcopyrite and bornite.  Most of the  gold—and all that is currently produced at the copper mine—is found locked up within the bornite. 

   Shortly after the deposition of the copper, there was another mineralizing event, more prominent at depth, where fluids rich in molybdenite created a second economic deposit.  While molybdenite (moly) has long been found in the copper ores, a very large deposit of molybdenite has recently been identified below the copper ore.  Molybdenite, which is currently valued at about $18/lb, has long been a very profitable byproduct for the mine, and is used in a variety of industrial applications where among other uses it is used to harden steel and as a high end lubricant. 

   The geology of Bingham Canyon has become the standard for the porphyry type copper mine.  This model includes the zoning of minerals— copper mineralization in the center, surrounded by pyrite, with a lead-zinc halo on the outside.  The free-milling gold found in the placers of the district likely originated in the lead-zinc mines around the periphery, where free gold has been noted.  Similarly, we find corresponding alteration patterns at Bingham—an argillic/sericitic (clay) alteration—thought to be the youngest alteration—at the center, in and around the intrusive quartz monzonite porphyry.  Then we have the potassic alteration halo around it.  The potassic halo is thought to be related to the hydrothermal fluids that carried the copper, and includes minerals such as biotite, phlogopyte and potassium feldspar, and a significant increase in copper minerals (bornite and chalcopyrite) can be seen well in these potassicly altered zones.  The potassic alteration is surrounded by a larger zone of propylitic alteration.  The propylitic alteration was the earliest and largest alteration event, and is seen in the monzonite host rocks of the area.  Its dominant minerals assemblages include actinolite, diopside, chlorite and some epidote, as well a fair bit of magnetite.  The two large limestone units have also been large contributors to the mines copper production as they were altered to skarn mineral assemblages.  These skarns range from wollastonite/marble to garnet to massive sulfides.  These skarns also include relatively high percentages of chalcopyrite, bornite and gold. 

   It may be hard to believe, but the now famous Kennecott Copper Mine at Bingham Canyon, Utah had a rough and rocky start.  It has one of the most unusual histories in modern mining.  In fact, it is the mine that almost wasn’t. 

   Most western mining districts started with the discovery of placer gold.  As the placers were developed and worked out, prospectors turned their attention to the load deposits from which the placers were formed.  Bingham was, in fact, backwards.  It was the load deposits (silver-lead veins) that were found first, with attention turning to the placers some time later.

   Ken Krahulec of the Utah Geological Survey has done a tremendous job in compiling the history of Bingham Canyon, which he published in a Society of Economic Geologists paper entitled: History and Production of the West Mountain (Bingham) Mining District.  The following paragraphs describing the discovery and development of Bingham Canyon should be attributed to him.[1] 

Light colored beds (folded) are the Commercial Limestone, source of some of the mines high grade deposit.

   Erastus Bingham and his sons were Mormon pioneers that came west with Brigham Young and settled with him in the Salt Lake Valley.  In 1848, they settled the mouth of what is now Bingham Canyon with a small ranching operation

   While working on the upper slopes of the canyon, the Bingham’s found some rich specimens of galena, a lead ore that is often rich in silver.  They excitedly took some samples and headed for Brigham’s place.  Upon seeing the samples, Brigham Young told him to leave the minerals alone, instead encouraging the people to focus on farming and the industries that the people in the Salt Lake Valley would need to survive.  

   The Bingham’s stayed in the canyon for several more years, waiting for the chance to get back to their prospects.  In time, they moved to settle the Ogden area, and the mineral discovery was forgotten. 

   In the 1860’s, Colonel Conner arrived in Utah with a contingency of troops that had come largely from the goldfields of California.  He was charged with putting down the Mormon problem, and figured that the easiest way to do that was to make a large mineral discovery and let the flood of prospectors dilute the Mormon population.  In their off-duty hours, he encouraged these prospectors to search the local hill for minerals.  This policy led to the discovery of several large ore-bodies, including Alta and Bingham Canyon. 

   In the fall of 1863, George Ogilvie re-discovered the silver rich galena on the slopes above Bingham Canyon while logging on the high slopes, and the rush was on.  The West Mountain Mining District was formed on Dec. 17, 1863.  This area was very remote, and according to Heikes[2], the area mines were not well developed for several years due to both a lack of transportation and a mill to reduce the ores.  It wasn’t until 1868, when the railroad came to the canyon, that the first carload of copper ore was sent to be processed.  

   Even with the railroad, the mines struggled.  The area had “vast reserves of very low grade copper,”[3] but it was of  too low a grade to profitably mine.  The profitable copper mines of the day generally worked ores containing 10-15% copper—or greater—while the ores of Bingham Canyon contained only 2% copper.  Most of the lead-silver mines had the same problem.  They just could not work the mines economically.

View of the copper mine from Clipper Peak.  Salt Lake City can be seen in the Background.

