INACTIVE AND ABANDONED MINE LANDS— Lone Jack Mine, Mount Baker Mining District, RESOURCES Whatcom County, Washington by Fritz E. Wolff, Donald T. McKay, Jr., Matthew I. Brookshier, and David K. Norman WASHINGTON NATURAL DIVISION OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES Information Circular 98 March 2005 Whatcom County site location INACTIVE AND ABANDONED MINE LANDS— Lone Jack Mine, Mount Baker Mining District, Whatcom County, Washington by Fritz E. Wolff, Donald T. McKay, Jr., Matthew I. Brookshier, and David K. Norman WASHINGTON DIVISION OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES Information Circular 98 March 2005 DISCLAIMER Neither the State of Washington, nor any agency thereof, nor any of their em- ployees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any informa- tion, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or other- wise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the State of Washington or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the State of Washington or any agency thereof. WASHINGTON DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES Doug Sutherland—Commissioner of Public Lands DIVISION OF GEOLOGY AND EARTH RESOURCES Ron Teissere—State Geologist David K. Norman—Assistant State Geologist Washington Department of Natural Resources Division of Geology and Earth Resources PO Box 47007 Olympia, WA 98504-7007 Phone: 360-902-1450 Fax: 360-902-1785 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.dnr.wa.gov/geology/ Published in the United States of America ii Contents Introduction ............................................ 1 Summary..............................................1 Ownership............................................. 2 History............................................... 2 Geologic setting .......................................... 3 Materialsandstructures......................................5 Water................................................6 Milling operations ......................................... 6 Wasterockdumps.........................................6 Generalinformation........................................6 Mineoperationsdata....................................... 7 Physicalattributes.........................................7 Vegetation............................................. 8 Wildlife...............................................8 Water quality............................................ 8 Acknowledgments ......................................... 8 Referencescited..........................................9 Appendix A. Methods and field equipment ..........................10 Appendix B. Water quality standards for hardness dependent metals ............11 FIGURES Figure 1. Map showing location of Lone Jack mine in Whatcom County andamoredetailedmapoftheminesite......................1 Figure2.PhotoshowingLoneJackminesiteoverview....................2 Figure 3. Photo showing exsolved quartz stringers in Darrington Phyllite talusbeneathLoneJackportal............................2 Figure4.Schematicdiagramshowingpatentedclaims,veins,andmineworkings.....3 Figure 5. Photo showing Lone Jack portal area, south side of Bear Mountain ........4 Figure6.PhotoshowingLoneJackveinportal.........................4 Figure7.PhotoshowingtrailtoLoneJackportal,takenfromLuluportal..........5 Figure8.PhotoshowingLuluportalentrance..........................5 Figure9.PhotoshowingWhistveinoutcropandopenstope.................6 Figure10.Photoshowinghistoricbuildingsite.........................6 Figure 11. Photo showing combination bunkhouse/flotation mill circa 1922 .........7 Figure 12. Photo showing destroyed flotation mill and relocated bunkhouse.........7 TABLES Table1.Locationandmapinformation.............................6 Table2.Minefeatures...................................... 8 Table3.Bathabitatinformation................................. 8 Table4.Surfacewaterfielddata.................................8 Table 5. Surface water analysis and applicable Washington State Water Quality Standards ......................8 iii iv Inactive and Abandoned Mine Lands— Lone Jack Mine, Mount Baker Mining District, Whatcom County, Washington Fritz E. Wolff, Donald T. McKay, Jr., Matthew I. Brookshier, and David K. Norman Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources PO Box 47007; Olympia, WA 98504-7007 INTRODUCTION mine. Reports such as this one provide documentation on mines or groups of mines within specific mining districts or counties. The Washington State Department of Natural Resources The IAML database may be viewed with assistance from DGER (DNR), Division of Geology and Earth Resources (DGER) is