Red Mountain Tunnel

Unionville, Montana

46.4804°N 112.2453°W

Mine Overview

The Red Mountain Tunnel is near Unionville, Montana. Historically the site has been associated with the Rimini Mining District which is now part of the Deerlodge National Forest. The Red Mountain Tunnel was closed at the time of data entry with no known plans to re-open. Production size when active was considered to be small. Mine operations consist of workings of unknown type. There is one known shaft. Subsurface depth reaches a maximum of 274 meters (900 feet) and extends 1,097 meters (3,600 feet) in length. The ore mined is composed of galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite with waste material consisting primarily of quartz and pyrite. Associated rock in this area is quartz monzonite from the Upper Cretaceous epoch 100.50 to 66.00 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 and Silver Primary Commodity
Copper, Gold, and Zinc Secondary Commodity
Arsenic Secondary Commodity
Site Record Type^?
Mine Development Status^?
Small Production Size^?
Metallic Site Commodity Type^?
Small Mine Size^?

Mine Names

Name^? Status^?
Red Mountain Tunnel Current
Montana Lead Crosscut Tunnel Previous

Owner Name and Address

Alexander Beattie

Commodities

Additional textual information about a site or mine.

Commodity Type Importance
Lead Metallic Primary
Silver Metallic Primary
Copper Metallic Secondary
Gold Metallic Secondary
Zinc Metallic Secondary
Arsenic Metallic Tertiary

Deposit

40 OR MORE VEINS WERE FOUND ON THE E SIDE OF THE FAULT. THE FREE SPEECH, EUREKA, AND ALTA WERE THE ONLY ONES THAT WERE DEVELOPED. 24303 FEET FROM PORTAL PASS THROUGH THE RED MOUNTAIN FAULT, A VERTICAL FISSURE CONTAINING CLAY GOUGE THAT HAS FRAGMENTS OF QUARTZ MONZONITE AND APLITE.

Location Info

Lewis and Clark , Montana County / State

Continent Country State County
North America The United States Montana Lewis and Clark

Notes

2. 7 KM NORTHWEST OF RED MOUNTAIN.; INFO FROM LAND. ST : (1950).

Meridian / Township / Range Description

Meridian^? Township^? Section^? Aliquot^?
Montana Principle Meridian T.8N R.5W Sec. 4 NW

Land Status

Land status information.

Land Status^? Admin Area^?
National Forest -

Mining Districts

Formal or informal mining district names.

District
Rimini Mining District

Workings

Workings at the site.

Workings #1

Type: Unknown
Sub Surface Length: 1097.28 Meters
Sub Surface Depth: 274.32 Meters

Workings

A LONG CROSSCUT WHICH CUT THE RED MOUNTAIN FAULT MOST OF IT IS INACCESSIBLE.

Materials

Minerals or other materials present in the mine.

Role^? Material^?
Gangue/Waste Pyrite
Gangue/Waste Quartz
Ore Chalcopyrite
Ore Galena
Ore Gold
Ore Sphalerite

Rocks

Geological materials at the site.

Class^? 1st Order Name^? 2nd Order Name^? 3rd Order Name^? 4th Order Name^? Most Specific Name^? Begin Time End Time Description^?
Associated Rock Aplite Dike; Butte Quartz Monzonite Plutonic Rock Granitoid Granite Granite - - -
Associated Rock Plutonic Rock Granitoid Quartz Monzonite - Quartz Monzonite Upper Cretaceous Upper Cretaceous -
Host Rock Plutonic Rock Granitoid Quartz Monzonite - Quartz Monzonite - - -

Structure

Geologic structural features affecting or characterizing the site or mine.

Scale Description
Local Red Mountain Fault
Regional Boulder Batholith

Physiography

Physiographic area where the resource is found.

Division Province^? Section
Rocky Mountain System Northern Rocky Mountains -

Alteration

Mineralogical and chemical alteration at or near the site, which may help to indicate the geographic extent of the geological processes producing the mine.

Type^? Alterations
Local Sericitization

Nearby Deposits

Other deposits in the same region.

Nearby Places

Unionville (8.70 miles away)
Elliston (10.47 miles away)
Austin (10.96 miles away)
Blossburg (11.13 miles away)
Corbin (11.13 miles away)
Broadwater (11.36 miles away)
Jefferson City (12.17 miles away)
Clancy (12.36 miles away)
Helena (12.61 miles away)
South Hills (12.89 miles away)
Basin (14.47 miles away)
Montana City (15.38 miles away)
East Helena (17.39 miles away)
Boulder (17.86 miles away)
Marysville (18.83 miles away)
Canyon Creek (22.47 miles away)

Nearby Mining Districts

Rimini Mining District (0 miles away)
Clancy-Lump Gulch Mining District (2.82 miles away)
Elliston Mining District (3.22 miles away)
Basin-Cataract-Comet Mining District (3.25 miles away)
Colorado-Corbin-Wickes Mining District (6.15 miles away)

Nearby Lands

Helena National Forest (0 miles away)
Deerlodge National Forest (3.87 miles away)

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.

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