Southern Cross Placer Mining Claim
Serial No. MT101881904
Legacy Serial No. MTMMC 221587
W 1/2 Section 36, T16N, R28W
Mineral County, Montana
160 Acres
Big Flat Historical Notes:
Big Flat Mining Company Around the turn of the century, the Big Flat Mining Company began hydraulic mining of the Big Flat area of Oregon Gulch. Because no roads led into Big Flat, the company built a mining camp consisting of a bunkhouse, cookhouse, and office building to house its personnel. The Big Flat Mining Company remained active through August 1910, when smoke from the great 1910 forest fires forced a temporary shutdown.
Little work was done at Big Flat over the next three years, but in August 1914 the placer was reopened for an unknown period of time. When mining again was suspended at Big Flat, the Company reportedly employed A1 Wade (for whom Wade Peak is named) as a watchman at the camp until 1930. That year Montana Dredge & Engineering Company acquired the Big Flat claims. The firm's president and general manager, Guy L. Covington of Seattle, renovated the old camp and erected several new buildings closer to the creek. He also activated a small sawmill just upstream that may have been part of the earlier Big Flat operation.
The lumber produced was used in construction of a flume and dam in 1931-1932. The flume carried water from Missoula Gulch along the hill to the west of the present-day Big Flat road, supplying water for camp use and for hydraulic giants. The sawmill also furnished lumber for building construction and the repair of a large flume on Oregon Gulch. In 1935, Covington (who had designed power excavation equipment used by many Northwest mines) installed a two-cubic-yard capacity Covington dry-land dredge at Big Flat and it was in operation by 1936. Covington also built the first road connecting Big Flat to the main Cedar Creek road. Sometime prior to 1931, Charlie Miller had extended the Cedar Creek road from La Casse's camp as far as Miller Saddle. In 1931, Covington built the road from Miller's Saddle down into the Big Flat camp.
Childress notes, LNFHP; Mineral County Press August 27,1914; The Mining Journal October 15, 1933,14; April 15,1935, 21; May 15,1936, 23; May 15,1937, 26.
The history of Mineral County is rich in gold. Present day prospectors can take a step back into the glory days of mining. The old timers didn't get it all. Experts estimate that greater than 85% of the earth's gold is still loose on the planet, waiting to be found.
Every season's snow and major melt over the past hundreds of years has carried rich new material into the canyon, creating the potential for rich stream bed deposits.
Gold is recovered from the stream bed and bench gravels located along the entire length of the claim. The gold originates from veins associated with igneous dikes that crosscut the northward extension of the Bitterroot Mountains. Chalcopyrite is the predominant ore material, quartz is plentiful. Copper and silver, in small amounts have also been found.
This body of water seasonally goes underground for a substantial distance to be measured over a mile, as was witnessed in 2011 by all parties involved including the USFS representatives during an official walk through. This same pattern of the creek dropping underground, reappearing approximately 1-mile downstream, was evident again in the summer of 2017.
The Southern Cross placer gold claim is located in an area known as the Big Flat. Big Flat is a Flat in Mineral County, Montana. It has an elevation of 1,340 meters, or 4,396 feet.
This claim has several great campsites, wide open meadows and shaded glens along the creek. The scenery is spectacular: the fishing is fabulous!
Mineral County is located in the vast "big sky country" of Montana. The crest of the Bitterroot Mountains divides Montana from Idaho and serves as the county’s western boundary. The topography varies from remote, high alpine lakes to whitewater streams and from heavily forested ridges to smooth rolling meadows.
The Bitterroot Mountains of Mineral County provide many opportunities for fishing, hunting, hiking, camping and photography. Within Mineral County there are 87 miles of river, 650 miles of streams, and over 50 high mountain lakes. In addition, there are over 400 miles of hiking trails and more than 1,000 miles of off-highway roads.
The Southern Cross Placer Claim is part of a block of approximately 1240 acres slated for commercial gold exploration and production. Gold is present at a grade sufficient to have a strong effect on the economics of an excavation project.
The Southern Cross Placer Gold Claim is available for sale/lease or joint venture.
Sale Price: $129,200.00
For more information contact:
Marlene Affeld
Nice amazing photo
Posted by: patrick | June 19, 2017 at 11:24 PM