personnel. IAML reports are posted online at http:// building a database and geographic information system (GIS) www.dnr.wa.gov/geology/pubs/. coverage of major mines in the state. Site characterization was initiated in 1999 (Norman, 2000). Work is funded through interagency grants from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Region SUMMARY 6. Other agencies sharing in the project are the U.S. Bureau of The three adits of the Lone Jack mine lie on the northeast and Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Environmental Protection southeast slopes of a 6440-foot peak, known locally as Bear Agency (EPA), and the Washington Department of Ecology Mountain, inside the Mt. Baker Wilderness Area (Fig. 1). The (DOE). property consists of five patented claims currently owned by More than 3800 mineral properties have been located in the John Bullene, with various operating agreements made to state during the last 100 years (Huntting, 1956). Many are unde- Diversified Development Co. of Bellingham. The mine can be veloped prospects of little economic importance. Therefore, in reached from Shuksan on State Route (SR) 542, by following considering the population to include in the Inactive and USFS road 3065 (unmaintained) to Twin Lakes, then by dozer Abandoned Mine Lands (IAML) inventory, we have identified trail approximately 1.5 miles to the site (Fig. 2). U.S. Mint re- approximately 60 sites that meet one of the following criteria: ceipts report 9463 ounces of gold and 1900 ounces of sil- (a) more than 2000 feet of underground development, (b) more ver from the than 10,000 tons of production, (c) location of a known mill site Lone Jack mine ook Lone Jack 5 N sa c River mine or smelter. This subset of sites includes only metal mines no lon- from discovery k Ross ger in operation. through 1969. Lake Bellingham Mt. Baker We have chosen to use the term inactive in the project’s title An additional 20 in addition to the term abandoned because it more precisely de- scribes the land-use situa- tion regarding mining and avoids any political or legal implications of surrendering an interest to a property that may re- open with changes in eco- nomics, technology, or commodity importance. The IAML database focuses on physical char- acteristics and hazards (openings, structures, materials, and waste) and water-related issues (acid mine drainage and/or metals transport). Accu- stamp mill prox. rate location, current Whist outcrop ownership, and land sta- Brooks-Willis mill bunkhouse tus information are also Lulu portal included. Acquisition of Lone Jack portal this information is a criti- open stope cal first step in any sys- tematic approach to de- termine if remedial or reclamation activities are warranted at a particular Figure 1. MapshowingthelocationoftheLoneJackmineinWhatcomCounty(top)andamoredetailedmapof theminesite(bottom).Sectionlinesare1mileapart. 1 2 INFORMATION CIRCULAR 98 900 ounces gold were produced circa 1992. The total dollar value at the historic price of $20 per ounce would have been approximately $192,000, including a small amount of silver; total value in 4 today’s precious metals market would exceed $4 1 5 million. Using these data as the only reliable data of record, and an approximate 10 to 15 thousand tons mined, the grade from all operations is in the 3 range of 0.63 to 0.94 ounces per ton gold. Three widely separated quartz fissure veins, containing free gold, tellurobismuthite, and iron sulfides, are visible on cliffs above the mine 2 adits. Argillaceous Darrington Phyllite shot through with exsolved quartz stringers is perva- sive in the mine area. This material contains some sulfide mineralization, but is barren of gold content. The production veins are in massive quartz bodies that pinch and swell, ranging in thickness from 3 to 9 feet (Moen, 1969). The mine has seen four discontinuous periods of operation. The Mount Baker Mining Co. mined the Lone Jack lode from 1898 through 1907, at which time the stamp mill burned, the Figure 2. Lone Jack mine site overview. 1, trail to Lone Jack portal; 2, flotation mill site, aerial tramway collapsed, and operations ceased. next to talus; 3, Lulu portal; 4, Whist vein outcrop; 5, Lulu vein outcrop. View to the south. Most of the mine’s precious metal output oc- curred during this period. Boundary Gold Co. de- veloped the Lulu lode in 1915 under lease. Operations ceased in 1917. The Brooks-Willis Metals Co. leased the mine in 1917 and exercised their option to purchase it in 1920. They erected a flotation mill, bunkhouse, sawmill, flume, and power plant (Lindstrom, 1941). The company mined ore from the Lulu lode in 1923. Evidence