Mine near Wickenberg Arizona

[cazisme]

I was wondering if anyone could give me some insight on this one.A Friend of mine inherited a mine in Arizona. It was mined in the early 1900s to the 1960s. I have essays that say it has $30 to $600 for gold and 1 to 5 ozs per ton for silver and 6 to 70% for lead per ton. My questions are how difficult would it be to get permits & approval to start mining this mine? I am in California and hear it would be near impossible. It is a patented claim. It does have adits and shafts on the property.

 

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[dave wiseman]

What year are the assays from?Underground mining is expensive and dangerous,especially for the greenhorns with dreams of wealth.If the mine was one that produced pockets of gold it may be worth it to look for highgrade ore.This would involve lots of sampling of the quartz veins and some type of small mill and recovery system.Do not put the cart before the horse as this has been the main cause of most hard rock mining failures.In other words if one believes there is two million in gold and it cost three million to get it out,well you get my drift.Don't know about AZ mining permits but it 's likely to be somewhat easier than California where it might take 10-15 years to get all the paperwork,if at all.See if you can get old mining reports from the state bureau of mines..any books or articles from state,college and county libraries and historical socities.

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

patented claims are sacred ground...you can do dang near anything...


DMMR - Arizona Mineral Rights and Mining Claims

 

[Sheldon J]

Lots of gold came out of the Wickenburg area, lots of legends too such as the "Lost Cadillac Mine" did a heap of research on that one...
Even have a detail map of the claims in the Wickenburg mountain chain, and that is one real rugged area, and not for a newbie!!

If you go do your homework first, (visit the local musieum just for giggles) take some old BTDT talent with you, get GPS quads rent the local Chopper and over fly the area, and Goggle Earth is your friend!!!

One more thing summer is a real bad time to plan a trip there its HOT!!!

 

[chupacabra]

Canadian mining companys are paying BIG $$$ for mines if there the right types

 

[aussco999]

Hey Cazisme:

Arizona's motto is the Copper State and they are reasonably friendly toward hard rock mining as long as you stay away from the heavily populated areas. Having a patented mining claim is even better as it will reduce your involvement with BLM.

In the past, I ran a small 60 TPD hard rock project in AZ and recommend you visit both the Mining/Minerals Museum and the State Mine Inspector offices located in PHX. You will get a lot of useful/helpful info from both places. Small patent mines require a minimum of permits with the possible exception of an ESA and water. The state water agency can be very picky about surface and underground water usage.

The state mine inspectors follow the MSHA regulations closely, so be aware that everyone entering the mine/mill site must have an up-to-date miners certificate. In the past, the inspector's office give classes for the “40-hr New Miner” and “8-hr refresher” courses on a monthly basis. If needed, check with them.

As Dave said, “underground mining is expensive and dangerous”, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone without the proper training and experience. Cost wise, driving a drift (tunnel) large enough to handle a small LHD can easily run several $100/LFt, and sinking shafts will cost even more.

I don't think assay dates are as important when compared to “what was assayed”, and do you have a vein structure (ore body) large enough to support the high cost of mining. You mentioned a “6 to 70% for lead per ton”. Was that a typo? At 60/70% Pb/ton you don't have a gold/silver mine, you have a galena mine and more problems. Separating gold/silver from galena can be a metallurgy challenge. If you mine on a commercial scale, sending your concentrates off for processing makes more sense, but adds to the cost.

For now I would recommend a few of things; 1. Make sure your friend pays the taxes on the patent mining claim. If not, the property will revert back to public domain and be lost forever. 2. A “boots on the ground” visit to the site to determine the current mine condition. Take/hire an experienced person to go underground. Safety first. 3. Lots of additional assays and drilling/sampling program. How big is the vein structure (width/depth)? Based on your your early assay, if it's galena and the vein width is less than 3' across and doesn't go to depth, the mine won't come close to paying for itself.

I didn't mean to write a book, but the permitting side of hard rock mining will be the least of your problems. Everyday will be a battle, but with the right ore it could be interesting. Don't be blinded by the gold numbers, $30 to $600 is a huge spread, and you don't have enough silver to pay for fuel. You need more assays and a complete mine evaluation before making an economical business decision.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

John

 

[Clay Diggins]

I know that area very well. Your "assay" results are way out of whack for any historical mine in Arizona. I see a lot of these type "assays" and they usually involve miners higrading their own deposits to get better numbers. Understand that real assays don't bulk sample mining ores - they only present the percentages found in a small sample. When you see figures of $XXX per ton associated with the word "assay" it's more of a sales technique than any real world assay results.

The only way to "know" that a mine produces X amount of a mineable metal per ton is to actually mine the deposit and divide the metal recovered by the number of tons mined and processed. That is not an assay just a simple formula based on the facts. Knowing how much per ton was recovered still doesn't tell you if a mine can be profitable. Things like poor deposit structure and complex ores can eat up profits quickly.

Arizona is mining friendly. If the mine is actually patented with undivided mineral rights, won't require extensive rehabilitation of the infrastructure, has legal access to the property and has grandfathered water rights it could be a pretty simple process to get permitted. If you are missing any of those elements you are in for a much rougher and more expensive and time consuming ride.

I'm pretty familiar with most, if not all, of the patented mining properties around Wickenburg. I know of two patents that might fit the description you gave. Neither are primarily gold mines and I doubt either one of them would come close to being "easy" to restart mining.

John gave you good and experienced advice. Go look at what your friend has, check the actual status of ownership and the real past mining history - not "assays" but smelter receipts and accounting ledgers. Get a full report by an experienced mining engineer on the actual condition of the infrastructure.

If all the numbers add up there are plenty of experienced geologists and mining engineers that can help get you up and running. Mining is booming in Arizona with many historically important gold mines reopening, including the Vulture, the Johnson and the Tarantula (Congress) all within 20 miles of Wickenburg.

Without a full disclosure of all the aspects of the mines physical state and real world potential you won't find any interest or help in getting permits or opening an operating mine. Getting the cart before the horse just doesn't fly in the real world of mining no matter what has been passed off as "mining" on the spate of recent TV mining dramas.

If your friend decides to pursue reopening his mine I'd be glad to direct you to reliable and experienced geologists and mine engineers that can help him reach his goals. If you are willing to share the name of the patent I can help get the mining reports from when it was active.

Good luck!

 

[Dustedyou]

be Wary m8, The only ground I purchase is the Ground I could Live on and Work.. got to be Sweet..