   It was not until 1896, when the Highland Boy mine began working a high grade vein, that there was any significant copper production in the Bingham Canyon area.  In 1899 Daniel C. Jackling released a study showing that the copper could be mined profitably if the production levels were increased dramatically above what was currently being done in the underground mines.  He proposed using large steam shovels to work the low grade (about 2%) ore in an open pit mine, and locomotives to haul the ore to a crusher.  He convinced the Utah Copper Company to invest in his ideas, and open pit operations began.  In 1906, the Boston Consolidated Mines opened their own open pit mine, following the lead of the Utah Copper Company.   By 1910, it became apparent that neither the Utah Copper Company nor Boston Consolidated Mine could continue to grow because of the other.  There just wasn’t room. [4]  They merged, forming the company that would latter become the Utah Copper Consolidated Corporation.  In 1936, Kennecott Copper bought out Utah Copper Consolidated, and formed the Kennecott Utah Copper Company.

   Interestingly, Mr. Jackling had also approached the president of General Electric about investing in his mine, since GE was a large user of copper, and they were looking to gain control of a good source of copper.  It is said that the president of GE—after looking at the reserve numbers of the Utah Copper’s Bingham Canyon Mine—could not accept the numbers as credible, they were so large.[5]  He walked away . . . big mistake!!!

   As the mine continued to grow, technology was able to lower the cost of production and expand the mines reserves.  The railroad hauled the ore until it was replaced in the late 1970’s with large haul trucks.  An in-pit crusher was installed, making a conveyor system feasible.  A tunnel was cut, and a three mile conveyor built to run from the crusher, through the tunnel, and across Copperton to the mill.  A large pipeline was also installed to move the copper concentrates the 18 miles from the Copperton Mill and Concentrator to the smelter at Magna.  All of these improvements allow the Bingham Canyon mine to operate at an average ore grade of about 0.6% Cu.  By 1981, Kennecott Utah Copper was struggling due to low copper prices and sold out to Standard Oil.  In 1986, Standard Oil built a new mill and concentrator just outside of Copperton, at a cost of about $350 million.  BP bought all of Standard Oils holdings in 1987.  Rio Tinto, the current owner, bought it from BP in 1989.  In 1995, Rio Tinto invested $880 million to build a new smelter.  This new smelter is the cleanest and most efficient smelter in the world.

   Rio Tintos’ Kennecott Copper Mine produces an estimated 13% of all the copper used in the US.  In fact, according to the USGS, the Bingham Canyon was the largest producer of copper in the US during 2009 with 25% of all us production.[6]  (Before 2009, it has held the number two spot behind Freeport’s Morenci copper mine for several years).  It has been so important to prosperity and security of the United States that during World War II, it was producing as much as one-third of all the copper used by Allied Forces.[7]

Trucks and a drill pattern ready for blasting.

   While the current mine plans forecasts an end of mining in about 2019, Bingham Canyons’ future remains bright.  Company officials are looking at an expansion, that if approved, will extend the mine life until about 2036.  There are also several possible opportunities for underground mining—both in some rich copper-gold skarn deposits on the north side of the pit, as well as the deep molybdenite that has been evaluated for possible block-cave mining methods.  Currently, they are also building a $270 million autoclave at the Copperton Concentrator to process the molybdenum and rhenium recovered from its flotation cells. 

   The silver-lead-zinc mines around the outer edge of the porphyry had fortunes similar to the copper mining.  With advances in transportation, machinery and other technology at the turn of the century, the silver-lead-zinc mines in the district were able to operate at a profit.  The Lark and US Metals mines were able to work through out most of the 20^th century, with the Lark mine closing in 1971.  Interestingly, it was not the lack of available ore that closed the Lark Mine.  When it closed, it still had some very profitable ore in reserve—instead, it closed because of new environmental regulations that forced the company to shut down its smelter.  Because they had no smelter, and it was too costly to ship the ore to the few remaining smelters for processing (out of state and/or out of the country), they were forced to shut down the mine. (Much of the silver-lead-zinc industry has the same problem today.  You can find and mine a profitable deposit, but will be forced to send the ore out of the country to be processed—typically making it unprofitable).  Anaconda also worked the copper-gold skarns found underground to the west of the copper mine in the 1980’s.  The Kennecott Copper Mine has since bought out all these underground mines, including the Lark, US Metals, and Anaconda.

The Mine dumps at the top of the photo are from the old silver-lead-zinc mines in the district.

   The gold placers were discovered in 1864, one year after the discovery of the argeniferous galena.  It is not known who discovered the placers, but their discovery is what fueled the early development of the canyon.  In fact, in the early days, the only profitable mines in the canyon were the placer mines.  Copper nuggets were often found in the creek, but because copper only sold for about 12 cents a pound, it was often considered a nuisance and thrown aside. [8]

   Between 1864 and 1871, more than $1,000,000 in gold was pulled from the canyon, and another $500,000 between 1871 and 1920 (figured at $35/ounce).[9]  Because many of the placers in the canyon were buried under deep overburden, many of the placer mines were underground drifts along the bedrock.  The gold placers were found in a rusty red, iron stained pay layer just above bedrock.  Much of the gold was also stained red from the iron staining, and black nuggets were not uncommon in the district.   The gold is of a fairly high karat, running about .890 fine.  There are still some deep placer deposits in and around Bingham Canyon, such as those at Bear Gulch, that could be worked economically if they weren’t buried under hundreds of feet of waste dump.  Bingham Canyon was by far the richest placer in Utah, and the only major placer camp in the state.

