1. Home
  2. Mines
  3. North America
  4. The United States
  5. Montana
  6. Lincoln
  7. Deposit #19759

Snowstorm Lead Mine

Troy, Montana

48.4329°N 115.9909°W

Mine Overview

The Snowstorm Lead Mine is near Troy, Montana. Historically the site has been associated with the Troy Mining District which is now part of the Kootenai National Forest. The site was first discovered in 1911. The Snowstorm Lead Mine was closed at the time of data entry with no known plans to re-open. Mine operations consist of underground workings. There is one known shaft. Subsurface depth reaches a maximum of 300 meters (984 feet) and extends 3,000 meters (9,843 feet) in length. The ore mined is composed of pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite and pyrite with waste material consisting primarily of biotite, quartz and calcite. The ore body extends 3.00 meters (9.84 feet) in width. Associated rock in this area is quartz monzonite from the Pliocene epoch 5.33 to 2.58 million years ago. The Northern Rocky Mountains physiographic province of the Rocky Mountain System characterize the geomorphology of the surrounding area.

Site identification and general characteristics. Learn about USGS mines.

  • Lead, Silver, and Zinc Primary Commodity
  • Gold Secondary Commodity
  • Site Record Type?
  • Mine Development Status?
  • Underground Operation Type?
  • 1911 Year Discovered?
  • 1925 First Year Of Production?
  • Metallic Site Commodity Type?
  • Small Mine Size?
Snowstorm Lead Mine Near Troy, Montana

Snowstorm Lead Mine Near Troy, Montana

Click to open an interactive map.

© The Diggings™

Mine Names

  1. Name? Status?
  2. Snowstorm Mine Current
  3. B. & B. Mine Previous

Owner Name and Address

Big Eight Mining Company

Type
Owner

Trojan Silver Lead Mining Company

South 2011 Julia Court Spokane, Washington 99203
Type
Operator

Commodities

Additional textual information about a site or mine.

  1. Commodity Type Importance
  2. Lead Metallic Primary
  3. Silver Metallic Primary
  4. Zinc Metallic Primary
  5. Gold Metallic Secondary

Deposit

REPORTEDLY LARGEST PRODUCER OF THE LIBBY QUADRANGLE.

DISCOVERY YEAR: EARLY 1900S

Location Info

  1. Continent Country State County
  2. North America The United States Montana Lincoln

Meridian / Township / Range Description

  1. Meridian? Township? Section? Aliquot?
  2. Montana Principle Meridian T.31N R.34W Sec. 19 SE
  3. Montana Principle Meridian T.31N R.34W Sec. 20 -

Land Status

Land status information.

  1. Land Status? Admin Area?
  2. National Forest -

Mining Districts

Formal or informal mining district names.

  1. District
  2. Troy Mining District

Workings

Workings at the site.

Underground Workings #1

  • Type: Underground
  • Sub Surface Length: 3000 Meters
  • Sub Surface Depth: 300 Meters

Workings

DEPOSIT DEVELOPED BY SEVERAL ADITS AT DIFFERENT ALTITUDES AND TWO SHAFTS, SUNK TO DEPTHS OF 125 AND 600 FEET ADITS 6 AND 7 WERE 1900 AND 2350 FEET IN LENGTH RESPECTIVELY. LOWEST TUNNEL SERVED AS MAIN HAULAGEWAY.

Concentration Process

Processes that concentrated or enriched the mineralization of the mine.

  1. Concentration Process
  2. Supergene

Geology

VEIN SYSTEM IN MAFIC DIKE WHICH IS ENCLOSED BY PRICHARD FORMATION. ORO VEIN TO THE NORTHWEST BELIEVED TO BE IN EXTENSION OF SNOWSTORM DIKE.

Materials

Minerals or other materials present in the mine.

  1. Role? Material?
  2. Gangue/Waste Biotite
  3. Gangue/Waste Calcite
  4. Gangue/Waste Chlorite
  5. Gangue/Waste Quartz
  6. Ore Chalcopyrite
  7. Ore Galena
  8. Ore Pyrite
  9. Ore Pyrrhotite
  10. Ore Sphalerite
  11. Unknown Amphibole
  12. Unknown Arsenopyrite
  13. Unknown Garnet

Orebody

Characteristics of the ore body.

  • Length:
  • Width: 300.00 meters (984.25 feet)
  • Thickness: 3.00 meters (9.84 feet)
  • Strike: north 30 west
  • Dip: 75 west
  • Type of Wallrock: sericitic, pyritization
  • Wallrock Alteration: moderate
  • Ore Control: lithology, igneous
  • Ore Record Modified: 1983-03-16

  • Area: 0.10 hectares (0.25 acres)
  • Ore Record Modified: 1991-04-18

  • Width: 3.00 meters (9.84 feet)
  • Strike: north 25 west
  • Dip: 75 - 80 southwest

Rocks

Geological materials at the site.

