Abandoned-Inactive Mines on Lolo National Forest-Administered Land
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Abandoned-Inactive Mines on Lolo National Forest-Administered Land Open-File Report MBMG 476 April 2003 Phyllis A. Hargrave Michael D. Kerschen Catherine McDonald John J. Metesh Robert Wintergerst Prepared for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service-Region 1 Abandoned-Inactive Mines on Lolo National Forest-Administered Land Open-File Report MBMG 476 April 2003 Phyllis A. Hargrave Michael D. Kerschen Catherine McDonald John J. Metesh Robert Wintergerst Prepared for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service-Region 1 Contents Page List of Figures ............................................................... iii List of Tables.................................................................v 1.0 Introduction ...............................................................1 1.1 Project Objectives ....................................................2 1.2 Abandoned and Inactive Mines Defined ...................................2 1.3 Health and Environmental Problems at Mines ..............................3 1.3.1 Acid-Mine Drainage ...........................................3 1.3.2 Solubilities of Selected Metals ...................................4 1.3.3 The Use of pH and SC to Identify Problems ........................5 1.4 Methodology ........................................................6 1.4.1 Data Sources .................................................6 1.4.2 Pre-Field Screening ............................................6 1.4.3 Field Screening ...............................................7 1.4.3.1 Collection of Geologic Samples ..........................9 1.4.4 Field Methods ................................................9 1.4.4.1 Selection of Sample Sites ...............................9 1.4.4.2 Collection of Water and Soil Samples .....................10 1.4.4.3 Marking and Labeling Sample Sites ......................10 1.4.4.4 Existing Data ........................................11 1.4.5 Analytical Methods ...........................................11 1.4.6 Standards ...................................................12 1.4.6.1 Soil Standards .......................................12 1.4.6.2 Water-Quality Standards ...............................13 1.4.7 Analytical Results ............................................13 2.0 Lolo National Forest .......................................................15 2.1 History of Mining ...................................................15 2.1.1 Production ..................................................17 2.1.2 Milling ....................................................19 2.2 Geology ...........................................................20 2.3 Economic Geology ...................................................20 2.4 Hydrology and Hydrogeology ..........................................23 2.5 Summary of the Lolo National Forest Investigation .........................24 2.6 Mining Districts versus Watersheds versus Ranger Districts ..................25 3.0 Blackfoot, Flint Creek/Rock Creek, Upper Clark Fork, and Bitterroot Drainages ........26 3.1 East Fork of Brewster Creek Mill and Adit ................................34 i 4.0 Middle Clark Fork Watershed including the Ninemile Drainage .....................41 4.1 Frances Copper Mine .................................................56 4.2 Nugget Mine .......................................................61 4.3 Silver Cable Mine ...................................................69 4.4 Last Chance Mine ...................................................73 4.5 Tarbox-Mineral King Mine ............................................79 4.6 Meadow Mountain Mine ..............................................86 4.7 Saltese Consolidated .................................................90 4.8 Rock Island Mine ....................................................95 4.9 Copper Gulch ......................................................100 4.10 St. Lawrence Mine and Big Sunday Creek Adit ..........................104 4.11 Crystal Lake Adit ..................................................110 4.12 Upper Keystone Mine ..............................................115 4.13 Prosperity Mine ...................................................120 4.14 Vulcan Tunnel (Nancy Lee Mine) .....................................125 4.15 Iron Mountain Mine ................................................129 4.16 Stobie-Hermiston Mine .............................................134 5.0 Lower Clark Fork Watershed (including the Plains Ranger District) .................138 5.1 Johnny Miller Mine .................................................145 5.2 Raven Mine (Copper Mask) ..........................................149 6.0 Summary of Mining Impacts on LNF-Administered Land .........................154 7.0 References ..............................................................159 Appendix I USFS-MBMG Field Form Appendix II List of Sites in the Lolo National Forest Appendix III Description of Mines and Mill Sites Appendix IV Soil and Water Analytical Results ii List of Figures Figure Page 1. The location of a mine is found as shown.......................................8 2. The Lolo National Forest ..................................................16 3. Generalized geologic map of the Lolo National Forest ...........................21 4. The Seeley Lake Ranger District ............................................27 5. The Missoula Ranger District...............................................29 6. The generalized site map from the Spink Point 7.5-min. quadrangle .................36 7. The mill on the East Fork of Brewster Creek site map ............................37 7a. East Fork of Brewster Creek mill site looking to the west .........................38 7b. The tailings-pond dam at the East Fork of Brewster Creek mill site .................38 8. The Ninemile Ranger District lies within a portion of the middle Clark Fork watershed . 42 9. The Frances Copper Mine, in the Ninemile mining district ........................58 9a. An overview of the Frances Copper Mine .....................................59 9b. The East Fork of St. Louis Creek actively erodes the waste-rock dumps .............59 10. The Nugget Mine ........................................................63 10a. The Nugget Mine adit .....................................................64 10b. The Nugget Mine waste rock surrounds a settling pond ..........................64 11. The Superior Ranger District hosted several mines with environmental concerns ......67 12. The Silver Cable Mine ....................................................71 12a. The Silver Cable Mine’s waste rock..........................................72 12b. The Silver Cable Mine sample site ...........................................72 13. The adits at the Last Chance Mine leaked water ................................76 13a. The Last Chance adit discharged ............................................77 13b. The Last Chance waste dump ...............................................77 14. The Tarbox Mine-Mineral King Mine is located on the West Fork of Packer Creek ....82 15. The Tarbox Mine waste-rock dump and ore pile ................................83 15a. The West Fork of Packer Creek, downstream of the Tarbox.......................84 15b. The waste-rock dump at the Tarbox .........................................84 16. The Meadow Mountain Mine had a brightly iron-stained adit discharge .............88 16a. The Meadow Mountain Mine adit discharge, ...................................89 16b. The Meadow Mountain Mine adit discharge, ...................................89 17. The Saltese Consolidated Mine discharged about 10 gpm .........................93 17a. The Saltese Consolidated Mine’s adit discharge ................................94 17b. The Saltese Consolidated downstream sample site ..............................94 18. The Rock Island Mine .....................................................97 18a. A possible collapsed adit at the Rock Island Mine was in a marshy area .............98 18b. Adit A01 at the Rock Island Mine was sampled (RRIS20M) ......................98 19. The mine near Copper Lake ...............................................102 19a. Copper Gulch had a large, highly visible waste dump ...........................103 19b. Copper Gulch’s adit discharge .............................................103 iii Figure Page 20. St. Lawrence area had two discharging adits ..................................107 20a. The lower adit discharge at the St. Lawrence Mine.............................108 20b. Ponded water on the waste dump and staging area beyond the lower discharging adit at the St. Lawrence Mine.........................................................108 20c. Two waste dumps appear as light colored patches in the forest at the St. Lawrence Mine ......................................................................109 20d. Big Sunday Mine .......................................................109 21. The small discharge from an adit near Crystal Lake ............................112 21a. One of the dry adits near Crystal Lake.......................................113 21b. Near the portal, the discharging adit at Crystal Lake ............................113 22. The Upper Keystone Mine consisted of a discharging gated adit ..................117 22a. The Upper Keystone Mine adit was open.....................................118 22b. Upper Keystone Mine waste dump ..........................................118 22c. The Upper Keystone Mine buildings ........................................119