   At the junction of Dry Fork and Bingham Canyon—at what was probably the richest placer claim in the area—Pete and Dan Clay were able to mine about $100,000 dollars of gold.  This total includes the largest gold nugget ever found in Utah, which weighed in at 7.75 ounces.[10]  There is still gold mined Bingham Canyon, only now it is load gold that is mined.  Even with the low grade of gold in its ores, Bingham Canyon is still a major gold producer—producing over 550,000 Troy ounces in 2009.  

   The towns that grew in Bingham Canyon also had an interesting history.  With the discovery of galena in 1863, the Bingham area was soon blanketed in claims—and Bingham Canyon quickly grew to be one of the largest cities in the state.  Bingham Canyon (town) was also known as the longest city in the state, being (for the most part) one street wide and 5 miles long.  Other towns also sprang up in the canyon, both above and below Bingham Canyon, from Leadmine (Frog Town) that supported smelters at the bottom of the canyon to Highland Boy, supporting the Highland Boy Mines in the Silver-Lead district on the slopes high above the canyon.  High above the canyon, on the other side of the mountain, was the town of Galena, among others, as well as the railroad town of Dinkieville.   

   It was interesting to note that during most of the 1860’s and 70’s, raw sewage from the homes and business in Bingham Canyon was dumped directly into Bingham Creek, yet there was no problem with odor or disease.  In fact, the stream ran clear and clean looking.  The copper sulfides dissolved in the water acted as a disinfectant, killing all of the bacteria.[11]

   Like its beginnings, the demise of Bingham Canyon city was also backwards.  Most mining towns die when the mines play out—but Bingham Canyon died when it was discovered its rich ores were located beneath the area towns.  One by one, the mine gobbled up the towns as it continued to grow.  First went Galena and Highland Boy, then Carr Fork.  By 1971, the mine was at the foot of Bingham Canyon (town).  The town was dis-incorporated, sold, and by 2000, had been completely buried under a thousand feet of waste dump.

   With the exception of Leadmine, which has a bar and 3 houses that survive, all of the towns in the canyon have been either mined away or buried under a thousand feet of waste dump.   Copperton is the only surviving copper camp.  It was built at the mouth of the canyon in the 1920’s as a place for the company’s management to live.

Inside the Bingham Canyon Visitors Center.

   The Bingham Canyon mine is one of Northern Utah’s biggest tourist attractions.  Every year between April and October, Rio Tinto operates a Visitors Center and Museum.  The Visitors Center overlooks the mine and has exceptional samples of the regions minerals, maps and histories.  There are photos and videos documenting the rich history of the now deceased towns.   Next door, the Copperton Lion’s Club operates a small gift shop.  Rio Tinto charges $5 per car to visit the mine ($25 for mini-tour busses and $50 for the full sized ones.  According to Kennecott’s website (http://www.kennecott.com/), school buses, veterans groups, Boy Scouts in uniform and county senior citizen programs are let in at no charge.   ALL of the proceeds are donated to local charities.

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Is there Gold on Navajo Mountain?

For years I have been hearing rumors of gold found on or around Navajo Mountain. I had pretty much written them off as unfounded rumors due to the fact that I have never seen any fold from Navajo mountain, never talked to anyone that has personally found any; coupled with the fact that it is considered to be “sacred” land and the Indians don't want any prospectors going up there. That being said, there is a documented history of mining in the area. In fact, an old Indian named “Hashkeniinii” was rumored to have a rich silver mine on the mountain; and several years later, there were four prospectors killed on Navajo Mountain, as they were searching for the silver mine.

   In the late 1940's, there was also a uranium boom on Navajo Mountain, when Luke Yazzie, a local Navajo, brought rich uranium ore into a trading post in Monument Valley. A large mining company company came in and put a mine in on the ledge where Luke got his ore, making the tribe a lot of money while though Luke got nothing but a free lunch.

   Navajo mountain sits just to the north of the Arizona-Utah state line in south central Utah—in the heart of Navajo Country—and was originally called Sierra Panoche. It is a tall, isolated dome that reaches up to 10,416 feet in elevation, and is formed by a mushroom shaped volcanic intrusion called a laccolith. It is an important source of water for the region, a source for game, and contains the only stand of limber pine in Navajo country.

   Apparently Navajos regard it as sacred because Navajo Mountain is the the “head” of a Navajo maiden, whose “body” is formed by four regional mountains. (This is similar to the Ute legend of the Maiden whose body can be seen in the Timpanogos mountain above Provo UT).

   Navajo mountain is located completely on Navajo land, and the Navajos offer permits for hiking and camping—but apparently getting one can be a hit or miss proposition, depending on who you talk to, or what mood they are in. One thing that I do know is that mining and prospecting will not be considered. (That is one of the reasons I have not looked too hard into the rumors of gold around Navajo Mountain).