  1. Class? 1st Order Name? 2nd Order Name? 3rd Order Name? 4th Order Name? Most Specific Name? Begin Time End Time Description?
  2. Associated Rock Plutonic Rock Mafic Intrusive Rock Diorite - Diorite - - -
  3. Associated Rock Snowstorm Dike, Metadiorite; Dry Creek Stock, Quartz Monzonite Plutonic Rock Granitoid Quartz Monzonite Quartz Monzonite Pliocene Pliocene -
  4. Host Rock Prichard Formation, Sericitic Quartzite Plutonic Rock Mafic Intrusive Rock Diorite Diorite - - -

Structure

Geologic structural features affecting or characterizing the site or mine.

  1. Scale Description
  2. Local Leonia Fault East Of Property
  3. Regional Spar Lake Syncline, Leonia Fault

Tectonic

Tectonic setting in which the site or deposit is situated.

  1. Setting?
  2. Cordilleran Miogeosyncline

Physiography

Physiographic area where the resource is found.

  1. Division Province? Section
  2. Rocky Mountain System Northern Rocky Mountains -

Holdings

Mineral rights ownership information.

  1. Type?
  2. Located Claim; Patented

Ore Control

Controls on emplacement of ore such as faults or other structural features.

  1. Text?
  2. Snowstorm Dike, Spar Lake Syncline, May Be Related To Dry Creek Stock

Production

Production information

  1. Production Year? Amount Mined? Material? Comment
  2. 1912-1927 56 grams/metric ton Silver about 0.01%; about 2 troy ounces per short ton; about 4%

Notes

PRODUCTION ESTIMATED USING GIBSON'S ESTIMATE OF TOTAL VALUE, AND COUNTY PRODUCTION SHOWN BY JOHNS.

Reserve-resource

LACK OF INFORMATION PRECLUDES FURTHER CONSIDERATION.

Nearby Deposits

Other deposits in the same region.

  1. B. And B. Mine

    • Lead commodity Site type Mine status
    • Lincoln, Montana
    • Underground
    • 0.23 miles
    Read More

  2. Big Eight Mine

    • Lead commodity Site type Mine status
    • Lincoln, Montana
    • Underground
    • 0.30 miles
    Read More

  3. Cabinet Zinc Mine

    • Zinc commodity Site type Mine status
    • Lincoln, Montana
    • Underground
    • 0.39 miles
    Read More

  4. Big Four Lead Prospect

    • Lead commodity Site type Prospect status
    • Lincoln, Montana
    • Underground
    • 1.26 miles
    Read More

  5. Black Tail Lead Prospect

    • Lead commodity Site type Prospect status
    • Lincoln, Montana
    • Underground
    • 1.77 miles
    Read More

  6. Bear Lead Occurrence

    • Lead commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Lincoln, Montana
    • Surface
    • 1.92 miles
    Read More

  7. Christmas Tree Mine

    • Gold commodity Site type Mine status
    • Lincoln, Montana
    • Underground
    • 1.96 miles
    Read More

  8. Montana Morning Mine

    • Lead commodity Site type Mine status
    • Lincoln, Montana
    • Underground
    • 2.26 miles
    Read More

  9. Callahan Creek Zinc Occurrence

    • Lead commodity Site type Occurrence status
    • Lincoln, Montana
    • Vein
    • 2.29 miles
    Read More

  10. Condor Mining And Leasing Gold Placer Site

    • Gold commodity Site type Mine status
    • Lincoln, Montana
    • Placer
    • 2.37 miles
    Read More

Nearby Places

Nearby Mining Districts

Nearby Lands

Footnotes

* Mine bounds on map indicate the general area that a mine occupies. For an detailed map, refer to the overseeing BLM field office.

** The mine central point is based on an average of the mine's bounding box(es) and does not necessarily fall on the claim itself.

1 World-class significance is determined by total endowment of the contained commodity. This includes all past production and remaining reserves. Each commodity is considered separately and commodities cannot be combined to arrive at a significant size. The tonnage thresholds are from the mine model grade-tonnage studies. As of June 2008, many entries were classified as significant under less strict rules.

Mining Claim News From The Diggings™

Learn more about the Bureau of Land Management, Public Land Survey System, and mining claims.

  1. Understanding Mine Ownership

    Understanding Claim Ownership

    We receive lots of emails from people who find their name or a relative’s name on our site and want to know if this means they have some right to the land listed under that name.

  2. open range landscape

    Understanding BLM Administrative Areas

    Whether it is filing a mine or researching one, the administering BLM office is going to be the definitive source.

  3. Public Land Survey System map of the United States of America

    Understanding Location Data

    Mine handled by the Bureau of Land Management are not mapped by latitude and longitude, instead, these mines harken back to the Public Land Survey System.

  4. Historic map of the Ohio Western Reserve

    Understanding Townships

    A “township” can refer to two different things. Both are part of the PLSS measurement system but have different uses.

Browse All Mines
Browse Mines by BLM Administrative Area
Browse By Commodity
Browse Mines by State

Search for owners by first name, last name, company, location, etc.

Browse All Owners
Browse All Help