Badger Copper Mine

Butte-Silver Bow, Montana

46.0305°N 112.5189°W

Mine Overview

The Badger Copper Mine is in Butte-Silver Bow, Montana. Historically the site has been associated with the Butte Mining District which is now part of the Deerlodge National Forest. The Badger Copper Mine was closed at the time of data entry with no known plans to re-open. Mine operations consist of 3 distinct underground workings. There are a total of 3 shafts. Subsurface depth reaches a maximum of 621 meters (2,037 feet) and extends 11,306 meters (37,093 feet) in length. The mining method is horizontal cut and fill with tailings. Mine capacity in 1981 was 1128 mt ore/day with a production unit cost of 46.66 $/mt ore. The ore body is described as tabular shaped 150 meters (492 feet) long, 107 meters (351 feet) wide, and 22 meters (74 feet) thick. 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.

Copper, Lead, and Zinc Primary Commodity
Silver Secondary Commodity
Site Record Type^?
Mine Development Status^?
Underground Operation Type^?
Metallic Site Commodity Type^?

Mine Names

Name^? Status^?
Badger Mine Current
Badger-State Current
Elm Orlu Previous
Blackrock Previous
Boston & Montana Previous

Owner Name and Address

Anaconda Company

New York

Type: Owner-Operator
Stake: Majority

Commodities

Additional textual information about a site or mine.

Commodity Type Importance
Copper Metallic Primary
Lead Metallic Primary
Zinc Metallic Primary
Silver Metallic Secondary

Deposit

THE ANACONDA COMPANY HAS NO PRESENT PLANS TO RESUME ZINC MINING BUT THE SYNDICATE VEIN RESOURCES AND THE NEAR SURFACE RESOURCES AROUND THE ALICE PIT ARE BEING REEVALUATED BECAUSE OF RECENT SILVER AND ZINC PRICE INCREASES. THIS EVALUATION INCLUDES FIVE BUTTE ZINC MINES WHICH HAVE THE LARGEST POTENTIALLY MINEABLE REMAINING RESOURCES. THE EVALUATION INCLUDES THE ALICE ANSELMO BADGER, LEXINGTON, AND MOUNTAIN CON. MINES. 1985 UPDATE. NO ACTIVITY AT MINE SINCE 1981. NARROW VEIN WIDTHS AND LENGTHS ARE AVERAGES OF FIVE SEPARATE BLOCKS.

Location Info

Silver Bow , Montana County / State

Continent Country State County
North America The United States Montana Silver Bow

Land Status

Land status information.

Land Status^? Admin Area^?
Private -

Mining Districts

Formal or informal mining district names.

District
Butte Mining District

Workings

Workings at the site.

Underground Workings #1

Type: Underground
Sub Surface Length: 11306 Meters
Sub Surface Depth: 621 Meters
Mining Method: Sublevel Caving
Status of Mining Method: Proposed
Percent Recovery: 80
Percent Waste Rock: 16.6
Capacity: 1920 mt ore/day
Production Unit Cost: 15.08 $/mt ore
Operating Days Per Year: 260
Operating Shifts Per Day: 2
Year of Information: 1981
Swell Factor: 0.25
Rock Chars: Semiplastic Or Plastic
Rock Support Chars: Unsupporting May Slough
Mine Support Chars: Post, Headboard, Caps, Roof Bolts
Number of Shafts: 1

Underground Workings #2

Type: Underground
Sub Surface Length: 7958 Meters
Sub Surface Depth: 621 Meters
Mining Method: Block Caving
Status of Mining Method: Proposed
Percent Recovery: 85
Percent Waste Rock: 16.6
Capacity: 1920 mt ore/day
Production Unit Cost: 13.16 $/mt ore
Operating Days Per Year: 260
Operating Shifts Per Day: 2
Year of Information: 1981
Rock Chars: Noncoherent
Rock Support Chars: Unsupporting May Slough
Mine Support Chars: Post, Headboard, Caps, Roof Bolts
Number of Shafts: 1

Underground Workings #3

Type: Underground
Sub Surface Depth: 621 Meters
Mining Method: Horizontal Cut And Fill With Tailings
Status of Mining Method: Proposed
Percent Recovery: 95
Percent Waste Rock: 5.7
Capacity: 1128 mt ore/day
Production Unit Cost: 46.66 $/mt ore
Operating Days Per Year: 260
Operating Shifts Per Day: 2
Year of Information: 1981
Swell Factor: 0.25
Rock Chars: Semiplastic Or Plastic
Rock Support Chars: Unsupporting May Slough
Mine Support Chars: Post, Headboard, Caps, Roof Bolts
Number of Shafts: 1

Workings

SUBSIDENCE ABOVE THE BLOCK CAVE AND SUBLEVEL CAVE RESOURCES WOULD BE THE MOST SERIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN.

Economic Factors

THE PRODUCTION ZINC-LEAD RATIO OF 5. 75 TO 1 (MILLER, 1973).

Materials

Minerals or other materials present in the mine.

Role^? Material^?
Unknown Argentite
Unknown Chalcopyrite
Unknown Galena
Unknown Pyrite
Unknown Quartz
Unknown Silver
Unknown Sphalerite

Orebody

Characteristics of the ore body.

Length:
Width: 76.00 meters (249.34 feet)
Top Depth: 518.00 meters (1,699.48 feet)
Thickness: 1.60 meters (5.25 feet)
Strike: south 90 west
Dip: 80 south
Wallrock Alteration: moderate
Ore Control: faulting
Ore Record Modified: 1983-03-16

Length:
Width: 107.00 meters (351.05 feet)
Top Depth: 427.00 meters (1,400.92 feet)
Thickness: 22.60 meters (74.15 feet)
Strike: south 90 west
Dip: 85 south
Type of Wallrock: intermediate argillic
Wallrock Alteration: moderate
Ore Control: faulting, fracturing
Ore Record Modified: 1983-03-16

Length:
Width: 122.00 meters (400.26 feet)
Top Depth: 550.00 meters (1,804.46 feet)
Thickness: 19.20 meters (62.99 feet)
Strike: south 90 west
Dip: 85 south
Type of Wallrock: intermediate argillic
Wallrock Alteration: moderate
Ore Control: faulting, fracturing
Ore Record Modified: 1983-03-16

Area: 5.80 hectares (14.33 acres)
Ore Record Modified: 1991-04-18

Physiography

Physiographic area where the resource is found.

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

Holdings

Mineral rights ownership information.

Type^?
Patented

Nearby Deposits

Other deposits in the same region.

Nearby Places

Walkerville (0.84 miles away)
Butte (1.99 miles away)
Ramsay (8.20 miles away)
Janney (8.44 miles away)
Butte-Silver Bow (11.08 miles away)
Crackerville (13.91 miles away)
Opportunity (15.73 miles away)
Warm Springs (16.45 miles away)
Basin (20.64 miles away)

Nearby Mining Districts

Butte Mining District (0 miles away)
Basin Creek-Summit Valley Mining District (1.85 miles away)
Pipestone Mining District (3.08 miles away)
Lowland Mining District (5.86 miles away)

Nearby Lands

Deerlodge National Forest (1.28 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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