   I have lately been researching the Abajo Mountains, and Blanding Mesa, and came across a a paper called Potential for Alkaline Igneous Rock-Related Gold Deposits in the Colorado Plateau by Felix Mutschler, Edwain Larsen and Micheal Ross. In this paper, they discussed the composition of the laccoliths in southern Utah and correlated the intrusions with gold mineralization. Gold occurrences are found in the Henry mountains, in the La Sal mountains, and in the Blues (or Abajo mountains). These three mountains are also closely related in many other ways: spatially-they are all relatively close together geographically; they are structurally similar—all three of these intrusions being laccoliths; age—the laccoliths all have similar ages of emplacement, with the dates of the intrusion being set at between 23 and 32 million years ago; and they are chemically similar—with a similar composition of both rock type and mineralogy—they are all diorite porphyries, and all have gold (or copper gold) mineralization. These three are also closely related to 3 more laccoliths in western Colorado that are also mineralized with copper, gold or silver. Navajo mountain was included smack dab in the middle of the list of diorite porphyry laccoliths is Navajo Mountain, and it shares all the same characteristics as the other laccoliths in the region.

Here is a good photo of several pieces of river worn diorite porphyry, and it is often associated associated with gold. This photo was taken in Cottonwood Wash with gravel from the Blanding Mesa. The original source of the diorite porphyry is the Abajo laccolith.

 

   If all of the other diorite porphyry laccoliths are minereralized—most containing gold—then there is a very good chance of finding gold on Navajo Mountain. It is possible that there are small placers in the areas drainage's. More importantly, as the paper pointed out, there may be larger, low sulfide, sediment hosted micron gold deposits similar to the Carlin style deposits in the surrounding area. Its is worth noting that the low-sulfide micron deposits are a possibility not just at Navajo mountain, but would make good exploration targets for the La Sal mountains, the Henry mountains and the Blue mountains as well.

   Even though mining an prospecting are off-limits, Navajo mountain would be a great place to explore. There are several 14 mile trails that take you out to Rainbow Bridge—the worlds largest, free standing natural rock arch, as well as miles of forest and high desert. Take a camera.

For years I have been hearing rumors of gold found on or around Navajo Mountain. I had pretty much written them off as unfounded rumors due to the fact that I have never seen any fold from Navajo mountain, never talked to anyone that has personally found any; coupled with the fact that it is considered to be “sacred” land and the Indians don't want any prospectors going up there. That being said, there is a documented history of mining in the area. In fact, an old Indian named “Hashkeniinii” was rumored to have a rich silver mine on the mountain; and several years later, there were four prospectors killed on Navajo Mountain, as they were searching for the silver mine.

   In the late 1940's, there was also a uranium boom on Navajo Mountain, when Luke Yazzie, a local Navajo, brought rich uranium ore into a trading post in Monument Valley. A large mining company company came in and put a mine in on the ledge where Luke got his ore, making the tribe a lot of money while though Luke got nothing but a free lunch.

   Navajo mountain sits just to the north of the Arizona-Utah state line in south central Utah—in the heart of Navajo Country—and was originally called Sierra Panoche. It is a tall, isolated dome that reaches up to 10,416 feet in elevation, and is formed by a mushroom shaped volcanic intrusion called a laccolith. It is an important source of water for the region, a source for game, and contains the only stand of limber pine in Navajo country.

   Apparently Navajos regard it as sacred because Navajo Mountain is the the “head” of a Navajo maiden, whose “body” is formed by four regional mountains. (This is similar to the Ute legend of the Maiden whose body can be seen in the Timpanogos mountain above Provo UT).

   Navajo mountain is located completely on Navajo land, and the Navajos offer permits for hiking and camping—but apparently getting one can be a hit or miss proposition, depending on who you talk to, or what mood they are in. One thing that I do know is that mining and prospecting will not be considered. (That is one of the reasons I have not looked too hard into the rumors of gold around Navajo Mountain).

   I have lately been researching the Abajo Mountains, and Blanding Mesa, and came across a a paper called Potential for Alkaline Igneous Rock-Related Gold Deposits in the Colorado Plateau by Felix Mutschler, Edwain Larsen and Micheal Ross. In this paper, they discussed the composition of the laccoliths in southern Utah and correlated the intrusions with gold mineralization. Gold occurrences are found in the Henry mountains, in the La Sal mountains, and in the Blues (or Abajo mountains). These three mountains are also closely related in many other ways: spatially-they are all relatively close together geographically; they are structurally similar—all three of these intrusions being laccoliths; age—the laccoliths all have similar ages of emplacement, with the dates of the intrusion being set at between 23 and 32 million years ago; and they are chemically similar—with a similar composition of both rock type and mineralogy—they are all diorite porphyries, and all have gold (or copper gold) mineralization. These three are also closely related to 3 more laccoliths in western Colorado that are also mineralized with copper, gold or silver. Navajo mountain was included smack dab in the middle of the list of diorite porphyry laccoliths is Navajo Mountain, and it shares all the same characteristics as the other laccoliths in the region.

Here is a good photo of several pieces of river worn diorite porphyry, and it is often associated associated with gold. This photo was taken in Cottonwood Wash with gravel from the Blanding Mesa. The original source of the diorite porphyry is the Abajo laccolith.

 

   If all of the other diorite porphyry laccoliths are minereralized—most containing gold—then there is a very good chance of finding gold on Navajo Mountain. It is possible that there are small placers in the areas drainage's. More importantly, as the paper pointed out, there may be larger, low sulfide, sediment hosted micron gold deposits similar to the Carlin style deposits in the surrounding area. Its is worth noting that the low-sulfide micron deposits are a possibility not just at Navajo mountain, but would make good exploration targets for the La Sal mountains, the Henry mountains and the Blue mountains as well.

   Even though mining an prospecting are off-limits, Navajo mountain would be a great place to explore. There are several 14 mile trails that take you out to Rainbow Bridge—the worlds largest, free standing natural rock arch, as well as miles of forest and high desert. Take a camera.

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Get Money To Your PayPal Daily and Help Others In Need

If you could earn money from home with very little effort by sending 1 simple email to all of your contacts, posting to a social network, or even post to a blog that would result in a significant amount of money flowing into your PayPal account daily would you be interested? Many people on line have been harassed by scams and schemes talking about quick money and false promises that you will become a millionaire. The average person, like you and I, are looking for a simple way that is foolproof and guaranteed to make money with very little effort, from the comfort of your own home. I searched the Internet day and night looking for the best money-making opportunity and I happened to find the most ingenious method to making money I have ever seen! You won't believe how simple it is to set it up and start making money to your PayPal account TODAY! Grab a chair, read this entire post to the end! Get ready; you are about to see something different, something that will not cost you a fortune to start. It will not even cost you the price of a large smoothie!

Have money flowing into your PayPal daily. Don't let 5 bucks stand in the way of making a significant online income! You could have money within hours of reading this post. Start receiving your daily PayPal “Cash Gifts” today!!!

This method of making money daily really works. All you have to do is be honest and remember this is a great way to get paid online, by receiving PayPal deposits.

READ THIS INFORMATION VERY CAREFULLY! YOU MAY WANT TO READ IT TWICE!!!

You will start making money immediately! This will not take weeks or months like some; this will happen immediately! This is seriously the money making opportunity that everyone has been waiting for. I guarantee; you could have as much as $5,000 in your PayPal account in 2 weeks. You need two  things to get started; you need $5 and a PayPal Premier or Business account .  It only takes 30 minutes to start and open a PayPal account.

If you  are serious and want to make money as quick as possible; then please take a moment to read this carefully and thoroughly to understand the way this program works!!!

Trust me when I say this is not what you think. You do not have to send $5 to 10 people to buy some type of report or silly e-book promising “how to” make money, or to promote a mailing list. You will not have to invest any more money later to continue to make money. Only one time; $5. This is a  completely new way to help others and to allow others to help each other.  A simple easy way to pay it forward.  It is no secret that the more you do for others; the more you will be blessed.  It is time for you to reap what you sow. Whatever you give out to others, God will eventually give back to you. This is the basic nature of God's Justice: "YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW."  Today; all you have to give is $5 and you WILL help so many by sending this same post to all in your contact list; to any and all social networks you may belong too.  The more you send; the more you bless others and the more you will reap what you sow!
You will never forget this day. The day you discovered this post online...
Get ready it is your time...




THINGS THAT ARE NEEDED:

1) An email address
2) A Business or Premier PayPal account with at least $5 deposited on it.
3) 30 minutes of your spare time to set up and send.

This is all done in only 2 simple steps. If you are working, or are involved in other programs, by all means, please do not stop. This is so simple & so fast, that you will not believe how easy it will be to get started & make money quickly!  First, I just want to say that there are only TWO POSITIONS, not four, five, or six positions like many of the other programs out there. This program is much more realistic and is much, much faster when it comes to actual money in your account fast. This is so easy that the response rate will be VERY HIGH and VERY FAST! You will not have to be wait around to get a check or money. You will receive your reward in 14 DAYS OR LESS! Thats only two weeks! Just  in time to help with your next month's bills!

This program WILL PAY FASTER than any other programs you may be working or even trickle in! Just give one person $5. THAT'S IT!

Follow the simple instructions and in two weeks, you should have $5,000 because most PEOPLE WILL RESPOND due to the LOW ONE TIME INVESTMENT, SPEED AND THE HIGH PROFIT POTENTIAL. Plus, it is all done ONLINE, so there is no time wasted time waiting on mail!!!

Remember: "What You Do Comes Back To You." So let's start helping each other out during these tough times; let's all keep this going!!!  We all have bills and owe money to bill collectors and creditors.  It is time to get ahead... with this program, if people take the time to help each other,  the good fortune will follow!!!  It is the basic “Golden Rule”  Take advantage of the benefits that this SIMPLE and REWARDING program offers and give the gift that gives back TODAY!  It is time to reap what you sow; your reward for helping others!

SIMPLY send a “$5 gift” via PayPal to the person in POSITION #1 below if your birthday falls   Between JANUARY 1 and JUNE 30,

OR,

if your birthday falls between  JULY 1 and DECEMBER 31, then send the “$5 gift” via PayPal to the person in POSITION # 2.

HERE'S ARE THE SIMPLE STEPS TO COMPLETE:



STEP 1
The very first thing you need to do is SIGN UP for a PayPal account.  It only takes 10 minutes!  Make sure to sign up for a free PREMIER or BUSINESS account (and NOT a PERSONAL account) otherwise you will not be able to receive credit card payments from other people.

STEP 2
It is an undeniable law of the universe that we MUST first give in order to receive. (The Golden Rule) So you must IMMEDIATELY send a $5 payment from your PREMIER or BUSINESS PayPal account  to the email address in either the 1st or 2nd position, along with a note saying: "HERE IS A $5 GIFT FOR YOU." Be certain to add this note, as this is what KEEPS THIS PROGRAM LEGAL. Instructions on how to send a payment are under the "SEND MONEY" tab at the PayPal site. It's so Easy!! When you send your $5 payment to either address in the list, do it with a great big smile on your face because "as you sow, so shall you reap!" After you have transferred a $5 payment to the email address, something very special will happen. You will get an indescribable, overwhelming sense of certainty, belief and conviction in the system. You've just proven to yourself that since you have done it, there must be a great number of other people ready to do the exact same thing. Thus you have now seen for yourself, first hand, that this business actually works! REMOVE the email address that you sent the $5 to and REPLACE it with your own email address. REMEMBER: You must use the same EMAIL ADDRESS that is used with YOUR PayPal account !!!  After replacing the recipient PayPal e-mail address with yours, post this very same letter to at least 50 Message Boards, Chat Rooms, or Newsgroups. DO NOT WASTE TIME OVER ANALYZING THIS... IT IS JUST 30 MIN OF YOUR TIME AND ONLY $5 THAT IS IT! BY DOING SO YOU WILL HAVE HELPED OTHERS...



THERE IS NO MORE TO DO!!! ACT FAST AND GET THE GIFT. HONESTY AND INTEGRITY MAKES THIS PROGRAM WORK!! DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU!



POSITION #1: wrdvic21@gmail.com

POSITION #2: perlthoughts@gmail.com



YOUR NAME COULD CYCLE FOR A LONG TIME! THIS MAKES IT THE GIFT THAT
KEEPS ON GIVING

You will not become a millionaire with this program, but you WILL be able to get ahead and pay off credit cards, student loans and assorted bills that never seem to go away. Good luck and God Bless.

Please play fairly and good fortune will follow.

WHY THIS PROGRAM WORKS: Straight to the point, the reason this program is SO SUCCESSFUL is because after posting this letter in 50 different message boards or forums, there are only TWO outcomes (1) A person's birthday will fall on the same half as yours YOU GET $5.00..OR (2) A person's birthday will fall on the other half of the time line, therefore, YOU STAY IN YOUR POSITION posted in 50 other MESSAGE BOARDS, etc. BOTTOMLINE: Either you get the $5 or your name gets passed on for other people to give YOU $5 or pass YOUR name on to other people that will. It makes you think though, the more you post YOUR OWN POSTS, the BETTER the results!
4 FACTORS THAT MAKE THIS PROGRAM SO SUCCESSFUL. . .


EXTREMELY FAST RESPONSE

* EXTREMELY HIGH RESPONSE RATE
* UNLIMITED PROFIT POTENTIAL
* QUICK, SIMPLE AND CHEAP TO GET STARTED

Please give it an honest effort. You will not be disappointed!  You will be very happy when it starts to work. Sometimes it takes 50, 60, even 100 or 200 names before you get 20 responses, but it only takes a moment. Be creative, send to all your contacts!  Remember, your only out of pocket $ is the cost of a cup of coffee; with a great opportunity to help others with the reward and benefit of seeing thousands of dollars in your PayPal account very soon.  May God bless us all!

If you could earn money from home with very little effort by sending 1 simple email to all of your contacts, posting to a social network, or even post to a blog that would result in a significant amount of money flowing into your PayPal account daily would you be interested? Many people on line have been harassed by scams and schemes talking about quick money and false promises that you will become a millionaire. The average person, like you and I, are looking for a simple way that is foolproof and guaranteed to make money with very little effort, from the comfort of your own home. I searched the Internet day and night looking for the best money-making opportunity and I happened to find the most ingenious method to making money I have ever seen! You won't believe how simple it is to set it up and start making money to your PayPal account TODAY! Grab a chair, read this entire post to the end! Get ready; you are about to see something different, something that will not cost you a fortune to start. It will not even cost you the price of a large smoothie!

Have money flowing into your PayPal daily. Don't let 5 bucks stand in the way of making a significant online income! You could have money within hours of reading this post. Start receiving your daily PayPal “Cash Gifts” today!!!

This method of making money daily really works. All you have to do is be honest and remember this is a great way to get paid online, by receiving PayPal deposits.

READ THIS INFORMATION VERY CAREFULLY! YOU MAY WANT TO READ IT TWICE!!!

You will start making money immediately! This will not take weeks or months like some; this will happen immediately! This is seriously the money making opportunity that everyone has been waiting for. I guarantee; you could have as much as $5,000 in your PayPal account in 2 weeks. You need two  things to get started; you need $5 and a PayPal Premier or Business account .  It only takes 30 minutes to start and open a PayPal account.

If you  are serious and want to make money as quick as possible; then please take a moment to read this carefully and thoroughly to understand the way this program works!!!

Trust me when I say this is not what you think. You do not have to send $5 to 10 people to buy some type of report or silly e-book promising “how to” make money, or to promote a mailing list. You will not have to invest any more money later to continue to make money. Only one time; $5. This is a  completely new way to help others and to allow others to help each other.  A simple easy way to pay it forward.  It is no secret that the more you do for others; the more you will be blessed.  It is time for you to reap what you sow. Whatever you give out to others, God will eventually give back to you. This is the basic nature of God's Justice: "YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW."  Today; all you have to give is $5 and you WILL help so many by sending this same post to all in your contact list; to any and all social networks you may belong too.  The more you send; the more you bless others and the more you will reap what you sow!
You will never forget this day. The day you discovered this post online...
Get ready it is your time...




THINGS THAT ARE NEEDED:

1) An email address
2) A Business or Premier PayPal account with at least $5 deposited on it.
3) 30 minutes of your spare time to set up and send.

This is all done in only 2 simple steps. If you are working, or are involved in other programs, by all means, please do not stop. This is so simple & so fast, that you will not believe how easy it will be to get started & make money quickly!  First, I just want to say that there are only TWO POSITIONS, not four, five, or six positions like many of the other programs out there. This program is much more realistic and is much, much faster when it comes to actual money in your account fast. This is so easy that the response rate will be VERY HIGH and VERY FAST! You will not have to be wait around to get a check or money. You will receive your reward in 14 DAYS OR LESS! Thats only two weeks! Just  in time to help with your next month's bills!

This program WILL PAY FASTER than any other programs you may be working or even trickle in! Just give one person $5. THAT'S IT!

Follow the simple instructions and in two weeks, you should have $5,000 because most PEOPLE WILL RESPOND due to the LOW ONE TIME INVESTMENT, SPEED AND THE HIGH PROFIT POTENTIAL. Plus, it is all done ONLINE, so there is no time wasted time waiting on mail!!!

Remember: "What You Do Comes Back To You." So let's start helping each other out during these tough times; let's all keep this going!!!  We all have bills and owe money to bill collectors and creditors.  It is time to get ahead... with this program, if people take the time to help each other,  the good fortune will follow!!!  It is the basic “Golden Rule”  Take advantage of the benefits that this SIMPLE and REWARDING program offers and give the gift that gives back TODAY!  It is time to reap what you sow; your reward for helping others!

SIMPLY send a “$5 gift” via PayPal to the person in POSITION #1 below if your birthday falls   Between JANUARY 1 and JUNE 30,

OR,

if your birthday falls between  JULY 1 and DECEMBER 31, then send the “$5 gift” via PayPal to the person in POSITION # 2.

HERE'S ARE THE SIMPLE STEPS TO COMPLETE:



STEP 1
The very first thing you need to do is SIGN UP for a PayPal account.  It only takes 10 minutes!  Make sure to sign up for a free PREMIER or BUSINESS account (and NOT a PERSONAL account) otherwise you will not be able to receive credit card payments from other people.

STEP 2
It is an undeniable law of the universe that we MUST first give in order to receive. (The Golden Rule) So you must IMMEDIATELY send a $5 payment from your PREMIER or BUSINESS PayPal account  to the email address in either the 1st or 2nd position, along with a note saying: "HERE IS A $5 GIFT FOR YOU." Be certain to add this note, as this is what KEEPS THIS PROGRAM LEGAL. Instructions on how to send a payment are under the "SEND MONEY" tab at the PayPal site. It's so Easy!! When you send your $5 payment to either address in the list, do it with a great big smile on your face because "as you sow, so shall you reap!" After you have transferred a $5 payment to the email address, something very special will happen. You will get an indescribable, overwhelming sense of certainty, belief and conviction in the system. You've just proven to yourself that since you have done it, there must be a great number of other people ready to do the exact same thing. Thus you have now seen for yourself, first hand, that this business actually works! REMOVE the email address that you sent the $5 to and REPLACE it with your own email address. REMEMBER: You must use the same EMAIL ADDRESS that is used with YOUR PayPal account !!!  After replacing the recipient PayPal e-mail address with yours, post this very same letter to at least 50 Message Boards, Chat Rooms, or Newsgroups. DO NOT WASTE TIME OVER ANALYZING THIS... IT IS JUST 30 MIN OF YOUR TIME AND ONLY $5 THAT IS IT! BY DOING SO YOU WILL HAVE HELPED OTHERS...



THERE IS NO MORE TO DO!!! ACT FAST AND GET THE GIFT. HONESTY AND INTEGRITY MAKES THIS PROGRAM WORK!! DO UNTO OTHERS AS YOU WOULD HAVE THEM DO UNTO YOU!



POSITION #1: wrdvic21@gmail.com

POSITION #2: perlthoughts@gmail.com



YOUR NAME COULD CYCLE FOR A LONG TIME! THIS MAKES IT THE GIFT THAT
KEEPS ON GIVING

You will not become a millionaire with this program, but you WILL be able to get ahead and pay off credit cards, student loans and assorted bills that never seem to go away. Good luck and God Bless.

Please play fairly and good fortune will follow.

WHY THIS PROGRAM WORKS: Straight to the point, the reason this program is SO SUCCESSFUL is because after posting this letter in 50 different message boards or forums, there are only TWO outcomes (1) A person's birthday will fall on the same half as yours YOU GET $5.00..OR (2) A person's birthday will fall on the other half of the time line, therefore, YOU STAY IN YOUR POSITION posted in 50 other MESSAGE BOARDS, etc. BOTTOMLINE: Either you get the $5 or your name gets passed on for other people to give YOU $5 or pass YOUR name on to other people that will. It makes you think though, the more you post YOUR OWN POSTS, the BETTER the results!
4 FACTORS THAT MAKE THIS PROGRAM SO SUCCESSFUL. . .


EXTREMELY FAST RESPONSE

* EXTREMELY HIGH RESPONSE RATE
* UNLIMITED PROFIT POTENTIAL
* QUICK, SIMPLE AND CHEAP TO GET STARTED

Please give it an honest effort. You will not be disappointed!  You will be very happy when it starts to work. Sometimes it takes 50, 60, even 100 or 200 names before you get 20 responses, but it only takes a moment. Be creative, send to all your contacts!  Remember, your only out of pocket $ is the cost of a cup of coffee; with a great opportunity to help others with the reward and benefit of seeing thousands of dollars in your PayPal account very soon.  May God bless us all!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Why do Governments Never Sell Their Gold Stash?

Most Governments have a huge stash of gold that they aren't willing to sell to get out of debt. This should be a crime. However because of this, it is causing gold to reach record highs as both huge corporations and private citizens hoard as much gold as they can. Greece has a huge stock pile of gold, and instead of selling it they are asking for help and a "bailout" from the European Union. This is ridiculous. I believe this has a lot to do with governments sending out false reports on how much gold they actually have. When does the bubble pop? When are these governments going to finally flood the market with their stockpile? Are you ready for the decrease in the value of gold when that happens? I have been a huge supporter of investing in gold ever since it was $1000 an ounce. Now gold is just under $1500 an ounce and I believe I was not wrong in that respect. Now I am afraid with all of this turmoil in the middle east countries will ask for help from the EU, until the EU can't help anymore. When that happens, they will move to their stock pile. How much money would they get? More than 3 years ago thats for sure. Now if you are an investor in gold, I recommend you take the situation in the Middle East into respect. The last thing you want to do is invest your last dollar in gold right now. We could be looking at huge market manipulation on a global level. Now on every investment forum across the Internet, people are talking about the security in gold investing. Now that security may get thrown in their face as governments deal with more and more uprisings, all the while looking to the European Union to pay their debts. Its only a matter of time before gold starts a major decline. If you wanted to invest in gold you should have done it long ago. Now its time to sit back and watch the fireworks. Have a good 4th of July.

Most Governments have a huge stash of gold that they aren't willing to sell to get out of debt. This should be a crime. However because of this, it is causing gold to reach record highs as both huge corporations and private citizens hoard as much gold as they can. Greece has a huge stock pile of gold, and instead of selling it they are asking for help and a "bailout" from the European Union. This is ridiculous. I believe this has a lot to do with governments sending out false reports on how much gold they actually have. When does the bubble pop? When are these governments going to finally flood the market with their stockpile? Are you ready for the decrease in the value of gold when that happens? I have been a huge supporter of investing in gold ever since it was $1000 an ounce. Now gold is just under $1500 an ounce and I believe I was not wrong in that respect. Now I am afraid with all of this turmoil in the middle east countries will ask for help from the EU, until the EU can't help anymore. When that happens, they will move to their stock pile. How much money would they get? More than 3 years ago thats for sure. Now if you are an investor in gold, I recommend you take the situation in the Middle East into respect. The last thing you want to do is invest your last dollar in gold right now. We could be looking at huge market manipulation on a global level. Now on every investment forum across the Internet, people are talking about the security in gold investing. Now that security may get thrown in their face as governments deal with more and more uprisings, all the while looking to the European Union to pay their debts. Its only a matter of time before gold starts a major decline. If you wanted to invest in gold you should have done it long ago. Now its time to sit back and watch the fireworks. Have a good 4th of July.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Suspect in Gold 4 Cash Robbery is Named Clayton Woods

[Source: Brighton Police Department]

They have finally found out the identity of a suspect who has violently robbed a Gold 4 Cash store in Brighton Colorado. The police department of Brighton says they are working hard to find out the identity of the other persons involved in the robbery. It might be hard, but hopefully they get a clue. If anyone is aware of the whereabouts of this person, please contact 911 and talk to the Brighton Police Department in Colorado. This is a very violent man and he should not be approached. Four men entered the store sometime on Monday and acted like they were going to sell jewelry to the store. They didn't sell jewelry the police say, instead they robbed as many valuables as they could find. Most of what they got was high end rings, and watches from the display cases. One of the men hit one of the employees on the head really hard and caused a lot of anguish. I hope they are found soon. This kind of crime cannot go unpunished. This is one of the most violent and scary situations to be a part of. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

[Source: Brighton Police Department]

They have finally found out the identity of a suspect who has violently robbed a Gold 4 Cash store in Brighton Colorado. The police department of Brighton says they are working hard to find out the identity of the other persons involved in the robbery. It might be hard, but hopefully they get a clue. If anyone is aware of the whereabouts of this person, please contact 911 and talk to the Brighton Police Department in Colorado. This is a very violent man and he should not be approached. Four men entered the store sometime on Monday and acted like they were going to sell jewelry to the store. They didn't sell jewelry the police say, instead they robbed as many valuables as they could find. Most of what they got was high end rings, and watches from the display cases. One of the men hit one of the employees on the head really hard and caused a lot of anguish. I hope they are found soon. This kind of crime cannot go unpunished. This is one of the most violent and scary situations to be a part of. I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.

reade more... Résuméabuiyad